Classic Comics Collectors

[Mr. Palmer]

I know this could be a general subject for the community forum, but I'm more interested in what us "old timers" and young classic comic collectors have to say:

Besides classic comics, what else - if anything - do you collect? Are you strictly a comic collector, or do you have other side interests?

For me, I'm seriously into KISS memorabilia from the 70s/early 80s.

[Sir Tim Drake]

I guess you could say I collect books, but only in the sense that I buy a lot of books, and rarely sell any. I also collect obscure trivia and random information, but that's not a physical collection. :)

[dan bailey]

let's see ... i've accumulated huge masses of records & tapes & cds (mostly late '70s-'80s punk & postpunk), vhs & dvds (mostly horror & sf), books (significant repositories of volumes on baseball, the paranormal, radical politics, post-depression u.s. history, horror, sf & several other subjects), old baseball autographs, sports cards ... probably other stuff that i'm blocking out right now.

[joe bloke]

Yeah, I collect 1970's porn mags. And passport photographs of people I don't know. And far too many other things I probably don't need.

By the way, Mr. Palmer: that avatar rocks.

And, Sir Tim Drake? Where's the free speech thing come from?

[Mike Kuypers]

I'm more of an amasser than a collector. Among the things crowding me out of two rooms include DVDs and videotapes, old-time radio shows on cassettes and CDs, paperbacks, jigsaw puzzles (although I gave most away a few years ago), and Marvin the Martian memorabilia.

[Mr. Palmer]

Joe: Thanks for the kind words regarding the avvy! :)

Since you mentioned 70s porn mags, I accumulated an entire run of Hustler from its first issue until 1998 before I stopped. Now, they're down in the basement. Doubt those scratch 'n' sniff stickers are holding up too well down thar! :D

[shaxper]

I collect toys from (and relating to) my childhood. Lots of action figures from the 80s and 90s, a few Mego Superheroes from the 70s, a bunch of Star Wars and G.I. Joe stuff, tons of Transformers and Japanese robot toys, and I've become obsessed with Mega Bloks Dragons and Pyrates sets over the past year. I have a nice attic office crowded with all of this - toys and comics from wall to wall. Any time I buy something new, I inevitably have to sell something to make space.

I also have small collections of vinyl records and very old hardbound Shakespeare editions, but I'm not actively building upon these collections anymore.

[Sir Tim Drake]

Yeah, I collect 1970's porn mags. And passport photographs of people I don't know. And far too many other things I probably don't need.

By the way, Mr. Palmer: that avatar rocks.

And, Sir Tim Drake? Where's the free speech thing come from?

It comes from Salman Rushdie's speech "One Thousand Days in a Balloon," which was delivered at the Columbia School of Journalism in 1991. You can find the text of the speech through Google, or alternately in the paperback edition of Rushdie's Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism.

[Agentum]

I'm not a comic collector but i ave thousands of comics.

I collect homecomputers (Commodore, Atari, Sinclair etc.) those that were made between the end of the 70s till mid 90s, no PC's.

And i have a smaller Game & Watch collection.

[MDG]

I've got a bunch of stuff, although I don't compulsively collect anything. I used to buy a lot of original comic art, but the prices have skyrocketed to where I lost ability and interest to pay.

Other things I pick up when I can get them at a good price (i.e., dirt cheap) include 50s and 60s barware (tiki or character/girlie/pinup), 1964 NY World's Fair memorabilia, Drive-in theatre stuff, Genesee Beer items featuring "Jenny", 60s and 70s monster toys...

MDG

[Cardiac]

I also collect older video games and rare/hard to find consoles(like Jaguar, Atari Lynx,etc.). I have a growing library of Japanese cartoons as well.

[Slam_Bradley]

I don't "collect" anything including comics. Collecting, to me, means actively pursuing all of something. I haven't bought a standard format pamphlet comic in a number of years. I do buy quite a few tpb's, but I don't consider that collecting.

I also buy quite a few hardcovers of classic SF. But again it is as the opportunity arises and if the price is right.

[scratchie]

I'm more of an amasser than a collector. That's a good distinction. I am a long-time amasser of books, records, CDs, and DVDs.

In terms of actual collections, items that I buy more of because they fit into the collection (not just because I want them), I have, in the past (or present) collected:

Live concert tapes and CDs (and now DVDs).
Reggae CDs, LPs and videos.
DVDs and videotapes of certain directors or writers, mostly Dennis Potter and Robert Altman.
Recently I've started collecting back issues of Trouser Press magazine.

