Scenario: You have the means to buy that one back issue you’ve always wanted. What is that issue?
4 Likes
Oh, there are so many that it is hard to decide. If money were no object, Detective Comics no. 27 (May 1939).
3 Likes
Million dollar choice. Nice.
2 Likes
If I had the funds for anything: Daredevil #1
Something I could more realistically get: Spider-Man Noir #1
3 Likes
The Spidey book is only a few hundred.
3 Likes
I mean, I’d love to have a Detective Comics #27, but I think if it could be only 1, it might actually have to be:
3 Likes
I bet getting a VF (or better) copy of this is next to impossible. Awesome choice!
2 Likes
Action Comics #1. Hey you said I would have the means. If I had that kind of money, I doubt I’d be indulging for its monetary value (so many other avenues for serious investment), but more because of my love of the character and the issue’s historical significance.
Actually just pre-ordered facsimile editions of Action Comics #1 and Detective Comics #27. Really looking forward to when those are released in the next few months.
Single issue comic book collecting was never a serious hobby of mine, so I don’t really have a grasp on what I would need significant “means” for. Have a lot of the Superman stories I care about in collected forms already.
3 Likes
I ordered the Detective Comics #27.
I still really want to see them reprint the first 26 issues of Detective Comics in their entirety some day.
3 Likes
I really appreciate them doing it, not just because I’ll never be able to afford the originals, but because its a good way to preserve the memory, and give us a window to that experience, you know?
3 Likes
I used to be next level into back issues during the 80’s and 90’s. I sold most of my collection to get married in 2008, and relocate in 2012 (not advisable as we are not still married). Not a lot of answers here, so I’m starting to think fewer and fewer of us collect “key” back issues. Back issues are still a big deal where I live, but that’s just regional.
3 Likes
Back in the 80’s, I had a chance to buy Miracleman: Olympus trade paperback, literally off the spinner rack. I already had (and still have, ahem, miraculously) A Dream of Flying and The Red King Syndrome, so this would have completed the trilogy. But I opted to get something else instead. Someone else bought it, and I never saw it again.
Soon after Eclipse went bust, and Miracleman’s rights fell into their infamous legal limbo. I had missed my shot.
(Edited because I’d gotten the collection name wrong. The Golden Age came later, after Marvel had revived the property.)
4 Likes
I tried to track these all down when eBay was in its infancy. They were already expensive in the late 90’s. I haven’t checked them in years.
4 Likes
Yep, an experience is perfect was to describe it.
3 Likes
I never viewed it as posterity. That’s a good point though. It’s a reason I always hoped they never stopped printing vinyl, because well cared for vinyl can last 250 years.
2 Likes
It’s partly how I view my collecting habit of DC figures & statues. There’s the obvious reasons. I like to display them. It’s an expression of how much I like the characters. There’s personal and (least importantly) monetary value. However, I also feel like they act as a time capsule. I’ve had so many little conversations with my daughter over my collection and why I have certain pieces. “This is Christopher Reeve”, “This here is New 52 Superman”, “These Megos are the action figures of before I was born”, and “These are Super Friends versions of the Trinity”, are all examples of the start of such conversations. I see a similar, if not stronger correlation with back issue comic book collecting. If you’re holding something in your hand that somebody else held, read, enjoyed, and probably got their pop culture fix from decades ago, there’s just something to say about what that’s preserving.
…
…
…
Sorry; I talk too much.
2 Likes
Buddy, I love this rant. Talk all ya want.
2 Likes
And I agree that holding the book someone else collected and cared for before you is a big plus. I often think that “love” lead to some collectors preserving older books, at a time when people would just roll them up and shove them into a pants pocket, is what makes them so expensive.
I know a guy, Terry, who owns the largest private collection in my state. He lived a few miles away from me as kid. His insurance company made him build a “safe room” for his books. I was lucky to be invited to see this collection on a few occasions.
He loved his books. Almost all were VF+, or higher. He started collecting them in neatly organized containers in the late 50’s/early 60’s. Long before bags and sleeves. His first (DC) buy, if I’m not mistaken, was Brave and the Bold 28. He actually handed me copies of Showcase 34, and JLA 21. I got kinda shaky, and handed them back.
2 Likes
That’s cool. Had to check out those issues on ebay. Told you I was clueless when it comes to comic collecting 
.
How much is Brave & the Bold 28 worth nowadays? Ebay sold listings show a few thousand bucks. Not bad, but thought it would go for more.
See at my current income level, if I’m ever lucky enough to “find” a comic or collectible that could generate life changing money, it’s getting sold.
2 Likes
I’m going to go a little more recent with Giant Size X-Men #1 which began the modern Uncanny X-Men era. I loved the Claremont, Cockrum, Byrne, and Austin era. That was one I missed.
I’m lucky that I kept my favorite comics with me and not at mom’s house for the great purge. I have 1st Issue Special #8 (the first Warlord Appearance), Warlord #1, The Long Bow Hunters Miniseries, and Green Arrow #1. I also have Jon Sable Freelance #1, American Flagg #1, and Cerebus the Aardvark #1. I recently purchased the JLA/Avengers Absolute so I have that great item.
I appreciate the historic significance of Detective #27 and Action #1, but I have no emotional connection to them. I read and reread those issues over and over again so I have them practically memorized. They all hold a special place in my heart.
2 Likes