Second-hand Spideys
It was the smallest, dinkiest toy fair I'd seen in my life. One room, three rows of tables, maybe 50 people besides LJ, aaronbraegen and myself. Still I was keen: having completed my toy collection, it was time to set myself a new geeky goal. What would be my next target, and would this first-time swap-meet provide it?
Yes, as it turned out. One seller, a guy younger than me, was offloading classic issues of Amazing-Spider-Man. He'd purchased an online lot because it contained issues he was missing and was selling off the doubles. Everything he had on offer was from a point before my run begins and - glory be! - there were several complete Stan Lee arcs! It's been a long time since I dropped cash on old Spideys ( 18 months, actually) so there was a little hesitation. I always balk at the price of old comics. "Value" is such a subjective thing and, to be honest, I feel a lot of Silver Age sellers inflate their prices. Fortunately this guy was willing to barter, so I walked away with what I wanted for the price I wanted to pay.
That was last weekend; I didn't get a chance to sit and read my new beauties until yesterday. Kicking back in my new chair, in my perfect comic room, reading old comics? Folks, it doesn't get any better, nor more relaxing. My afternoon was an utter dream. I love the look of old comics, the smell, the feel of the paper. I get a kick out of the letters pages, out of the dynamic art, and especially out of the must-have-been-a-scam classified ads ("Darling Pet Monkey, $18. Send 75c for shipping.") What most tickled me were all the ads promising price guides and fanzines focusing on "early Marvel" or "Marvel's hidden history", meaning the Golden Age comics. Fandom hasn't changed, it just uses the internet instead.
The comics themselves were more battered and beaten than hard-core collectors like (hence the guy selling them). One had clearly been folded in half and kept in a kid's back pocket. Another had a pretty clear thumbprint where the reader had lingered (given the splash page in question, I'd have lingered too... in fact, I did). But the biggest laugh was the clipped-out coupon that wafted from between the pages of one issue. It was for one of those Charles Atlas-style "be a real man" workout books. The kid had ticked the boxes for wanting bigger arms and legs, and more strength. He'd obviously thought better of it (or maybe realised he'd clipped Spidey's head out of a panel) and tried to tape the coupon back in. Classic!
Right now, I imagine thebagbunny and other collectors I know are cringing. Old comics that aren't mint? Disgusting! But you know something? I liked it. It took my back to the excitement I felt as a kid, shopping in my home town's only bookstore, rifling through the second-hand comics for hidden treasures. I didn't care if issues were a little beaten up (I had my own grading/standards system, and knew what I would and would not put up with) I just wanted cool, old stories I couldn't find in the city comic shop. I remember being fascinated by where the comics had come from and who had owned them before me... a little archaeology with my burgeoning fandom.
And that's when I had another collecting epiphany. The reason I've been so stop/start, for so long, about finishing my Amazing Spider-Man run is because buying expensive, mint-condition comics doesn't feel right to me. It's the toy collecting epiphany all over again: pristine copies are perfect, but second-hand comics are right. I balk at buying pricey old comics because what I really want are second-hand Spideys from a second-hand bookstore. My definition of vintage is old and pre-loved, not old and untouched. And given the state of the back issue market, that's an incredibly empowering attitude.
Last night, I went online and sourced as many of the first 50 ASMs as I could find for under $100US. I've created a list/shopping cart from which I'll draw. I've prioritised which issues I want first (because why collect in order when you can get the good stuff straight away?) and shared all this with stareyednight and LJ. When I want to buy something, or someone wants a present idea for me, all eyes will go to the Spidey list. That'll be my collecting focus from now on. Years from now, when it's all said and done, I'll have completed my run of bruised, battered, folded, tattered, unsightly and pre-loved Amazing Spider-Man comics. And I'll be just as deliriously happy about them as I am my display shelves of war-torn Transformers, GI Joes, Star Wars characters and superheroes.
