Anyone else here not really care about condition when buying old comics?

[zryson]

Why because I wash my hands regularly? I admit its a little OCD but washing hands is also a good thing I think considering how often people don't. But I'm not as compulsive as I used to be; years ago if somebody came to visit me and wanted to touch my things then I would ask them to wash their hands first. I always gave them the choice. And if they did not want to wash their hands that was perfectly fine too, it just meant they could not touch my things. It's the same if somebody eats something here. I ask that they wash their hands afterwards if it involves them handling the food. I think its just a general courtesy to do so. I mean they would expect me to wash my hands before preparing food too right? I think its just good manners.

[zryson]

Even when it comes to readers I generally like the comic book to be attached by both staples. If its a reader I can forgive defects like a coupon cut out but even with a a reader I do like all pages to be present because if just one page (non advertisement) is removed it can make following the story difficult. One of the upsides about the worldwide financial crisis is that some of the rules are changing - once upon a time if you wanted high grade you had to pay a lot of money for the right to own something like that but these days its increasingly common (the odds are more if your favor) to find high grade comics at much lower prices.

[Shawn Hopkins]

I enjoying having books in good condition, but not so much that I'm willing to spend a lot of extra money on them. There are only a few things that really turn me off:

Overly yellowed or brittle pages. A little yellowing is fine but I don't like ones that seem to have been stored somewhere designed to brown and brittle them.

Fire damage. I've seen this a surprising amount.

Serious water damage. I'm talking "the book was left in the rain" serious.

Bad smells.

Mold cultures and spores.

Boogers and insects pressed between the pages.

Missing covers.

Missing centerfolds.

Really rusty staples or missing staples.

[zryson]

About the yellow/brown pages it reminds me of an old bookstore I used to go to many years ago. They had what you would term 'vintage' things for sale and I remember they had these long black shelves going about halfway through the store. The only problem was that one side of each rack faced the huge windows on the sides and every day the sun would blaze into the store and of course over the years all those items facing the sun yellowed and browned. The reason I remember it so clearly was that it was only the items facing the windows. The other side of the racks the things had hardly any yellowing/browning.

[dan bailey]

Why because I wash my hands regularly? I admit its a little OCD but washing hands is also a good thing I think considering how often people don't.

Since i was referring to your "friends" who you say suffer from a compulsion to wash their hands before touching a CD or DVD, are you saying you were actually talking about yourself instead?

Fascinating.

Personally,when I write about other people, I'm ... writing about other people. And when when I write about myself, that's precisely who I'm writing about. I tend not to confuse the two concepts.

YMMV, as they say.

It's the same if somebody eats something here. I ask that they wash their hands afterwards if it involves them handling the food.

Wow.

Just ... wow.



Backs away slowly.

[zryson]

Do I wash my hands regularly? Course. I see nothing wrong with keeping clean. My Doctor tries to convince me otherwise but then what would she know? Each to their own. We all have our own individual habits that might seem weird to others. Me? I learned from a young age to respect things. Look after things. When you grow up poor you tend to do that.

[dan bailey]

I grew up poor as well. Truly, we're all different, some more than others. (I include myself in the latter category, rest assured. My house looks like a really cluttered thrift store* after a good ransacking *sigh*)


*Of the sort that I visited Saturday about a mile from the house, as it happens. It's been taken over by new owners since I was last there several months ago, & damn if I didn't kill a good part of the afternoon going through, by my count, something like 25 long boxes of mostly '80s-'90s comics, as well as a surprisingly decent selection (given my admittedly offbeat tastes**) of CDs. Turns out the new owners periodically head up to Ohio, where they're from, for their stock.

**Sort of surprised to see an at least somewhat Christian-oriented place offering Electric Hellfire Club's 2nd album, Kiss the Goat, but hey, I'd have snagged it if I hadn't bought it new back in '95.

[icctrombone]

I don't mind buying lower grade books because many of my Silver age and Bronze age books are worn from readings. They fit right in. But missing pages or cutouts are not allowed in my playpen.

[dan bailey]

Aha! My house might look like someone threw a bomb in the midst of it (with the cats, of course, somehow emerging unscathed), but icctrombone lives in a playpen.

Now I feel much better about things.

[zryson]

I was thinking about the question "Anyone else not really care about condition when buying old comics?" and more so than anyone else, I think many of my friends don't care so much about condition when buying something. As long as the item is intact they aren't too fussed about scratches, or smudges or yellowing pages. To them its just an item. Something to be enjoyed once, maybe twice. It reminds me about an experience which happened earlier this year. A friend told me he read comics occasionally. This was surprising to me as I knew he read them growing up but I did not know he sometimes still does. During the conversation he told me about a small bookstore near him that had a big collection of comic books they had just gotten in. He told me they were in terrific condition and all in bags too and that they most likely were brought into the store by a collector. So I went there soon afterwards and well, I was disappointed. The comics were certainly not in terrific condition by any means. Many had stickers and writing on them. And those bags looked like they had not been changed for a few decades. So I didn't buy anything.

