Intervention: Collection getting out of hand

Mysterio · 08-24-2015, 12:01 PM

Bear with me here. I think I'm in need of an intervention...

This weekend I spent some time trying to sort through books I've recently acquired, books I've read, and books I have yet to read. The task became too daunting, so I quit but left the long boxes in my office. Today, I took a 15-minute break from work to try to do something about it and it hit me: What am I doing? Why have I been collecting all these comics for all these years?

I used to collect to read the stories of the characters I loved (X-Men, Batman, Spider-Man). Somewhere along the way, my collection became an obsession and I started buying everything. I literally have about 15 long boxes of books from the 90s-today that I bought and haven't read. My OCD got so out of control that I'll fallen so far behind, I'll never catch up. In total, I have 54 long boxes and 12 short boxes stuffed full. I have piles of comics sitting in my office without a home (100, 150 maybe?). I buy these books, read them once, then file them away in a box never to see the light of day again, unless one day I get around to rearranging and refiling everything. That's the really depressing part. I don't even have an accurate count of what I have anymore! I have an idea of the "valuable" comics, but not so much anything else. And right now I've come to a crossroads of sorts: Do I just keep going or is it time to stop?

Am I alone in this or do you guys have the same problem?

nabzy28 · 08-24-2015, 12:08 PM

Not in comics, but in non sports cards. About a year, or so, ago I realized I had a whole lot of stuff I had - just to be able to say I had it. I needed to get a lot closer to having stuff I really loved to have because I enjoyed it... which would lead to a much smaller collection.

I've slowly sold off a massive part of my non sports collection over the last year +. Week by week. Break it down into smaller bits of related items to make it easier, if you're going to sell some off. It makes it easier for potential buyers to purchase more from you, of related franchises/items, etc.

It's a difficult place to be, for sure. You've got a lot into it in time and money but, look at it this way, at least you can recoup some of that cost unlike a lot of other pursuits.

cmixer · 08-24-2015, 12:13 PM

Here's my problem:

I collected for years, thinking that i'd open a comic store one day.
So i collected stuff i didn't personally want, but rather stuff i got a 'good deal' on, or thought i would need to fill up a store.

Now i'm at the point where i'm ready to get down to a personal collection; which means dumping huge runs. I already purged 1990's Image & low key characters like Namor. Do i dump Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, & other long boxes of books i'll never read?

Chance · 08-24-2015, 12:29 PM

Just about the same here.

About 2 month ago I stopped buying everything. Just the books I knew I was gonna read I purchased.

I have 7 short boxes in my bedroom full with no organization. About ten more in my basement the same way.

I'm lucky if I picked up three newly released books a week now. Still enjoy looking for key/hot books.

I also like buying variants but that whole fiasco with comicxposure variants made me realize that I'm over doing it on that front too. Giving my money for the same book over and over. So that's done. Maybe some hard to find variants I'll still buy. Some Artist I like but that's it.

Your not alone Mysterio

IndySportsCards · 08-24-2015, 12:50 PM

You are not alone. I too become overwhelmed at times and it's why I have a yearly blowout sale around Christmas time.

Herr Frohlings · 08-24-2015, 01:02 PM

Definitely not the only one... I used to try to get my hands on every variant, decided that it was getting out of hand so toned that down to 'only' spider-man and batman variants.

Right now I have a superman series from 1 to 42 which I haven't even read yet!

MisterNatural · 08-24-2015, 01:09 PM

I feel your pain, but you can turn a negative into a positive, not to worry! You just need to change your strategy; less is more, as they say!

I recently changed the way I was collecting because of the same problem. You need to be patient, don't freak out!

What I'm doing now for certain areas of my collection is only collecting let's say 1 or 2 comics for a particular run/artist/etc. i.e. - George Perez's Wonder Woman: I kept the first issue, clearing out the rest and if I ever want to re-read those, I can always buy the collected book.

You can also do something like "audit" your collection every 3-5 years and only keep what you really cherish and I suggest if it's something you still haven't read after all that time(I have this problem!) just cut bait, get rid of it!

yeoy65 · 08-24-2015, 01:57 PM

A lot of the same issues here ,ex.. small town shops with not many
guys keeping track of hot books. I stop by LCS yesterday and see a stack
of Young Terrorists #1 variant, know they are going for say $25. Pick out
4 mint copies total cost $25. I dream of flipping but never do. So I'll be looking at these books for a while. Wish there was a place I could trade these

Just cut back for a bit and see if things change. GL

Donkaylove · 08-24-2015, 02:18 PM

And then, its hoarding toys and figurines, and crap. More space, more clutter, more disorganization.

