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Is quality really better than quantity? For people like us?
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77 posts in this topic

Sometimes we can get lucky with both quality and quantity.  Last year I picked up a lot of raw, very high-grade Uncanny X-Men (#201-340), Annuals #10-18, and X-Men ('91, #1-59), plus a Jim Lee Havok sketch (https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1454500).  Comparable sketches go for a few hundred on ebay.  The UXM 266 would have a shot at 9.8.

Didn't expect seller to accept my $500 incl. shipping offer; never hurts to try.

Nowadays it's been fun adding to the UXM part from time to time.  Only one rule -- anything I come across must be very cheap, haha... more flexible with condition.

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13 hours ago, newshane said:

Not strictly. I rolled about 30% (a significant amount of money,actually) into new comic acquisitions. I paid off my car and my wife's car...and bought awesome "adulting" gear like a new washer and dryer. :( Paid off a ton of bills. 

Financially it was the right thing to do, and it ended up being the best for my collection...I think. 

But to be clear, I didn't sell because I needed the money. I sold because it was in the best interest of my mental health. 400+ slabs can be overwhelming. And I was just burned out on the character. Once again, I blame the variant chase. Remember how McFarlane actually avoided the gimicky covers of the early 90s (chromium cover, foil cover, prismatic cover, etc.)? Well, now he has sold his soul for the variant market. Just look at the listings for Spawn from 185 on. How many variants? Go count them. lol 

Oh yeah, and Golden Age comics, the kind I like, can be EXPENSIVE. I'm much happier with the kind of books I have now. 

As a Spawn fan, since you mention this, is there a definitive list (i.e. 1-184) of Spawn issues with no variants?

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3 hours ago, TwoPiece said:

As a Spawn fan, since you mention this, is there a definitive list (i.e. 1-184) of Spawn issues with no variants?

Useful Spawn info is found here: http://spawnworld.com/books.htm

Except for #113-#115, every issue from #1 - #137 has a newsstand edition. It's not a purposeful variant, but there are differences in distribution, quantities, and market prices.

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5 minutes ago, valiantman said:

Useful Spawn info is found here: http://spawnworld.com/books.htm

Except for #113-#115, every issue from #1 - #137 has a newsstand edition. It's not a purposeful variant, but there are differences in distribution, quantities, and market prices.

I am asking specifically for "alternate art" variants. Thanks for the link!

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On 4/26/2019 at 4:03 PM, NoMan said:

Lots of readers, tho. :banana:

Exactly. As someone who loves comics (as I hope most folks would be), I'd rather have more. There is something attractive about an old beat-up comic, its an active piece of history. It didn't just sit in a closet for 50 years. It was read and well loved. It has personality. I love all comics (save SA Marvel and some Modern ), keys and filler issues. I wouldn't want a collection of just filler books, nor one of just keys. 

I would consider myself a run collector even though I have less than 400 issues. I have only 2 complete runs, Hawkman (1964) and The Atom (1962), plus the 7 issue Atom & Hawkman run, as well as their respective Showcase/Brave & Bold (and Mystery in Space for Hawkman) runs. I am in the process of completing Shazam! (1973) and Aquaman (1962 - including AC 260, and Showcase issues) runs as well, with all major keys attained. All's left are 20 or so filler issues in each. With not a ton of funds, runs are easier to attain if I buy low-grade. Most issues of mine are VG-G, with expensive keys often being 2.5-0.3, most (like Aquaman 1) are 1.0s. 

I plan on attempting a SA JLA run as well, however my only progress on that is an 0.3 JLA 1, G copies of B&B 29-30, and approximately 10 JLA issues. It'll be a while. 

I find short (5-50 ish's) SA DC runs are the funnest to collect (and relatively cheap), and plan on putting together some including Plastic Man, Spectre, Creeper, and Metamorpho.

Edited by HuddyBee
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I used to be all about accumulating as many books as I could. Sales, dollar bins, buying cheap collections, etc. I love completing runs. It was a lot of fun. But in recent years, as I get older (and fatter, oy!) and realize that someone is going to have to deal with all of this junk, I've been selling off stuff and consolidating the collection back into fewer, pricier books. I no longer get the joy out of hefting those boxes around. Also, once I kick the bucket, it'll be easier and fast for the missus to sell a handful of keys instead of hundreds of short boxes. That being said, there are some relatively valueless runs that I'm keeping out on sentimentality, and just because I love them. Big runs of 80's/90's LoSH books that no one wants, large run of Batman, Swamp Thing, etc. So it's not like I've traded it all to buy 1 big book. But I HAVE consolidated several dozen short boxes into I think only a couple dozen, and I'm happy with that. That's manageable. 

