I've been in this hobby for about 50 years and for me, these are phases of my collecting, not mistakes. From the 16-year-old me learning that the comic store guy wasn't interested in my JLA books to my current 'consolidation' phase, it's all part of the trip. The only thing I would ever consider a mistake in this hobby is to spend money you do not have on books.
I'm collecting complete runs and reading them book for book in my hands. Totally worth it. The experience of holding the comic, the way it smells, having the whole run in a box.I love it
ahh yes that smell. My dad and my uncles used to keep their comics stacked next to every toilet in the house and read them when they took a dump. A lot of folks did back then. 30 Years later and everyone’s loves the smell..
@@donaldvonglitchenberger4108no most people did not stack or read their comics in the bathroom. Back then there was no internet, the books and comics we used buy them, read them and then store them boxed usually in the garage for future reference. We took care of them because we used to spend a lot of money on them. They were important because this is how we got information before in print. There was no internet.
Runs can be fun, especially if you intend to read it. Resale outside of the keys is laughable. This can be a fun option for dollar bin hunting. Just don't try for a run of EVERYTHING. Stick to a character or a few series you like.
Warning for anyone getting into trade paperbacks, they are not even close to the same physical quality as the actual comic book issues. Paper is cheaper, colours don't pop and pages feel lifeless. This is fine for some types of artwork but it is not always the best choice. I do enjoy them still and they are 100% free at local librarys to read through.
I recently earlier this year decided to finish my 1-300 Xmen run, I started in the 90s as a teen. It has been an interesting learning exp, it helps that I am buying to keep, And mostly okay with readers as long as the cover is okay and attached. So most of my spendy early books are like 2.0 to 3.0s. I dont like Graded books, But I did buy my Number 1 and GSX 1 graded just to make sure everything was good, no fuckery with them when I am dropping over 1k on a book. Only 30 books left to go, most of them are just filler books. That said I am less worry about space because I have an end goal. But yeah I would say in general people should just buy Keys. I spent a chunk of my budget on alot of misc books to fill the run. Esp with Xmen have like 25 issues that are actually reprints.
Definitely agree on slabs. Collectors are grading way too many comics that are not worth it. But in the end it is their money to do what they want with it.
I am a run collector. I read everything I buy. I could care less about the value. That being said I believe I have talked myself into stop buying floppies. And buy exclusively trades and hard covers.
I've Been collecting for 3 years and I've worked at my LCS for 2. Started out collecting just star wars, then every star wars title, then one run for every favorite hero and villain if mine, then independent titles. In total I have about 50 titles on my pull list. What once was just two short boxes is now TWENTY-SIX short boxes and one longbox. I'm noticing it get out of hand and its hard to cut back when you work in the store. My recent methods of solving this dilemma have been saying no to variants and trying to just stick with my list and cross off any titles where the run wraps up, no need to have more than one run for each character. The in-between stuff you don't consider is the hardest to stay away from. Facsimiles, limited series, foil variants, incentive variants can all seem enticing. But if it takes away funds and space for titles you actually want to read, say no. Also Put listings of stuff you regret buying up for sale online, better than it just sitting there.
Seems like you forgot the #1 rule of collecting. Collect what you like. Sounds like you get into the money aspect. Which is weird since you collect statues and those very very rarely go up I. Value. They are a waste of money. Look nice but not a collectible in a sense. Last piece of advice I can give you since you were helping us is don’t be negative. The advice on grading was spot on though.
Thank you for the video! I am an anti-slabber and have used that money toward more issues I want instead of slabbing something I have. I continue to see slabbed books out of my price range and gravitate toward the raw books at a much lower and reasonable price. Great points!
Great advice-I'll definitely keep this in mind as I continue my comic book collecting journey. I started last year, so it's all still pretty new to me. Thanks for the tips and what to watch out for!
What a well thought out and beautifully articulated video. What I’m about to say next you know already, so I don’t have to say it, but I want to. If it took all that, for you to learn all this, then they weren’t mistakes. They were very valuable lessons. And you’re a better collector now for it. Great video
I don't know, I've watched a few of his videos and I'm starting to see a pattern. I think a lot of it is projecting. When he starts off saying comic book shops aren't in the customer service industry that baffled me as it clearly is. Also he's assuming thoughts in people's heads. Maybe that day he went in they had something else going on in life and weren't in chatty mood who knows, I just wouldn't assume the worse of someone just walking into their shop.
I'm not in it for the money. My goal is simply to read and own every comic book. I really don't care that much about the value, and I'm not interested in selling, though it's nice if a book's worth something. I have a few complete runs, I'm working on a few more. That's a lot of the fun for me, just hunting for stuff and finding it for a good price. A lot of what I own isn't worth anything, but I only paid $1-2 for most of it. My biggest problem is storage. Have to add another subbasement or two.
I'm in it like you. Problem is, the longer you go like this, the harder it is to find storage and yeah, you can start pissing off your family ;) But yeah, I agree. I like the hunt as much as the next collector, but 100% it's the hunt to fill in runs for the cheapest rate ever. And I never fool myself into thinking there will be a return. I figure Ill be lucky on a lot of it if I even break even. I just LOVE doing it though.
I am a cover collector. I enjoy them for the art & to display. I like Good Girl/Bad Girl. Giant Robots. Monsters/Horror. Fantasy & Sci Fi covers. I could care less about most superheroes & "keys". The superhero crowd are the ones giving Goose all the hate. Sad little people, if you don't like him don't watch him.
@@jimmyhayes6017 Yes, I like the cover art, that's why I collect them. When I want to read something it's usually a pretty dense thousand page Russian or French novel. What do "y'all" like to read Jimmy?
Make 3 separate videos about: 1. Your biggest selling gains on a particular book (top 10) 2. Your biggest selling fails (top 10) 3. Your biggest "why did I buy this" top 10. It would be funny and many would share those picks also.
One of my biggest problems is buying the same stuff in different formats. If I’m reading the single issues and I like them, I’ll buy it again in tpb format. Then again if it eventually becomes an omnibus. And vice versa, if I like an omnibus I might try to buy the single issues. I really need to pick one format and stick with it.
There aren't any rules for collecting comics. Just go for what you truly enjoy and stick with it! So what if you have a room full of comics, "To each his own." I've been collecting for 46 years +/- and I still enjoy hunting and digging through boxes once in a while. One good piece of advice from your short video is buying keys at the wrong time. I agree with you about that one because it could be expensive. Thank you for sharing and happy hunting.
