Do collectors often reset or start over? 1 1

[ignimbrite]

I have been seriously collecting comics for 20 years and always enjoyed it. This isn't a post about the state of comics today as I like quite a bit of the newer options. My issue is I met most of my collecting goals and the 'chase' is gone and seemingly a lot of the fun.

I have some solid books and am seriously thinking of selling it all and buying a piece or two of origional art. Does this happen often?  Is it common for collectors to reset? I don't want to become an accumulator and just start buying things. I have a room with a few hundred slabs that I don't really look at anymore.

This could not be any more of a first world problem. 🤣

[ADAMANTIUM]

3 minutes ago, ignimbrite said:

I have been seriously collecting comics for 20 years and always enjoyed it. This isn't a post about the state of comics today as I like quite a bit of the newer options. My issue is I met most of my collecting goals and the 'chase' is gone and seemingly a lot of the fun.

I have some solid books and am seriously thinking of selling it all and buying a piece or two of origional art. Does this happen often?  Is it common for collectors to reset? I don't want to become an accumulator and just start buying things. I have a room with a few hundred slabs that I don't really look at anymore.

This could not be any more of a first world problem. 🤣

I've thought near to this recently, as the subject of selling to buy something big has come up.....

Idk, but here are my thoughts:

If I have 3 keys 1 worth $1000, 2nd $500 and a third $100, and I want some mad cash then I could sell all 3 to fund said cash fund or a mixture like 1 or 2....

If I've sold all 3 of those keys to fund a book worth $1600, I have less options for whatever needs funding.....

Ya it's nice to have a big book, but budget, money coming in etc.; it will definitely be different for everyone, and this is just me personally, but lower $$ books still seem worthwhile to a point and how many you have......

as oppose to having to sell off a major key to fund something smaller in comparison, you know? that would suck the big one  

SO when I hear people say collect quality over quantity, I take it with a grain of salt, because collecting is not a one size fits all imo  

[Get Marwood & I]

13 minutes ago, ignimbrite said:

I have been seriously collecting comics for 20 years and always enjoyed it. This isn't a post about the state of comics today as I like quite a bit of the newer options. My issue is I met most of my collecting goals and the 'chase' is gone and seemingly a lot of the fun.

I have some solid books and am seriously thinking of selling it all and buying a piece or two of origional art. Does this happen often?  Is it common for collectors to reset? I don't want to become an accumulator and just start buying things. I have a room with a few hundred slabs that I don't really look at anymore.

This could not be any more of a first world problem. 🤣

It happened to me. I had an extensive, near complete Spider-Man 'completist' collection - every issue of every series with every variant. It took years to build, was worth a bomb, and I loved every minute of it. Then a combination of events made me sell the lot. Well, almost the lot. 25 keys left out of an 8,000 book collection.

Now I collect tatty pence variants for the five publishers who aren't Marvel or DC to keep me in the game, as I can't live my life without comics. I enjoy collecting and researching them just as much as I did the Spideys. If not more so.

Once you have it all, all you can do is look at it. A big part of the thrill is the hunt. Nothing wrong with finding a new hunt.

[Comics4All]

54 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

I've thought near to this recently, as the subject of selling to buy something big has come up.....

Idk, but here are my thoughts:

If I have 3 keys 1 worth $1000, 2nd $500 and a third $100, and I want some mad cash then I could sell all 3 to fund said cash fund or a mixture like 1 or 2....

If I've sold all 3 of those keys to fund a book worth $1600, I have less options for whatever needs funding.....

Ya it's nice to have a big book, but budget, money coming in etc.; it will definitely be different for everyone, and this is just me personally, but lower $$ books still seem worthwhile to a point and how many you have......

as oppose to having to sell off a major key to fund something smaller in comparison, you know? that would suck the big one  

SO when I hear people say collect quality over quantity, I take it with a grain of salt, because collecting is not a one size fits all imo  

None of what you said is a sentence! 

I agree, that the beauty of a collection is in the eye of the beholder of said collection! 

The thrill of the hunt is good therapy for me! 

