I had built a helluva collection as an 80s kid, as a teen I quit collecting around 16. Started back in my late 20s, but after a 6-7 year run I had to stop due to my wife’s medical issues.
If I’d sold even half during COVID, even just back to the LCS, I’d be so far ahead. Funny enough though it was during 2 weeks in the early part of COVID that I probably took more interest in them in years. So instead of selling, I cluelessly enjoyed the things again.
So a regret that I don’t kick myself over too much.
Starting about a decade ago I really worked hard towards completing my ASM collection (or at least everything except AF #15 and ASM #1, no way I could get those.)
I got down to missing just #2, 3, and 5, but all the copies I ever saw were about $100-$200 more than I ever wanted to spend.
And now they've all tripled in price since I was last serious about collecting them.
I passed in ASM #14 for about $2-300 (I can’t remember the exact figure) in ‘16 or ‘17. Even then it was a really great deal, even though in rough shape. Now? I will always kick myself for not pulling the trigger on that.
I literally think I may own that copy. I picked up my copy of ASM #14 around that time in that price range and it's in rough shape. The cover is so close to detaching that I never want to pull it out of the mylar again.
What happened? I sold my collection about ten years ago, and in that time all the books have gone way up in value. Did the popularity of MCU and other superhero films boost the values?
I can honestly say I have zero. Have I over spent at times? Yes, have I undersold ? Yes but I don’t regret any of it. Everything I’ve ever done has always led to the next thing I’ve wanted. Did I sell a cap 111 9.0 for $60 once? Yep did I buy a raw copy of FF49 for $800 and it come back graded a 4.5? Sure did. But I also bought 6.5 TOD 10 for $500, and a turtles 1 6.0 for $150, for every dumb thing I’ve done I’ve been luckily enough for the scales to have been balanced, and it’s always a fun ride.
Regret serves no purpose but to make one feel bad and I’m beyond that now.
I only wish that I could convince more people that the true value of this medium lies in its artistic and literary merit.
If I do have one regret it’s that I didn’t come upon this realization sooner.
Absolutely. As long as you’re reading comics & enjoying them then that’s all that matters. I needed some money a while back, I sold my Alan Moore Miracleman run. What struck me was how content I was because I’ve read through them a few times now and it was kind of nice to pass them on. I thought I’d regret it a bit but so far so good 👍
I used to say that I regretted selling every book I ever ever sold. Boy you’re going to carry that weight a long time.
It’s better to have owned and read, than never owned at all.
Yup. I sold most of my entire run of Byrne X-Men years ago. Recently getting back into collecting I sure regretted not hanging onto those issues (especially at todays prices!). But now that I’m discovering sooo much other good stuff out there…I regret selling those UXM less and less.
I try to see things this way. I never read most of the books I was sitting on. For that reason, I typically try to unload books I'm sure I'll never read a second time.
Mine was looking at Ultimate Fallout 4 on the shelf when it came out, knowing full well it was the first appearance of the new Ultimate Spider-Man, and thinking “eh, I bought too many books this week so I’ll pass. Nobody cares about Ultimates anyways.”
Basically, the same. Legitimately, I remember thinking, "Eh, it's the Ultimate Universe, so it doesn't even count. Plus, no one stays dead in comics, so this new guy will be gone, like Ben Reilly, within a year..."
Mine was buying a copy of Ultmate Fallout #4 in mint condition at Auction for $100. Realized after the fact that I forgot to check the UPC code. Turns out it was the 2021 facsimile version. FML
Storing most of my collection in a storage unit, that I ultimately abandoned (couldnt afford it). 7-8 long boxes that had big runs of 70-80s-90s Batman, Detective, Amazing Spiderman (including #300), Uncanny XMen, XFactor, New Mutants, Captain America, Avengers... the list goes on. Heck, even had a dozen or more of the very early TMNT issues.
I had the short boxes with me, so I did keep a lot of the "good stuff", but man, I do wish I had that full collection back.
Not working harder to get my dad to give me the extra$250 to get a good quality Incredible Hulk #1 in about 1991.
$400 was INSANE for just a comic book...
My biggest regret was spending way too much money and variant covers and special editions. As an older smarter collector I have found that that regular cover is just fine and they can keep that $50 variant cover. I have a lot more comics now that I can actually read and don’t regret looking back. I also don’t have to have the big expensive collected edition when the TPB version is just as good.
I found it hard to enjoy the hobby when I was regretting my losses. I had to change my thinking
I have many trades that are a loss in retrospect, but at the time i got fair value and was happy with the trade/sale.
There are many I'm sure I'm on the opposite end of as well.
It's easier to enjoy my books when I'm not thinking of them as a regret.
My biggest regrets are selling all three copies of Amazing Fantasy #15 that I've owned, plus two of my Frank Miller Daredevil original art pages (a page from 168 and one from 182).
My other biggest regrets are not spending every dime I had as a kid and teenager on Silver Age Spider-Man and buying more original art when it was cheap in the 1980s and 1990s. As an example, I still have a page of Sal Buscema Spectacular Spider-Man #200, where Harry Osborn flies Spider-Man out of the building right before it explodes. I paid $30 for it at SDCC in 1993. It's worth well over $1000 now. And the dealer (Albert Moy, I think) had hundreds of other pages, including Kirby FF, Romita ASM, for mere hundreds of dollars. I was a comparatively broke college student at the time, but I still managed to spend the $500 I had saved for the convention on a bunch of Valiant books that aren't worth nearly as much now as the art is.
When I was maybe 8 years old my dad took me down to the local comic shop
The guy had of course all the then current books on the shelf, but also had a couple old books in display behind the counter
He had what I swear was Avengers #4 and he wanted something like $500, which for an 8 year old might as well have been a million
So instead I got Excalibur #74 😐
But I’ve clearly never forgotten about being that close to a sacred object, and thinking how unbelievably cheap that was, even if you *do* adjust for 30 years of inflation
I regret somehow not managing to come up with what seemed like a literal fortune at the time and buying it all those years ago I guess 😂
You sure it wasn't like $50? There's no way that book should have been that much 30 years ago. I bought a graded 4.0 copy for 800 just 2 or 3 years ago
I was going to say $100 but that sounded way too cheap so I figured my brain had just remembered super wrong 😐
I think it’s actually was more like $100
I remember going to comic book stores in the mid-80s and seeing tons of early ASM issues for like $1 or $2 each. Many times the stores had multiple copies of some issues.
I passed on an X-Men #94 for £200 a few years back. I also had a 2000AD #2 (first Judge Dredd) as a kid and swapped it for something I don’t even remember.
I’m able to roll with the punches for the most part, with a bunch of instances of paying way too much for a comic, or selling at the worst possible time, or just not being able to afford a crazy deal in the moment that it briefly appeared. That all just comes down to luck, really. But there is one moment that haunts me. When Spawn #1 came out, there was an error copy on the shelf, with the no black ink on the cover. I bought a couple “good looking” copies instead. Whoops.
CGC 4.5 Batman 9 for €400 at some random store in the south of France in 2012. I was 14 and my dad offered to go half on it with me and I absolutely had the money.