Its just part of your personality. Just stop-its obvious you are not emotionally attached to any of this stuff. Let it go.....

There is a very small window to ever sell these things-comics included, unless they are keys or what not. And, there are very few modern keys--remember that. Stop moving the money machine.

21Pittsburgh58 · 08-24-2015, 02:44 PM

No, you're a normal "collector". I started with baseball cards, then comics about 2 years ago and now comics/Funko's/Kotobukiya Batmans, etc.

I have Batman New 52 1-43 + variants (maybe missing 4-5) and I have never read one. That's what TPB's are for

I have definitely gotten smarter about what I buy and no longer buy every Image/Marvel/DC/Independent #1 that comes out. More selective and better collection.

Cujobyte · 08-24-2015, 03:41 PM

I was going to make a separate thread for what I accomplished this summer, but figured I'll put it in here for now.

Best way to get a "grasp" of your collection is really to organize it. I know you're pain, I may not have quite as many has 54 long boxes and 12 short boxes, but I have a LOT (50-100 short boxes/10 long)

First thing I did was Alphabetize all the books. Then once I had an "A" box etc, we (My friend having O.C.D. really helped) began writing down all the issues and filing them in order.

Now I am imputing them all into comic base, which will take a few weeks to do. Anyways I can sincerely say I enjoy my collection that much more, AND, if a book gets hot I don't have to sift through every box trying to find it!!!

Hope this helps.

You'll have to live like this for a week or so tho while organzing, but in the end it is def' worth it!!!

Chance · 08-24-2015, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cujobyte

I was going to make a separate thread for what I accomplished this summer, but figured I'll put it in here for now.

Best way to get a "grasp" of your collection is really to organize it. I know you're pain, I may not have quite as many has 54 long boxes and 12 short boxes, but I have a LOT (50-100 short boxes/10 long)

First thing I did was Alphabetize all the books. Then once I had an "A" box etc, we (My friend having O.C.D. really helped) began writing down all the issues and filing them in order.

Now I am imputing them all into comic base, which will take a few weeks to do. Anyways I can sincerely say I enjoy my collection that much more, AND, if a book gets hot I don't have to sift through every box trying to find it!!!

Hope this helps.

I started doing this and ran into another problem. I gonna guess a lot of my boxes are old, so they don't have room for tabs. The tabs are taller than the boxes!

I have boxes of whole runs (ex: Amazing Spider-man), so those aren't a problem but to have to buy all those boxes!

Jinak · 08-24-2015, 04:28 PM

I keep telling myself " I'll cut back next week" but I never do. I love buying, reading and collecting books and I have a certain amount of regret every week. It's brutal. I have even tried to think of new ways to supplement my income just to gat back to par. At the end of the day I don't want to stop. Good luck junkie.

Cyber Warrior · 08-24-2015, 05:04 PM

I guess Im the lucky one, I know I have an addictive mentality so Ive been watching my collecting habits. I started last October I suppose, and already reached 6 small boxes. Heck, when I reached 3 boxes I got nervous lol. Ive slowed down with all the speculation books for the most part, and mainly focus on my favorite cover artists now. I do all my reading digitally so that helps.. My office area is already at max capacity with boxes so I'll need to start filling closet spaces up or something.. thats probably what helped slow me down.. I think if I had more space things would be a lot more out of control

. But even with the few boxes I have I already have begun thinking to myself, why do I have half of these books? I'll probably try to sell most of the unwanted stuff off and stick to books I truly love.

NYC13 · 08-24-2015, 05:33 PM

I definitely feel your pain Mysterio. I don't have a collection that is nearly the same size as yours, but compared to the amount of available space I have, my collection has definitely grown too large.

I don't have too many long boxes of comics other than ones from my childhood collection. I read most of my comics digitally now but have a few on a pull list at my local shop because I want to at least help a little bit to keep them in business. Also I like stopping in and seeing if they have anything new and interesting too.

But I do think I have a bit of a problem with my CGC graded collection. It's probably a bit too unfocused, with a lot of modern blue labels, a few artist/creator yellow signature series slabs, some celebrity signature series slabs and then a few key books. I'm definitely running out of space in my apartment and I need to pare down, but I'm not sure what I want to get rid of. Every time I look through my collection I pick a few books out to sell, but it still doesn't get my collection small enough to fit. So I'm probably going to have to make a few difficult decisions soon.

