The thrill is gone. 7 7

[shadroch]

As a wiseman said: If not now, then when?

[ADAMANTIUM]

To the massive zoom meeting!

[James J Johnson]

1 hour ago, shadroch said:

As a wiseman said: If not now, then when?

Then there's the forum saying, if in doubt, consult Greggy, get some real answers!    

 

But yeah. I like the Porsche and road trip idea a lot. If Greggy gives his blessing on that and signs off as the perfect solution to the hobby blues, then as far as I'm concerned, that's gospel, and a go!! 

Edited November 30, 2020 by James J Johnson

[Kevin.J]

I have had these feelings many times

This is my situation

I have so many books that I am trapped in a house that I would rather sell.

I am in poor health and dont have the energy to sort or sell my books anyway.

I dont need the money, so no real incentive there either.

I have no one in my life that has any interest in my books.

I worry that when I die my missus will get totally ripped off ( she will )

I am still compelled to buy and fill my gaps.

Its a viscous circle and not one I think I will be able to overcome tbh

I find I enjoy reading about comics more than reading comics themselves.

I havent even looked at 99% of my books in years.

I wouldnt blame anyone for selling up and getting out of this hobby, I am unsure at times if I enjoy or hate my collection.

[aardvark88]

7 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

consult Greggy, get some real answers!    

 

 I like the Porsche and road trip idea a lot. If Greggy gives his blessing on that and signs off as the perfect solution to the hobby blues

But greggy does not sully his Cgc fingers on a steering wheel while he can get his many loyal  lackeys to chauffeur his omniscientness to/from Comicon 2019 and 2021.

[Ken Aldred]

10 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

I completely disagree... 

This pandemic shook people out of their comfort zone and perhaps opened their eyes to reevaluate priorities.   At the end of the day, this is nothing but 'stuff'. 

Both you and Randall have valid points.

I wouldn’t sell in a panicked or depressed state during the current pandemic, but there’s nothing wrong with a bit of pragmatic evaluation.

A good example is a chat I had recently with someone who isn’t really a comics fan.  On discussing how much my keys had increased relative to original purchase price, I was pleasantly surprised that her concern wasn’t so much about selling them immediately, rather making some provision for the future because of the dangers presented by the current situation, especially being in a higher risk age group coupled with living in one of the highest risk areas of England.  
 

So, not about any sudden, rash decision, but making a will to do something constructively with the books in the future.

Having no immediate family or dependents, the direction I’d go in is a charitable one.  Here many of these organisations now offer to set up a will for you, but I’m unsure about how to go about maximising the potential of my collection for them.

It’s not like Covid is necessarily a long-term, progressive illness which gives you the opportunity to sell very systematically via a comic auction site, as one of my best pals here managed to do,  because you could be taken out in no time by this terribly unpredictable virus.

Edited November 30, 2020 by Ken Aldred

[the blob]

I go in and out. As I always have financial needs beyond my salary I tend to look at every box as a potential $150-5000. With that said, what I collect right now is some DC war and disney ducks with some random GA, stuff I don't view as great investments (the ducks have been horrible), I just like them (even though they are material I never read when I did read comics). With that said, if there's a Sgt. Rock or enemy ace movie my basement is getting renovated!

Personally I have found the lack of the physical hunt has hurt me. MY main LCS closed last year, the one I went to a lot before then closed, no comic cons around here during covid ... I enjoy the hunt. Hunting on line is not the same, at all.

Edited November 30, 2020 by the blob

[Ken Aldred]

9 hours ago, Wolverinex said:

@NoMan honestly,  i would rather have a Porsche then an Action 1 or whatever rare slab you have hidden away .  Enjoy that fast car.

I once had lunch with a boardie over here who had had to make a decision between buying a BMW or a Captain America Comics 1.  (Way out of my league.)  Despite being a comics geek, I passed the test: I chose the car, as had he.