I’d add whatever comics you find that are special to you. I have my very first comic slabbed. It’s a 3.5 because I read the crap out of it. I have other reading copies of the book, but that particular book that I got slabbed I remembered picking out with my dad. I wanted to preserve it.
Salute to SG for keeping it real!! Amazing thoughts on collecting and the mistakes people make. I hate that saying, “make the hobby pay for itself.” Collect what you love!
Great video. Everyone collects differently. Some people hate slabbed comics and say “comics are meant to be read”, and some people take their run of old single issues and have them bound together for their personal collection for a book shelf. There is so much of this stuff out there, that if you want to change how you collect you can.
I bought recently early Conan's and now I'm having them cleaned and pressed but not incased. This is my favorite run because I like Barry Windsor Smith but I won't get them slabed because I want to read them
I really needed this video, I am in the process of changing my collecting strategy. Looking over my statements, i have spent a lot of money on "classic covers", "origin issues", and small first appearance keys that are either worth under $100 or have over 10,000 of them graded on cgc census. When i started collecting, my end goal was Amazing Fantasy 15 and ASM #1. I could have bought those books by now if i didnt buy all of these small issues and just put that money in a savings account until i had it saved. I also whated to collect actual rare books, like House of Sectrets 92, Brave and the Bold 28, Hawkman 4, Journey into Mystery 83, the first Hank Pym Ant man (which i forgot the name and issue number), and Golden age books like Spirit #22, etc.... After watching this video, I will most likely start selling all of my non key books and minor first appearances and put them towards good books. Like you said 2 boxes of quality books. The rest can be in trade paperbacks.
For the past couple of weeks, I've been pondering why I collect comics. I went into an amazing comic shop yesterday that had the biggest back issue collection I've ever seen here in the UK. But I found myself at a bit of a stump. I didn't know where to start looking. So I ended up reverting to looking at ASM/Venom and the wall books. I no longer collect runs, its too tiresome. I'm never gonna have time to read them anyway. I heard omni's are the best format to read collections, trades are good also. I want to get the time to start reading again. I'm not interested in NCBD as well, not a fan of the modern stories, I prefer the classics and I bet there is so much more I havent read yet. Slabbed books, I only buy ones I want now, back in the day I would buy slabs for the sake of it. I think people will relly resonate with this video, its thought provoking about the hobby we love.
Im so glad I quit collecting comics ,2 to 3 years now,I've been wasting money on my comic pull list,etc. I remembering spending over $100 each payday on my pull list, sold most of my comics and still having trouble selling off my remaining comics ,aka DC Rebirth,etc....
In my experience, the most comics I've seen in a particular type for sale at a comic shop was "rebirth" comics. That is one rule that I stick to when collecting DC, never buy rebirth! ;) Best of luck to you and selling off the remaining of your books.
All bang on points. Every collector, and I mean every collector, comes to a realisation that at some point they have too much in their collection and then decide to scale down. The materialistic collector gene is so interesting in psychology. Gotta have it, gotta have it, gotta have it…………………..
Consolidation is good advice, there is always comics you will find in a collection you don't really like that you keep due to numbering, best advice is, see if you can get trade credit at a local store for something you do like.
Glen from the ' palace ' is an investment in time just to comprehend the totality of the comics books marketplace. It's easy to turn and run from the hobbyist hobby, until you pay attention to the ' palace ' 😛
My biggest mistake was not selling my entire collection prior to 1999. That’s the year CGC brought the Slabbed comic to market. I was still collecting comics at the time and wasn’t particularly interested in doing more preservation beyond putting my values into Mylar. I stopped collecting circa 2016 and still have the entire collection but haven’t really looked at the books since then. I feel if I had sold before the Slab was introduced I would have received a better sales price for key issues at the very least. Slabs have brought the value of raw comics down tremendously. I considered getting key books slabbed, but I’m in MN and they’re in FL. I couldn’t bring myself to shipping them due to cost, environmental concerns, and feeling like would I really get them back? I thought about driving my collection down to them, but never did and now I’m too weak to pick up long boxes, and in many circumstances short boxes. I am in the process of whittling my collection down to one or two books. I’m thinking my Strange Tales/Doctor Strange and X-Men titles. But do I keep all the related X-books or just stick to the core 1963 title run? I originally started with a purchase of X-Men 92 & 93 back in the 1970’s and the story hooked me. I was dismayed later on when I paid $2.50 for Giant Size X-Men #1 only to find out the story’s ending wasn’t there and having discovered years later I needed Avengers #53 (or 58? I’m not sure anymore) and had to hunt for that. In the 1990’s the price guide valued my Giant Size at about $10,000, now I can find listings on eBay for less than $1,000 raw and around $4,000 slabbed (9.0 grade). I won’t sell it now, but I hear people don’t want to buy slabs anymore. Perhaps it’s a fad that lasted a quarter of a century. I can only hope the person I leave the collection to in my will gets a good value. I won’t have to worry about it.
I love my super high grade complete runs from the 1980s. It was a blast collecting them and hunting for a deal. It takes space but its really fulfilling to have such a library. Took 30 years but worth all the money and time.
Not a big slab collector but some people do grade books just because it's their favorite. In collecting the only "mistake" is if you have some regrets. My only regrets are (1) all the books I lost in my various moves, and (2) that I don't have more money to spend on comics. But I enjoy what I have and occasionally sell some to make room for more.
I mean, there's counterpoints to a lot of these. New comic book day books have become some of my most valuable books. I've had good success trading books to vendors but you do need to be offering an in demand book that has good value. And when trading with vendors you have to take a hit value wise, the trade needs to be in their favor. It's basically just your first point again about having realistic expectations. Also, I personally like collecting whole runs. I wouldn't try completing something like you said, ask, ff4 etc, but I just completed my silver surfer run and couldn't be happier... I think it would be better to say be more realistic about your collecting goals.
I've gotten back into reading current comics last year after about a 4 year hiatus. I've had an easier time this time around by limiting myself to about a handful of titles a month. 10 years ago I was one of those buy a bunch of books on NCBD people, but that $60-70 a week started to become too much and it felt like I was wasting money by trying out a bunch of series for 3 or 4 issues only to drop it.