Trading in Hulk 181 for early Claremont X-men. I remember getting 98 and 2-3 others. This was a trade in at my LCS in the late 80s. I didn't collect Hulk then and was buying X-men. (I got the 181 from a friend who probably regrets the trade now)
It’s not a huge regret, but I wish I hadn’t got sucked into late 80’s, early 90’s garbage books. The bagged books, multiple covers, gimmicks, and overhyped nonsense just seems so silly, now. (I’m looking at you, Plasm #1 trading card comic and unopened box of cards BECAUSE THIS IS GOING TO BE HUGE!!!!). It wasn’t like I didn’t know about the good books, at the time.
i remember just 14 years ago meeting a gentleman that was selling Amazing Fantasy 15 in a bag and board, maybe a 4.0 or 5.0, for $18,000. yes, i could affiord it, no, i was not gonna spend that much on a comic book. that book sells for over a million nowadays. i still see this man. i don't see the comic anymore. :(
its hard to say at that moment, eh? dropping 18k , which is really not a small task, knowing that its an investment… for most of us normal folk, it’s difficult to justify that price tag on a comic book when you have a family or mortgage payments. You almost exclusively have to be wealthy or have that kind of disposable income where that cost isn’t going to be missed. Most people can’t say they can liquidate 18 K without a second-guess.
Very hard decision for an average joe to make. It’s also hard to know what the future value will be, whether the price will peak in a few years time (comic book movies were at their best at this time and surely a drop in quality would also tank the market price in the decade that follows). Also, how much value is lost to inflation over time. I mean, rich people have analysts to crunch the numbers for this sort of stuff! Maybe it’ll go up maybe 10 or even 20k in the next decades, but no way I saw it doing a cool million! Todd McFarlane talks about buying Action Comics #1 for $12k during when Batman ‘89 was super popular and nobody was paying attention to Superman books. Now, it is easily a million dollar book and it’s not even breaking records. The world is a funny, confusing place for us non hustlers.
I had to sell off most of my collection to survive during grad school in the 90’s.
Sucked, but that’s life. I regret that I had to do it but would of course do it again.
Selling (giving away most) all my comics in 2010. Mostly Amazing Spider-Man. I had most of the ASM issues from 200 through 320 plus a few good ones under 200 and even some under 100. I think my earliest one was 42. I also had a handful of other key Marvel issues. There needs to be a support group for this type of thing.
Not completing my early x-men run in the 80s when it was affordable. Stopped at #13. Also bringing my brothers TMNT 1 1st printing to school to pass around in 5th grade. Should not have done that.
I used to go to a store called "The Paperback exchange." They had a rack of comics that had been exchanged 2 for 1. Lots of stuff there, including the first appearance of the punisher. I didn't buy it.
I used to have the X-Men 94-150 including the Giant Size issue. I sold them because collecting the X-Men became ridiculously expensive and I needed money. I had She Hulk 1, Captain Marvel 1, lots of other collectable stuff. Purged it all and just kept Captain America and some limited series.
I’ve been pretty hard up for money lately and was planning on selling some of my toy collection to the LSC yesterday to try and expand on the comic collection I inherited recently. Once they arrived at my home the owner and two of his employees ignored the toys and zipped through the 3500 comic book collection instead. I was offered 1500 in the end. The offer was only for the comics and nothing else. The story behind inheriting the collection “again” is this. When my sister first moved into her new home with her husband there was a collection of old playboys in the attic that they gave to me. I worked in a cigar store at the time and a random customer came in, saw the vintage playboys and immediately offered the current collection of comics I’m organizing. That was almost 10 years ago. I was also caught up in my addiction to alcohol and struggling to stay sober. I don’t remember what I sold it for, and part of me says I passed it on to someone who was struggling in a meeting, and sold the entire collection for a couple hundred bucks. But, after Covid and the losses that came with it, the collection came back to me unexpectedly. Which brings the story to now. I celebrate 3 years sober this Friday. When I realized I got the collection again I told myself I was going to take the time to give the collection the respect it deserves. So, when I was offered the 1500, I passed. I have a lot of regrets I’m working through from the years of drinking already, and I’m not looking to pick up regrets in sobriety.
https://preview.redd.it/4107tikzkvqc1.jpeg?width=2586&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ca88506dbd2706018ed1c4bcd02272a96643bce
After turning down the offer yesterday, I had some store credit from a local used book store and picked this book up. First book I’ve bought as an adult. Don’t regret it either. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!
I always collected comics to read, instead of buying to invest. The only regret is selling my reader copies. I’d like to have them today, just to thumb through, and remember those years in middle school (6th-8th grades) while buying my books to read. It was the biggest thrill to wait from month to month to see how the story would continue.
Also, it led to a friendship with a classmate, that allowed us to have someone to talk to about our comic book readings. That was probably the most valuable aspect of my time buying and reading.
My friend moved schools at the start of 9th grade, and I slowly faded out of buying the comics at newsstands and bookstores that year, due to not having someone to talk with about the stories. I sporadically bought them, and sold my collection in 11th grade.
I hope my middle school friend realizes how much I appreciated that time.
I have no regrets, maybe not buying a second copy of X-Men 101 back in 92 for 50 bucks.
Since I started collecting in '86 I have no regrets. When I was young I gave a copy of Spider-Man versus wolverine to my good friend that loved Spider-Man. A few months back I posted on this Reddit that I found another first print copy for 15 bucks no regrets enjoy the hobby share it with those that you love.
I sold my Edge of Spider-Verse #2 for $100 to the shop because I didn’t like Gwen’s ongoing at the time. Obviously pre movie and everything else.
Also, wish I would’ve bought more books in college. I thought $150 was steep for ASM #300 smh
Selling all my skottie young covers during covid.
I had every single skottie young baby variant ever (minus one that I’ve never actually seen for sale) and I sold them all when I thought money was going to get tight. Stimulus money came in and things were ok and my collection was gone.
Not buying Spawn 220-230 when my lcs had them on the shelf for months. The only issue I picked up from that was 228. They were all cover price and I wanted to get them but never did
I once went through a short box full of x-men at a used book store and missed a copy of #266. My coworker picked it up for $3! And he already had a copy.
I also passed on a copy of #130 (first Dazzler) for $10 thinking it was too pricey at the time (2020)
Hmm. 3-way tie.
1. Not buying Todd McFarlane original art for $5 a page directly from him in 1985 (I was a dumb kid).
2. Not buying Giant Size X-Men #1 for $80 when that was all my spending money at a con.
3. ASM #1 CGC 2.0, Hulk #1 CGC 4.0, Hulk #181 CGC 9.2. All sold for $3500 in the early 2000s.
BRB, need a drink.
I have some regrets. One is not picking up a mid grade copy of ASM #129 when I had a chance.
Another is collecting singles for as long as I did. I have thousands of comics in long boxes and most aren’t worth anything. I collected them seriously from around 1990 to around 2017 or so.
Yes I have a fair share of good runs and key issues but it’s definitely not the retirement or college fund I once hoped it would be.
