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Anyone Else Experiencing The Joys of Downgrading?
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Started by sfcityduck,

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sfcityduck

sfcityduck

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Maggie Thompson shared some wisdom when she was auctioning off portions of her collection, mainly high grade books like the 9.6 (ow) Thunda 1, including this nugget:

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One aspect of the auction project is that it is a project: I intend to spend some of the proceeds from the sale on the purchase of crummy-condition copies of the same issues. That way, I’ll still have the comics in “reader-copy” form in my collection, including the “key” issues that are everyone’s favorites. 

She went on to elaborate in other interviews that she felt a great responsibility to be a steward for her highest grade comics.  She put it this way:  "A collector should care for what is in the collection. No matter how long our life expectancies may be, we are all only caretakers for the collectors who will come after us."

I like her philosophy.  I'm not buying comics as "investments."  Instead, I am buying them to enjoy.  Which, due to the increasing prevalence of reprints of the classic material I want to read (e.g., all Barks Ducks, all EC, most classic DC and Marvel, etc., etc. etc.), means I'm buying comics that I want to display.  Covers that I find cool or significant decor (which I slab), or stories I want to be able to open and up show guests (far fewer of these, which I don't slab, like Impact 1, etc.).  

But, here's the thing.  I feel guilty about putting rare high grade comics up on my wall.  I don't want to be the guy that causes a top of census book to experience fading and diminished page quality due to light and heat.  If I viewed comics as an investment, I'd lock them away in a climate controlled cool dark safe deposit box.  But that's not what I want to do. 

So my solution when I find myself with rare high grade comics has been to sell and downgrade to the 8.0 to 9.0 range.  I'm talking about comics like the late 40s and early 50s Barks Ducks I've recently been getting CGC'd which came back as top of census.  Comics I can sell for many multiples of the cost of a good looking replacement.  So that's what I'm doing.  It seems like a win-win-win.  I win because I end up with cash to buy adequate lesser graded replacements with lots of cash left over for other purchases, the collecting community wins because the comics end up with buyers who have a lot more incentive to keep them preserved than I do because that's their collecting goal (whether they are investors or just better caretakers who will have more incentive because the amount they have sunk in the books dwarfs what I paid), and the buyers win because they get the opportunity to own the high grade comics they have been searching for.

Anyone else have this philosophy - downgrading to get comics that fit my collecting goals?

 

Edited by sfcityduck
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sfcityduck

sfcityduck

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6 minutes ago, bababooey said:

ValuableBoldFish-size_restricted.gif

I must admit that your visual meme means nothing to me.  I also do admit to being folicly challenged and wearing baseball caps. We are probably around the same age since the kids don't even know who Seinfeld is anymore.  

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sfcityduck

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32 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

To a lot of us 8.0-9.0 IS high grade...:cloud9:

I do know an old crazy guy that will often trade me his high grade books for the same books in lower grade + another book or two or cash difference. To each his own I guess.  (shrug)

For a lot of GA comics it is.  But, I'm usually not going that esoteric.  What I'm really trying to say is the nice presenting copies that aren't on the part of the price curve which is heading straight up.  

The two rarest comics I've owned both had significant defects.  But, they each are 1 of 2 still in collector's hands.  Those I feel a strong duty to keep preserved and don't put on display.

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FineCollector

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My collection is extremely modest, and I'm not a grade snob by any means, but I still take some pride in my books.  I'm a run collector, so the appeal of the entire run matters to me.  I picked out every single copy, because I want everything to look the same.  Trading down the keys would make my run look like I bought cheap, took whatever I could get, and filled in the key with a dog at the end.

I can understand downgrading if all you have is keys, and the size of the hoard is what brings you joy, but that's not me.  Granted, I don't own anything vault-worthy, but I cant picture my comics having a better home than here with me.

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sfcityduck

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7 hours ago, FineCollector said:

My collection is extremely modest, and I'm not a grade snob by any means, but I still take some pride in my books.  I'm a run collector, so the appeal of the entire run matters to me.  I picked out every single copy, because I want everything to look the same.  Trading down the keys would make my run look like I bought cheap, took whatever I could get, and filled in the key with a dog at the end.

I can understand downgrading if all you have is keys, and the size of the hoard is what brings you joy, but that's not me.  Granted, I don't own anything vault-worthy, but I cant picture my comics having a better home than here with me.

No.  That's not it at all.  For Maggie Thompson, who has long runs of everything, it is about enjoyment.  Being able to read her comics without fear of damaging a "museum piece" like the Avengers 1 9.4.  So she sells it for $90K, and then can buy a nice "reading copy" 8.0 for 1/10 that price, or a "beater" 5.5 for 1/20th that price, and pocket big bucks while also gaining the joy of being able to actually read her comics without concern or guilt.  It's about enjoying your books, not enjoying the the numbers on the slab.

Not that there is anything wrong with wanting high grade comics.  But, owning a high grade comic to use for purposes that likely could impact the grade (casual reading and wall decor) just seems foolish.

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valiantman

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17 hours ago, bababooey said:

Yeah sorry, that's an 'opposite George' gif......after filling 2 and a half long boxes w/undercopies & dupes over the past 5 yrs.........reading this topic clearly required me to change my current cgc-board influenced thinking.  :shy:

Sadly, being a huge Seinfeld nerd, I must point out that is not an "opposite George" gif.  That's a "George has a mancrush" gif.  Opposite George comes 10 episodes later.

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bababooey

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20 minutes ago, valiantman said:

Sadly, being a huge Seinfeld nerd, I must point out that is not an "opposite George" gif.  That's a "George has a mancrush" gif.  Opposite George comes 10 episodes later.

I blame google but no wonder the op was confused :D   I should have recognized the "jimmy" episode?  

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valiantman

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2 minutes ago, bababooey said:
28 minutes ago, valiantman said:

Sadly, being a huge Seinfeld nerd, I must point out that is not an "opposite George" gif.  That's a "George has a mancrush" gif.  Opposite George comes 10 episodes later.

I blame google but no wonder the op was confused :D   I should have recognized the "jimmy" episode?  

Funny, that's not this particular George mancrush.  The gif was from the mimbo Tony.

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