The first thing I learned on my comic collecting journey is that I don't like comic books. They are so fragile and hard to store or display. I like TPBs, ok, but what I really love are Over Sized Hardcovers. I collect some TPBs if there is no OHC or Omnibus. I only have about 80 comics but over a thousand hardcovers. It is so much fun to read and collect them in this format. It's cheaper than the comics, easier to read, more durable, and easier to display. I had no idea that these other formats even existed. Between Ebay, Amazon, and Mercari, I almost always pay half of MSRP. I quit reading regular books, and now all I read are OHCs and Omnis. If I had known about the books, I would have started collecting many years ago.
I can’t thank you enough for this video! I’m a relatively new collector. I haven’t made too many mistakes except I was at a recycle place and bought a bunch of modern comics for a dollar each. They don’t have a lot of value and are just clutter. I find buying old comics much more satisfying and am dumping the modern.
I think hybrid collecting is a fun way to collect. Personally for me I focus on what I collect. X-men, daredevil, valiant conics(don’t judge me). If a see a deal on a good key I will pick it up for trade bait down the line. There’s nothing better feeling then trading a book you have no attachment to for a book you really like.
The rule about not trying to time your buys means the most to me. I am a gamer, not a comic book collector. This rule applies to video games as well as comics. What happens if you try to time something. You wait for a sale. By the time the sale comes along. You might not care about that game anymore. There is also a case of a game being too high. Waiting for the game to go down means you might never buy that game. There are a few Nintendo 3DS games I am interested in that keep going up. I recently spent 55-65$ on Devil Survivor 1 Over clocked in its original case with the manual. It was a like new condition copy of the game. I got a deal paying $10 more than just a cartridge without the case or manual.
I buy issue #1 - 2 copies of the A cover, 1 of the B. Eventually I'll have 1 extra to offload that should pay for the hoard if I get lucky. I buy to read. But I'm a huge fan of the art. I read anything that I enjoyed from my youth. I only buy what I'm interested in... I'm not going back to try and buy comics from the 90s though. I still have my Xmen #1s from the 90s and they aren't really worth anything... my great-great-grandson will wonder why I bothered to save such things.
I read SIKTC is trade paperback form. No need for floppies or waiting every week for a new issue. The longboxes get extremely full extremely fast that way. It's a race to the bottom. Comic books take up tons of space. I think it's way better to have a longbox or two that are all high-quality and amazing books instead of endless piles of junk.
That’s best way to read SIKTC. When 21 came out I bought the floppies every month and that’s when the plot went south. Slow development, gorgeous art but a fast read. Eventually dropped it
Buying runs is a good idea if you like comics. Being a reseller is a bad idea if you really like comics. Dont treat it like a business unless it is your business.
I pretty much just buy what I like now. One conclusion I came to when I was more interested in fomo and assets was, if you are after adding value to your collection dont buy new books. Sure sooner or later your going to miss something that sky rockets but this is more than cancelled out by purchasing huge amounts of books that do nothing. Take that money and buy a book with a track record. 😂 and now I've got to the end of the video you kind of said this.
There are 2 different types of collectors. 1) Those who collect to read them. 2) Those who collect for acquiring money. 1 is a true collector. 2 is for business.
Some great advice thx SG, as I returned to comics a few years ago, I spent a lot of money 'completing' runs. A complete waste given I'd like to sell when I retire.
I have a Marvel collection from when I was a kid with about 80 silver age comics that, unknown to me, my mom saved for me, with some key issues like Fantastic Four 48, Iron Man #1, Silver Surfer #1and a few others. The rest are in fair shape and are perhaps $20 to $30 books at my local comic book shops. Some a little more some a little less. I want to sell them all at once as a batch and have done with it. How do I do it and more importantly, how much would I get for them?
There’s actually a couple series of books that I pick up every month, and I only read them once a year when I’m on vacation. Sometimes I’ll have 12 to 15 issues at once, and just binge them all in one sitting. The only downfall is that if you get to issue six or something and think man, this sucks, you’ve got to plug through it and hope it gets better.
Now a minute in. I'm thinking this is a classic case of projection. Even if you had a few bad experiences you can't say that everyone in the business is that way. It's possible that you're projecting that negativity when you go to new shops and they are reacting to that.
A big gamble that collectors take is dealing with new folks. You have zero relations built up, the seller has no indication you'll be back for more. There's no rapport. You are likely better off dealing with a few folks, building a relationship, to get discounted books. That's been my experience anyways. My LCS guy is willing to knock 20% or more off high end key books when selling to me. idk if that's normal but I'm getting books at less than listed FMV.
I confess I'm a whale, my weekly pull is $300 at the minimum. My guy is obviously behoven to me. But I never pull the, I spend blah blah blah here, so gimme.
@@gorgeousgeorge5173 Alot of shops I have found are stuck in boom time prices. The shops willing to drop prices based on current trends, I drop alot of money at. But I have found alot of shops are just not willing to adjust prices, even when I show them Buy it nows for equal or better grade comics that are half or less of their asking. Like I wanted to spendy money at LGS, but I ended up spending alot on ebay cause the prices where just better. I would pay a bit more local, but not double or triple.
All very valid points. Great video. I just buy what I read. It's tempting to buy the other shiny stuff but I like that I can look at my boxes and know I wanna re read all of it. Only slabbed issues I have are like you said, Old or have a very special meaning to me.
Your commentary is spot on..I have experienced some of the same and definitely can agree with what your saying...your commentary are straight no chaser I love them
I enjoy your videos. I have 3 short boxes on just books and graphic novels I love and enjoy. I'll gift or giveaway books I read and don't like for my personal collection. On the slab side... I like to have covers I like to display really nice. I don't care much on grade as long as the book display well. But I appreciate the books that not many others would care to have graded but get graded because most of those I go after. I'm not a pro but just sharing my personal experiences.
I dislike that when I go to my LCS and I ask other comic book buyers if what they're holding is a good read & 9 times out of 10 they'll say they don't read them, they're only buying because it's trending or to flip later. I've been collecting comics since I was a boy because my father was a comic book collector since the 70s. I was blessed with my father friending a serial killer from my city whose appeared on Netflix, UA-cam, etc and he gifted me his collection from when he was a kid so that's how I got into comic books but now nobody reads comics. I've only sold four comic books in four years because I love to read them not sell them. Will I ever part ways with them I doubt it. I loved X-Men comic books because the characters were all outcast & hated on for being different & I could relate to them. I was a lighter shade of brown with red hair, a Caucasian name in a border city who only spoke English so i fought a lot in school for being different & when I was home my family would mock or beat me because I was adopted. So comics were my escape. I don't like where this hobby went.