Edited November 30, 2020 by Ken Aldred

[kav]

The thrill may be gone but

 

[Ken Aldred]

9 hours ago, Mmehdy said:

One other point I would like to make about the difference between collecting today and say 1960's 1970's 1980's is when you left and sold your books, there was no way you could really get that material again in any form. Today with the incredible  reprints, I can buy 3 Vols of Fantastic Four hardcover bigger in size, better in color and get FF 1-93 plus annuals of unpublished covers for around $300...(note they are reprinting Omb #2/3 in 2021). I agree with your beater copies nothing compares to the smell, feeling of holding that original book. But if they are slabbed you cannot read them anyway. So I can see how it is easier to disconnect from collecting today, rather having the actual physical copies you should STILL be considered a collector even if you just have the Big reprint books. But way back when, when you were out, you really out Today, if you come back you can still get the material that who sold back in a different format. I think it is a very interesting issue here..can you still be considered a true comic book collector with a collection of reprints...? any thoughts...                                                                                    

Part of the motivation for going on the hunt for comics back then was that they were only available as original copies, which dealers and shops could monopolise.  Now, if you’re primarily interested in the story contents, that monopoly and dependency has been shattered by the proliferation of remastered collected editions and the even greater ease of digital reading.  I prefer the relaxed convenience of the present rather than the frustration of missing issues of an extended storyline in, say, Avengers or X-Men, as young, British collectors had to tolerate back in the 70s due to patchy distribution.

Edited November 30, 2020 by Ken Aldred

[Ken Aldred]

11 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

 At the end of the day, this is nothing but 'stuff'. 

 

9 hours ago, Randall Dowling said:

Regardless of whether or not I remain the custodian, they’ll always be The Sacred Pamphlets to me.

But, sometimes, as now, you have to consider legacy.

Edited November 30, 2020 by Ken Aldred

[Mmehdy]

1 hour ago, Ken Aldred said:

Part of the motivation for going on the hunt for comics back then was that they were only available as original copies, which dealers and shops could monopolise.  Now, if you’re primarily interested in the story contents, that monopoly and dependency has been shattered by the proliferation of remastered collected editions and the even greater ease of digital reading.  I prefer the relaxed convenience of the present rather than the frustration of missing issues of an extended storyline in, say, Avengers or X-Men, as young, British collectors had to tolerate back in the 70s due to patchy distribution.

I can remember looking and looking in the late 1960’s for man on a rampage Spider-Man issue,,, the story line continued, it took me a year to find it... great read..that much has not changed.. just recently reread it... still great

[FineCollector]

7 hours ago, shadroch said:

I was about to drop a couple hundred bucks on books I didn't collect, that no one really collected and was doing so just so I could say I had completed a collecting goal no one but me cared about.  I apologized, put the books back and bought a couple of iconic covers instead. From that point on, I identified 100 key books from that era and pretty much stuck to buying them.

This is what you said that stuck with me.  Buying comics you don't care about will 100% make you unhappy, so I'm glad you didn't.  However, piling up keys for $$$ reasons also didn't seem to excite you.  I think there's a third option you're ignoring.  Stop looking at comics like a retailer, which ones do you actually enjoy?  Is there any material that still intrigues you or that makes you happy to leaf through it?  If you feel like you've read it all, and comics are just pork bellies, then yes, it's time to get out.

I'm happy with my hoard, and still buying more.  I'm 41, so not concerned about my final years yet.  The most frustrating thing about comics for me is seeing people collecting for money with no attachment to the books.  Two things that people don't get excited about are mutual funds, and investment comics.  Facebook is really frustrating for me because the new collectors there buy for money without knowing what they're buying, and they burn out after 5 years.  Take money out of the equation, and it's easier to be happy with comics.

[dupont2005]

I’m kind of starting to feel the same way. I don’t have as much disposable income or space as I used to. I can’t really buy collectible comics anymore and the ones I hold onto I never look at anymore. They’re spread out between my house, my moms house, and my storage. The ones at my moms and in storage I haven’t seen in years. I haven’t opened my long boxes in years, not even to put away the comics I purchased these past few years that sit stacked on top of the boxes I never open now

[ttfitz]

On 11/28/2020 at 9:46 PM, James J Johnson said:

On 11/28/2020 at 9:33 PM, Wolverinex said:

Dude. Sell it and get the Porsche.  Life is short

This!! 

