We're all collecting comics in here, but *how* you collecting? Are you buying/keeping only the good stuff, or are you obsessed with collecting entire runs?
For the most part, I keep only what I think is good - but for my favorite comic book, X-Men, I strive to collect everything. For them, I'm a completionist.
Back when I was a kid, I gradually stopped reading X-Men (and comics in general) in the mid-to-late nineties. I used to think it was simply because I was "growing up" and losing interest, and while this was probably also part of the reason, I have lately - as I have bought and read most X-Men from the 90's - come to realize that the latter part of the 90's was simply a terrible time for X-Men. With a few exceptions (such as Age of Apocalypse and parts of the Phalanx Covenant), the period was marred by way too frequent and disjointed crossovers, subpar writing (at best), poor new characters and a too cartoonish style of art around the board. I liked the days where everyone tried to mimick Jim Lee a lot better than the days when everyone tried to mimick Joe Madueira, that's for sure...
Anyway, the thing is: even though I dislike this period, I'm having a hard time getting rid of the books due to my somewhat obsessive need to collect everything from my favorite comic book property.
How do the rest of you handle when your favorite comic book has a long, rough patch (assuming that no property has a 100 % success rate)? Are you capable of leaving a hole in your collection or do you, too, have a need to collect it?