This great advice that resonates with me. I haven’t bought any omnibus yet but was thinking about it. Sounds like the Epic Collection or smaller trades are still a better way to go 👍
So i like building runs on series i like. I like the physical read, and the appeal of completed work. The hunt is also fun. Guess i am doing it wrong according to this video. I should ignore that, just buy keys, and read trade paper backs.
So I don't always agree with what you're saying but this video is 100% spot on. Plus I'm a big fan of lessons learned videos. Thanks for putting this out.
I can just see upcoming board meetings at slab and comic book companies: who is this Sticky Goose and why is he telling people to not buy our products?
I feel like there is always regrets I've been reading since the 80's and it takes years to know what you actually like. I have many regrets and you really never really stop making them. I knew there would be a lot of this after covid. If there was social media in the 90's we would have heard a lot like this as well. Many long time collectors cool off for periods I know I do. Space is a problem for everyone.
So what were you into before you got into comics if anything? Because you've amassed an insane collection in very short order. What did you spend money on pre covid?
Collectors will most likely NEVER get "good" money for their comics they are hoping to sell. Just remember that MOST comics (Modern specifically) will typically never be worth their face value after you purchase them off the rack. Which is depressing as I enjoy collecting and WANT to read new books. But the $4-$5 base price makes it tough. So I'm trying to transform myself into becoming a TPB reader since I prefer tangible reading.
What im starting to like about the state of the hobby at this moment, is im getting back into reading, instead of looking for the next big thing! IDW, are best at the moment to me
Is it a mistake to put two books in one bag separated by one board? Only one side of the board is treated to prevent acid destruction, but how long does it take for that to happen? Bags and boards are expensive. Thanks.
Mine was not looking at a slabbed book I bought close enough it was a major key but it was sun faded after it was put in the case. Nothing about color fading in the grader notes. Back then I didn’t know the cases weren’t uv resistant.
I'm trying to whittle down my NCBD books but I really enjoy reading. Luckily I'm able to spread the reading out over a few days so I'm done when the next NCBD rolls around. I'm def a graphic novel fan over omnis.
Sticky Goose,you need to have one short box with all the comics you truly care about and never sell that one box cause years ago I sold a short box full of keys and have regretted it ever since
To each their own. I mainly collect venom related and department of truth. If i want to read something, trades or omnibus. Just bought hellblazer omni.
Thank for Advice sir iam all over the place right Now with my collection 90s 80s,70s,60s,50s,any funny book i can get my hands on i collect what i love and to preserve keep in the family is why i collect. When ian done with my 2024 collection I'll send email to make me a video 😂 well call it the "poor mans collection " 😅 we workhard for our books and not everyone collect the same plus who really care we all Love Books ❤ thanks Mr. STICKY GOOSE checking in from Fremont Nebraska ❤
He literally is showing his journey from caring about value, to ultimately realizing that value and selling is not worth the time, effort or expense. He's realizing flipping is an empty process and he's now focused on things he likes, instead of making money off the comic hobby. Did you even watch the video?
@@MA-qp8su how tf do you get that from this when he ends up taking about how to best realize gains in just about every part. He talks about what things are worth throughout the entire video, including at the end. I feel like you're parroting what he's said in past videos without applying any kind of critical thinking to what he's saying throughout this one.
Sticky Goose,you are right cause you should only buy comics,you truly care about and don't buy speculation books and you should have one short box with all your valuable comics in it and put in a gun safe. Sticky Goose,you should keep your top 50 favorite trade paper backs and sell the rest and use that money to get a key book you been wanting.Everyone if you buy the books you truly care about you willnt regret it later and just make sure you are happy with your books otherwise you are just wasting money.
Another problem people have and idk if you just talked about this is SPEC BUYS 80% of the time the book does not work the way you think for examples uncanny 251 that books is not worth 40$ here and I’m what you call a “flipper” and if I find those I usually do it for 20$ the problem is people wanna treat comics like stocks. There not there for a HOBBY so price and buy as a hobby or just collect how you feel like
None of this applies to me as I usually read comics that I buy. I'm not a flipper and I generally despise slabbing any books. I was also right about not trusting CGC. Also, I buy and sell runs so also doesn't apply to me. I don't get people buying keys just for buying keys. Omnibuses, again I buy the few b/c I just want to read the whole stories in a collections. That said SC trades are usually the best way to go to read good arcs on the cheap. - From a near 40 year collector.
I've been in this hobby for about 50 years and for me, these are phases of my collecting, not mistakes. From the 16-year-old me learning that the comic store guy wasn't interested in my JLA books to my current 'consolidation' phase, it's all part of the trip. The only thing I would ever consider a mistake in this hobby is to spend money you do not have on books.
I'm collecting complete runs and reading them book for book in my hands. Totally worth it. The experience of holding the comic, the way it smells, having the whole run in a box.I love it
ahh yes that smell. My dad and my uncles used to keep their comics stacked next to every toilet in the house and read them when they took a dump. A lot of folks did back then. 30 Years later and everyone’s loves the smell..
Yes!🎉
@@donaldvonglitchenberger4108no most people did not stack or read their comics in the bathroom.
Back then there was no internet, the books and comics we used buy them, read them and then store them boxed usually in the
garage for future reference. We took care of them because we used to spend a lot of money on them. They were important because this is how we got information before in print. There was no internet.
Best way to do it! I've done the whole thing most of my life as well.
Runs can be fun, especially if you intend to read it. Resale outside of the keys is laughable. This can be a fun option for dollar bin hunting. Just don't try for a run of EVERYTHING. Stick to a character or a few series you like.
If you intend to read them??😮
Warning for anyone getting into trade paperbacks, they are not even close to the same physical quality as the actual comic book issues. Paper is cheaper, colours don't pop and pages feel lifeless. This is fine for some types of artwork but it is not always the best choice. I do enjoy them still and they are 100% free at local librarys to read through.
