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Strategy for starting to collect a new title
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16 posts in this topic

I was wondering what peoples strategies are for collecting a new title.  Mine has definitely changed over the years.

I use to just start buying issues in the run.  That was how I did my Batman run and it was successful so I used the same approach for Detective which failed miserably.  The reason I think is the key issues were sort of affordable when I started but quickly went way beyond what I was comfortable spending.  My new strategy is to buy the most expensive and/or rarest books first unless there is a deal that is beyond smoking on something.  I have started doing this on two titles so far, Spiderman and the Human Torch.  I figure in the worst case I will have the top issues from the title. 

I know the boards have a lot of run collectors.  Wondering what your strategy is.

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I think your approach is spot on. I certainly wish that I’d done this earlier with respect to my strategy.

I would recommend doing market researcher to figure out what the hard to find books are if that’s a concern with HT. You may need to compromise to finish the run.

Also setting standards is important, unless you enjoy the constant cycle of upgrading books you’re not happy with.

 

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13 hours ago, batman_fan said:

I was wondering what peoples strategies are for collecting a new title.  Mine has definitely changed over the years.

I use to just start buying issues in the run.  That was how I did my Batman run and it was successful so I used the same approach for Detective which failed miserably.  The reason I think is the key issues were sort of affordable when I started but quickly went way beyond what I was comfortable spending.  My new strategy is to buy the most expensive and/or rarest books first unless there is a deal that is beyond smoking on something.  I have started doing this on two titles so far, Spiderman and the Human Torch.  I figure in the worst case I will have the top issues from the title. 

I know the boards have a lot of run collectors.  Wondering what your strategy is.

I understand the Windsor's have one that's just come available, but it'll definitely require a change of location from Colorado.  :kidaround:

Seriously, shoot for key issues earliest and grade.  Also, try not to get caught up in the hamster wheel of runs (cool art is a lot more fun to hunt).  Those are my only recommendations.

Edited by Cat-Man_America
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Back when I was still actively collecting comics, I focused only on books that were 9.4 and above (or pre-CGC, NM or better) in a title that I was going after, preferably without miswraps and OW or better pages, and preferably bright colors, great gloss and great eye appeal.  Being from a top pedigree was desirable too.  If books from a certain title were actually relatively common in 9.4, then the minimum grade became 9.6.  

This served as a great filter because it greatly limited the number of targets for me to go after.  I didn't have to set any priorities (such as most expensive or most rare), as the number of books that met my criteria was so limited that I could prioritize almost all of them!

This approach to collecting doesn't appeal to everybody, but it worked for me.

Edited by tth2
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16 hours ago, batman_fan said:

I was wondering what peoples strategies are for collecting a new title.  Mine has definitely changed over the years.

I use to just start buying issues in the run.  That was how I did my Batman run and it was successful so I used the same approach for Detective which failed miserably.  The reason I think is the key issues were sort of affordable when I started but quickly went way beyond what I was comfortable spending.  My new strategy is to buy the most expensive and/or rarest books first unless there is a deal that is beyond smoking on something.  I have started doing this on two titles so far, Spiderman and the Human Torch.  I figure in the worst case I will have the top issues from the title. 

I know the boards have a lot of run collectors.  Wondering what your strategy is.

I'd make two points based on my own experience. The first is to buy the expensive / key books first, and certainly if there is evidence that they will go up in price quicker than other surrounding issues. Not gold books of course, but I sat out ASM #129 whilst buidling an ASM 1-100 CGC 9.4 run as it was more attractive to me at the time to pick off the volume first. That was a mistake in hindsight as that book virtually doubled in price by the time I got around to buying it. Ditto 121 and 122. 

The second point is to not 'panic' buy. I would buy a copy that I subsequently became unhappy with just to fill the gap (all 9.4's are not equal as it turned out - miswraps, pencil marks, distributor spray etc). There will always be another chance down the line if you're patient. If there's something, anything about the book that puts you off, maybe wait for another copy. Books are there to be loved. You don't want misfits stinking up the place.  Assuming they're not so rare that you'll never get another chance of course. 