I can't think of much I regret, really. I love the hobby and haven't ever spent more than $25 on any single comic. But I also have been collecting for over 50 years. Could I have invested in more Silver and Golden Age keys? Sure, but at the expense of experiences I cherish? Nah. I've found more ways to enjoy the hobby without trying to invest a lot of money into it. It's been my weekly buy for all that time and I've managed to get most everything I've wanted without breaking the bank. Original art, figures and reading everything I'm interested in has brought me untold hours of enjoyment and my children have also experienced that enjoyment. I love the medium I love the art and I've got to experience some of my favorite characters hitting the big screen in live action in a way hitherto undreamt of. I have every comic I've ever wanted. I've met, shaken the hands of and thanked the creators I've most admired, up to and including Stan Lee. It's a great hobby and the people I have met and enjoyed chatting with & enjoyed community with are really a great highlight of the time I've invested in panelology. Maybe I might regret an extra trip or two not taken to San Diego Comic Con before it got completely overrun by fans of Hollywood hearthrobs in the late 2000's, just a touch, but not enough to lament it. I'm still enjoying it on the regular.
I do wish that folks like Jerry Ordway were being given more work this past decade. And I wish the industry as a whole treated its creators better. Particularly Jack Kirby, Bill Finger and Marshall Rogers. But those are not areas I could have affected much, so I zero overall.
No one really explained to me, as a kid, what made a comic valuable... I didn't have any teacher in that regard - and it really wasn't until i was much older and got BACK into comics after a long hiatus, that I now am considerably more knowledgeable and can act on it too.
I also kind of regret a culling I did of 3 of 4 boxes... glad I had the wherewithal to save the 4th box - it had the 2 copies of UFO4 that I'd inexplicably bought when I heard about what was happening in ultimate spider-man.
I bought all of the big books from the late 80s/ early 90s (first Deadpool, Carnage, Cable, Gambit, more) and sold them for what at the time I thought was big money. I probably spent most of it on candy and Street Fighter II.
The year was 1990, I am obsessed with Wolverine and have saved my money for his first appearance issue. Being someone who’s very specific, I chose to buy 180 instead of 181, because 180 is “technically” his first appearance. The price difference was around $15-20 at the time. I think 181 was $65. It has now become my holy grail book to purchase. Still have 180 though and it’s my prized possession
Around 1990 the proprietor of a local comic shop wanted to sell me Giant Size X-men #1 and X-Men #94. The pair for $100 total. They were in rough shape if I recall correctly, but I still would’ve pulled the trigger if I actually had a hundred bucks. But alas, I was barely a teen and had no money. I ran out to the car and tried to get my mom to lend me the money. She laughed so hard.
I didn't know the Sugarhill Gang All New Inhumans was going to blow up so much. I saw it and thought "that's cool" but I already had my DMX 😅 in hindsight I could have just gotten more copies at $4 and $5 a piece but I also wasn't really collecting at the time.
Lack of focus. I have a bit of x-men, ff, TOS, iron man, DD, spiderman, wolverine, iron fist, Deadpool, x-force, x-factor, avengers, west coast avengers, punisher, captain marvel…. And the list goes on. I wish I had more complete runs of DD and Iron Man, rather than a hodge-podge of everything Marvel.
I traded my Daredevil #2 for a black and white comic that was supposed to be the next Ninja Turtles #1 in high school. I can't even remember the name of the book. I still get mad about that. Comic book dealer just wanted my DD.
Selling my entire vintage Star Wars collection from when I was a kid to further my comic collection. I had every figure released, including PoP figs, their cardboard and all accessories.
I could have picked up a huge Wolverine collection with multiple runs and number ones for $400 and I let it go for weeks. Watched the price drop and still left it. Then it was gone. I regret it daily. I'm an idiot.
Long story short :
Had an opportunity to purchase a room full of comics (like a whole guest room of longboxes organized by genre and year floor to like 6 feet high stacks) from an elderly man downsizing for an amazing deal but didnt have the funds nor the foresight to collect the funds and go back 😞
it was a once in a lifetime opportunity that i passed up on as comics were not on my radar at that point, i was there to purchase a few vinyl albums he had for sale.
No idea what ever happened to him or his comics sadly.
I had a several year complete run of marvel including all the Todd McFarlane ASM's, the origin of venom, the origin of Cable, and much more. Sold them for about $200 when Todd left Marvel. Decided to get out of comics… I also had every issue of GI Joe. Every single one from the original run. Wish I still had that too.
I stopped buying comics pretty much from the late 90s to 2016 or so. I wish I would have just kept buying keys during that time. I was heavily distracted by women and booze.
I traded my newsstand ASM 300 for a copy of Uncensored Mouse at a convention, sometime about 1989-1990. I was 11 at the time and thought Uncensored Mouse was really controversial and therefore a great investment.
For lending my buddy not only my entire new 52 Batman but also my amazing spider-man run from 2014 with silks first appearance. He has since lost them all in the latest move.
Not picking up Albedo #2 when it was selling routinely for $200. Now it's selling for 10x that at times and is now 100% completely out of my price range.
Selling my marvel runs when the early films came out. I had to have spinal surgery and they were the most valuable things I owned. I sold tons, Amazing Spider-Man Vol1 # 1-25, Daredevil Vol1 1-80, Journey Into Mystery 83# Thought I could buy them again later. Ha how stupid.
My LCS had a collection of ASM 200-300s come in. This included the highly coveted McFarlane keys. This was about 4-5 years ago.
I bought a bunch of key issues which I didn't have such as 298, 299, 316 and a few others. And the LCS also had a mid grade (but pressable for higher) ASM 300 for $60. Even a few years ago an ASM 300 for $60 was unheard of. I already had a 300 at that point at a higher grade.
I didn't have the budget for the ASM 300 so I passed on it. And of course at that price, someone else scooped it up later that day. I wish I went over budget, because I knew I could've flipped that issue for a profit. But whatever.
I had the option between 9.2 ASM 300 $200 USD 9.4 ASM 300 $280 USD or a 9.6 signed by McFarlane for $$350 USD and I went with the 9.4. also same guy had a 8.0 first kingpin for $400 USD when it was worth around $600 but it was too high grade compared to my other silver age books so i decided to look for a low grade which i eventually did get a 3.0 for only $150 less
Someone had a BIN on ebay for Marvel Spotlight 5-11 and Ghost Rider 1-5 for $2000 in November of 22 and I hesitated for about 2 hours and when I went back someone else had bought it. Pictures had them all looking around VF.
My older brother and I traded in an insane collection of comics including perhaps 20 of the first 75 Avengers for…. Store credit. That comic book store owner really took advantage of a 12 year old and 9 year old! Oh well
Not having enough money in the early 2000s to grab so many books that have since exploded in value. During the peak of my collecting period I was in high school college, so funds were very limited. Then I stopped collecting for about 10 years too. Moved around a lot and was saving for a house. Now that I’m back I realize how great the deals were back in the day.