Then again, I've moved away from card collecting over the past year or two, so maybe I just need to completely stop with the cards and get rid of those. It won't solve my comic problem, but at least that will create some space and buy me some more time until I have to confront my growing comic collection again!

rittdk01 · 08-24-2015, 05:35 PM

I am buying a bigger house so I sold most of my comics, cards and collectibles over the past few months. I bought a bunch of trades in lots on eBay for dirt cheap, those I'm keeping. I gave most of my floppy comics to kids in my family. I still have maybe 4 boxes of well read comics. I also have a couple other boxes of mid level and signed comics.

What I learned over the past few months is that stuff doesn't matter nearly as much as u think.

Although I just went to the comic shop over the weekend and bought 2 chilling adventures of Sabrina, a previews and about $30 worth of $1 Archie's, animal mans and swamp things.

longisland · 08-24-2015, 06:40 PM

I bought a motorcycle so I can get away from my comics room.

Mysterio · 08-24-2015, 10:00 PM

Thanks for all the comments, they've definitely given me something to think about!

I've been collecting comics since 1985 (30 years now). I've been involved with comics for most of my life (I'm 41) so they definitely feel like a part of me now, as weird as that sounds. Quitting cold turkey seems like a foreign concept to me but I could see myself gradually easing off. I think Marvel's relaunch will help me cull some books easily. I've never been one for getting wrapped up in statues or action figures so at least my addiction is limited to comics. Unfortunately, my books are currently setting on some platforms I built in my garage (the HORROR) because I don't have room in my house. That got me thinking about renting a climate control storage unit and then I thought "How stupid to pay money to store this stuff!"

I am fairly organized as far my my longs and shorts go. Everything is in alpha order and divided between "read" and "unread." The stuff I have in my office is a hodge podge mix of all my valuable books and stuff I've recently picked up. But I think as time permits, I'll start sorting through them and pulling the stuff that I can do without. I'll throw them up on my for sale thread here and see if anyone is interested (I have Beavis and Butthead #1!!! A collector's item classic!) and start slowing paring down.

I'm just glad to know I'm not the only one. This hobby was about to make me crazy! Thanks for talking me down from the ledge.

08-24-2015, 12:08 PM	#2
nabzy28 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: In a warehouse of common sense Posts: 7,279 nabzy28	Not in comics, but in non sports cards. About a year, or so, ago I realized I had a whole lot of stuff I had - just to be able to say I had it. I needed to get a lot closer to having stuff I really loved to have because I enjoyed it... which would lead to a much smaller collection. I've slowly sold off a massive part of my non sports collection over the last year +. Week by week. Break it down into smaller bits of related items to make it easier, if you're going to sell some off. It makes it easier for potential buyers to purchase more from you, of related franchises/items, etc. It's a difficult place to be, for sure. You've got a lot into it in time and money but, look at it this way, at least you can recoup some of that cost unlike a lot of other pursuits. __________________ Sent from my Danger Hiptop T-Mobile Sidekick in 2002

08-24-2015, 12:29 PM	#4
Chance Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 1,725	Just about the same here. About 2 month ago I stopped buying everything. Just the books I knew I was gonna read I purchased. I have 7 short boxes in my bedroom full with no organization. About ten more in my basement the same way. I'm lucky if I picked up three newly released books a week now. Still enjoy looking for key/hot books. I also like buying variants but that whole fiasco with comicxposure variants made me realize that I'm over doing it on that front too. Giving my money for the same book over and over. So that's done. Maybe some hard to find variants I'll still buy. Some Artist I like but that's it. Your not alone Mysterio __________________ ________________________________________ With me around there's always a Chance..

08-24-2015, 12:50 PM	#5
IndySportsCards Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: EO 13848 Posts: 42,001 braco0 IndySportsCards	You are not alone. I too become overwhelmed at times and it's why I have a yearly blowout sale around Christmas time. __________________ Most people would rather be in the majority, than be right.