[pinkfloydsound17]

Interesting topic. I would say that, 8-10 years ago when I first started to collect seriously, I would grab anything regardless of condition. Nowadays, I like my comics to look decent...what I mean by that is there are certain defects that irk me. Such as water/coffee stains. It all depends on the book though. For example, my ASM 26 has some writing on the cover, some heavy spine wear, a date stamp and some corner creases. Far from pretty but the wear is okay with me...it is an older book and I am more happy to have it than anything.

However, for a newer book (say ASM 296) I would want it in high grade. A little edge wear, maybe a spine stress mark or two is fine but nothing like what I have on that ASM 26. And I guess that is generally how I roll....older books get away with more and newer books (new for me meaning 1980-now) I want in really nice shape. Again, I am a deal hunter and part of the fun for me is waiting. Shopping on ebay, other comic sites, garage sales, yard sales, flea markets wherever. I know that if I wait, I will find a copy of books I want someday. And if not well, the lifelong search still was a lot of fun.

[Reptisaurus!]

Do I wash my hands regularly? Course. I see nothing wrong with keeping clean. My Doctor tries to convince me otherwise but then what would she know?

...

No.

My life will be happier if I don't ask.

[Trallis]

I'm glad I got so many responses on this. Sorry I haven't said much, I've been without a computer with a decent keyboard.. but I've been looking at the thread on my ipad and I'm really glad that there are so many people like me. It sounds to me like for the most part, people just want the comic they buy to be complete and still have most of the color it had when it was released.. That's how I am too. I've never bought a comic to try to make money on it. I can't really imagine any other reason for wanting an old comic to be in perfect condition other than to raise it's value. But to me a comic is just as valuable with rounded edges and little tares. When I look at the big picture there are only 3 grades:
1. Highest (looking like it just came off the new release shelf)
2. Beat up (Bends, wrinkles, tares, signs of wear, but nothing torn off, and no colors worn out)
3. No good (Pages or parts of pages torn or cut out, mold, colors worn off)

I love anything in my 1 or 2 category.
I can't foresee a situation where I'm ever gonna have to impress anyone with the quality. A comic isn't an investment to me.. it's something I love.. and for anyone I show it to, my enthusiasm for what it is is what's gonna be exciting, not the item's worthiness on a scale invented by collectors.

The grading scale has it's place, but definitely not in my collection

[pinkfloydsound17]

I'm glad I got so many responses on this. Sorry I haven't said much, I've been without a computer with a decent keyboard.. but I've been looking at the thread on my ipad and I'm really glad that there are so many people like me. It sounds to me like for the most part, people just want the comic they buy to be complete and still have most of the color it had when it was released.. That's how I am too. I've never bought a comic to try to make money on it. I can't really imagine any other reason for wanting an old comic to be in perfect condition other than to raise it's value. But to me a comic is just as valuable with rounded edges and little tares. When I look at the big picture there are only 3 grades:
1. Highest (looking like it just came off the new release shelf)
2. Beat up (Bends, wrinkles, tares, signs of wear, but nothing torn off, and no colors worn out)
3. No good (Pages or parts of pages torn or cut out, mold, colors worn off)

I love anything in my 1 or 2 category.
I can't foresee a situation where I'm ever gonna have to impress anyone with the quality. A comic isn't an investment to me.. it's something I love.. and for anyone I show it to, my enthusiasm for what it is is what's gonna be exciting, not the item's worthiness on a scale invented by collectors.

The grading scale has it's place, but definitely not in my collection

I agree...for me it really is not an investment. I know that the collection I have is worth more than I have aid but that means little to me. I will never sell (unless I had to for money for family reasons or something like that) and at the same time collecting is not something that costs a lot. I just love owning lots of cool books, reading stories from well before my time and just appreciating the artwork overall.

I do enjoy grading though...for my own categorizing purposes, I always assign a new comic to my collection with a fresh board. On the back, I put down the title, issue number and then I give it an grade for my own amusement.

[zryson]

If its one thing above all else I have learned over the years about condition, is that many people have different ideas about what grading is. Like one seller I heard about recently. Only having looked through their comics I can attest to the fact that most of their comics are actually VG-FN and not in the VF/NM as they thought. Also like anything condition degrades over time. Even if stored properly. Nothing lasts forever.