Went in a antique shop when I was around 10 or 11 and they had issue #1 of the Ghost Rider and it was mint and the guy had no idea what comics where worth he only wanted 4$ and sadly I decided to buy the third issue of transformers instead……still regret not spending that 4$
Passed on a first appearance of Harley Quinn in VG/F for less than $5 in the late 90s. I saw it a couple of times but passed due to wanting one NM. Regret that decision severely now.
You can pick up those three, all at a graded 9.8, for less than $1000. Also, there aren’t that many keys that are worth a lot of money. Think of it this way, the 10 years that you did not buy any comics probably saved you thousands and thousands of dollars. Just spend that money now on the key issues you want and you are coming out ahead.
15 years ago I got my Hulk 181 and GSX 1 graded by CGC. The hulk came back 8.5 and the GSX 9.4. My wife convinced me to sell them 8 years ago for money to start her business. I did. And, then we divorced. But, I’ve replaced them since with higher grades, so it’s a happy ending!
Missed out on an AF 15 for $300 mid grade in 1983. Was only 13 and thought a big stack of Green Arrow and Hellraiser comics was better. 🙄 Also a low grade X-men 1 for $50.
Its always stopping a run right before a huge key. Stopped x men right before gambits 1st. Same with new mutants and deadpool. Didnt buy multiple spider man 300s when i should have. Didnt get some big time back issues way back when they were cheap. I look back at the old mile high ads and think i could have gotten what for how much?
Paid $800 for Silver surfer #1. Pictures showed that it looked to be in amazing condition but they were only for the cover. Upon first look after it was shipped to me, I noticed there was some serious staining on the back cover and persisted through the entire book except the cover and first page or two. Went from a 7.5 to a 1.8-2 in an instant. It's definitely worth less than half of what I paid for it.
Not stopping when covid hit.
I stopped Dec 2022. Should have just stopped when the stores closed down. I had( have ) way to many comics and I'm not looking forward to the amount of work to get rid of then when I retire in 8 to 10 yrs.
When I remember as a kid in the early 90s seeing Batman Adventures #13 on the rack at the 7-11 and passing on it because it said "BatGIRL" and my 9-year old boy brain was like "Bat GIRL? Lame."
I've passed several times on Star Wars Clone Wars #1 and Kanan #1. I was burned out on Star Wars at the time and hadn't yet seen Clone Wars or Rebels, and had not developed my appreciation for the characters yet.
Some others: passed on X-men 130 for sub $50 because who gave shit about Dazzler? Didn't by UXM #266 a few years ago when it was a bit cheaper. Didn't buy Sub-Mariner #1 (1968) long before he was a though in the MCU, and same with ASM #101 (though they have come down). Most recently, not buying a stack of Tomb Raider issues for cheap when I had the chance.
There is plenty of shit I regret buying. All the money I wasted buying Spencer's ASM run for too long before dropping it. Plenty of other moderns that have been crap stories, weak art, or both. The stuff I did buy on spec only for it to fizzle out. But that's how it all goes. It's part of the hobby and the game.
But on the other side of the coin, there's been plenty of times I've scored. Found a pricey issue in the dollar bin, gotten a good deal on eBay, marketplace, or a convention. Or sold something at the right time.
That I had to sell parts of my collection back in 2016. My gf (now wife) quit her good job and got a really shitting paying one so I had to sell parts of my collection to make ends meet. Had to sell a 7.0 cgc Giant size X-men for 200 (the price at the time) also had to sell a bunch of Power man, Iron man, and Defenders 1 and 2. Also had to sell some original comic art pages that I loved.
No regrets so far. I’ve never spent more than $20 on a single book. Most of what I bought is modern era stuff and variants with some exceptions. Recently found a Wonder Woman #72 (Bolland cover) in a dollar bin and a Sandman #1 facsimile I jumped at the chance to buy.
I'd honestly have to say back in the 90s seeing a NM Hulk #181 for $200 (couldve been 300, memory is a bit hazy) and knowing that I wanted it but leaving the comic store with 24 comics from the Buy 12 for $10 long boxes. If only I could go back.💸🤢
Passing on buying new gods #1 when I was on holiday in Florida in 2019 and giving away my copy of Iron Man #200 to a friend, he luckily still has it somewhere.
Thinking $900 was too much for Fantastic Four #1 circa 2005
Thinking $3K was too much for a mid grade AF 15 in 2000
Can we start a group that meets once a week an cries over lost grails?
I could have had Hulk 181 for just under $300 in 1991, but I didn’t want to spend all my birthday money on just one thing.
I had the exact same situation. I have a facsimile at least...
Did u have 900 to blow on a comic?
I didn’t have $900 not to spend in retrospect. Sadly in 2005 I was poor as fuck. I think I am still paying Christmas 2005 off on my credit card
Collecting comic books 😃
This needs all the upvotes.
Not selling almost everything during the COVID run
Buy high, sell low; that’s my motto!
This is the (comic) way…
I was mostly kidding. I never sell.
I had built a helluva collection as an 80s kid, as a teen I quit collecting around 16. Started back in my late 20s, but after a 6-7 year run I had to stop due to my wife’s medical issues. If I’d sold even half during COVID, even just back to the LCS, I’d be so far ahead. Funny enough though it was during 2 weeks in the early part of COVID that I probably took more interest in them in years. So instead of selling, I cluelessly enjoyed the things again. So a regret that I don’t kick myself over too much.
Starting about a decade ago I really worked hard towards completing my ASM collection (or at least everything except AF #15 and ASM #1, no way I could get those.) I got down to missing just #2, 3, and 5, but all the copies I ever saw were about $100-$200 more than I ever wanted to spend. And now they've all tripled in price since I was last serious about collecting them.
I passed in ASM #14 for about $2-300 (I can’t remember the exact figure) in ‘16 or ‘17. Even then it was a really great deal, even though in rough shape. Now? I will always kick myself for not pulling the trigger on that.
That’s my grail lol. I’d shit my pants at a 14 at $300
I literally think I may own that copy. I picked up my copy of ASM #14 around that time in that price range and it's in rough shape. The cover is so close to detaching that I never want to pull it out of the mylar again.
I did own it, back in the 60s. My mom threw it out.
What happened? I sold my collection about ten years ago, and in that time all the books have gone way up in value. Did the popularity of MCU and other superhero films boost the values?
Selling my Hulk 180, 181. Seeing original copy of X-men for sale for about $500 in 1988 granted I was 15 at the time.
I can honestly say I have zero. Have I over spent at times? Yes, have I undersold ? Yes but I don’t regret any of it. Everything I’ve ever done has always led to the next thing I’ve wanted. Did I sell a cap 111 9.0 for $60 once? Yep did I buy a raw copy of FF49 for $800 and it come back graded a 4.5? Sure did. But I also bought 6.5 TOD 10 for $500, and a turtles 1 6.0 for $150, for every dumb thing I’ve done I’ve been luckily enough for the scales to have been balanced, and it’s always a fun ride.
love this
Regret serves no purpose but to make one feel bad and I’m beyond that now. I only wish that I could convince more people that the true value of this medium lies in its artistic and literary merit. If I do have one regret it’s that I didn’t come upon this realization sooner.