[Comics4All]

1 hour ago, ignimbrite said:

I have been seriously collecting comics for 20 years and always enjoyed it. This isn't a post about the state of comics today as I like quite a bit of the newer options. My issue is I met most of my collecting goals and the 'chase' is gone and seemingly a lot of the fun.

I have some solid books and am seriously thinking of selling it all and buying a piece or two of origional art. Does this happen often?  Is it common for collectors to reset? I don't want to become an accumulator and just start buying things. I have a room with a few hundred slabs that I don't really look at anymore.

This could not be any more of a first world problem. 🤣

If you are tired of your slabs you send them to me!

They would go to a good home!

I have gone through times where I have stopped collecting as well, but the thrill of the hunt is fun!

Go get some OA! 

[exitmusicblue]

1 hour ago, ignimbrite said:

I have been seriously collecting comics for 20 years and always enjoyed it. This isn't a post about the state of comics today as I like quite a bit of the newer options. My issue is I met most of my collecting goals and the 'chase' is gone and seemingly a lot of the fun.

I have some solid books and am seriously thinking of selling it all and buying a piece or two of origional art. Does this happen often?  Is it common for collectors to reset? I don't want to become an accumulator and just start buying things. I have a room with a few hundred slabs that I don't really look at anymore.

This could not be any more of a first world problem. 🤣

Welcome to the club.  I used to be 100% into comics... now it's 90% OA, 10% comics.

Hop on over to the OA section of the boards, you'll get all the info you need.  

[slym2none]

2 hours ago, ignimbrite said:

Do collectors often reset or start over?

 

 

Yes. Some (not many, but some) do it repeatedly.



-slym

[Artboy99]

I have reset so many times I have lost count.

For me the chase is far more interesting than having.

[Ken Aldred]

I've restarted twice, as an impoverished student, desperately and naively selling off earlier, smaller collections for a pittance.  Not alone there.

But, since those early, dark days, I've ended up with a selection of keys and certain nostalgically-significant issues that I'm content with, without really wanting to add anything new to the collection at today's exorbitant prices.

As well as restarting or resetting, as asked above, I've also evolved my focus away from physical copies to reading digitally, and much prefer the stress-free detachment and economy associated with this.

 

Edited February 16, 2020 by Ken Aldred

[comicginger1789]

I feel a lot of collectors started while young, stopped due to life (and often times sold) but then returned later in life to get back what they had.

And I guess it’s fair to assume someday you lose be love or it shifts. Take me for example. I collected Spidey only initially. It grew into other Silver and Bronze Age Marvel stuff. Then Batman. Then anything odd or a good read or that had artists or artwork I loved. And now I’ve really worked this past year or so learning about Golden age stuff. I’ve slowed but I still love it. Reading had gotten away from me but I try to read every once in a while. I moreso look forward to retirement (looong eats away) and having stuff to read.

 

[oldmilwaukee6er]

It is common for collectors to price themselves out of a collectible field, to reach a point where the pieces coming in have to be of a certain quality (and over time it becomes cost prohibitive).

At that time collectors will typically transition to a new collectible that is cheaper and more fun. 

[WolverineX]

9 hours ago, ignimbrite said:

I have been seriously collecting comics for 20 years and always enjoyed it. This isn't a post about the state of comics today as I like quite a bit of the newer options. My issue is I met most of my collecting goals and the 'chase' is gone and seemingly a lot of the fun.

I have some solid books and am seriously thinking of selling it all and buying a piece or two of origional art. Does this happen often?  Is it common for collectors to reset? I don't want to become an accumulator and just start buying things. I have a room with a few hundred slabs that I don't really look at anymore.

This could not be any more of a first world problem. 🤣

Yes, it's called a Mid life crisis.    Glad you are tackling it in this manner... It's much better than divorcing your wife, buying the corvette, and marrying younger woman. 

[Junkdrawer]

Having original art is so gratifying. I look at my art online often on CAF. My books...not so much.Comics are way more marketable though.