I recently earlier this year decided to finish my 1-300 Xmen run, I started in the 90s as a teen. It has been an interesting learning exp, it helps that I am buying to keep, And mostly okay with readers as long as the cover is okay and attached. So most of my spendy early books are like 2.0 to 3.0s. I dont like Graded books, But I did buy my Number 1 and GSX 1 graded just to make sure everything was good, no fuckery with them when I am dropping over 1k on a book.
Only 30 books left to go, most of them are just filler books. That said I am less worry about space because I have an end goal. But yeah I would say in general people should just buy Keys. I spent a chunk of my budget on alot of misc books to fill the run. Esp with Xmen have like 25 issues that are actually reprints.
Definitely agree on slabs. Collectors are grading way too many comics that are not worth it. But in the end it is their money to do what they want with it.
I am a run collector. I read everything I buy. I could care less about the value. That being said I believe I have talked myself into stop buying floppies. And buy exclusively trades and hard covers.
I hate waiting... but I hear ya
Also migrating to only Tpb
I much prefer OHCs. They are easier to read, easier to display, more durable, and cheaper.
I wanted mainly collected editions but I’m impatient too so I’m still a slave to Wednesdays and loving it
I wish I could get there. Still in love with my weeklies. 😮
I've Been collecting for 3 years and I've worked at my LCS for 2. Started out collecting just star wars, then every star wars title, then one run for every favorite hero and villain if mine, then independent titles. In total I have about 50 titles on my pull list. What once was just two short boxes is now TWENTY-SIX short boxes and one longbox. I'm noticing it get out of hand and its hard to cut back when you work in the store.
My recent methods of solving this dilemma have been saying no to variants and trying to just stick with my list and cross off any titles where the run wraps up, no need to have more than one run for each character. The in-between stuff you don't consider is the hardest to stay away from. Facsimiles, limited series, foil variants, incentive variants can all seem enticing. But if it takes away funds and space for titles you actually want to read, say no. Also Put listings of stuff you regret buying up for sale online, better than it just sitting there.
Seems like you forgot the #1 rule of collecting. Collect what you like. Sounds like you get into the money aspect. Which is weird since you collect statues and those very very rarely go up I. Value. They are a waste of money. Look nice but not a collectible in a sense. Last piece of advice I can give you since you were helping us is don’t be negative. The advice on grading was spot on though.
Thank you for the video! I am an anti-slabber and have used that money toward more issues I want instead of slabbing something I have. I continue to see slabbed books out of my price range and gravitate toward the raw books at a much lower and reasonable price. Great points!
Great advice-I'll definitely keep this in mind as I continue my comic book collecting journey. I started last year, so it's all still pretty new to me. Thanks for the tips and what to watch out for!
What a well thought out and beautifully articulated video.
What I’m about to say next you know already, so I don’t have to say it, but I want to.
If it took all that, for you to learn all this, then they weren’t mistakes. They were very valuable lessons. And you’re a better collector now for it.
Great video
I don't know, I've watched a few of his videos and I'm starting to see a pattern. I think a lot of it is projecting. When he starts off saying comic book shops aren't in the customer service industry that baffled me as it clearly is. Also he's assuming thoughts in people's heads. Maybe that day he went in they had something else going on in life and weren't in chatty mood who knows, I just wouldn't assume the worse of someone just walking into their shop.
I'm not in it for the money. My goal is simply to read and own every comic book. I really don't care that much about the value, and I'm not interested in selling, though it's nice if a book's worth something. I have a few complete runs, I'm working on a few more. That's a lot of the fun for me, just hunting for stuff and finding it for a good price. A lot of what I own isn't worth anything, but I only paid $1-2 for most of it. My biggest problem is storage. Have to add another subbasement or two.
I'm in it like you. Problem is, the longer you go like this, the harder it is to find storage and yeah, you can start pissing off your family ;)
But yeah, I agree. I like the hunt as much as the next collector, but 100% it's the hunt to fill in runs for the cheapest rate ever. And I never fool myself into thinking there will be a return. I figure Ill be lucky on a lot of it if I even break even. I just LOVE doing it though.
@@dano1346 Yeah, it's pretty addictive, lol.
I am a cover collector. I enjoy them for the art & to display. I like Good Girl/Bad Girl. Giant Robots. Monsters/Horror. Fantasy & Sci Fi covers. I could care less about most superheroes & "keys". The superhero crowd are the ones giving Goose all the hate. Sad little people, if you don't like him don't watch him.
Cover collector 🤣 yall make me laugh 🤣
@@jimmyhayes6017 Yes, I like the cover art, that's why I collect them. When I want to read something it's usually a pretty dense thousand page Russian or French novel. What do "y'all" like to read Jimmy?
@@EugeneLorey cover collector 😂
@@jimmyhayes6017 Ok....? Yes, lots of us in the hobby collect mainly for the covers, have you ever heard of "varient's" Jimmy?
@@jimmyhayes6017 clearly, you used am emoji and everything, karen
Make 3 separate videos about:
1. Your biggest selling gains on a particular book (top 10)
2. Your biggest selling fails (top 10)
3. Your biggest "why did I buy this" top 10. It would be funny and many would share those picks also.
One of my biggest problems is buying the same stuff in different formats. If I’m reading the single issues and I like them, I’ll buy it again in tpb format. Then again if it eventually becomes an omnibus. And vice versa, if I like an omnibus I might try to buy the single issues. I really need to pick one format and stick with it.
If you get lucky you get to sell them to pay for your hobby... its rare but it could happen.
There aren't any rules for collecting comics. Just go for what you truly enjoy and stick with it! So what if you have a room full of comics, "To each his own." I've been collecting for 46 years +/- and I still enjoy hunting and digging through boxes once in a while. One good piece of advice from your short video is buying keys at the wrong time. I agree with you about that one because it could be expensive. Thank you for sharing and happy hunting.
Good points. My daughter calls my long boxes the “graveyard”. Don’t slab anything that is not a valued autographed or a key issue ever.
I’d add whatever comics you find that are special to you. I have my very first comic slabbed. It’s a 3.5 because I read the crap out of it. I have other reading copies of the book, but that particular book that I got slabbed I remembered picking out with my dad. I wanted to preserve it.
@@Dume_Guy That is very cool that you have that memory with your dad. Definitely keep that book preserved.
Salute to SG for keeping it real!! Amazing thoughts on collecting and the mistakes people make. I hate that saying, “make the hobby pay for itself.” Collect what you love!
Great video.
