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Pros/Cons/Tips for Collecting Full Runs?
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21 posts in this topic

After being out of comics for a couple of years focusing on other things (writing instead of buying), I'm slowly coming back into the fold. One thing I'm toying with is focusing my collecting energies on a full run of a particular title instead of hopping all over the place, buying whatever catches my eye that day.

 

There was a thread a few months back about full runs, but it didn't really offer what I'm looking for. So, for those who have collected or are collecting full runs of a title, what are the pros and cons of the endeavor? Do you have any tips for someone who's just now getting started?

 

The biggest concern I see for me (aside from starting a goal of collecting 300+ comics) is buying crappy comics. I'm a reader as much as a collector, so I've focused on books I've liked. But with a full run? There's a lot of out there I'd have to wade through and it might be hard to enjoy collecting that portion of the run.

 

For what it's worth, if I go down this path, it'll most likely be with Batman, Detective Comics, ASM, or Daredevil. I'd most likely start on the issue that came out during my birth month (September '72) or start from the first issue I remember buying/reading of that particular title (Bat 400, Det 600, ASM 265, or DD 184)

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My run is mid grade readers and nicer keys. It is scaled though. For early silvers, I usually try and stay in the 6.0 range with nothing less than OW. Once you get further on in the run, I usually go 9.0 or better.

 

Most of my reader/fillers are solid but nothing fancy. They are books I can read and re-read without fear of damaging them price wise, but they also won't fall apart. I give them the kid test. Would I hand it to my daughter or son? I'd like them to be able to read down the road.

 

I've got mostly reprints of the graded stuff for reading purposes.

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I have put together full runs and partial runs. I started with ASM 1-441, then FF 1-200 and JIM 83-Thor 200, TOS 39 to 99 plus other SA Marvel Titles. It is very gratifying but expensive with regard to the earliest and key issues.Even on the expensive books, I try not to go below a 3.5 to cut costs and avoid future upgrading. I also have a personal minimum "eye appeal" that will prevent me from buying crappy comics.

 

The benefit is that when an issue suddenly becomes an expensive major "key" due to movie hype, e.g. FF 45, 52, you already own it!

 

General wisdom is to buy the earliest and most expensive books first, since they can appreciate at a faster rate past affordability.

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Make sure you do this because you love it, and not as a financial investment. Comics from the 1980s have little value, and from the 1990s, no value at all.

 

I also collect complete runs of most major Marvel and DC titles starting from my birthday in 1965 to a decade later in 1975. Have a look at some CGC books on eBay, and decide now what will be the minimum condition that you will accept, whether you buy slabbed or not. For me, it's 8.5, or VF+

 

If you choose to go back to 1972 rather than the 1980s era, you will make things harder on yourself (and more expensive) as there are a number of expensive key issues, like Neal Adams issues of Batman and Tec, or ASM 120, 121, 129. Daredevil will be an easier run to complete.

 

Have fun!

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I prefer buying Omnibi, or Archives of the series. The problem with collecting runs of Marvels from the 80s onward is there are gazillions of crossovers.

If you were to just read Amazing Spider-Man during the long ,drawn out Clone fiasco, you'd be utterly lost as the story shifts between a half dozen books.

I've long since given up on full runs. too much money and space. Now I concentrate on classic covers and or battle covers.

Best of luck to you. Take your time and remember you can always change your focus whenever you choose.

I was within reach of having every Marvel from the 12 cent era to the end of the 25 cent era( or what I once called modern books) when I realized I needed to spend thousands of dollars on a few books to accomplish a goal that I no longer cared about.

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Avoid upgrading.

 

Settle on a condition level that you are happy with (e.g., early 1970s 8.5+, no rusty staples, no miscut or miswrapped books, OW/W to W pages). Indeed, the stricter you are with what is acceptable in your collection, the less you are going to be buying any issue that comes along.

 

Part of the fun is in the challenge and a uniform condition collection looks like a collection.

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Thanks for the comments so far. I think honing in on a specific grade is crucial. As is making sure I'm collecting the right title and issue numbers.

 

I'm still thinking that I want to collect some sort of run, but the more I look into the drek of the 90s, and the fact that there are many crossovers that I'd feel obligated to collect, I'm becoming unsure about the "full run" idea (even if the full run was never planned to go back to the first issue). This plan might need to be whittled down to something more like focusing on the first book I bought for a particular title to the year I stopped reading as a youngster (sometime around '92).

 

But a mini-run doesn't sound as cool as a full run, and the start/end dates/numbers feels almost arbitrary instead of being something cool to track down.

 

But yeah, the '90s...if I'm already unsure about buying that mess, imagine what I'd be thinking if I were spending money on those books.

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Runs.. :cloud9:

 

My tips:

 

- explore buying lots from Craigslist or eBay. Single issues of some later Marvel issues are getting rough, especially in Spideys. Collections of "drek" are often cheap, and will yield a couple of gems.

 

- make sure you're willing to finish what you start. If you hate it (like I hated buying Adams Green Lanterns or Miller Daredevils just because I was supposed to), there's no enjoyment, and you've wasted a lot of time and effort, even if you come out ahead

 

- give yourself a break when you're bored. There may come a time when you're not hot for the next issue of Spidey. Logic says, I don't like it, sell it. I say find something else to do while you subconsciously rekindle your desire to complete the run

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Hi Reno,

I see what you mean with the "drek". With ASM you aren’t much safer. If I did not buy them when they came out, I doubt I would fill my 1990s Fantastic Four books which – sad to admit – but often were "drek".

My idea is that you could just skip sequences. I think I will get rid of some, later on, when I have completed the series.