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I've just started collecting a new run, going about it as follows (Yes, it's Master of Kung Fu, so go ahead and make fun of me): 

1. only buy in grade!
2. only buy at GPA or less
3. key books first, if possible
4. all available books next 
5. only start overbidding / overpaying when your checklist shrinks to the last batch of harder-to-find books.
6. complete run, then immediately sell off
7. pick new title, go back to step 1!

 

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I go after keys and the best covers in the run first. The reason is these are the ones I most want and I also know I have a wandering eye and if my focus for collecting changes to a new title there should be the easiest, in theory, to sell off. Just my 2c

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Well, I've completed two GA runs and have found that it wasn't the most expensive books or the "classic covers" that were hardest to find, in grade our out.  I'm not sure how to tell what books those will be going forward on other runs, other than getting in touch with other collectors with experience with the title.  For one title my only book is a FA "filler", it's definitely not the best cover, but I've not seen one for sale over the last 4 years since I go back into collecting- the filler copy cost me less than $10 at comic con in the early 90s, been scouring auctions and shows ever since.

I guess my point is yes, you want the top issues, but it would be nice to have a crystal ball to tell you what book won't come back again for years so you better get it now.

Edited by Black Bat
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While I wholeheartedly agree with the superior financial sense that buying keys/classic covers/scarcest first makes, there is a different consideration for me that I think may address a more fundamental motivation for some collectors.  When I become interested in a genre, character, or title, initially, I’m buying whatever is available and in relatively fresh condition (fresh pages, gloss, etc.) to learn more.  Each new acquisition is an exploration into history, story, art, and whatever that thing that caught my interest was.  So, I pretty much end up buying whatever is available and reasonably priced.  Little by little, I figure out what I really like about the subject and focus more and more on that.  This may overlap with some keys but not others.  But for me, the fun is reading a comic or magazine that feels like new and discovering it for the first time as if it was just published.

Again, not the most efficient financial strategy, but definitely the most fun for me.  And that’s why I buy these things- for fun.  If I was only interested in making money, there are far faster and more lucrative options that I would choose over buying and selling comics and magazines.  2c

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10 minutes ago, Randall Dowling said:

While I wholeheartedly agree with the superior financial sense that buying keys/classic covers/scarcest first makes, there is a different consideration for me that I think may address a more fundamental motivation for some collectors.  When I become interested in a genre, character, or title, initially, I’m buying whatever is available and in relatively fresh condition (fresh pages, gloss, etc.) to learn more.  Each new acquisition is an exploration into history, story, art, and whatever that thing that caught my interest was.  So, I pretty much end up buying whatever is available and reasonably priced.  Little by little, I figure out what I really like about the subject and focus more and more on that.  This may overlap with some keys but not others.  But for me, the fun is reading a comic or magazine that feels like new and discovering it for the first time as if it was just published.

Again, not the most efficient financial strategy, but definitely the most fun for me.  And that’s why I buy these things- for fun.  If I was only interested in making money, there are far faster and more lucrative options that I would choose over buying and selling comics and magazines.  2c

Another plus to your method is that it gives you time to get more familiar with the specific market for the material you are collecting before you make major purchases.  I’ve found that the books I’ve overpaid for are often ones I’ve bought when just starting a new area of collecting.

Since most key books have gone up so much lately, it has insulated people from their mistakes to a large degree, but I suspect that an ever-rising market is not something we can count on in the future.

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A scenario just played out for me with my first purchase of the year. Lately my new collecting focus phases have been more publisher or genre related , not a specific title so much. I have been trying to prioritize checking off the rest of my Romance want list. Last year I started to get more and more interested in particular Charlton issues (select covers by theme and/or artists) after admiring them for hours on end on Grand Comics Database. 

I came across one of the ones I wanted and have not seen posted even 'occasionally' on the Boards on eBay with a 'Buy it Now' (no graded copies on the census either) with a detached cover, it was scrawled on in pencil in areas, and I had just missed a copy on HA (in fact, the first copy they had ever offered) in December. After much agonizing, I bought the book. Think i made a good decision personally.