Everyone collects differently. Some people hate slabbed comics and say “comics are meant to be read”, and some people take their run of old single issues and have them bound together for their personal collection for a book shelf.
There is so much of this stuff out there, that if you want to change how you collect you can.
I bought recently early Conan's and now I'm having them cleaned and pressed but not incased. This is my favorite run because I like Barry Windsor Smith but I won't get them slabed because I want to read them
I really needed this video, I am in the process of changing my collecting strategy. Looking over my statements, i have spent a lot of money on "classic covers", "origin issues", and small first appearance keys that are either worth under $100 or have over 10,000 of them graded on cgc census.
When i started collecting, my end goal was Amazing Fantasy 15 and ASM #1. I could have bought those books by now if i didnt buy all of these small issues and just put that money in a savings account until i had it saved. I also whated to collect actual rare books, like House of Sectrets 92, Brave and the Bold 28, Hawkman 4, Journey into Mystery 83, the first Hank Pym Ant man (which i forgot the name and issue number), and Golden age books like Spirit #22, etc....
After watching this video, I will most likely start selling all of my non key books and minor first appearances and put them towards good books. Like you said 2 boxes of quality books. The rest can be in trade paperbacks.
For the past couple of weeks, I've been pondering why I collect comics. I went into an amazing comic shop yesterday that had the biggest back issue collection I've ever seen here in the UK. But I found myself at a bit of a stump. I didn't know where to start looking. So I ended up reverting to looking at ASM/Venom and the wall books. I no longer collect runs, its too tiresome. I'm never gonna have time to read them anyway. I heard omni's are the best format to read collections, trades are good also. I want to get the time to start reading again. I'm not interested in NCBD as well, not a fan of the modern stories, I prefer the classics and I bet there is so much more I havent read yet. Slabbed books, I only buy ones I want now, back in the day I would buy slabs for the sake of it. I think people will relly resonate with this video, its thought provoking about the hobby we love.
Im so glad I quit collecting comics ,2 to 3 years now,I've been wasting money on my comic pull list,etc. I remembering spending over $100 each payday on my pull list, sold most of my comics and still having trouble selling off my remaining comics ,aka DC Rebirth,etc....
If you think you’re gonna get anything less than cover price for Dc rebirth books you’re out you’re mind.
In my experience, the most comics I've seen in a particular type for sale at a comic shop was "rebirth" comics. That is one rule that I stick to when collecting DC, never buy rebirth! ;) Best of luck to you and selling off the remaining of your books.
All bang on points. Every collector, and I mean every collector, comes to a realisation that at some point they have too much in their collection and then decide to scale down. The materialistic collector gene is so interesting in psychology. Gotta have it, gotta have it, gotta have it…………………..
Consolidation is good advice, there is always comics you will find in a collection you don't really like that you keep due to numbering, best advice is, see if you can get trade credit at a local store for something you do like.
Glen from the ' palace ' is an investment in time just to comprehend the totality of the comics books marketplace. It's easy to turn and run from the hobbyist hobby, until you pay attention to the ' palace ' 😛
My biggest mistake was not selling my entire collection prior to 1999. That’s the year CGC brought the Slabbed comic to market.
I was still collecting comics at the time and wasn’t particularly interested in doing more preservation beyond putting my values into Mylar. I stopped collecting circa 2016 and still have the entire collection but haven’t really looked at the books since then.
I feel if I had sold before the Slab was introduced I would have received a better sales price for key issues at the very least. Slabs have brought the value of raw comics down tremendously.
I considered getting key books slabbed, but I’m in MN and they’re in FL. I couldn’t bring myself to shipping them due to cost, environmental concerns, and feeling like would I really get them back? I thought about driving my collection down to them, but never did and now I’m too weak to pick up long boxes, and in many circumstances short boxes.
I am in the process of whittling my collection down to one or two books. I’m thinking my Strange Tales/Doctor Strange and X-Men titles. But do I keep all the related X-books or just stick to the core 1963 title run? I originally started with a purchase of X-Men 92 & 93 back in the 1970’s and the story hooked me. I was dismayed later on when I paid $2.50 for Giant Size X-Men #1 only to find out the story’s ending wasn’t there and having discovered years later I needed Avengers #53 (or 58? I’m not sure anymore) and had to hunt for that.
In the 1990’s the price guide valued my Giant Size at about $10,000, now I can find listings on eBay for less than $1,000 raw and around $4,000 slabbed (9.0 grade). I won’t sell it now, but I hear people don’t want to buy slabs anymore. Perhaps it’s a fad that lasted a quarter of a century. I can only hope the person I leave the collection to in my will gets a good value. I won’t have to worry about it.
I love my super high grade complete runs from the 1980s. It was a blast collecting them and hunting for a deal. It takes space but its really fulfilling to have such a library. Took 30 years but worth all the money and time.
I agree about the runs, with the exception of the original Hulk 1-6. Its a mercifully short, highly awesome run.
Not a big slab collector but some people do grade books just because it's their favorite. In collecting the only "mistake" is if you have some regrets. My only regrets are (1) all the books I lost in my various moves, and (2) that I don't have more money to spend on comics. But I enjoy what I have and occasionally sell some to make room for more.
I mean, there's counterpoints to a lot of these. New comic book day books have become some of my most valuable books. I've had good success trading books to vendors but you do need to be offering an in demand book that has good value. And when trading with vendors you have to take a hit value wise, the trade needs to be in their favor. It's basically just your first point again about having realistic expectations. Also, I personally like collecting whole runs. I wouldn't try completing something like you said, ask, ff4 etc, but I just completed my silver surfer run and couldn't be happier... I think it would be better to say be more realistic about your collecting goals.
I've gotten back into reading current comics last year after about a 4 year hiatus. I've had an easier time this time around by limiting myself to about a handful of titles a month. 10 years ago I was one of those buy a bunch of books on NCBD people, but that $60-70 a week started to become too much and it felt like I was wasting money by trying out a bunch of series for 3 or 4 issues only to drop it.
Sounds like someone went all in and didn't think about a strategy. This guy is where I was at in 2005. lol
The first thing I learned on my comic collecting journey is that I don't like comic books. They are so fragile and hard to store or display. I like TPBs, ok, but what I really love are Over Sized Hardcovers. I collect some TPBs if there is no OHC or Omnibus. I only have about 80 comics but over a thousand hardcovers. It is so much fun to read and collect them in this format. It's cheaper than the comics, easier to read, more durable, and easier to display. I had no idea that these other formats even existed. Between Ebay, Amazon, and Mercari, I almost always pay half of MSRP. I quit reading regular books, and now all I read are OHCs and Omnis. If I had known about the books, I would have started collecting many years ago.
