...And the house cleaning begins. by Boozad

[CSJournals-migration]

From a sprawling mess to a streamlined registry, this is the start of my journey where I will be refocusing my collecting habits and making my registry into something more representable.

 

Over the past year or so, my collecting habits completely lost focus, and the CGC books I owned where starting to sprawl over a range of titles. My initial focus was Batman, it's the character that got me into full time collecting in the first place.

When I first started collecting back in 2008, I was picking up Batslabs left, right and centre. I had set myself no boundaries, and if it had Batman in it and was in a slab I was buying it. I ended up with grades I wasn't happy with, books I didn't really want and basically a collection that just didn't look or feel right.

 

I took up the task of moving the books I didn't want and defining some parameters for the books I wanted to buy. But just as I was getting somewhere, I discovered The Walking Dead and Chew. These titles were so addictive to me I started buying those up as well, Batman took a back seat and my registry declined into a mess.

 

Recently we moved house, the repair work needed was and still is extensive. I didn't have the cash reserves to fall back on so books needed to go. Again it was decision time, and I made up my mind to take it back to basics and go with what I orignally loved. Batman. So the WD slabs and Chew slabs were sold off, and any Batman book after 1980 that wasn't in a 9.8 slab went too. The remaining few are still trickling away on eBay right now, but finally after cleansing my collection of over 70 slabs I feel fresh and rejuvenated, my buying habits now seem managable and I have the hunger back to start buying books I'll actually love owning.

 

Building a large Batman collection that meets my criteria will take a lot of time, but seeing as the purchases won't be being made so often, I thought it was the ideal time to blast through my registry and turn it into a nicely presented piece.

First off comes removing all of the books that I no longer own, then it's time to update all of my photos and descriptions. The one set I will hold onto other than Batman is Thicker Than Blood. It's virtually complete with ust 4 more 9.8s to add to the set, and it's such a great tale with gorgeous artwork to compliment it that I just couldn't let it go.

 

So I'll be using my journal to track my progress from here on in, updating books that have been added and keeping my registry in a tidy manner! The first purchase to the new streamlined collection should be along soon...

 

See more journals by Boozad

[Point Five]

I'm a bit late reading this, but... nice post. (thumbs u Which Batbooks are you going to focus on?

 

 

[Boozad]

Never even noticed a reply in here

 

I'm going for the Batman title, even though I have a few 'Tecs slabbed and some one shots (Killing Joke and Vengeance of Bane), the main Bat title is where I'll focus.

 

When I collected previously I was meticulous over Bats, 'Tec, SOTB and LOTDK, but since I've been back into collecting, I've found the Bat title having more of a natural draw than the other titles. I'm a casual reader of some of the peripheral titles like Streets of Gotham, and I do pick up some mini series' here and there, but as for slabbed it'sBats all the way!

 

The next step is to find grade parameters I'm happy with. From Copper up it will be 9.8 only. If I can pick up 9.4s and 9.6s cheap enough I'll gladly pick them up and crack them to upgrade my raw collection.

It's Bronze and earlier I'm struggling with gradewise. It's got to be a balance of grade I'm happy with and price point, as while sometimes I may be able to stretch for that uber-nice book, I just wouldn't be able to build a comprehensive set. I think 9.2 will be a decent grade for Bronze.

[Cimm]

9.2 is a pretty choice grade for Bronze... the books are available, but not numerous, and nicely centred 9.2s are prettier than miswrapped 9.8s. Good luck with maintaining your focus, Gav! I have never managed to even define mine

[Boozad]

It's well on its way to be honest, there'll be another update via the Journal pretty soon. There are some nice additions coming in over the next few weeks so I'll probably wait until then to update it. All none-Bats slabs have gone now (except for the TTB books), so stage one is complete. While some of the books were hard to let go, the end result was very refreshing. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

 

It's nice now to know I can look at Batbooks that I have previously passed on as I was so tied up in different Modern titles. Bronze will be my next focus, I really do miss the BA books I've sold over the last 18 months, and 9.2/9.4 will be the order of the day!

 

And I'd much rather take a centred 9.2 over a 9.6 with a bad miswrap (thumbs u

[Norrin_Radd]

Congrats. I'm in the same boat. I collected anything and everything that struck my fancy, but now I'm selling it all off. It's nice to organize my collection, find books I didn't even know I had, and sell off what I don't want.

 

It's refreshing to get rid of the clutter and focus on one title.

[Cyke-migration]

i do my house cleaning twice a month, but now i got no time doing those things, im now looking for good and relevant cleaning service in manhattan, can anyone please help me.

[Boozad]

i do my house cleaning twice a month, but now i got no time doing those things, im now looking for good and relevant cleaning service in manhattan, can anyone please help me.

 

I'm sure Arch will be along to do some cleaning of his own soon. Take note, he's meticulous...

[Boozad]

Talking of which, this journal needs an update...

[Bosco685]

Talking of which, this journal needs an update...

Get on it!

 

[Boozad]

I am slacking aren't I?

[toysmania]

Definitely.

[N/A]

Well your shipment is ready. I just need to confirm your new address. That will help with the update

[Boozad]

That was when I was going to update, you read my mind Jeff. I'll PM the new address over