Justice League #1...and onward

[Travis Sheldon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Travis Sheldon]

Back in 1993 I sold my shop. We had new comics, back issues, sports and pop culture memorabilia, lps, toys, etc...
If it was crap collectibles, we stocked it. (As long as it was crap we liked!)
The companies were at, what I thought was, the height of gimmickry with die-cut, super fold-out, holographic covers, etc...
Image and Valiant were the Kings of the day.
And I hated them both.
I desperately wanted the Valiant stuff to go over, but I couldn't get behind them.
I just saw their stuff as product.
Of course in this day and age, that's what everyone regards "collectibles" as.
A few years ago I started getting into The Walking Dead series and really enjoyed it.
Now I just watch the show and save myself $3 a month.
There's no way I can get behind the 52 stuff. Origins have been retconned to the point where I no longer care.
The media companies want to blame downloaders for their sales tanking, but it's not that, it's lack of quality.
Sorry DC and Marvel, or Time Warner and Disney, but there's nothing you can do to make me want to read your crap again.
I'm happy digging through the bargain boxes to read the real pulpy dreck instead of your high gloss turds.
There's a reason stuff like the Dark Horse reprints sell so well.
I'm sure there was a purpose to this long typed screed when I started. But I no longer care...

[Travis Sheldon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Travis Sheldon]

Oh and, " You kids get off my lawn"

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Ha! Well said. I worked at a comic shop in the mid-nineties part time (mostly for fun and to help out my friends who ran it) and the gimmicks and alternate foil jizz enhanced limited edition ultra rare varient schtick got old fast. That, coupled with the grading systems that are now in place, sucked a lot of the fun out of the comic book industry.

[Todd Jordan Smut is good. Find all posts View Profile Close Todd Jordan]

And it's not just comics. The trading card industry (for non-sports anyway) has gone the same route. I went from a die-hard collector to selling my collection and not longer caring about cards. And this is coming from someone who put together and published some guides. Greed, speculation, and dick heads trying to make a quick buck ruins the fun. ONce the smoke clears you have companies you liked that went under and the market is flooded with all kinds of shit. Limited edition this and that, and basically creating a collectible. Seel at a high price and when it doesnt sell, dump it and make it worthless. That's the game.

[Travis Sheldon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Travis Sheldon]

I promote a collectibles show every month, and have since October 2008, and get to see the monthly regurgitations.
I was having a problem getting comic dealers to come out, but found out it was because most had gone out of business or changed to make gaming their number one focus.
I still collect a limited amount, but I ran out of room years ago and don't want to wind up on an episode of Deceased Hoarders.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

I had roughly 30-40 long boxes of stuff at one point and wound up selling off most of my collection when I moved to the states in 2001. By that point I had burnt out on the collector mentality but there are times where I reget selling off some of my stuff, like the silver age Marvels and a lot of the indy and underground stuff I had that I'll probably never get again. That said, I'd need somewhere to put all that stuff. These days I'm far more interested in gettign a good collected version of something than dealing with single issues and the back issue market.

[Jeremy Wallace Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jeremy Wallace]

All of that is very true but I am finding that the NEW 52 is a great launching point for the new reader (like my fuck trophies). Plus, I am even enjoying some of them.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Getting into them with your kids is awesome. Don't let us bitter old comic nerds piss in your Batman flavored Cheerios, Buzzedherface.

[Jeremy Wallace Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jeremy Wallace]

I have to admit that I am finding Marvel's new Hulk amazing! As well as a lot of the DC 52. But this is coming from a guy who was never hardcore into comics as a youngster. I read GROO, Conan and Star Wars. lol

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

No shame in those choices. I still have the early Pacific Comics issues and his 1st appearance!

[Roderick Butthorn Find all posts View Profile Close Roderick]

My prediction is that by the end of 2012 DC will announce the first line wide event since the relaunch and by the end of 2013 all the numbers will be back to where they were 2 years ago.

It apparently only took until mid 2012 for the numbers to drop back to 2 years ago levels. You were way off, dummy.