 

And I am still looking to get for free (or nothing) the Claremont/Larroca vol.2 issues… :sick:

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I started on an X-Men run a few years ago. I put some arbitrary rules on it though, but it suits me fine. Decided to try to do 1-299. Taking it slow so i dont burn out on it. Started backwards from 299. It's fun so far. I timed it so by the time I starting getting the pricier books my salary would be able to handle it lol

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I started my ASM / Hulk runs about 20+ years ago, and have nearly completed them, but I've hit a brick wall at the #1s because of cost. Definitely, get those first (or early on), as they will only be more expensive later on. If I told that to my 13 year old self, though, the prices of the early '90s would have still been too high to buy with my allowance.

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I've collected nearly all of the full runs of the DC and Marvel Bronze Horror titles. Lots of good reading and some truley fabulous covers. There is always that thrill when you finally snag those last few issues to complete that run! Most titles have their klunker issues in the mix but these are some full runs that are pretty good consistent reads:

Man-Thing (1st series)

Saga of the Swamp Thing

Sandman (Morphius)

Animal Man (1st series)

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Pro - you own a cool run of books

Con - money

 

This.

 

Plus, if you go to unload them, you're going to be almost giving away a big chunk of your investment. Your buyers are going to want the keys, not the runs. Everybody wants ASM 121, 122, and 129. How many people want 167-200?

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Not that I'm trying to dissuade you at all. I collect full runs also, but I usually pick a number to stop at that makes sense (in my head at least), then grab individual keys after that number. Like my ASM run (in progress), I'm going for 1-200, but I grabbed 238-239, 252, 298-300, 328, and 361-363 as well.

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I have collected full runs for a long time. As an example I have done the full run of Hulk 3 times. Hulk 1-6, TTA 59-101, Hulk 102-etc. All appearances.

The first 2 times were pre- internet days.

 

The 3rd time around I found it wasn't as interesting for me to do with the advent of the internet I can locate and buy any book of the run at any time.

 

I learned what I like is the chase, so I decided to try to get something more difficult.

 

I went for a Planet Comics full run, I also tried to specify that what I would try to collect would be 5.0 or better. For the most part I completed my goal with only a few of the run of 73 books below 5.0.

 

Tips / comments:

 

1. While I agree with those who have said to set your collection parameters as far as grade of book, I guess it depends entirely on what you are collecting. In my case of the Planet Comics run, some of the books just do not exist ( that I have found. I still have yet to see a Planet Comics 14 better than a good ).

 

2. My advice is to collect books that are of a grade you can appreciate, but are also still sellable to the masses in case you need to sell the books.

 

3. a Con: having the run of the title, and having $ tied up in keeping the run. My Planet Comics run is probably worth $75000.00. Imagine what I could buy if I sold them all.

 

4. another Con: having the run means you must now buy the next book to keep the run going. I felt compelled to keep buying Hulk books as they were published to maintain my full run. I couldn't stand the newer Hulk books. The Red Hulk story was awful, and ultimately drove me to sell off my books. I have so little left of my once great Hulk run but the positive is that I can focus on buying what I want.

 

5. Pro: collecting something that has a defined number of books. A title that has a beginning and a definite end helps you feel a sense of accomplishment when you get them all!

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I think I'll start off with a short run, probably Batman 400-450. They're fairly inexpensive, published when I was reading comics as a kid, and there's a handful of minor keys in there. So that's a set I can put together and enjoy. From there, I'll see if I'm the type of guy who can focus on a run or not and maintain a certain level of enjoyment from it.

 

It's funny, the more I think about buying a full run, it's the chase that excites me most. The idea of crossing issues off of a list. I'm just not sure I care enough about 90s comics to dip into that era, and older issues might not be my thing either since I seem to gravitate to comics that were available in my lifetime, or comics I actually saw on the newsstand at one time or another.

 

We'll see. Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

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I don't collect anything but full runs. It provides a nice challenge to find every single issue in a specific grade. You certainly learn how to identify low copy issues and, if you are doing the 9.8 route, how to identify issues that had consistent production defects that make them much harder to find.

 

I agree with Artboy that collecting a title with a definite end point is best. Since most of the modern stuff has been restarted at 1 at least once, I think that makes it easier if you are going to do copper and modern titles.

 

Also, if you collect the title and read them all, you are going to see the cycles that most titles take - great writer/artist followed by a poor one or two followed by a great one again. If you are in it for the long haul, you have to take the good with the bad and appreciate it for what it is. It's fun to see the later stories that mirror earlier stories in plot, just with different characters or a different twist at the end.

 

Another nice thing about collecting CA and modern titles is that you can find them very cheap at cons or on ebay. If you aren't looking for 9.8 copies, you never need to pay much more than $1 for a copy. Doing it with Golden Age books ends up being a lot more pricey.

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I was a full run collector but have since sold several off. The primary reason was that it is more fun for me to hunt them down then it was to actually own it. In the end, once I was done collecting the run to my satisfaction it just sat in a box to occasionally be pulled out and looked at as a whole.

 

When it came time to sell, nobody wants the fillers so you definitely lose money there.

 

With that said, I still have my full run of X-men to issue 320 and a full run of Spawn, both of which I will likely sell eventually.

 

My current collecting passion is covers with amazing art.

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I totally agree with Rodan57

"Part of the fun is in the challenge and a uniform condition collection looks like a collection."

I have been collecting ASM and have 7 issues to go, it has taken me years and I have enjoyed it thoroughly. The one downside was I continued buying the latest issues and now have a near complete set that most of which no one will want to buy if anything happens to me. Having a collection in much the same grade is what pleases me the most as they feel like a set, I go for 4.0 and they still look nice. As a funny side note I find that even though I now own the original issues they still feel like copies, I keep telling myself THESE are the originals. It could be that over the years I have read the British reprints from the sixties then the essential line followed by the omnibus editions, yes I've been spoilt.

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