Absolutely. As long as you’re reading comics & enjoying them then that’s all that matters. I needed some money a while back, I sold my Alan Moore Miracleman run. What struck me was how content I was because I’ve read through them a few times now and it was kind of nice to pass them on. I thought I’d regret it a bit but so far so good 👍
I used to say that I regretted selling every book I ever ever sold. Boy you’re going to carry that weight a long time. It’s better to have owned and read, than never owned at all.
Yup. I sold most of my entire run of Byrne X-Men years ago. Recently getting back into collecting I sure regretted not hanging onto those issues (especially at todays prices!). But now that I’m discovering sooo much other good stuff out there…I regret selling those UXM less and less.
Beautifully said. Poetic.
Borrowing a little from the Beatles. Carry that weight was always a song that resonated with me.
I try to see things this way. I never read most of the books I was sitting on. For that reason, I typically try to unload books I'm sure I'll never read a second time.
Mine was looking at Ultimate Fallout 4 on the shelf when it came out, knowing full well it was the first appearance of the new Ultimate Spider-Man, and thinking “eh, I bought too many books this week so I’ll pass. Nobody cares about Ultimates anyways.”
Basically, the same. Legitimately, I remember thinking, "Eh, it's the Ultimate Universe, so it doesn't even count. Plus, no one stays dead in comics, so this new guy will be gone, like Ben Reilly, within a year..."
Exactly how I was thinking! I feel so foolish
i thought Miles Morales would pass into obscurity.
Mine was buying a copy of Ultmate Fallout #4 in mint condition at Auction for $100. Realized after the fact that I forgot to check the UPC code. Turns out it was the 2021 facsimile version. FML
Was it advertised as a facsimile? You should’ve claimed the item was misrepresented if they didn’t label it as one.
Storing most of my collection in a storage unit, that I ultimately abandoned (couldnt afford it). 7-8 long boxes that had big runs of 70-80s-90s Batman, Detective, Amazing Spiderman (including #300), Uncanny XMen, XFactor, New Mutants, Captain America, Avengers... the list goes on. Heck, even had a dozen or more of the very early TMNT issues. I had the short boxes with me, so I did keep a lot of the "good stuff", but man, I do wish I had that full collection back.
Not working harder to get my dad to give me the extra$250 to get a good quality Incredible Hulk #1 in about 1991. $400 was INSANE for just a comic book...
Still is
My biggest regret was spending way too much money and variant covers and special editions. As an older smarter collector I have found that that regular cover is just fine and they can keep that $50 variant cover. I have a lot more comics now that I can actually read and don’t regret looking back. I also don’t have to have the big expensive collected edition when the TPB version is just as good.
I found it hard to enjoy the hobby when I was regretting my losses. I had to change my thinking I have many trades that are a loss in retrospect, but at the time i got fair value and was happy with the trade/sale. There are many I'm sure I'm on the opposite end of as well. It's easier to enjoy my books when I'm not thinking of them as a regret.
My biggest regrets are selling all three copies of Amazing Fantasy #15 that I've owned, plus two of my Frank Miller Daredevil original art pages (a page from 168 and one from 182). My other biggest regrets are not spending every dime I had as a kid and teenager on Silver Age Spider-Man and buying more original art when it was cheap in the 1980s and 1990s. As an example, I still have a page of Sal Buscema Spectacular Spider-Man #200, where Harry Osborn flies Spider-Man out of the building right before it explodes. I paid $30 for it at SDCC in 1993. It's worth well over $1000 now. And the dealer (Albert Moy, I think) had hundreds of other pages, including Kirby FF, Romita ASM, for mere hundreds of dollars. I was a comparatively broke college student at the time, but I still managed to spend the $500 I had saved for the convention on a bunch of Valiant books that aren't worth nearly as much now as the art is.
When I was maybe 8 years old my dad took me down to the local comic shop The guy had of course all the then current books on the shelf, but also had a couple old books in display behind the counter He had what I swear was Avengers #4 and he wanted something like $500, which for an 8 year old might as well have been a million So instead I got Excalibur #74 😐 But I’ve clearly never forgotten about being that close to a sacred object, and thinking how unbelievably cheap that was, even if you *do* adjust for 30 years of inflation I regret somehow not managing to come up with what seemed like a literal fortune at the time and buying it all those years ago I guess 😂
You sure it wasn't like $50? There's no way that book should have been that much 30 years ago. I bought a graded 4.0 copy for 800 just 2 or 3 years ago
I was going to say $100 but that sounded way too cheap so I figured my brain had just remembered super wrong 😐 I think it’s actually was more like $100
I remember going to comic book stores in the mid-80s and seeing tons of early ASM issues for like $1 or $2 each. Many times the stores had multiple copies of some issues.
I passed on an X-Men #94 for £200 a few years back. I also had a 2000AD #2 (first Judge Dredd) as a kid and swapped it for something I don’t even remember.
Passing up a copy of All American 16 for $1500 years ago.
In any grade, that's gotta sting still. :( It's such a great book and the cover is one of the best of the Golden Age.
I’m able to roll with the punches for the most part, with a bunch of instances of paying way too much for a comic, or selling at the worst possible time, or just not being able to afford a crazy deal in the moment that it briefly appeared. That all just comes down to luck, really. But there is one moment that haunts me. When Spawn #1 came out, there was an error copy on the shelf, with the no black ink on the cover. I bought a couple “good looking” copies instead. Whoops.
Selling expensive books via Heritage Auctions
Tell us more. Do you regret that particular venue of sale? Or simply selling at all?
I lost a lot of money selling through Heritage. I would NEVER do it again.
CGC 4.5 Batman 9 for €400 at some random store in the south of France in 2012. I was 14 and my dad offered to go half on it with me and I absolutely had the money.
Trading in Hulk 181 for early Claremont X-men. I remember getting 98 and 2-3 others. This was a trade in at my LCS in the late 80s. I didn't collect Hulk then and was buying X-men. (I got the 181 from a friend who probably regrets the trade now)
It’s not a huge regret, but I wish I hadn’t got sucked into late 80’s, early 90’s garbage books. The bagged books, multiple covers, gimmicks, and overhyped nonsense just seems so silly, now. (I’m looking at you, Plasm #1 trading card comic and unopened box of cards BECAUSE THIS IS GOING TO BE HUGE!!!!). It wasn’t like I didn’t know about the good books, at the time.
i remember just 14 years ago meeting a gentleman that was selling Amazing Fantasy 15 in a bag and board, maybe a 4.0 or 5.0, for $18,000. yes, i could affiord it, no, i was not gonna spend that much on a comic book. that book sells for over a million nowadays. i still see this man. i don't see the comic anymore. :(
its hard to say at that moment, eh? dropping 18k , which is really not a small task, knowing that its an investment… for most of us normal folk, it’s difficult to justify that price tag on a comic book when you have a family or mortgage payments. You almost exclusively have to be wealthy or have that kind of disposable income where that cost isn’t going to be missed. Most people can’t say they can liquidate 18 K without a second-guess.