[lordbyroncomics]

Absolutely. Twice now I've sold an extensive and viable collection to help pay for veterinarian bills so there was no hesitation but I admit there was a little bit of trepidation at first starting to buy Bronze and Silver Age again at first. But now I'm back at it and it's just as enjoyable, just as benignly frustrating as it ever was and ever will be. I don't think collectors will ever be satisfied, I think there's always a new run to begin or a new cool cover or a weird reprint mag they dig and can't resist. So yeah, I think you can reset and start over unless you are independently wealthy and don't need to sometimes sell off your stuff. Nothing wrong with being in either position.

[DavidTheDavid]

9 hours ago, Wolverinex said:

Yes, it's called a Mid life crisis.    Glad you are tackling it in this manner... It's much better than divorcing your wife, buying the corvette, and marrying younger woman. 

The proper terminology is mid-life opportunity. 

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

18 hours ago, ignimbrite said:

I have been seriously collecting comics for 20 years and always enjoyed it. This isn't a post about the state of comics today as I like quite a bit of the newer options. My issue is I met most of my collecting goals and the 'chase' is gone and seemingly a lot of the fun.

I have some solid books and am seriously thinking of selling it all and buying a piece or two of origional art. Does this happen often?  Is it common for collectors to reset? I don't want to become an accumulator and just start buying things. I have a room with a few hundred slabs that I don't really look at anymore.

This could not be any more of a first world problem. 🤣

I’m glad you posted this. I’ll reread the responses a few times.

i consolidated into 10 big comics with the idea that these are such pinnacle books that I could never want for more. Well of course I wanted for more. I’m constantly, and I mean CONSTANTLY, considering getting rid of the lot and replacing them with one a single book, but so far have been frozen into inaction. Meanwhile, the enthusiasm on the boards for certain genres has taken hold of me, so in the last few years, I’ve picked up smaller books here and there: maybe an LB Cole cover, maybe a romance Matt Baker cover, I’m up to maybe 20 slabs now.

I look at every big auction  that comes along, and as I spot a new treasure, the 3 dimensional chess game begins anew in my head. 
 

if I had a lick of sense, I’d just leave it alone and take up collecting a small silver spoon from every state.

[Tempus Fugit]

I have rebooted 3 times:

Started collecting in '72, sold almost all of it as a HS senior in '80

Worked nights in a comic shop in '87-88 and put together a very modest collection, then life happened.

Revisited it all in 2007 and started buying/collecting selling.

Sold almost all my "big books" in '15-'16, and now focused on a filling a short box with a few things for my collection . Still have a few thousand books I take to shows to sell/trade.

Rebooting is fun, and makes the hobby fun and occasionally lucrative.

[PetuniaGrimm]

For me I collected and developed a love for the hobby as a kid in the 70's, great books, excellent stores, and a more connected (in person anyway) community since there was no internet.
I got out around the age of 15, only to return in a fit of nostalgia for my childhood in my forties. Upon returning I quickly amassed the entire run of Fantastic Four from first issue to current, once that was completed I realized I wasn't happy with the grades of many of my books, and the wave of upgrades started. Now that the upgrading is complete I'm just kind of sitting static without really buying any books in the last year or so. I pull out my long and short boxes and look at my books once a month or so, but lately I have been kicking around the idea of selling them all. The current plan is to wait for the new FF movie in a few years, which I'm hoping will actually be good for once, and then at the height of the movie driven price increase (that I'm hoping for) sell them all. 
The many years of reassembling and upgrading my collection were extremely enjoyable, but I think I'm ready to downsize to just a couple short boxes of books that are special to me now, and cash out on the rest when the time is right.

[Aweandlorder]

It really is all about the hunt for me. I’ve cut hundreds of deals throughout the years. Yeah I sell my off but I do have a aweandlorder collection that will stay here on this planet long after I’m gone. But the hunt is what gets me going. What’s gonna be the next big treasure I’ll discover. What’s the next adventure? Is it going to the boogie down at 1am to pick up a collection or is it driving 2-3 states over for a goldmine. Yes I’m crazy but that’s my thing. I’m either all in or I’m not in at all. And I enjoy every second of it

[B2D327]

After collecting for 40+ years, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to restart for all kinds of reasons but the love for the medium never left. Things happen that are unforeseeable.