I've finally realised that I collect for nostalgia, for recapturing that childhood excitement, for creating that collection I wanted as a kid. Those are, as far as I'm concerned, the best reasons in the world.
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF
Yes, as it turned out. One seller, a guy younger than me, was offloading classic issues of Amazing-Spider-Man. He'd purchased an online lot because it contained issues he was missing and was selling off the doubles. Everything he had on offer was from a point before my run begins and - glory be! - there were several complete Stan Lee arcs! It's been a long time since I dropped cash on old Spideys ( 18 months, actually) so there was a little hesitation. I always balk at the price of old comics. "Value" is such a subjective thing and, to be honest, I feel a lot of Silver Age sellers inflate their prices. Fortunately this guy was willing to barter, so I walked away with what I wanted for the price I wanted to pay.
That was last weekend; I didn't get a chance to sit and read my new beauties until yesterday. Kicking back in my new chair, in my perfect comic room, reading old comics? Folks, it doesn't get any better, nor more relaxing. My afternoon was an utter dream. I love the look of old comics, the smell, the feel of the paper. I get a kick out of the letters pages, out of the dynamic art, and especially out of the must-have-been-a-scam classified ads ("Darling Pet Monkey, $18. Send 75c for shipping.") What most tickled me were all the ads promising price guides and fanzines focusing on "early Marvel" or "Marvel's hidden history", meaning the Golden Age comics. Fandom hasn't changed, it just uses the internet instead.
The comics themselves were more battered and beaten than hard-core collectors like (hence the guy selling them). One had clearly been folded in half and kept in a kid's back pocket. Another had a pretty clear thumbprint where the reader had lingered (given the splash page in question, I'd have lingered too... in fact, I did). But the biggest laugh was the clipped-out coupon that wafted from between the pages of one issue. It was for one of those Charles Atlas-style "be a real man" workout books. The kid had ticked the boxes for wanting bigger arms and legs, and more strength. He'd obviously thought better of it (or maybe realised he'd clipped Spidey's head out of a panel) and tried to tape the coupon back in. Classic!
Right now, I imagine thebagbunny and other collectors I know are cringing. Old comics that aren't mint? Disgusting! But you know something? I liked it. It took my back to the excitement I felt as a kid, shopping in my home town's only bookstore, rifling through the second-hand comics for hidden treasures. I didn't care if issues were a little beaten up (I had my own grading/standards system, and knew what I would and would not put up with) I just wanted cool, old stories I couldn't find in the city comic shop. I remember being fascinated by where the comics had come from and who had owned them before me... a little archaeology with my burgeoning fandom.
And that's when I had another collecting epiphany. The reason I've been so stop/start, for so long, about finishing my Amazing Spider-Man run is because buying expensive, mint-condition comics doesn't feel right to me. It's the toy collecting epiphany all over again: pristine copies are perfect, but second-hand comics are right. I balk at buying pricey old comics because what I really want are second-hand Spideys from a second-hand bookstore. My definition of vintage is old and pre-loved, not old and untouched. And given the state of the back issue market, that's an incredibly empowering attitude.
Last night, I went online and sourced as many of the first 50 ASMs as I could find for under $100US. I've created a list/shopping cart from which I'll draw. I've prioritised which issues I want first (because why collect in order when you can get the good stuff straight away?) and shared all this with stareyednight and LJ. When I want to buy something, or someone wants a present idea for me, all eyes will go to the Spidey list. That'll be my collecting focus from now on. Years from now, when it's all said and done, I'll have completed my run of bruised, battered, folded, tattered, unsightly and pre-loved Amazing Spider-Man comics. And I'll be just as deliriously happy about them as I am my display shelves of war-torn Transformers, GI Joes, Star Wars characters and superheroes.
I've finally realised that I collect for nostalgia, for recapturing that childhood excitement, for creating that collection I wanted as a kid. Those are, as far as I'm concerned, the best reasons in the world.
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF