The Wife and I moved this summer. For the first time in my entire married life, my clothes get to live in a closet in our bedroom, and all my comics get to reside in one location, my ManCave.
Collecting since 1975 and with the exception of a few small sell-offs along the way, I still have every comic.
It is a shameful amount of comic books. Putting them all together after the move I just felt decadent. There are illiterate kids in China with nothing to read, right? It would be one thing if I ever planned on reading most of them again, but I don’t. Thus, I have resolved to liquidate a large portion of my collection.
But how do you determine what stays and what goes? Whattya’ keep?
I really enjoy the trades. I like that they are readily accessible on my bookshelf. I dig their sturdiness. So, an early decision for me was that if I could get it in the trades – it’d go. For instance, I have all of the Tomb of Dracula Essentials books. My ToD floppies – a complete collection, BTW – can go.
I’ll keep those things that I know I want to read again but will most likely never be released in trade.
I’ll keep the very first supers comic I ever read.
All my Elseworlds books are staying. The What Ifs are on their way out.
Some have sentimental value like the annual sized $1 comic Superman Family and Batman Family books my Dad would buy me at the newsstand on Sunday mornings. Those stay.
But all those danged 2099 books go.
Justice League Task Force stays.
I’m just scratching the surface. It’s a lot of books. I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts – particularly if you’ve done something similar.
Ain’t it great how I can turn the blog into my own self-help forum?
September 10th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
You’re keeping Justice League Task Force?
…why?
I started to do this before I moved from England to New York, but never got round to ebaying anything so…everything stayed. Everything, and it now resides at my parents house. It’s a ridiculous collection.
One day – probably when we decide if this is a permanent move or not – I’m going to have to spend some time going through it.
I’m dreading it.
September 10th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Bind the collections you want to keep. Bound Who’s Who from DC Example.
September 10th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
The real question is not what stays and what goes, but what do you do with the stuff you want to get rid of?
Making the decision to get rid of it is the easy part, it’s figuring out how to get rid of them that’s tricky.
Thoughts?
September 10th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
@Chris
eBay should probably be the first stop for any comics that are out the door. Anything that’s left after that, I’d try the local library to see if they want any of it. Next, any teen centers or after school programs in the area.
At least, that’s what I’d do.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I did something similar about 2 years ago, I sold 99% of my collection in one shot to a dealer. I could have broken it up into batches and got a lot more for it, but who has the time? I have a pretty extensive TPB collection and have actaully re-purchased a lot of things in TPB form that I thought were worth keeping. I still buy comics, but instead of buying 12-15 a week, I’m down to 12-15 a month. Once you shed that collector mentality, and figure out what you really enjoy reading, life is much simpler. Trust me, I still get a lump in my stomach when I think of those 12,000 books and the amount of time and money I spent on them. My only regret is selling my Miracleman run, since the trades are way out of my price range and it’s stuck in legal limbo.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Last year, I cleaned out over 3000 comics from my collection, as well as several action figures and other paraphernalia.
I listed it all in bulk on eBay and didn’t make very much. In fact, I still have 2 boxes left over that I will either donate or give out to kids on Halloween.
September 10th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I’ve got about 1½ long boxes I want to get rid of, and I really should try to pare things down further. But I haven’t had a whole lot of success with ebay lately. A lot of what I’m selling just isn’t popular enough to sell, and isn’t valuable enough to be worth the effort, especially when you throw in ebay and paypal fees.
P.S. WP-SpamFree is giving me bogus errors again.
September 10th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I’m going through the exact same process (for nearly similar reasons), and I too feel that shame/disgust over hoarding stuff that holds no sentimental or intellectual interest. Would love to purge 2/3s of my collection.
Disappointed to hear eBay isn’t working out for folks. Were you listing stuff in lots or single issues?
September 10th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Dude, do you live in Los Angeles? I’ll buy some of those books from you.
September 10th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
“Justice League Task Force stays.”
That’s a boy! We never sell off the priest work. never.
September 10th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Yeah ebay is basically way more hassle than it’s worth.
There’s got to be a better way.. right?
September 10th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Kelson, you can workaround the WP-Spamfree problem by opening a second browser window (tab) using the “Leave a Reply” link, and making your post in the original window once the new one is opened.
September 10th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I try to keep my collection around 3800-4000 books due to limited storage space. About every six months I’ll go through the collection and do a purge. My typical rule of thumb for purging is: after making exceptions for nostalgia/collectors value “do I actually remember what happened in this comic?” If the answer is no there’s a good chance it’s getting pulled.
September 10th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
I’ve bought things from eBay- I think it’s great, but for some reason I am apprehensive about selling things on it. I think I would need help if I tried to use it.
I know the hope is that you can make some kind of money, but I think one of the best ideas is giving them out at Halloween. It’s something unique (most people stick with candy). Plus, it can be challenge to get a child to read- maybe a short, 22-page story would be just the thing to change that. And maybe you create a new comic book fan in the process.
Just make sure the books you hand out are age appropriate.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
@r: Here’s a handy guide for giving Comics for Halloween:
http://www.comicspace.com/comics4halloween/
September 10th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Spare a thought for those of us in Australia, where I can’t even find someone who’ll take my comics. I had planned to get rid of them on ebay, but I’ll probably end up taking them down to the library instead.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Do..i..Do i see a swastika?
September 10th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Donate them to kids! I give my surplus comics away to kids I know will read them. It’s sad to say goodbye, but you get a real sense of accomplishment knowing you’re getting the next generation hooked on reading!
If they are kid-friendly, I share them with my elementary art students. Some of the edgier ones, I pass on to the high school to give out.
If anyone ever needs a distributor, I would be glad to give away anything you want to mail me. Otherwise, try calling your local school.
September 10th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I see the swastika, but it’s on a shelf with a bunch of history books – it’s about WWII.
Just sold off a ton of comics at the local comic shop – the guy was really honest about how much I could make on the comics – I mean, let’s be honest, the economy sucks, so dollar bins are really the way to go unless you KNOW something’s gonna sell for more.
Hate to say it, since I’m selling some stuff on it, but man…ebay sucks.
September 10th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
> Do..i..Do i see a swastika?
LOL!
Yes, Zen, you do see a swastika. It’s on the cover of my a first printing of THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH, a book I inherited from my grandfather after his passing. He was a veteran serving with distinction in both the African and European theatres. The book was a gift from my mother.
Just about all of those WWII books were my grandfather’s.
The books on erotic art? Those were my dads!
September 10th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Scarington,
It’s been a number of years (8?) since I sold comics on eBay. For the stuff I sold, I got decent prices. But I had a whole bunch of stuff that did not sell. For me, it proved to be more trouble than it was worth.
I am rather taken by the notion of handing them out for Halloween. I think that’s a great idea! Though the age appropriate bit sounds a bit challenging.
September 10th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
I’ll be going through this in a few weeks. I’m flying home and going through the 10,000 comics I have stored in my father’s basement and then moving it to a storage facility. And some of it simply has to go. It’s either badly damaged, completely worthless junk or duplicated in TPB format. I suspect some of it will simply end up in the garbage, tragically. eBay is increasingly useless for clearing out stuff you want to get rid of. Plus, I don’t have time.
Also, I know some local schools and the children’s hospital simply toss a lot of donations, concerned about inappropriate content.
So yeah, throwing it out hurts me at a physical level, but I honestly don’t know what else to do with a lot of the odds and ends of my collection.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
You are keeping the TOMB OF DRACULA Essential reprints and getting rid of the original magazines? REALLY?
Ok, two questions, then:
Do you know that the TOD Essentials are censored?
And may I get the originals?
;-D
September 11th, 2008 at 8:03 am
I’ve had the opposite experience of everyone else with ebay, apparently.
Over the last two years, I’ve probably sold off about 150 lots of books from the 80′s onward. Yeah, I took a loss on most. Quite a big hit on a few.
So why am I still happy? I was able to turn around and use the money to buy books from ebay to fill in my collection of Superman books. Those funds helped me complete the early 70′s books. I ended up getting more in market value from my Superman books than what I let go. Those books hadn’t budged in market value in years. So now I have a leaner, more profitable collection. Win-win, I’d say.
September 11th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Here’s an idea to help those of you wanting to get rid of some of your comics and help others out and are unenthused about selling on ebay. Even if you don’t support the wars in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, you should be able to get behind helping the troops morale:
(All information below is garnered from Evil Inc’s forum website at http://www.evil-comic.com/forums/stains/5652/ )
A charity known as Heroes to Heroes will use the money to buy and ship comics and graphic novels to our troops overseas as part of the Heroes For Heroes Project.
Additionally, people interested in helping can donate their own comics and graphic novels, or purchase new ones to donate at a reduced price at any of the following locations throughout the rest of the year:
The Comic Book Store
30 North Main Street
Glassboro, NJ 08208
(856) 442-0402
Hall of Heroes, Hamilton Mall
4403 Black Horse Pike, #1159A
Mays Landing, NJ 08330
(609) 484-1350
Hall of Heroes, Moorestown Mall
400 Route 38
Moorestown, NJ 08057
(856) 802-9100
Level Up Entertainment
Tilton Times Plaza Space A
6814 Tilton Road
Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234
(609) 569-9200
At the beginning of January, everything collected will be sent to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces serving in the Middle East, as a morale booster.
If you are (or know) a comic store owner, comics professional, or simply an interested citizen who would like to help, contact Michael Dolan at (609) 344-2648 or madkalnod@hotmail.com for more information on contributing to this cause.
September 11th, 2008 at 9:27 am
The Halloween idea is a good one, but (as someone else pointed out) make sure it’s age-appropriate stuff. That can be hard to gauge in some cases. Also, try to gauge a kids interest. If a kid is dressed as Batman, OK there’s a pretty safe bet he’ll like a Batman comic. Or something similar. Of course, there are pitfalls to all of this too. Giving a kid one part of multiple issue story probably isn’t fair, since the kid may never find out how the story ends.
I also think ASKING a child if he/she would like a comic book is a good idea. Some kids may just want the candy, or parents might object (though I’d think reading is a better thing than sugary snacks). And, while you might encourage a few new comic fans, there’s also the risk of your cherished old books just getting tossed out a week later. I don’t think anyone wants that.
September 11th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
“There are illiterate kids in China with nothing to read, right?” – that’s a really awful comment.
September 11th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
I always said I’d never be that guy in his 30s with all the unwanted comic books, but when I became that guy I didn’t know what to do with them. I assured my wife for months on end that I would sell them. I finally wound up giving them away. I kept my favorites, a couple that might be worth a dollar or two some day, and those with emotional significance. The Superman Wedding Album came out at about the same time I got married.
The gentleman I gave the unwanted books to is a big collector and was happy to receive them. Some went into his private collection. Others went into a stash of comics he takes to schools and gives to the students.
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