So my main strategy in many of my focused collecting phases is take what you can get on tough issues and worry about upgrading later. In most of the cases I became content with my lower grade acquisition overtime and passed on upgrading even in instances when it wouldn't have broken the bank to do so.

Edited by sagii
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On 1/19/2020 at 9:26 AM, batman_fan said:

The reason I think is the key issues were sort of affordable when I started but quickly went way beyond what I was comfortable spending.  My new strategy is to buy the most expensive and/or rarest books first unless there is a deal that is beyond smoking on something.

When I first started collecting GA books back in the late 80's, I was advised to go after the earliest or key books within a run and then work my way back out to the lesser books after that.  The theory was that the earliest and the keys or classic covers would tend to go up the fastest and if you spent all of your money on the cheaper run books, you might not have any left when the really nice ones came along.  Being a collector with a very limited budget, this was definitely a very sound strategic theory for me to follow in terms of my collecting priorities. (thumbsu

The only problem is that you should never ever forget about the second part of your statement which is what I did very early on and resulted in probably the biggest non-buying mistake of my vintage comic book collecting life.  One night while I was talking with this comic book broker with whom I was dealing with back in the late 80's, he mentioned to me that he had just acquired a high grade run of Spidey 2 through 10 and that I could have it for the grand sum of only $1,000.  The first thing that popped into my mind was where was the Spidey 1, as I knew in my mind that if I had the Spidey 2 through 10, the only thing I would think about would be the missing Spidey 1 and would probably end up paying silly money like well over a grand for a HG copy of Spidey 1.  Of course, this was at a time when SA Marvel books were going through an almost decades long slump or plateauing of prices and just about a year or so before the SA market took off like a rocket on fire without me and the Spideys on board.  :cry:

After giving it some thought and telling the broker that I would pass on the books, he told me that he would hold the books for me for a couple of weeks since he thought it was a great deal for me and that I might change my mind if I thought about it some more.  Especially since this run had been compiled by a very noted collector who had meticulously upgraded some of the books in the set over the previous 20+ years.  He felt it would also make up for the fact that I had came onto the GA scene too late to take advantage of some of the Church books which he would have sold to me had he known me earlier.  Received a call from him a week later to see if I had changed my mind as he had another eager buyer that was very interested in acquiring the set.  Being the absolute dummy that I was at the time and not seeing a basket of golden eggs when it's placed right in front of me, I thought about those much HTF GA books :luhv:  which was my absolute craze at the time and the missing Spidey 1 ???  and hence took a pass on the run.  Needless to say, most definitely not one of my smarter decisions and a true missed opportunity, especially considering all of those classic villians first appearances within that run.  doh!  doh!  doh!

It was rather ironic then that the Spidey 1 eventually did come to market some almost 15 years later and sold for over $20K in 2002, while the Spidey #2 through #10 set has yet to make its appearance in the marketplace.  Apparently after I had passed on the set, the books went immediately to the eager buyer who was Geppi, then eventually flipped to Steve Hunt at a nice healthy profit, before apparently settling into the private collection of the Dentist next to his Church copy of Action 1 and Allentown copy of 'Tec 27.  Not sure if this is where the set actually ended up at by the time it was all said and done, but really should confirm this with Dave the next time I talk to him one of these years, especially since I have always forgotten to ask him before in my past conversations with him.  hm

Edited by lou_fine
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On 1/19/2020 at 12:49 PM, batman_fan said:
On 1/19/2020 at 12:27 PM, piper said:

I think your approach is spot on.

 

 I think you are spot on for setting condition targets

I think each of you are spot on in your assessment.

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31 minutes ago, MrBedrock said:
On 1/19/2020 at 10:49 AM, batman_fan said:
On 1/19/2020 at 10:27 AM, piper said:

I think your approach is spot on.

 

 I think you are spot on for setting condition targets

I think each of you are spot on in your assessment.

And I think you are SPOT ON in your response here!!!  (thumbsu  lol

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