Of course, I still buy small collections, but I am generally turning those over pretty quickly. My "sell" stock fluctuates. I'm talking above about my personal collection.

Edited by F For Fake
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10 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

I used to be all about accumulating as many books as I could. Sales, dollar bins, buying cheap collections, etc. I love completing runs. It was a lot of fun. But in recent years, as I get older (and fatter, oy!) and realize that someone is going to have to deal with all of this junk, I've been selling off stuff and consolidating the collection back into fewer, pricier books. I no longer get the joy out of hefting those boxes around. Also, once I kick the bucket, it'll be easier and fast for the missus to sell a handful of keys instead of hundreds of short boxes. That being said, there are some relatively valueless runs that I'm keeping out on sentimentality, and just because I love them. Big runs of 80's/90's LoSH books that no one wants, large run of Batman, Swamp Thing, etc. So it's not like I've traded it all to buy 1 big book. But I HAVE consolidated several dozen short boxes into I think only a couple dozen, and I'm happy with that. That's manageable. 

Of course, I still buy small collections, but I am generally turning those over pretty quickly. My "sell" stock fluctuates. I'm talking above about my personal collection.

+1. At the age of 64, I’m  down to my measly 7 books here

Edited by GreatCaesarsGhost
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30 minutes ago, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

+1. At the age of 64, I’m  down to my measly 7 books here

Wow, 7 books! I don't think i have that kind of willpower, but by the time I hit 64, I might! 

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21 hours ago, HuddyBee said:

Exactly. As someone who loves comics (as I hope most folks would be), I'd rather have more. There is something attractive about an old beat-up comic, its an active piece of history. It didn't just sit in a closet for 50 years. It was read and well loved. It has personality. I love all comics (save SA Marvel), keys and filler issues. I wouldn't want a collection of just filler books, nor one of just keys. 

I would consider myself a run collector even though I have less than 400 issues. I have only 2 complete runs, Hawkman (1964) and The Atom (1962), plus the 7 issue Atom & Hawkman run, as well as their respective Showcase/Brave & Bold (and Mystery in Space for Hawkman) runs. I am in the process of completing Shazam! (1973) and Aquaman (1962 - including AC 260, and Showcase issues) runs as well, with all major keys attained. All's left are 20 or so filler issues in each. With not a ton of funds, runs are easier to attain if I buy low-grade. Most issues of mine are VG-G, with expensive keys often being 2.5-0.3, most (like Aquaman 1) are 1.0s. 

I plan on attempting a SA JLA run as well, however my only progress on that is an 0.3 JLA 1, G copies of B&B 29-30, and approximately 10 JLA issues. It'll be a while. 

I find short (5-50 ish's) SA DC runs are the funnest to collect (and relatively cheap), and plan on putting together some including Plastic Man, Spectre, Creeper, and Metamorpho.

OMG, get out of my head...  :whatthe:

That is exactly how and why I collect, other than the titles we think alike on runs and condition. :cloud9:  :bigsmile:  (thumbsu

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2 hours ago, F For Fake said:

Big runs of 80's/90's LoSH books that no one wants

Lots of great reading and art there; Giffen, Moder, Immonen, Sprouse.

Edited by Ken Aldred
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I've gone through times where I was a high grade snob, but found it unfulfilling.  I've collected keys alone, as well, and that was cool but didn't much sustain my collecting habits.  I preferred to be a completest fill entire runs of my favorites.  Marvel Two in One, Invaders and Defenders were childhood favorites of mine and I've been able to piece together full runs, as well as runs of ASM, Avengers and FF.  If I can upgrade along the way, then great, but it's not a primary goal of mine to upgrade - I prefer to have them all and read through them as I re-bag the newest arrivals.  It also helps that I've found a couple of shops in SoCal that are very, very reasonably priced and have a good stock of silver and bronze age books that makes it possible to buy a few rather than just one book at a time.

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