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Question about collecting. (subject specifically: personal enjoyment vs spec books)
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77 posts in this topic

22 minutes ago, Galen130 said:

The only comment I have on this is that I'm early Gen X and comic books were a great way to pass the time because the interwebs wasn't available in the 70s.  I think Gen X greatly appreciated what they had back then, in the form of entertainment.  I'll save all comments about Millennial's.  I don't want this to get political....:fear:

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Gen X is the coolest generation, no doubt.

70s was a great kids decade.  Adults hated it at the time.

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2 minutes ago, vheflin said:

Gen X is the coolest generation, no doubt.

70s was a great kids decade.  Adults hated it at the time.

I agree with the 'adults' part.  They grew up in heavily charged war time (WWII, Korea, Vietnam).  There were comic books then, too.  My old man had some with him in Vietnam.  Too bad they didn't survive the trip home.  Would've loved to collect those. :(

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2 hours ago, Matthew Kyle Brasile said:

Yeah I know! It's crazy! And I think about it in terms of this! If I don't love the character, love the cover or love the story I would rather have something else and I got all the keys (becasue I can't afford anything else 😂Yeah I know! It's crazy! When I was younger I racked leaves, shoveled snow and cut grass basically all year $40 bucks a house and I would do every house around my block that I can over and over again! Plus I would get $100 from each of my grandparents and it adds up. I never bought lunch and I never spend money on things I did not need! I work a part time job while I go to college full time so I really can't compete with big time collectors but when I see some of my friends spend hundreds of dollars a week just on drinking and weed. I fell like my money is going the little longer way!

I never had that type of opportunity. I grew up on a farm, and there was plenty of work to fill the day. When I suggested to my Dad that I would like to paid, his response was, "You're getting free room and board." Needless to say, I never brought the subject up again.

When I was in 8th grade, I got a job at the Beaver Steak House as a busboy. I worked Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday at lunch. I earned a whopping $1.00 per hour. The waitresses were supposed to give us some of their tips, but that didn't happen that often. Once I started to play varsity sports when I was sophomore, my Steak House job came to and end.

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I would rather hang out with this person:

4 hours ago, Matthew Kyle Brasile said:

When I was younger I racked leaves, shoveled snow and cut grass basically all year $40 bucks a house and I would do every house around my block that I can over and over again!  never bought lunch and I never spend money on things I did not need!

Than this person:

3 hours ago, Matthew Kyle Brasile said:

He thinks he has it bad even tho he makes $250k a year, has a beautiful soon to be wife, a brand new tesla, and works only 4 days out of it week.

 

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OP, your "friend" is the type of person that will drag you down. I'm not saying he's intentionally trying to sabotage you, but a negative attitude has a way of affecting others more than a positive one does. There are enough people already walking around with a chip on their shoulder. The more you're around this guy, the more aspects of his personality will rub off on you. It won't work the other way unfortunately. Best to learn this while you're young.

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1 hour ago, adamstrange said:
6 hours ago, Matthew Kyle Brasile said:

When I was younger I racked leaves, shoveled snow and cut grass basically all year $40 bucks a house and I would do every house around my block that I can over and over again!  never bought lunch and I never spend money on things I did not need!

Than this person:

5 hours ago, Matthew Kyle Brasile said:

He thinks he has it bad even tho he makes $250k a year, has a beautiful soon to be wife, a brand new tesla, and works only 4 days out of it week.

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17 hours ago, Matthew Kyle Brasile said:

He always puts down DC Golden age and calls timely the overpriced racist comics of a by gone era.

Easy to put a positive spin, here.

Treat them as historical documents, literally illustrating social issues of the time, learn from the past, be ashamed or even appalled by what you read, and move away from all that and hopefully contribute to stopping history repeating itself. This was discussed at length in the Dr Suess thread.  It's worth looking at these books now, at a time when we have both progressive, liberal movements and also the reemergence elsewhere of extremist xenophobia.  