[Slam_Bradley]

That's a good distinction. I am a long-time amasser of books, records, CDs, and DVDs.



That is a good distinction (one I missed first time around). I'm definitely an amasser not a collector.

[gking727]

Besides classic comics, what else - if anything - do you collect?

Dust mostly. :D

Actually, I'm a big music fan myself and have about 3,000 records tapes and CD's. Occasionally the two interests cross paths.

http://home.comcast.net/~gking727/kiss.jpg

[joe bloke]

now, that's groovy. i can't make out the signature. who did it?

[gking727]

Gene, Paul, Bruce Kulick, & Eric Singer. I used to manage a music store and we did an in-store with them for the release of Alive III. One of the greatest moments in my life, just hanging out in my breakroom, eating pizza and talking about music with Gene Simmons. Really nice bunch of guys all around, though Paul seemed a little weird.

[scratchie]

Gene, Paul, Bruce Kulick, & Eric Singer.You had Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer sign your KISS comic book? I hope you won't be offended if I say that's a little weird.

[gking727]

Yeah, but they were in the band at the time and it would have seemed weirder to ask them not to. "Sorry guys, I just want Gene and Paul to sign it, you really mean nothing to me". :p

I did have just Gene sign my 45 of "Radioactive" though!

[Aaron King]

I have a box of things that I've found on the street or in garbages.

[Prelude]

Besides comic-related collections, I casually collect chopsticks and basketball cards where the player is wearing a Duke uniform. Nothing overly impressive. I've had other collections in the past, but these are all I have now. I'm reluctant to use the word "amassing" because the chopsticks and cards, unlike books, movies and music, provide no entertainment value other than staring at it. No idea whether a distinction is even warranted, just thought I should throw that in there.

Anyway, I used to collect gift cards from a number of stores for a few years. I just quietly picked them up whenever I passed by them. I cut Mylites to fit each card nicely and prevent scratches, then ordered all the cards by store and date. It was different. Interesting to see how the cards' graphics changed from season to season and year to year. My favorite gift cards were from Marshall Fields, the departed retailer loved by many Chicagoans. I don't have this collection anymore.

[The Shadow]

I collect original comic art... I have a Perez piece from his FF days and a Buscema Avengers page and a Jim Aparo Aquaman page and then some lesser pages.

I ama HUGE Wayne Gretzky fan and collect his memorabilia. I have his autograph, cards, buttons, pins, dolls, jersey's, stamps, comics, cardboard stand figures, magazines, banners, plates, pens, lunch boxes, decks of cards, clocks... perhaps the most interesting thing is his grade school class pictures from grades 2 through 7!!!

I also collect Seabiscuit (the horse) stuff... I have newspaper pages from 1938 with articles on him.

[scratchie]

Yeah, but they were in the band at the time and it would have seemed weirder to ask them not to. "Sorry guys, I just want Gene and Paul to sign it, you really mean nothing to me". :p Not that they mean nothing to you (even if they did), but they just weren't in the comic. I wouldn't have asked them to sign a copy of "Destroyer", either. But I'm sure they appreciated your politeness. :D

[Mr. Palmer]

I've got a story that moves along those lines:

I'm a big Molly Hatchet fan, but was needing the signature of bassist Banner Thomas to complete my collection of original member autographs. They were playing at a local bar (oh, how the mighty fell) and I took along a copy of one of Hatchet's albums for him to scribble on.

I get there, meet him out back by the bus, and grab the autograph. Before I know it, however, my album is snatched outta his hands by another band member and is being passed around to all the other guys in the band (Hatchet has gone through so many line-ups it isn't funny) that hadn't played on this particular release to sign.

I didn't like it, but kept my mouth shut. I was just glad to have Banner's signature and to hear him proclaim, when he saw his old picture: "I HAD HAIR!"

[scratchie]

Wasn't there a Comic Book Guy gag on The Simpsons once about "A very rare photo of Sean Connery, signed by Roger Moore"?

[Cei-U!]

You know, I really had to think about this. I have lots of CDs, DVDs, books and so on but I can't say I collect anything other than comics (and books about comics). Heck, I don't even collect comics-related stuff: no original art, action figures, statuary, etc. I have to concede, though, that the collecting gene is strong in the Mitchells* and I may have collections I'm not even conscious of.