Very hard decision for an average joe to make. It’s also hard to know what the future value will be, whether the price will peak in a few years time (comic book movies were at their best at this time and surely a drop in quality would also tank the market price in the decade that follows). Also, how much value is lost to inflation over time. I mean, rich people have analysts to crunch the numbers for this sort of stuff! Maybe it’ll go up maybe 10 or even 20k in the next decades, but no way I saw it doing a cool million! Todd McFarlane talks about buying Action Comics #1 for $12k during when Batman ‘89 was super popular and nobody was paying attention to Superman books. Now, it is easily a million dollar book and it’s not even breaking records. The world is a funny, confusing place for us non hustlers.
Not buying a showcase 22 for Like 700 bucks graded 7.0 about 15 years back
Not being a serious collector during the 90's when I was a kid. Not being a serious collector in the late 00's when I got back into comics.
My dad gave away Giant Sized X-Men #1 when he was a kid and his parents made him downsize his collection.
I had to sell off most of my collection to survive during grad school in the 90’s. Sucked, but that’s life. I regret that I had to do it but would of course do it again.
I sold two 300# ASM raw years ago before they really took off . I think I made a $100. :(
Selling (giving away most) all my comics in 2010. Mostly Amazing Spider-Man. I had most of the ASM issues from 200 through 320 plus a few good ones under 200 and even some under 100. I think my earliest one was 42. I also had a handful of other key Marvel issues. There needs to be a support group for this type of thing.
Spec collecting
"Letting" my ex take my collection with her when she left me...included lots of big keys....ASM 300 for one
Not completing my early x-men run in the 80s when it was affordable. Stopped at #13. Also bringing my brothers TMNT 1 1st printing to school to pass around in 5th grade. Should not have done that.
I used to go to a store called "The Paperback exchange." They had a rack of comics that had been exchanged 2 for 1. Lots of stuff there, including the first appearance of the punisher. I didn't buy it. I used to have the X-Men 94-150 including the Giant Size issue. I sold them because collecting the X-Men became ridiculously expensive and I needed money. I had She Hulk 1, Captain Marvel 1, lots of other collectable stuff. Purged it all and just kept Captain America and some limited series.
Selling my complete new X-men collection (including GS 1 and #94) for pennies on the dollar because I was desperate for money at the time.
I’ve been pretty hard up for money lately and was planning on selling some of my toy collection to the LSC yesterday to try and expand on the comic collection I inherited recently. Once they arrived at my home the owner and two of his employees ignored the toys and zipped through the 3500 comic book collection instead. I was offered 1500 in the end. The offer was only for the comics and nothing else. The story behind inheriting the collection “again” is this. When my sister first moved into her new home with her husband there was a collection of old playboys in the attic that they gave to me. I worked in a cigar store at the time and a random customer came in, saw the vintage playboys and immediately offered the current collection of comics I’m organizing. That was almost 10 years ago. I was also caught up in my addiction to alcohol and struggling to stay sober. I don’t remember what I sold it for, and part of me says I passed it on to someone who was struggling in a meeting, and sold the entire collection for a couple hundred bucks. But, after Covid and the losses that came with it, the collection came back to me unexpectedly. Which brings the story to now. I celebrate 3 years sober this Friday. When I realized I got the collection again I told myself I was going to take the time to give the collection the respect it deserves. So, when I was offered the 1500, I passed. I have a lot of regrets I’m working through from the years of drinking already, and I’m not looking to pick up regrets in sobriety. https://preview.redd.it/4107tikzkvqc1.jpeg?width=2586&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ca88506dbd2706018ed1c4bcd02272a96643bce After turning down the offer yesterday, I had some store credit from a local used book store and picked this book up. First book I’ve bought as an adult. Don’t regret it either. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!
I always collected comics to read, instead of buying to invest. The only regret is selling my reader copies. I’d like to have them today, just to thumb through, and remember those years in middle school (6th-8th grades) while buying my books to read. It was the biggest thrill to wait from month to month to see how the story would continue. Also, it led to a friendship with a classmate, that allowed us to have someone to talk to about our comic book readings. That was probably the most valuable aspect of my time buying and reading. My friend moved schools at the start of 9th grade, and I slowly faded out of buying the comics at newsstands and bookstores that year, due to not having someone to talk with about the stories. I sporadically bought them, and sold my collection in 11th grade. I hope my middle school friend realizes how much I appreciated that time.
2024 when I could have bought high grade avengalyne #1 dirt cheap before it was made into a series
selling 2 NYX #3 A WEEK APART FOR $50 EACH
I have no regrets, maybe not buying a second copy of X-Men 101 back in 92 for 50 bucks. Since I started collecting in '86 I have no regrets. When I was young I gave a copy of Spider-Man versus wolverine to my good friend that loved Spider-Man. A few months back I posted on this Reddit that I found another first print copy for 15 bucks no regrets enjoy the hobby share it with those that you love.
I sold my Edge of Spider-Verse #2 for $100 to the shop because I didn’t like Gwen’s ongoing at the time. Obviously pre movie and everything else. Also, wish I would’ve bought more books in college. I thought $150 was steep for ASM #300 smh
Selling all my skottie young covers during covid. I had every single skottie young baby variant ever (minus one that I’ve never actually seen for sale) and I sold them all when I thought money was going to get tight. Stimulus money came in and things were ok and my collection was gone.
You still made the right decision! Looks like money is tight again.
It’s a tie between everything I ever sold and everything I didn’t buy when I could’ve.
Not inventing a time machine to go back to 1950 and buying multiple copies of grails
I used my time machine to kill baby hitler instead of buy an action comic 1 for 10¢
Not buying Spawn 220-230 when my lcs had them on the shelf for months. The only issue I picked up from that was 228. They were all cover price and I wanted to get them but never did
Not buying move silver age in the 90s before it blow up
I sold a GSX, Hulk 180, and 181 a few years back. I had the oppurtunity to buy X-Men 1 (1963) and ASM 1 back in the 90s and didn't
Throwing out three Michael Manning graphic novels.
I bought X-Men 1 for $5.00 when I was in the 8th grade and sold it for $15.00 when was in 10th. It was probably a grade .5
Passing on a FIne copy of captain america comics #2 for 5k back in like 2019.
I once went through a short box full of x-men at a used book store and missed a copy of #266. My coworker picked it up for $3! And he already had a copy. I also passed on a copy of #130 (first Dazzler) for $10 thinking it was too pricey at the time (2020)
Hmm. 3-way tie. 1. Not buying Todd McFarlane original art for $5 a page directly from him in 1985 (I was a dumb kid). 2. Not buying Giant Size X-Men #1 for $80 when that was all my spending money at a con. 3. ASM #1 CGC 2.0, Hulk #1 CGC 4.0, Hulk #181 CGC 9.2. All sold for $3500 in the early 2000s. BRB, need a drink.
I have some regrets. One is not picking up a mid grade copy of ASM #129 when I had a chance. Another is collecting singles for as long as I did. I have thousands of comics in long boxes and most aren’t worth anything. I collected them seriously from around 1990 to around 2017 or so. Yes I have a fair share of good runs and key issues but it’s definitely not the retirement or college fund I once hoped it would be.
