Reaching that End of Your Collection - Your Thoughts

[Ray1967]

I stopped truly collecting comics in the mid 90's, I just thought all the gimmicks like the foil covers etc and increased prices just became too much, also the fact the stories themselves seem to go down in quality for the most part. I do on occasion pick up a TPB or Graphic Novel that interests me, also the library system here lets you request books from all over the state, and I have been lucky enough to catch up on a lot of titles that way, plus broaden my horizons with series like Y the last man and Powers.

[thecollector30]

I go with variants in hope of a big payoff later in life. I started this for my son. Hoping one day he can use the collection in a bind or something. I am a big marvel and DC fan and so is my son..so I'm not completely lost on what to look for.. I get the same feeling sometimes and a switch it up to horror comics...variants seem to keep me interested just my thoughts

[John Keyt]

I have reached the end . Sold 2/3 of my collection last week . Cancelled pull list and have decided to get out of collecting . Still have 2082 books left and plan on selling those in next 6 months or so . Just had enough and can use the money for other things . It was fun enjoyed collecting but its time to get out of it .

[Anjohl]

I think the point of a collection should be the journey, but it must be finite, which yours is. Have you read them all? If not, then perhaps you acquired them too fast. I only buy as I read, in print status be damned. Nothing is so essential to be that I will buy something just because it's going to cost more later, maybe. That is what trades are for.

A lot of people end up being "Omnibus or bust" collectors, and I have to admit, I find that odd. Is the floppy origin of these titles so embarrassing that it must be scrubbed clean? Personally, I LOVE 12-20 issue paperbacks. Cheap, light, replaceable.

[Joshua]

At one point, I had about 10K books. I had a storage unit full. Boxes everywhere. Bought a house and got to have a comic room and it was just boxes and boxes. I decided about a year or two ago I wanted to just keep stuff I liked or would bind. I probably have like 30 short boxes now. Probably only 3K. That is still a lot but compared to what I had previously, it is easier to manage. I only buy older books to fill holes and the occasional new thing to flip.

[Sasquatch by Night]

I have a list of back issues that I've been whittling on for about 5 years now; I've almost finished it, but I'll probably always pick up a few back issues here and there, but I'll limit them to bigger price items. I limit myself to about $15-$20 worth of new comics a month, but I find myself only trying a first issue or a first arc of a series, then taking it off my pull list; not because I dislike a series, but I guess at this point I always figure I can read the trades from a library.

[CP1234]

I'm more or less done with collecting floppies, unless it's a monumental issue I'm interested in (I bought ASM #700, for instance), a ridiculous bargain, or something I'm absolutely in love with (Sex Criminals; Multiversity). Otherwise I can't justify spending up to $4 per issue each month, on top of everything else I buy.

But thanks to the inconsistent trade/reprint program Marvel has had for the last decade or so, I will never be done searching for collected editions. Peter David's Hulk run? Half-collected in the cancelled "visionaries" format. Claremont's X-Men run? Fully collected - in "essentials," but not in color unless I want a mismatch of omnibuses or varying trades. The "Epic" line? Great idea, but not thrilled about the slow, random release order. I'll die before they finish any of those runs - not to mention all of the runs that may never be collected again -Excalibur, New Mutants, etc. etc.

[dedpool79]

I'm more or less done with collecting floppies, unless it's a monumental issue I'm interested in (I bought ASM #700, for instance), a ridiculous bargain, or something I'm absolutely in love with (Sex Criminals; Multiversity). Otherwise I can't justify spending up to $4 per issue each month, on top of everything else I buy.

But thanks to the inconsistent trade/reprint program Marvel has had for the last decade or so, I will never be done searching for collected editions. Peter David's Hulk run? Half-collected in the cancelled "visionaries" format. Claremont's X-Men run? Fully collected - in "essentials," but not in color unless I want a mismatch of omnibuses or varying trades. The "Epic" line? Great idea, but not thrilled about the slow, random release order. I'll die before they finish any of those runs - not to mention all of the runs that may never be collected again -Excalibur, New Mutants, etc. etc.

Marvel's collection inconsistencies do drive me bananas, and the way the do (or don't) number the modern trades they put out makes it so difficult to know if you're starting in the right place sometimes. They really need to work on that.