08-24-2015, 01:57 PM	#8
yeoy65 Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: MA Posts: 255	same here A lot of the same issues here ,ex.. small town shops with not many guys keeping track of hot books. I stop by LCS yesterday and see a stack of Young Terrorists #1 variant, know they are going for say $25. Pick out 4 mint copies total cost $25. I dream of flipping but never do. So I'll be looking at these books for a while. Wish there was a place I could trade these Just cut back for a bit and see if things change. GL

08-24-2015, 02:44 PM	#10
21Pittsburgh58 Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Luke AFB, AZ Posts: 5,201 JackLambertHOF	No, you're a normal "collector". I started with baseball cards, then comics about 2 years ago and now comics/Funko's/Kotobukiya Batmans, etc. I have Batman New 52 1-43 + variants (maybe missing 4-5) and I have never read one. That's what TPB's are for I have definitely gotten smarter about what I buy and no longer buy every Image/Marvel/DC/Independent #1 that comes out. More selective and better collection. __________________ 21-Roberto Clemente 58-Jack Lambert Liverpool FC - You'll Never Walk Alone! Carl Sagan: Pale Blue Dot. YouTube this and get over yourself Russ Westbrook, Trout, Shohei, Acuna, Charles LeClerc, Nick Kurtz, Sydney Sweeney

08-24-2015, 12:01 PM	#1
Mysterio Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Texas Posts: 1,639 ecooper3	Intervention: Collection getting out of hand Bear with me here. I think I'm in need of an intervention... This weekend I spent some time trying to sort through books I've recently acquired, books I've read, and books I have yet to read. The task became too daunting, so I quit but left the long boxes in my office. Today, I took a 15-minute break from work to try to do something about it and it hit me: What am I doing? Why have I been collecting all these comics for all these years? I used to collect to read the stories of the characters I loved (X-Men, Batman, Spider-Man). Somewhere along the way, my collection became an obsession and I started buying everything. I literally have about 15 long boxes of books from the 90s-today that I bought and haven't read. My OCD got so out of control that I'll fallen so far behind, I'll never catch up. In total, I have 54 long boxes and 12 short boxes stuffed full. I have piles of comics sitting in my office without a home (100, 150 maybe?). I buy these books, read them once, then file them away in a box never to see the light of day again, unless one day I get around to rearranging and refiling everything. That's the really depressing part. I don't even have an accurate count of what I have anymore! I have an idea of the "valuable" comics, but not so much anything else. And right now I've come to a crossroads of sorts: Do I just keep going or is it time to stop? Am I alone in this or do you guys have the same problem?

08-24-2015, 12:13 PM	#3
cmixer Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 2,105	Here's my problem: I collected for years, thinking that i'd open a comic store one day. So i collected stuff i didn't personally want, but rather stuff i got a 'good deal' on, or thought i would need to fill up a store. Now i'm at the point where i'm ready to get down to a personal collection; which means dumping huge runs. I already purged 1990's Image & low key characters like Namor. Do i dump Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, & other long boxes of books i'll never read?

08-24-2015, 01:02 PM	#6
Herr Frohlings Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 266	Definitely not the only one... I used to try to get my hands on every variant, decided that it was getting out of hand so toned that down to 'only' spider-man and batman variants. Right now I have a superman series from 1 to 42 which I haven't even read yet!

08-24-2015, 01:09 PM	#7
MisterNatural Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 1,117	I feel your pain, but you can turn a negative into a positive, not to worry! You just need to change your strategy; less is more, as they say! I recently changed the way I was collecting because of the same problem. You need to be patient, don't freak out! What I'm doing now for certain areas of my collection is only collecting let's say 1 or 2 comics for a particular run/artist/etc. i.e. - George Perez's Wonder Woman: I kept the first issue, clearing out the rest and if I ever want to re-read those, I can always buy the collected book. You can also do something like "audit" your collection every 3-5 years and only keep what you really cherish and I suggest if it's something you still haven't read after all that time(I have this problem!) just cut bait, get rid of it!

08-24-2015, 02:18 PM	#9
Donkaylove Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: PNW Posts: 3,199	And then, its hoarding toys and figurines, and crap. More space, more clutter, more disorganization. Its just part of your personality. Just stop-its obvious you are not emotionally attached to any of this stuff. Let it go..... There is a very small window to ever sell these things-comics included, unless they are keys or what not. And, there are very few modern keys--remember that. Stop moving the money machine.

08-24-2015, 03:41 PM	#11
Cujobyte Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: New Mexico Posts: 6,651 Cujobyte29	I was going to make a separate thread for what I accomplished this summer, but figured I'll put it in here for now. Best way to get a "grasp" of your collection is really to organize it. I know you're pain, I may not have quite as many has 54 long boxes and 12 short boxes, but I have a LOT (50-100 short boxes/10 long) First thing I did was Alphabetize all the books. Then once I had an "A" box etc, we (My friend having O.C.D. really helped) began writing down all the issues and filing them in order. Now I am imputing them all into comic base, which will take a few weeks to do. Anyways I can sincerely say I enjoy my collection that much more, AND, if a book gets hot I don't have to sift through every box trying to find it!!! Hope this helps. You'll have to live like this for a week or so tho while organzing, but in the end it is def' worth it!!!