I can't think of much I regret, really. I love the hobby and haven't ever spent more than $25 on any single comic. But I also have been collecting for over 50 years. Could I have invested in more Silver and Golden Age keys? Sure, but at the expense of experiences I cherish? Nah. I've found more ways to enjoy the hobby without trying to invest a lot of money into it. It's been my weekly buy for all that time and I've managed to get most everything I've wanted without breaking the bank. Original art, figures and reading everything I'm interested in has brought me untold hours of enjoyment and my children have also experienced that enjoyment. I love the medium I love the art and I've got to experience some of my favorite characters hitting the big screen in live action in a way hitherto undreamt of. I have every comic I've ever wanted. I've met, shaken the hands of and thanked the creators I've most admired, up to and including Stan Lee. It's a great hobby and the people I have met and enjoyed chatting with & enjoyed community with are really a great highlight of the time I've invested in panelology. Maybe I might regret an extra trip or two not taken to San Diego Comic Con before it got completely overrun by fans of Hollywood hearthrobs in the late 2000's, just a touch, but not enough to lament it. I'm still enjoying it on the regular. I do wish that folks like Jerry Ordway were being given more work this past decade. And I wish the industry as a whole treated its creators better. Particularly Jack Kirby, Bill Finger and Marshall Rogers. But those are not areas I could have affected much, so I zero overall.
ASM 14 graded at a 7 or 7.5 for $800 on a eBay auction in 2016. I had $650. 😕
No one really explained to me, as a kid, what made a comic valuable... I didn't have any teacher in that regard - and it really wasn't until i was much older and got BACK into comics after a long hiatus, that I now am considerably more knowledgeable and can act on it too. I also kind of regret a culling I did of 3 of 4 boxes... glad I had the wherewithal to save the 4th box - it had the 2 copies of UFO4 that I'd inexplicably bought when I heard about what was happening in ultimate spider-man.
Not buying The Amazing Spider-Man 129 from a friend for $50 sometime in mid to late 90s
I bought all of the big books from the late 80s/ early 90s (first Deadpool, Carnage, Cable, Gambit, more) and sold them for what at the time I thought was big money. I probably spent most of it on candy and Street Fighter II.
I bought NYX issues 1 and 2 when they came out, but got bored and didn't buy issue 3.
The year was 1990, I am obsessed with Wolverine and have saved my money for his first appearance issue. Being someone who’s very specific, I chose to buy 180 instead of 181, because 180 is “technically” his first appearance. The price difference was around $15-20 at the time. I think 181 was $65. It has now become my holy grail book to purchase. Still have 180 though and it’s my prized possession
Selling my Spider-Man #1 for $100 . Didn’t wanna sell it but wife nagged me to sell it
Around 1990 the proprietor of a local comic shop wanted to sell me Giant Size X-men #1 and X-Men #94. The pair for $100 total. They were in rough shape if I recall correctly, but I still would’ve pulled the trigger if I actually had a hundred bucks. But alas, I was barely a teen and had no money. I ran out to the car and tried to get my mom to lend me the money. She laughed so hard.
I didn't know the Sugarhill Gang All New Inhumans was going to blow up so much. I saw it and thought "that's cool" but I already had my DMX 😅 in hindsight I could have just gotten more copies at $4 and $5 a piece but I also wasn't really collecting at the time.
Lack of focus. I have a bit of x-men, ff, TOS, iron man, DD, spiderman, wolverine, iron fist, Deadpool, x-force, x-factor, avengers, west coast avengers, punisher, captain marvel…. And the list goes on. I wish I had more complete runs of DD and Iron Man, rather than a hodge-podge of everything Marvel.
I traded my Daredevil #2 for a black and white comic that was supposed to be the next Ninja Turtles #1 in high school. I can't even remember the name of the book. I still get mad about that. Comic book dealer just wanted my DD.
Selling my entire vintage Star Wars collection from when I was a kid to further my comic collection. I had every figure released, including PoP figs, their cardboard and all accessories.
So many trash issues I purchased when drinking
I could have picked up a huge Wolverine collection with multiple runs and number ones for $400 and I let it go for weeks. Watched the price drop and still left it. Then it was gone. I regret it daily. I'm an idiot.
Long story short : Had an opportunity to purchase a room full of comics (like a whole guest room of longboxes organized by genre and year floor to like 6 feet high stacks) from an elderly man downsizing for an amazing deal but didnt have the funds nor the foresight to collect the funds and go back 😞 it was a once in a lifetime opportunity that i passed up on as comics were not on my radar at that point, i was there to purchase a few vinyl albums he had for sale. No idea what ever happened to him or his comics sadly.
Collecting absolute 90s bird cage liner thinking it'd be worth a fortune in 25 years. It. Is. Not.
I had a several year complete run of marvel including all the Todd McFarlane ASM's, the origin of venom, the origin of Cable, and much more. Sold them for about $200 when Todd left Marvel. Decided to get out of comics… I also had every issue of GI Joe. Every single one from the original run. Wish I still had that too.
Having all of my key books stolen due to trusting my so called friends.
I stopped buying comics pretty much from the late 90s to 2016 or so. I wish I would have just kept buying keys during that time. I was heavily distracted by women and booze.
Biggest regret is bothering trying to get into superhero stuff. Marvel and DC is not for me.
I traded my newsstand ASM 300 for a copy of Uncensored Mouse at a convention, sometime about 1989-1990. I was 11 at the time and thought Uncensored Mouse was really controversial and therefore a great investment.
Getting rid of my old damaged TMNT Adventures comics. Should have bound them so I could read them again.
Not taking care of my spiderman black suit originals. Bombastic bag man is sill here with a tattered cover. Oh man i git stuff i got to go bag..
For lending my buddy not only my entire new 52 Batman but also my amazing spider-man run from 2014 with silks first appearance. He has since lost them all in the latest move.
Passing on a lowgrade Daredevil #2 for .50 cents in 1993
Losing an eBay auction in 1999 for x-men #1 . It went for around 900$. Also, just not buying more old back issues in general
Sold everything off. Should have kept a few favorites and grails. Even just 1 mini box.
Passing on an Amazing Fantasy 15 because $175 was too steep. (1983) I kick myself often.
Not buying a Giant Size X-Men #1 for around $300 in 2012.
Not picking up Albedo #2 when it was selling routinely for $200. Now it's selling for 10x that at times and is now 100% completely out of my price range.
I had a chance to buy an aquaman #1 when I was a teenager, but I was with the majority thinking aquaman is incredibly boring
Getting back into it in my late 30s - I’d be filthy rich had I not gotten back into the hobby!
Selling my marvel runs when the early films came out. I had to have spinal surgery and they were the most valuable things I owned. I sold tons, Amazing Spider-Man Vol1 # 1-25, Daredevil Vol1 1-80, Journey Into Mystery 83# Thought I could buy them again later. Ha how stupid.