I can’t thank you enough for this video! I’m a relatively new collector. I haven’t made too many mistakes except I was at a recycle place and bought a bunch of modern comics for a dollar each. They don’t have a lot of value and are just clutter. I find buying old comics much more satisfying and am dumping the modern.
I think hybrid collecting is a fun way to collect. Personally for me I focus on what I collect. X-men, daredevil, valiant conics(don’t judge me). If a see a deal on a good key I will pick it up for trade bait down the line. There’s nothing better feeling then trading a book you have no attachment to for a book you really like.
The rule about not trying to time your buys means the most to me. I am a gamer, not a comic book collector. This rule applies to video games as well as comics. What happens if you try to time something. You wait for a sale. By the time the sale comes along. You might not care about that game anymore. There is also a case of a game being too high. Waiting for the game to go down means you might never buy that game. There are a few Nintendo 3DS games I am interested in that keep going up. I recently spent 55-65$ on Devil Survivor 1 Over clocked in its original case with the manual. It was a like new condition copy of the game. I got a deal paying $10 more than just a cartridge without the case or manual.
I buy issue #1 - 2 copies of the A cover, 1 of the B. Eventually I'll have 1 extra to offload that should pay for the hoard if I get lucky. I buy to read. But I'm a huge fan of the art. I read anything that I enjoyed from my youth. I only buy what I'm interested in... I'm not going back to try and buy comics from the 90s though. I still have my Xmen #1s from the 90s and they aren't really worth anything... my great-great-grandson will wonder why I bothered to save such things.
I read SIKTC is trade paperback form. No need for floppies or waiting every week for a new issue. The longboxes get extremely full extremely fast that way. It's a race to the bottom. Comic books take up tons of space. I think it's way better to have a longbox or two that are all high-quality and amazing books instead of endless piles of junk.
That’s best way to read SIKTC. When 21 came out I bought the floppies every month and that’s when the plot went south. Slow development, gorgeous art but a fast read. Eventually dropped it
My biggest mistake was eating them on fire to make them hot comics.
I appreciate your shared wisdom.
Buying runs is a good idea if you like comics. Being a reseller is a bad idea if you really like comics. Dont treat it like a business unless it is your business.
Great video! I've had sort of the same learning lessons, too.
I like 200-300 page hardcover books it's my preferred reading experience but I do buy omnibuses just kus It holds more of the story in one book
I pretty much just buy what I like now. One conclusion I came to when I was more interested in fomo and assets was, if you are after adding value to your collection dont buy new books. Sure sooner or later your going to miss something that sky rockets but this is more than cancelled out by purchasing huge amounts of books that do nothing. Take that money and buy a book with a track record.
😂 and now I've got to the end of the video you kind of said this.
There are 2 different types of collectors. 1) Those who collect to read them. 2) Those who collect for acquiring money. 1 is a true collector. 2 is for business.
Well said man. I think a lot of us have to fuck up on our own to learn what we love or don't love. It's part of the journey man ✌️
All excellent points. Great advice.
This is by far your best video yet. Agree with everything except the run collecting.
Man good video appreciate your channel
Some great advice thx SG, as I returned to comics a few years ago, I spent a lot of money 'completing' runs. A complete waste given I'd like to sell when I retire.
I have a Marvel collection from when I was a kid with about 80 silver age comics that, unknown to me, my mom saved for me, with some key issues like Fantastic Four 48, Iron Man #1, Silver Surfer #1and a few others. The rest are in fair shape and are perhaps $20 to $30 books at my local comic book shops. Some a little more some a little less. I want to sell them all at once as a batch and have done with it. How do I do it and more importantly, how much would I get for them?
There’s actually a couple series of books that I pick up every month, and I only read them once a year when I’m on vacation.
Sometimes I’ll have 12 to 15 issues at once, and just binge them all in one sitting.
The only downfall is that if you get to issue six or something and think man, this sucks, you’ve got to plug through it and hope it gets better.
Now a minute in. I'm thinking this is a classic case of projection. Even if you had a few bad experiences you can't say that everyone in the business is that way. It's possible that you're projecting that negativity when you go to new shops and they are reacting to that.
A big gamble that collectors take is dealing with new folks. You have zero relations built up, the seller has no indication you'll be back for more. There's no rapport. You are likely better off dealing with a few folks, building a relationship, to get discounted books. That's been my experience anyways. My LCS guy is willing to knock 20% or more off high end key books when selling to me. idk if that's normal but I'm getting books at less than listed FMV.
I confess I'm a whale, my weekly pull is $300 at the minimum. My guy is obviously behoven to me. But I never pull the, I spend blah blah blah here, so gimme.
@@gorgeousgeorge5173 Alot of shops I have found are stuck in boom time prices. The shops willing to drop prices based on current trends, I drop alot of money at. But I have found alot of shops are just not willing to adjust prices, even when I show them Buy it nows for equal or better grade comics that are half or less of their asking. Like I wanted to spendy money at LGS, but I ended up spending alot on ebay cause the prices where just better. I would pay a bit more local, but not double or triple.
Thanks for all of your informative videos. You have opened my eyes to the many issues currently affecting our hobby. 🤔😮💨😔
The biggest mistake is collecting in general.
All very valid points. Great video. I just buy what I read. It's tempting to buy the other shiny stuff but I like that I can look at my boxes and know I wanna re read all of it. Only slabbed issues I have are like you said, Old or have a very special meaning to me.
Come to many of these realizations and am scaling way down as well. Compendiums are the best thing to happening
Your commentary is spot on..I have experienced some of the same and definitely can agree with what your saying...your commentary are straight no chaser I love them
I enjoy your videos. I have 3 short boxes on just books and graphic novels I love and enjoy. I'll gift or giveaway books I read and don't like for my personal collection. On the slab side... I like to have covers I like to display really nice. I don't care much on grade as long as the book display well. But I appreciate the books that not many others would care to have graded but get graded because most of those I go after. I'm not a pro but just sharing my personal experiences.