08-24-2015, 04:28 PM	#13
Jinak Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Kenosha, WI Posts: 344 mhugh3s12	I keep telling myself " I'll cut back next week" but I never do. I love buying, reading and collecting books and I have a certain amount of regret every week. It's brutal. I have even tried to think of new ways to supplement my income just to gat back to par. At the end of the day I don't want to stop. Good luck junkie.

08-24-2015, 05:04 PM	#14
Cyber Warrior Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: New York Posts: 2,871	I guess Im the lucky one, I know I have an addictive mentality so Ive been watching my collecting habits. I started last October I suppose, and already reached 6 small boxes. Heck, when I reached 3 boxes I got nervous lol. Ive slowed down with all the speculation books for the most part, and mainly focus on my favorite cover artists now. I do all my reading digitally so that helps.. My office area is already at max capacity with boxes so I'll need to start filling closet spaces up or something.. thats probably what helped slow me down.. I think if I had more space things would be a lot more out of control . But even with the few boxes I have I already have begun thinking to myself, why do I have half of these books? I'll probably try to sell most of the unwanted stuff off and stick to books I truly love. __________________ Just Say AH!

08-24-2015, 05:33 PM	#15
NYC13 Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 958	I definitely feel your pain Mysterio. I don't have a collection that is nearly the same size as yours, but compared to the amount of available space I have, my collection has definitely grown too large. I don't have too many long boxes of comics other than ones from my childhood collection. I read most of my comics digitally now but have a few on a pull list at my local shop because I want to at least help a little bit to keep them in business. Also I like stopping in and seeing if they have anything new and interesting too. But I do think I have a bit of a problem with my CGC graded collection. It's probably a bit too unfocused, with a lot of modern blue labels, a few artist/creator yellow signature series slabs, some celebrity signature series slabs and then a few key books. I'm definitely running out of space in my apartment and I need to pare down, but I'm not sure what I want to get rid of. Every time I look through my collection I pick a few books out to sell, but it still doesn't get my collection small enough to fit. So I'm probably going to have to make a few difficult decisions soon. Then again, I've moved away from card collecting over the past year or two, so maybe I just need to completely stop with the cards and get rid of those. It won't solve my comic problem, but at least that will create some space and buy me some more time until I have to confront my growing comic collection again!

08-24-2015, 05:35 PM	#16
rittdk01 Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,416	I am buying a bigger house so I sold most of my comics, cards and collectibles over the past few months. I bought a bunch of trades in lots on eBay for dirt cheap, those I'm keeping. I gave most of my floppy comics to kids in my family. I still have maybe 4 boxes of well read comics. I also have a couple other boxes of mid level and signed comics. What I learned over the past few months is that stuff doesn't matter nearly as much as u think. Although I just went to the comic shop over the weekend and bought 2 chilling adventures of Sabrina, a previews and about $30 worth of $1 Archie's, animal mans and swamp things.

08-24-2015, 06:40 PM	#17
longisland Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Jacksonville Posts: 3,192	I bought a motorcycle so I can get away from my comics room. __________________ 2013-14 Panini Select Black Friday John Tavares 7/35 20%

08-24-2015, 10:00 PM	#18
Mysterio Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Texas Posts: 1,639 ecooper3	Thanks for all the comments, they've definitely given me something to think about! I've been collecting comics since 1985 (30 years now). I've been involved with comics for most of my life (I'm 41) so they definitely feel like a part of me now, as weird as that sounds. Quitting cold turkey seems like a foreign concept to me but I could see myself gradually easing off. I think Marvel's relaunch will help me cull some books easily. I've never been one for getting wrapped up in statues or action figures so at least my addiction is limited to comics. Unfortunately, my books are currently setting on some platforms I built in my garage (the HORROR) because I don't have room in my house. That got me thinking about renting a climate control storage unit and then I thought "How stupid to pay money to store this stuff!" I am fairly organized as far my my longs and shorts go. Everything is in alpha order and divided between "read" and "unread." The stuff I have in my office is a hodge podge mix of all my valuable books and stuff I've recently picked up. But I think as time permits, I'll start sorting through them and pulling the stuff that I can do without. I'll throw them up on my for sale thread here and see if anyone is interested (I have Beavis and Butthead #1!!! A collector's item classic!) and start slowing paring down. I'm just glad to know I'm not the only one. This hobby was about to make me crazy! Thanks for talking me down from the ledge.