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Wise Beyond the Years
Location: Utah
Posts: 1090
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- Posted: November 10, 2020 3:25:57 am
- SO. . .
I was having a discussion with my comic lovin' daughter yesterday and she made a pretty good point that I hadn't really considered. She says that modern comic collecting is actually comic COVER collecting.
Her main prop for the point is slabbing comics leaves only the cover visible and you are unable to actually read the comic. She maintains that collectors buying slabbed comics are basically buying and selling just the comic book covers, and not the comics themselves, because there is no intention of actually ever reading the comic.
IS modern comic collecting actually just comic COVER collecting?
Discuss!Favorite Characters: Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Captain America, The Shadow, Zorro, The Rocketeer, Jonah Hex
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junobeach
Wise Beyond the Years
moderator
Location: Victoria, BC Canada
Posts: 2148
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- Posted: November 10, 2020 9:05:31 am
- For most? I don't think so. I have read every modern comic I buy weekly. I think that's true for a lot of people.
For slab collectors? Definitely. Although there is a "cracking" community that buys slabs for the guaranteed grade then breaks open the slab to "rescue" the comic.
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madtruk
Grasshopper
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Posts: 185
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- Posted: November 10, 2020 9:39:59 am
- I'd have to agree, especially with the variant chasers out there. What else are you buying if not the cover? The story is the story. I like what I'm collecting (Thor, ASM) and don't slab books, though I own one (Captain Marvel (Marvel) 1st series #1) and read them. Slabbing, though, goes beyond the cover collectors. It's basically a secure investment as compared to a raw copy; the interior is no longer visible, but you can rely on the notes to tell you the condition of the interior. As for reading any particular book, if you have the slab, you can probably plunk down a few cents for the digital.
As for other books, I love getting full runs together. This means I don't have a chance at ASM and such, but I stick to what I love and can afford (see: Captain Marvel). I also try and collect "runs" of say an artist or writer or arc (Toddfather's Hulk run, Mike Zeck and Co's work on Kraven's Last Hunt, etc).
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brucifer
Wise Beyond the Years
lifetime member Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 1132
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- Posted: November 10, 2020 12:11:04 pm
- Alright Atom. I'm going to chip in on this topic.
I believe collectors are indeed amassing their favourite covers. And that's not as easy as some think since there are so many covers for so little titles nowadays. Any new book by Marvel or DC tends to have dozens of #1 covers. One of them will catch your eye. I have no idea how people can afford to buy pricey variant books and then pay to have them graded.
I have no problem with CGC or CBCS and the job they do. I'm sure people were getting upset in the past with "grades" attached to books they were buying on the internet and feeling the sellers had no idea what they were doing when it comes to grading. Now you can't argue much over professionally graded books. You can argue about the prices people are asking for with a 9.6 + book, that's for sure.
Your normal comic book collector (like us) want to read what we buy. It's the speculators and flippers who care not for reading. I have not heard about this "cracking community" mentioned by junobeach. I was under the impression that anyone who cracked a graded case would press the book and then re-submit it for a potential higher grade. Makes no sense to my brain, but whatever floats your boat.
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Rapha1978
Comic Guru
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 938
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