Reaching that End of Your Collection - Your Thoughts

[Pharozonk]

Since I'm too jaded by modern DC and Marvel comics to read them, I've been looking back at a lot of their older material that's too expensive to own in original print. Next on my list to buy is this:

[Dmreyn]

I'm nowhere near that point yet, haha, but I will bring up a few related points. I don't really feel bad about collecting trades/comics, because if I ever got into a financial bind, I could always make at least 50% off of what I paid for them, and some rare or OOP trades I could definitely even turn a profit on. The second thing is that when I have kids down the road, I think it would be cool to show them my hobby and share it with them. I guess when they grow up they might not be a comic fan, but hey, who 6-12 year old DOESN'T love Spider-Man, Batman, etc?

[Spirou]

"Collecting comics is a journey, not a destination"

[Cometman]

"Collecting comics is a journey, not a destination"

Exactly. With so much material out there I never have a problem finding something else to read and collect. Too many collectors and readers limit themselves to American comics. Check out some of the Asian stuff. Its really good.

[lvizzz]

Exactly. With so much material out there I never have a problem finding something else to read and collect. Too many collectors and readers limit themselves to American comics. Check out some of the Asian stuff. Its really good.

Like what for example?

[dedpool79]

I will follow writers and artists to new projects, but I've always been a "character" guy; yeah, one of those people...so I'm not sure I could ever look at my collection as complete, because my favorite characters are still getting published. Still, I could do so much with all the money I spend on comics, lol.

[Cometman]

Like what for example?

Some of my favorites are Jademan comics from the late 80's early 90's.(I primarily read and collect classic comics).
A few of their books are Blood Sword, Iron Marshal, Drunken Fist and others. Creative stories with great art.

[Tony]

I can honestly say I have bought far more already than I will purchase in the future. My childhood is pretty much covered as well as the beloved classic runs from the golden age to the modern age. I'm still picking up 1 more ElfQuest trade, Thor Epics, and 1 last Thor OHC and would /will buy the 3rd Thor omni, but nothing else announced. Hatchet catalog comes and goes with only a book or two.

I do wish DC would do legion of superhero marvel style epics but I won't hold my breath.

[Shawn Hopkins]

My collections aren't just things, really, they're more of a manifestation of the obsessions swirling in my brain. So they don't end until I do.

[John Aston]

I'm reaching the saturation point, myself.

It's weird.

The comic medium has been such a large part of my life, larger than television and film, but my consumption of stories told in those mediums are not waning, just refining.


If Image, Oni, Top Shelf, Vertigo ceased to exist, I wouldn't be buying much of anything new anymore. I've killed about all my monthlies (down to six and lamenting I should have held out for a few years for fat collected editions) and upgrading favorites to collected editions. I'm experimenting with older comics that I never read like Nexus, Lone Wolf, pre-Vertigo Vertigo books like Animal Man and Doom Patrol, and trying Elfquest (at 700-pager for $15?!?!).

Then, why not reread the metric crap-ton of comics I do have. I used to, when my comics or trades were at a very manageable level in the good ol' days.

[day_walker]

I still have a lot of wants-mostly a lot of the Bronze Age stuff I don't already own, but I could also see reaching the end of my collection, in theory, anyway. At least the OP can re-read his existing collection. Me, I have a bad memory, so when I re-read something fir the first time in several years, it's almost like reading it for the first time.

[johnmahananda]

I don't collect comics, I just read them.

[day_walker]

Since I'm too jaded by modern DC and Marvel comics to read them, I've been looking back at a lot of their older material that's too expensive to own in original print. Next on my list to buy is this:

Those things are great, but after finishing a Showcase Presents or and Essential, I am just dying for some color. I wish they'd make color reprints with the cheap ol' newsprint paper and four color inks. That would be an affordable way to get color reprints.

[Big Bad Voodoo Lou]

I call it "collection equilibrium" -- I have almost everything I want, I've gotten rid of (sold, traded, donated) everything I wasn't too crazy about, and there isn't much left out there that still tempts me. It's a state of collecting I've always felt should be the ultimate goal, and I've never been closer to it.

A few years ago, I had three of my all-time favorite comic runs bound into custom hardcovers. I got the Giffen/DeMatteis JLI run bound into four volumes, since I already owned them all and didn't expect DC would ever completely collect them. (I was right.) I also got Robinson's Starman bound into four volumes (I already owned all the issues, so binding them worked out cheaper than buying the six beautiful Omnibus editions, even factoring in trying to sell off my singles). And then I got Sandman Mystery Theatre bound into three volumes, since once again, DC never finished collecting that series.

Beyond that, I just collect TPBs, and I'm very content with my collection. I've filled almost all four 2' shelves of a 5' bookcase with TPBs, and I've never been into fancy, expensive hardcovers. I'm down to one and a half longboxes of comics, and I'm planning a few more binding projects to at least empty out that half: a three-volume Ostrander Suicide Squad set that includes all the significant tie-ins and crossovers, including more recent issues, and a two-volume set that comprises JLI odds and ends that took place after the main Giffen/DeMatteis era, as well as random issues focusing on Blue Beetle and Booster Gold.

I recently went through a phase of selling unwanted TPBs on Amazon Marketplace and put all funds toward collecting the aforementioned Suicide Squad issues, since I didn't already own those, and the inevitable binding costs. Everything I have left, I'll probably want to keep forever, with the exception of a few more books I picked up in trades along the way. And most of the series I still collect in trades are ending soon: Hawkeye, Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Fatale just ended. Pretty soon I'll just be buying Saga, Copra, and whatever Brubaker and Phillips are up to.

I'm the same way with my action figures. I've sold or traded off most of my childhood toys ('80s Star Wars, G.I. Joe, and Transformers, Super Powers, Secret Wars, '90s Marvel and DC figures), and I'm left with four core collections: 6" DC from Mattel and DC Direct/Collectibles with a few Marvel Legends thrown in, 4" Justice League Unlimited (I don't have close to all of them, but I have almost all the ones I care about), Buffy and Angel characters, and a few Classics/Generations Transformers, all based on Generation 1 characters I've liked for most of my life. I can't really do any more toy trading because I don't have anything left that I'd want to part with, and that feels great.

Collection equilibrium!

[Hero]

I like your term Collection Equilibrium. Great way to think about it.