I'm now exclusevly buying TPB/GN's moving forward

[Bslythegamerguy]

For several years, 26 to be exact, I've been collecting comics in single issue form and it's been a wonderful experience. Some of my greatest joys in life have been hunting down issue I've needed through comic stores and seeking out new comics before the days of the web, it was the thrill of the hunt and the intense feeling of accomplishment when I finished collecting a whole run or when I found a book I needed. Can't explain it, but it was amazing. But over the years I've accumulated 28 boxes worth of comics and with limited room it was time to sell off the collection and move to the TPB/GN format.

I received $7,800 for the collection and placed an order with Amazon for $2,300 in TBP's and purchased a new bookcase with sliding glass doors to house the collection. I know not every comic I have I'll be able to replace in TPB form but a majority I will be able to and I'll be able to discover new stories this way as well. I'll be more prone to take a book off the shelf and read it rather than dig for a comic I want to read and take it out of its bag n' board and then put it back and rinse and repeat for every issue. And most of all I'll have more room to enjoy. I'm so excited I could scream, lol.

[JBatmanFan05]

Good for you. Yeah, I only keep single issues for stuff not covered by tpb.

Marvel makes the transition to tpb only pretty easy because they collect and recollect so much classic material.

DC is gonna be a more frustrating transition unless you just happen to have in singles the fewer runs that DC has amazingly collected well.


Dumped your Conway/Moench early 80s pre-COIE Batman/Det Comics collection?....ouch, because DC has hardly collected any of that and only in very patchwork fashion. (I'm having mine custom bound)

Dumped your Power of Shazam collection?...ouch
Dumped your Legends (crossover) single issues?...ouch

[alton]

Good for you. Yeah, I only keep single issues for stuff not covered by tpb.

Marvel makes the transition to tpb only pretty easy because they collect and recollect so much classic material.

DC is gonna be a more frustrating transition unless you just happen to have in singles the fewer runs that DC has amazingly collected well.


Dumped your Conway/Moench early 80s pre-COIE Batman/Det Comics collection?....ouch, because DC has hardly collected any of that and only in very patchwork fashion. (I'm having mine custom bound)

Dumped your Power of Shazam collection?...ouch
Dumped your Legends (crossover) single issues?...ouch

I would hope that at some point in the relaunch of many DC franchises, as they dust them off for the transition to TV and Cinema, that the TPB business is put in the hands of a separate editorial department that can concentrate on an affordable reissue program. This opposed to the mega collection price hike at Marvel.

[Iron Fist]

I started with trades and I've never regretted it.

The reasons you listed for not wanting to read singles are exactly why I never wanted to buy them. you can't really display them on shelves, unless you want to spend money on collection binders or what not and even then don't really look as good as trades or become as easy to read. The only way I've seen people make singles work is to get them bound in single volumes but unless the run isn't collected, you'd just be better buying trades/omnibuses.

But congrats on switching over and I can't wait to see what your collection looks like!

[Hero]

I sold off all but one long box of singles that are keepers. I do collected editions for the stuff that I like a lot and think I'll reread. Everything else is digital.

[Hellboydce]

Did exactly the same about 6 - 7 years ago and haven't looked back, in fact now days I limit my self to only buying hardcovers, I do sometimes miss the hunt of looking for that missing issue, but I'm glad I got rid of them, much easier now just to grab a book and read, only floppies I have kept is a complete and signed run of marvelman, but to be honest as soon as an omni of that is released they will go, I knew I would never be able to get all of them replaced with collected editions but probably got around 60 - 70% which is good enough.

[kodave]

For several years, 26 to be exact, I've been collecting comics in single issue form and it's been a wonderful experience. Some of my greatest joys in life have been hunting down issue I've needed through comic stores and seeking out new comics before the days of the web, it was the thrill of the hunt and the intense feeling of accomplishment when I finished collecting a whole run or when I found a book I needed. Can't explain it, but it was amazing. But over the years I've accumulated 28 boxes worth of comics and with limited room it was time to sell off the collection and move to the TPB/GN format.

I received $7,800 for the collection and placed an order with Amazon for $2,300 in TBP's and purchased a new bookcase with sliding glass doors to house the collection. I know not every comic I have I'll be able to replace in TPB form but a majority I will be able to and I'll be able to discover new stories this way as well. I'll be more prone to take a book off the shelf and read it rather than dig for a comic I want to read and take it out of its bag n' board and then put it back and rinse and repeat for every issue. And most of all I'll have more room to enjoy. I'm so excited I could scream, lol.

You probably could have saved some money shopping at IST or CGN over Amazon, given Amazon's prices these days.

[Bslythegamerguy]

You probably could have saved some money shopping at IST or CGN over Amazon, given Amazon's prices these days.

Nah, most trades that were $19.99 were $11.99-$12.99 in TPB, some even lower. Some of the $29.99 trades were under $22.99....

[victorxd1999]

Nah, most trades that were $19.99 were $11.99-$12.99 in TPB, some even lower. Some of the $29.99 trades were under $22.99....

Ist and CGN almost always have 40-45% off everything Marvel and Dc.

[kodave]

Ist and CGN almost always have 40-45% off everything Marvel and Dc.

And Image and Dark Horse.

Right now Amazon surprisingly has 40-50% off several DC books - mostly Batman evergreen TPBs. Same for some Walking Dead TPBs.

But that's maybe 15-20 books out of hundreds if not thousands. Other than this anomaly, which might be part of some kind of unadvertised sale, Amazon's big comics publisher discounts are still only 35% and less. Most seem to be around 25%.

Sometimes Amazon offers better discounts than CGN and IST on small press publishers though.

[Bslythegamerguy]

I just put in an order at CGN for some X-Men stuff I needed that was cheaper than Amazon as well as for some Superman and ASM stuff. Slowly but surely I'm building my library up, which is the goal.

[SJNeal]

Glad to hear it's working out for you!

I too am in the process of transitioning to HC's/tpb's only. It's a bittersweet thing, because of the very reasons you mention - I've been reading/collecting for almost 27 yrs now, and I'm (literally) closing the book on a huge part of my life. But the industry is in a very different place than it was in the late 80's/early 90's, and so many aspects of this hobby have lost their charm for me.

There are a ton of single issues I know I'll never part with, but after this coming summer, all new purchases will be collected editions.

[Bobby]

I have been replacing my singles and TPBs with HCs with a vengeance this year. I've also had my Marvel Universe DE Handbooks bound into two volumes as well as my World's Finest Captain Marvel stories bound. I haven't sold off my singles yet, and I may not, but the HCs are a classy way to own comics.

[Captain Craig]

I'm moving more and more in this direction. I now only buy HC but I'm not at the point of selling off the single floppies I've got.

[AJpyro]

*Fist-pump to the chest*

I feel your pain, my friend. I too am exclusive to tpbs. Maybe a HC or 2.