Cei-U!
I summon the monomania!

*My sister is a collecting freak, so much so that the rest of the family came up with what we call Kay's Law: Give Kay one of something and she's fine; give her two of something as a matched set and she's satisfied; give her three of anything and it's a collection. Woe to him who gifts her that third item!

[MWGallaher]

There are a lot of subjects regarding which I'm a sort of completist, but not a "collector." For example, I like to have as close to complete a collection of the songs of my favorite musicians as I can manage (Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music, Kate Bush, Cocteau Twins, including cover versions of their songs), but I don't have to have all the various foreign printings, or various formats, or magazine interviews. And I eventually want all the books of Harry Stephen Keeler: I have six or seven hardbacks published when he was alive, but I'll settle for reading the reprints, and I won't be troubled by trying to track down the 20's-era pulps that printed his stories.
In the comics world, I do have a nearly-complete set of all the published work of Jim Aparo, and a hefty portion of all comics featuring Veronica and Angela Cartwright (and the characters they portrayed on tv or screen).

[mrc1214]

[QUOTE=shaxper]I collect toys from (and relating to) my childhood. Lots of action figures from the 80s and 90s, a few Mego Superheroes from the 70s, a bunch of Star Wars and G.I. Joe stuff, tons of Transformers and Japanese robot toys, and I've become obsessed with Mega Bloks Dragons and Pyrates sets over the past year. I have a nice attic office crowded with all of this - toys and comics from wall to wall. Any time I buy something new, I inevitably have to sell something to make space.
[QUOTE]

Do you have them displayed or anything???

I guess you could say i collect CDs but its more of just liking music.

[TheLohkust]

I pretty much just hunt down Silver and Bronze comics, but have a bunch of action figures-G.I. Joe, Transformers, Voltron, TMNT, stuff from the 80's. More recently I've become obsessed with busts and statues of comic book characters, much to the chagrin of my bank account........:(

[Babylon23]

I'm trying to amass a substantial collection of Film Noir movies, but it's not really collecting. I'll buy them as they come out, but I don't actively track them down. I also have a substantial collection of conspiracy theory books, but once again, it's not really a collectors thing.

For me, collecting implies actively going out of my way to track things down. So really, comics is what I collect.

[Jolly Mon]

I'm trying to amass a substantial collection of Film Noir movies, but it's not really collecting. I'll buy them as they come out, but I don't actively track them down. I also have a substantial collection of conspiracy theory books, but once again, it's not really a collectors thing.

For me, collecting implies actively going out of my way to track things down. So really, comics is what I collect.
I like this definition of collecting. Because there is other stuff I get, but I don't "collect". For me it really is just comics and comics toys (particularly the DC Direct and Marvel Legends 6" lines). More recently I've been trying to get cheap copies of all the Crosby-Hope-Lamour road movies (so far I've only run across Road to Bali & Road to Zanzibar). If anyone has source suggestions on that, I'd be grateful.

[Hintermann]

I collect View-Master 3D reels from the 1940s through to the 1960s. I have hundreds of individual discs & 3-reel sets.

I am also an avid movie fan and have over 1000 DVDs of classic and modern films.

Finally, I collect Sci-fi anthologies from the 1950s & early 60s.

[rick]

I’ve been casually collecting those great Marvel Slurpee cups from the 70’s for quite a while now. I did the DC ones for awhile, but the stock art just isn’t that great. I tend to make a lot of my fellow collectors mad because after I buy them, I use them. In fact I’m sipping soda from a Killraven cup even as we speak.

It's a small decadence, I admit, but I enjoy it.

I have a huge record collection. Full albums, 45’s, 78’s and even a couple of cylinders, although I have nothing to play those on. I love first press Miles Davis, Mingus and Coltrane albums, but those mostly end up costing more then I can afford, but the joy of everyone in the world dumping their albums at the Goodwill is that these days it isn’t a matter of price as much as a matter of time and getting lucky.

There are also the movie one sheets. I only have a few really good ones, and more then a few up on the wall are reproductions. But the Abominable Doctor Phibes, Dawn of the Dead and Louie Bluie posters are real and I’ve got the aching wallet to prove it.

[scratchie]

I tend to make a lot of my fellow collectors mad because after I buy them, I use them. In fact I’m sipping soda from a Killraven cup even as we speak.Boy, you don't care WHO you piss off, do you? :D