There's still a lot to be obtained from reading Golden Age.  Eisner's depiction of Ebony in The Spirit was misguided, something he was later very apologetic for, but, the social missteps aside, that doesn't stop The Spirit from otherwise being a work of graphic, sequential art genius, though of its time.  I have the complete DC Archive run.

Edited by Ken Aldred
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I am a 22 year old college student and my comic book friend I knew for years is 7 years older then I am and has a more stable income and stable job then I do. Recently we started butting heads due to him thinking any book that's not a key is basically trash. He always puts down DC Golden age and calls timely the overpriced racist comics of a by gone era. He has some big books I could probably never afford like X-Men #1 in a 6.0 (off-white-White) and his other big book is FF #5 6.5 in off-white-White).

DC Golden age Superman's are pretty sweet as are the vintage Joker covers.   The Timely books and other WWII are sought after for a reason beyond the characters and stories but more for the historical significance.  Put him in touch with some of us and we will edjumicate him. 

 

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 Anyway, I had $1900 to spend so I spend it on Marvel Mystery Comics #51 CGC 6.0 off-white pages (a book that's been on my want list since I was 12). He looked at the book like it was basically trash becasue it was not a key and not worth the money. He said I should have bought Ultimate fallout 4 even though that book does NOT exicted me in anyway. Some time passed and a 3.5 sold for $1950 (eBay) and a 4.5 sold for $2150 (eBay) and another one that was a 2.5 sold for $1500. So I think I got a really good deal on a book that I always wanted.

Ehh... that's a tough one.  I do agree that 1st appearances are the way to go.  I explained once that this mentality comes from Baseball collectors.  Obviously the Jordan rookie is more desirable than his fourth year.   So go after first appearances first when you can.  They almost always carry a premium and will be more sought after.   I said this years ago and here we are where a storyline will always take a backseat to the character's rookie appearance. 

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I got Wonder Comics #6 (cream to off White) during the pandemic for $475 and last month the same book graded at a 5.5 (Off-white to white) sold for $995 (2 graded 5.5) and a 3.5 (cream to off White pages) sold for $507 dollars and a 1.5 (off white to white pages) sold for $216. So I think I did good on that as well and my big investment book is Action Comics #44 (6.5 cream to off White pages) got for $900 (2018) when 2 months ago a 2.0 (Cream-off white) sold for $687 and a 3.5 (cream to off White pages) sold for $1750 and a 4.5 sold for $2970 (off white to white pages).

 

I tried to show him that Golden Age books are solid investments and books I genuinely enjoy and love to look at but he always thinks with the mind set of getting  books for the money aspect of the hobby.. the reason he has big books is because he buys spec books and flips them with no care of love for the books he puts thousands of dollars into but I don't have the funds to get into spec books when I wanna pull the trigger on a book I've been looking for at a good price. It took me 5 months to build up $1900. Any thoughts on the matter as fellow collectors? 

WWII has always been more than just a war but a pop culture part of Americana.  The GA books are in much shorter supply than silver age due to American efforts in recycling combined with the perception of periodicals and especially comic books as cheap and disposable entertainment for kids.    WWII era comics and admittedly some moderns featuring first appearances have been displayed at the Smithsonian.  The Virgin Variant Chromium Cover of Venom 281 in Third Print... is not.   So what is more meaningful from a historic standpoint?  

However, there is nothing wrong with buying spec books that someone is going to pay you a bundle for with the gamble that it will increase in value for them.   I do it sometimes and there is nothing wrong with it.   I stick to first appearances though.  I cannot keep track of the variant flavor of the week.   I have books that I have flipped that I could care less about so I could raise money to buy the books I really wanted.   

As far as needing to show him anything though?  Who cares?  Why do you need his validation to collect what you want?   We have an entire forum attached to us of people dropping hundreds if not thousands of dollars on pieces of cardboard with numbers on them featuring fictional animals that have magical powers.  If that's what they want to do... they don't need my validation.  They do them... I do me.  I just like to poke fun of them when they act like a bunch of 'Karens" demanding to speak to the CGC manager about Turnaround times. 