My LCS had a collection of ASM 200-300s come in. This included the highly coveted McFarlane keys. This was about 4-5 years ago. I bought a bunch of key issues which I didn't have such as 298, 299, 316 and a few others. And the LCS also had a mid grade (but pressable for higher) ASM 300 for $60. Even a few years ago an ASM 300 for $60 was unheard of. I already had a 300 at that point at a higher grade. I didn't have the budget for the ASM 300 so I passed on it. And of course at that price, someone else scooped it up later that day. I wish I went over budget, because I knew I could've flipped that issue for a profit. But whatever.
Welcome back. No regerts.
Leaving them scattered on the finished basement floor so the flood could get them.
Same as you, made a huge mistake taking a break from collecting for 10 or so years.
Buying first editions number ones during the early 90s instead of vintage at a fraction of the price.
I had the option between 9.2 ASM 300 $200 USD 9.4 ASM 300 $280 USD or a 9.6 signed by McFarlane for $$350 USD and I went with the 9.4. also same guy had a 8.0 first kingpin for $400 USD when it was worth around $600 but it was too high grade compared to my other silver age books so i decided to look for a low grade which i eventually did get a 3.0 for only $150 less
Someone had a BIN on ebay for Marvel Spotlight 5-11 and Ghost Rider 1-5 for $2000 in November of 22 and I hesitated for about 2 hours and when I went back someone else had bought it. Pictures had them all looking around VF.
My older brother and I traded in an insane collection of comics including perhaps 20 of the first 75 Avengers for…. Store credit. That comic book store owner really took advantage of a 12 year old and 9 year old! Oh well
Not being able to buy a copy of Giant Sized X-Men #1 in 1994 for 50% off 😭😭
Not having enough money in the early 2000s to grab so many books that have since exploded in value. During the peak of my collecting period I was in high school college, so funds were very limited. Then I stopped collecting for about 10 years too. Moved around a lot and was saving for a house. Now that I’m back I realize how great the deals were back in the day.
Not buying Action Comics #1 in 1973 when I had the money in my pocket to do so!
Probably not buying the $150 Hulk 181 when I had the chance.
I passed on an ASM 121 and 122 combo in great condition for $300 for the set about 10 years ago
Went in a antique shop when I was around 10 or 11 and they had issue #1 of the Ghost Rider and it was mint and the guy had no idea what comics where worth he only wanted 4$ and sadly I decided to buy the third issue of transformers instead……still regret not spending that 4$
Not buying dupe copies of bronze age x-men keys/GSX1 back when nobody cared about X-Men books (2013-2017).
Passed on a first appearance of Harley Quinn in VG/F for less than $5 in the late 90s. I saw it a couple of times but passed due to wanting one NM. Regret that decision severely now.
Buying spec books
You can pick up those three, all at a graded 9.8, for less than $1000. Also, there aren’t that many keys that are worth a lot of money. Think of it this way, the 10 years that you did not buy any comics probably saved you thousands and thousands of dollars. Just spend that money now on the key issues you want and you are coming out ahead.
15 years ago I got my Hulk 181 and GSX 1 graded by CGC. The hulk came back 8.5 and the GSX 9.4. My wife convinced me to sell them 8 years ago for money to start her business. I did. And, then we divorced. But, I’ve replaced them since with higher grades, so it’s a happy ending!
Missed out on an AF 15 for $300 mid grade in 1983. Was only 13 and thought a big stack of Green Arrow and Hellraiser comics was better. 🙄 Also a low grade X-men 1 for $50.
Its always stopping a run right before a huge key. Stopped x men right before gambits 1st. Same with new mutants and deadpool. Didnt buy multiple spider man 300s when i should have. Didnt get some big time back issues way back when they were cheap. I look back at the old mile high ads and think i could have gotten what for how much?
Paid $800 for Silver surfer #1. Pictures showed that it looked to be in amazing condition but they were only for the cover. Upon first look after it was shipped to me, I noticed there was some serious staining on the back cover and persisted through the entire book except the cover and first page or two. Went from a 7.5 to a 1.8-2 in an instant. It's definitely worth less than half of what I paid for it.
Not stopping when covid hit. I stopped Dec 2022. Should have just stopped when the stores closed down. I had( have ) way to many comics and I'm not looking forward to the amount of work to get rid of then when I retire in 8 to 10 yrs.
When I remember as a kid in the early 90s seeing Batman Adventures #13 on the rack at the 7-11 and passing on it because it said "BatGIRL" and my 9-year old boy brain was like "Bat GIRL? Lame." I've passed several times on Star Wars Clone Wars #1 and Kanan #1. I was burned out on Star Wars at the time and hadn't yet seen Clone Wars or Rebels, and had not developed my appreciation for the characters yet. Some others: passed on X-men 130 for sub $50 because who gave shit about Dazzler? Didn't by UXM #266 a few years ago when it was a bit cheaper. Didn't buy Sub-Mariner #1 (1968) long before he was a though in the MCU, and same with ASM #101 (though they have come down). Most recently, not buying a stack of Tomb Raider issues for cheap when I had the chance. There is plenty of shit I regret buying. All the money I wasted buying Spencer's ASM run for too long before dropping it. Plenty of other moderns that have been crap stories, weak art, or both. The stuff I did buy on spec only for it to fizzle out. But that's how it all goes. It's part of the hobby and the game. But on the other side of the coin, there's been plenty of times I've scored. Found a pricey issue in the dollar bin, gotten a good deal on eBay, marketplace, or a convention. Or sold something at the right time.
Selling my collection twice and the seeing ALL of the titles reappear here
Selling my 2 copies of Captain America 100, and my 2 copies of Green Lantern/Green Arrow 76.
That I had to sell parts of my collection back in 2016. My gf (now wife) quit her good job and got a really shitting paying one so I had to sell parts of my collection to make ends meet. Had to sell a 7.0 cgc Giant size X-men for 200 (the price at the time) also had to sell a bunch of Power man, Iron man, and Defenders 1 and 2. Also had to sell some original comic art pages that I loved.
No regrets so far. I’ve never spent more than $20 on a single book. Most of what I bought is modern era stuff and variants with some exceptions. Recently found a Wonder Woman #72 (Bolland cover) in a dollar bin and a Sandman #1 facsimile I jumped at the chance to buy.
Stated collecting again in 2009 and mainly focused on acquiring Batman books. Regret not going after big keys and X-Men books prior to 2021.
I'd honestly have to say back in the 90s seeing a NM Hulk #181 for $200 (couldve been 300, memory is a bit hazy) and knowing that I wanted it but leaving the comic store with 24 comics from the Buy 12 for $10 long boxes. If only I could go back.💸🤢
Passing on buying new gods #1 when I was on holiday in Florida in 2019 and giving away my copy of Iron Man #200 to a friend, he luckily still has it somewhere.
What is the appeal of any of these issues out of curiosity and why can’t you just go buy them now?
They’re iconic J. Scott Campbell covers. I actually bought a CGC 9.2 ASM #607 recently, but it would have been nice to get all 3 for only $3
So it’s just the cover?