I dislike that when I go to my LCS and I ask other comic book buyers if what they're holding is a good read & 9 times out of 10 they'll say they don't read them, they're only buying because it's trending or to flip later. I've been collecting comics since I was a boy because my father was a comic book collector since the 70s. I was blessed with my father friending a serial killer from my city whose appeared on Netflix, UA-cam, etc and he gifted me his collection from when he was a kid so that's how I got into comic books but now nobody reads comics. I've only sold four comic books in four years because I love to read them not sell them. Will I ever part ways with them I doubt it.
I loved X-Men comic books because the characters were all outcast & hated on for being different & I could relate to them. I was a lighter shade of brown with red hair, a Caucasian name in a border city who only spoke English so i fought a lot in school for being different & when I was home my family would mock or beat me because I was adopted. So comics were my escape. I don't like where this hobby went.
This great advice that resonates with me. I haven’t bought any omnibus yet but was thinking about it. Sounds like the Epic Collection or smaller trades are still a better way to go 👍
If you’re interested in runs, buy the trades.
So i like building runs on series i like. I like the physical read, and the appeal of completed work. The hunt is also fun. Guess i am doing it wrong according to this video. I should ignore that, just buy keys, and read trade paper backs.
It’s almost like don’t be trendy and follow the crowd
First: don't collect print paper at all
Such a dope topic! Awesome video, SG!
Facts!!!
So I don't always agree with what you're saying but this video is 100% spot on. Plus I'm a big fan of lessons learned videos. Thanks for putting this out.
I can just see upcoming board meetings at slab and comic book companies: who is this Sticky Goose and why is he telling people to not buy our products?
All true. Great video 👍
I feel like there is always regrets I've been reading since the 80's and it takes years to know what you actually like. I have many regrets and you really never really stop making them. I knew there would be a lot of this after covid. If there was social media in the 90's we would have heard a lot like this as well. Many long time collectors cool off for periods I know I do. Space is a problem for everyone.
So on point. Especially spec’ing on a comic trying to time market due to a show or movie. Waste of money.
So what were you into before you got into comics if anything? Because you've amassed an insane collection in very short order. What did you spend money on pre covid?
I didnt have any money until 2018
Collectors will most likely NEVER get "good" money for their comics they are hoping to sell. Just remember that MOST comics (Modern specifically) will typically never be worth their face value after you purchase them off the rack. Which is depressing as I enjoy collecting and WANT to read new books. But the $4-$5 base price makes it tough. So I'm trying to transform myself into becoming a TPB reader since I prefer tangible reading.
That’s an awesome T-shirt pal
The rookies don't know about it. The rookies DON'T DO IT.
Trades are lower in price but are usually
not as comprehensive (tie-ins) as omnis.
What im starting to like about the state of the hobby at this moment, is im getting back into reading, instead of looking for the next big thing! IDW, are best at the moment to me
Is it a mistake to put two books in one bag separated by one board? Only one side of the board is treated to prevent acid destruction, but how long does it take for that to happen? Bags and boards are expensive. Thanks.
Mine was not looking at a slabbed book I bought close enough it was a major key but it was sun faded after it was put in the case. Nothing about color fading in the grader notes. Back then I didn’t know the cases weren’t uv resistant.
What mistake did you make when you were never a true collector.
I'm trying to whittle down my NCBD books but I really enjoy reading. Luckily I'm able to spread the reading out over a few days so I'm done when the next NCBD rolls around.
I'm def a graphic novel fan over omnis.
Only slabbing signature books now.
Mistakes are just happy accidents.
Never a seller. Just The Collector!
i been into getting omnibuses for cheap
got a brand new omnibus of death metal for 63-vs 125 msrp on amazon
before watching......... tooooo many dollar books
I don't buy Omnibus to sell later. I buy them to read and keep.
Sticky Goose,you need to have one short box with all the comics you truly care about and never sell that one box cause years ago I sold a short box full of keys and have regretted it ever since
To each their own. I mainly collect venom related and department of truth. If i want to read something, trades or omnibus. Just bought hellblazer omni.
Thank for Advice sir iam all over the place right Now with my collection 90s 80s,70s,60s,50s,any funny book i can get my hands on i collect what i love and to preserve keep in the family is why i collect. When ian done with my 2024 collection I'll send email to make me a video 😂 well call it the "poor mans collection " 😅 we workhard for our books and not everyone collect the same plus who really care we all Love Books ❤ thanks Mr. STICKY GOOSE checking in from Fremont Nebraska ❤
The only books you should slab are expensive keys you intend to sell. Otherwise...don't bother.
This is mostly just advice for people who really care about how valuable things are, I thought we were past that but go off King
He literally is showing his journey from caring about value, to ultimately realizing that value and selling is not worth the time, effort or expense. He's realizing flipping is an empty process and he's now focused on things he likes, instead of making money off the comic hobby. Did you even watch the video?
@@MA-qp8su how tf do you get that from this when he ends up taking about how to best realize gains in just about every part. He talks about what things are worth throughout the entire video, including at the end. I feel like you're parroting what he's said in past videos without applying any kind of critical thinking to what he's saying throughout this one.
Sticky Goose,you are right cause you should only buy comics,you truly care about and don't buy speculation books and you should have one short box with all your valuable comics in it and put in a gun safe. Sticky Goose,you should keep your top 50 favorite trade paper backs and sell the rest and use that money to get a key book you been wanting.Everyone if you buy the books you truly care about you willnt regret it later and just make sure you are happy with your books otherwise you are just wasting money.
Another problem people have and idk if you just talked about this is SPEC BUYS 80% of the time the book does not work the way you think for examples uncanny 251 that books is not worth 40$ here and I’m what you call a “flipper” and if I find those I usually do it for 20$ the problem is people wanna treat comics like stocks. There not there for a HOBBY so price and buy as a hobby or just collect how you feel like
I try to keep my NCBD/Pull List down to $50 or less per month. That's like $600 a year or less. I'd like it to be half that...
None of this applies to me as I usually read comics that I buy. I'm not a flipper and I generally despise slabbing any books. I was also right about not trusting CGC. Also, I buy and sell runs so also doesn't apply to me. I don't get people buying keys just for buying keys. Omnibuses, again I buy the few b/c I just want to read the whole stories in a collections. That said SC trades are usually the best way to go to read good arcs on the cheap. - From a near 40 year collector.
Good tips! Thanks!