Fore more fun visit the card forum. 

 

 

 

Edited by Buzzetta
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If the question is who is making the more wise investment someone who is buying the Marvel Keys in whatever grade they can afford or someone who is buying some GA comics they actually appreciate it's hard to say.  The Marvel keys have had a pretty good run, and as much as I love my GA comics more than I love my Marvel Keys there is no question which has appreciated more.  

If the question is should you spend money on Marvel keys or on GA comics it would totally depend on which you prefer.  Really, buy whatever comics interest you and don't expect great returns, but enjoy the hunt, enjoy the reading, enjoy the collection.  Your collection won't make as much as your friend's, but that isn't always the point of a comic book collection.  (And if you say "Well I don't want to LOSE money" then go back to the first paragraph).

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19 hours ago, Matty B said:

I tried to show him that Golden Age books are solid investments and books I genuinely enjoy and love to look at but he always thinks with the mind set of getting  books for the money aspect of the hobby.. the reason he has big books is because he buys spec books and flips them with no care of love for the books he puts thousands of dollars into but I don't have the funds to get into spec books when I wanna pull the trigger on a book I've been looking for at a good price. It took me 5 months to build up $1900. Any thoughts on the matter as fellow collectors? 

The best he can hope for from all his speculating is a pile of money, and it might be a small pile if his bets start going south.

You, on the hand, are guaranteed an enjoyable time away from the daily grind by looking at and learning about funnybooks.  If you keep acquiring books like the ones pictured, you will also have assembled an interesting collection of American cultural Heritage that appeals to you.  It's possible that you may even make a little money in the process.

Edited by adamstrange
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6 hours ago, Ken Aldred said:

at a time when we have both progressive, liberal movements.

Ken, I'm really not trying to pick a fight, but I respectfully ask can anyone seriously suggest there's much that's liberal about modern progressives? Don't today's progressives try to ban free speech and the open exchange of ideas everyday, as well as rewriting history?

Someone speaking on campus today you don't agree with?  Defeat them on the merits and strengths of your arguments? Heck, no - ban them from speaking. Don't like something in a book or movie from a different era? Well, do we provide historical context or even (gasp) let people glean that for themselves? No way: ban that, too.

I urge anyone who thinks they are so "progressive" in their thoughts and actions to study the classical liberalism of the nineteenth century and earlier. No classical liberal would deign to defend the rabid collectivism of today while so forcefully dismissing the individualist flickerings of yore.

I do believe the semantical ship has sailed: the terms "liberal" and "progressive" appear irreconcilable and really have little correlation in relation to today's modern political spectrum. 

And lest we ignore those aforementioned sins of the past, at the dawn of the previous American century there were self-touted "progressives" then as well. Their champions included Margaret Sanger and Woodrow Wilson. Those are two of the most racist and xenophobic people who ever roamed our public corridors.  (shrug)

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On 3/31/2021 at 10:37 PM, Matty B said:

He always puts down DC Golden age and calls timely the overpriced racist comics of a by gone era.

How regretfully pathetic it is when people look through the rearview mirror of history through a prism imbued with the artificial moral superiority born of today's fatted sow.

Were those depictions racial or even racist in nature? Absolutely, and quite seemingly. 

Were those the depictions of people who were dedicated to killing us? Most assuredly. 

How utterly and distastefully disingenuous to ignore the homicidal and genocidal intent of enemy states, and instead focus on the overwhelmingly trivial historical trail of what was the contemporary propaganda of comic books intended for children. 

It's folly, I tell you. Nothing or nobody can conceivably bear up under the scrutiny of today's most vicious gatekeepers and arbiters of morality. This is a path that leads us not into light but into darkness.   doh!

Edited by PopKulture
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