There's no question the pandemic has changed a lot of things. It continues to impact the way we work, shop, socializes, and go out into the world. So, it's no surprise that, for many of us, slipping off to those familiar other worlds sandwiched between the thin front and back covers of our comics continues to be a nice escape from the increasingly unfamiliar world in which we find ourselves now. Some of us, though, are only rediscovering those worlds after decades away. Lured back into the comic collecting fold when we were told to stay-at-home. Let's look at some pandemic collecting tips.
Dusting off those long boxes
How many of you reading this now can count how many times you've moved your collection from one house or apartment to another, never having cracked the lid on those long boxes before it was time to move them again? I am one of you. I count no less than ten moves between buying my last comic in the 90s to finally pulling out my collection in March and keeping it out.
For me, it wasn't just the stay-at-home order. I have a teenage daughter who started showing an interest in comics a couple of years ago. Figured going through my old collection together might be a fun thing to do while we were in lockdown. I was right. My wallet disagrees, as does my wife, but we'll get to that soon enough.
Everything old is new again
My collection ranged from the mostly early 80s to mid-90s books. Lots of Marvel, plenty of DC, a decent number of independents and, of course, all the Image debuts. Once my daughter and I got everything alphabetized, we started our next pass: Pricing. To what level of fortune had my collection grown?
"How do you know how much they're worth?" My daughter asked.
"The Overstreet Price Guide," I replied.
Now, I wasn't silly enough to think people still used a hard copy of the OPG. Of course, there would be an Overstreet website I'd have to go to. Maybe pay a fee. No? No big deal. I came across a site called GoCollect where I could type in a title and issue and get prices. My near mint New Mutants #98 looked like it might fetch a pretty penny if I ever decided to part with it, but I couldn't find the words "near mint" anywhere. Maybe that's what 9.8 meant? Sort of, I found out.
As I continued down the rabbit hole, it became clearer and clearer that something I once knew like the back of my hand, collecting comics, was now a completely different animal. Pressing, cleaning, grading, slabbing. Every book has like 40 covers now, there's something called IDW and now Batman laughs apparently? None of these things were things when I closed that last book in 1995. It was like someone had changed all the rules of the game while I was inside eating dinner. I was alone in a strange new world that I once knew so well (Insert tears).
Not so lonely after all
I at least knew enough from my contemporary list of hobbies to know there would be a Facebook group or two where I could lurk and learn. I was right. More groups than I can count actually. So, I joined a couple...dozen, and I lurked. And I learned. What I learned is, I am far from alone. While I was staying-at-home and making the decision to start digging through my old collection, a LOT of people just like me were doing the exact same thing. And, just like me, what started as a short stroll down Memory Lane turned into a whole new journey with no end in sight.
I recently posted a question in a few of those Facebook groups to see how many people, just in those groups, were experiencing what I was experiencing. In less than an hour, there were dozens and dozens of responses. I was not alone. Far from it. We were all back in it, relearning a world we all thought we already knew everything about.
Old school collectors unite! Also you new people for pandemic collecting
I proposed to GoCollect that we all go on this journey together and they liked the idea. It's been a long handful of months for us all, but it's afforded me the opportunity to learn a lot. All things I'll be sharing here, not just for those of us who are jumping back into the game but also those stepping onto the field for the very first time. My questions on social media revealed all this staying at home has also sparked interest in folks completely new to the world of comic collecting.
So, I'm hoping that this will benefit a lot of people. I've asked the questions you may be too embarrassed to ask so you don't have to. I researched all week so I can walk you through your first grading submission. I've used my powers of over-learning everything I do so we can all relearn a past time that once meant the world to us. I am a comic book collector back from a long break and my pull file is busting at the seams!
Not really. I just recently restarted one though. Who else is doing some pandemic collecting?
GoCollect is the #1 comic book price guide for pandemic collecting and tracking sales data of all graded comic books in real-time. Fair market values are now at your fingertips. Check out all the features at www.gocollect.com