Porsche's are over-rated - Had a boss who had one, and it spent more time in the shop than in his driveway. 

[tv horror]

As I sit in my Crypt reading all your very interesting responses I would like to add my own. I've been reading comics since I was 5 years old the first year I was just drooling over the drawings and I can even remember "reading" my first comic which was a Beano U.K comic, I realised then that I lost something maybe it was the magic who knows but it never stopped me. I loved the thrill of waiting on the next issue coming out and remember these were all black and white reprints back in the Sixties and Seventies but I loved them all. At first back then in the early 60's I had maybe four friend or at least kids I knew who collected the same issue and if I were to miss an issue I would move Hell and high water to get that copy of them by hook or by hook, yes I was relentless! However it "HAD" to be done, my run would be kept under my bed and like Fagin I browse over my treasures nightly before bedtime that was the special time getting to read the new adventures of say Batman or any Superhero. Then as I grew older in my teenage years I discovered horror and that has been my love since then, however I've only got two long distance friends in which I share my passion by phone! Yes they have never seen my collection due to me sharing my home with my older brothers and sisters and I respect their privacy. As for comics I did get back into collecting during the mid eighties due to my nephew expressing an interest in buying a Spider-man run, as I travelled around flea markets and such buying up everything they had my nephew lost interest and I was left with about one hundred copies of comics that I had once loved, what to do? I confess that I loved the hunt more than the comics and looking through those long boxes was quite a thrill. Then we move to present day I'm now three issues short of a complete run of ALL the Spidey titles less AF15 Amazing 1,2 yet I now find that they are all STUFF even my horror collection and nobody else in the family is interested so it looks like the dumpster for them. Lately I have found more interest in watching people show their collections on You tube and have a right few laughs at the "experts", there was one I was watching last night that had gotten a short box full of comics for free from his cousins? Well as he went through this box of what some on the forum would call drek, he announces that this one is worth $600 and this one $95 "Oh I might send this one to CGC...Nah maybe not?" Yes TV Horror gets his jollies from You Tube meanwhile I still love going through my stuff as it is my STUFF!!!!!!!!!! So yes I can well understand how some of you are feeling so go ahead show your collections on You tube before you pop your clogs at least you might earn a few dollars along the way, phew this is a lonnnnnnnnnnnnng post, stay safe.

 

       

[tv horror]

On 11/28/2020 at 5:42 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

I sold one comic and bought a car the other year. The car does so much more for me than the comic ever could, sitting as it did in a box unseen

Yes but was it a Spideymobile?

[EC Star&Bar]

I've had many if not most of the thoughts, anxieties, etc, expressed by others in this thread.  One thing I wanted to mention:  as one reason for switching over primarily to collections of comics in book form in recent years, I believe in the future my books can be dispersed much more easily, including looking into university libraries interested in donations of my holdings.  Worldcat.org gives me immediate info on which libraries own what.  The future home of one of my 4 copies of Suicide Squad Silver Age Omnibus will be...?

Anyway, I'm glad to learn that there are other Disney comics fans here -- I watch quite a few collectors on YouTube, and it seems Disney Barks Ducks etc. are rarely appreciated in comparison to superhero and Star Wars fandom.

[Get Marwood & I]

1 hour ago, tv horror said:

Yes but was it a Spideymobile?

Matchbox. I never said it was a real car.... 

Nice to see you posting again Maurice 

7 hours ago, Kevin.J said:

I find I enjoy reading about comics more than reading comics themselves.

Same here - and researching them, as we are (hopefully) enjoying doing over in the distribution thread Kevin

7 hours ago, Kevin.J said:

I wouldnt blame anyone for selling up and getting out of this hobby, I am unsure at times if I enjoy or hate my collection.

I can relate to that. 

[BuscemasAvengers]

Would love to hear @Marty Mann take on Shad's lament.