Mike86

Personally I don't care much for single issues. Unless it's a back issue that has some value to me or something I don't really buy them very often anymore. I still have kept my old comics from when I was younger and have a few I've bought in lots here and there for a few issues that aren't collected in trades. For the most part though I usually will just wait for the trade paperback to come out. Way easier to keep track of and store. Plus less costly and a more convenient form to read in my opinion.

Xiroteus

I never had a large collection of comics, several short boxes of which many were sold off years ago, currently selling a few of the remaining issues/series. I will hang on to a few that mean something to me, aside from that I have no desire to own boxes of comics I will likely hardly ever re-visit.

I do not mind the idea of digital down right if it was cheaper, a lot cheaper and I could download the comic to my computer in a format I like. (CBR can be a nice format) However I still think if I need to have a large collection one way or another, I no longer feel the need to own every show or movie I enjoy. So I doubt I need to keep or own everything I read either even if it takes up next to no space (if they ever release them that way)

Spottedfeather

I'm lucky, I guess. My dad was friends with a guy that owned a comic shop. I'd hang out there all the time and even was sort of in charge of putting the new books on the shelves. In exchange, I'd get whatever comics I wanted for free. This was from 1991/1992 to about 1994. I haven't bought comics in about 18 years or so. The last ones I really remember buying, or getting rather, were the Death Of Superman, Reign Of The Supermen, and a little after that.

resinrats

That's cool that comics get cheaper after a month. Sucks they are on the server. Maybe it might be a good idea to drop the price even more after a few more months. Maybe $2 after 6 months & $1 after 9 months. Probably get a whole lot more people into comics if they were that cheap as long as they are fine with not being current.

PhantomStranger

For all the people going digital only with their collections, remember this. In the zombie apocalypse there will be no electricity to power your iPads. Physical comic books for the win!

Seriously, they will probably have to pry the books I collected as a child from my cold, dead hands. I didn't haul them three miles on a bicycle each week so I could sell them for pennies on the dollar to someone on eBay.

Spiderbite

I sold my childhood collection at the height of the market (around 1989 & 1990) and I regret it. I would gladly pay back the money I got for those now to still have them.

resinrats

Well considering the market now, you can buy them back and still have $$ left over.

Lastdaysofrain

I did exactly that. I sold off my childhood collection to get money to get my own place when I was 18, made a killing. Since then I've literally been able to rebuy 90-95% of what I had for literally pennies on the dollar. I probably made $6,000-$7,000 selling them and have bought them back for less than $500.

fujishig

The main roadblock I have to selling my collection is that I'd get pennies in return, which isn't worth the effort of going through them. I've been tempted to "replace" them (or scan them in myself) and pulp the books or something but haven't gotten around to it. For most recent stuff, there are hardcovers or collections out there for them and they're much easier to do all I really want to do; re-read them. So for the most part, I just avoid all monthlies altogether, and let the rest of you suckers support the industry so I can cherry pick the collections...

Xiroteus

That is an issue with a few things, would be lucky to get shipping out of some people because the overall price still needs to be good.

boredsilly

I would get rid of those books without a second thought. I think you'll realize that once you get rid of those comics, you won't really miss them. You just need to grit your teeth and rip the bandaid off.

Plus, like you said, if you do want to read those books again there will probably be an option for you.

Trevor

There has got to be some trick to back up your Comixology purchases, right? I mean, they take up tons of physical space on my iPad, and they are completely accessible even when I'm not connected to any network. So they are physically there, and readable even if Comixology and their servers were gone. Of course, I don't have everything I own actually downloaded on my devices. But I have been meaning to download everything and back it up to DVDs. There will always be a way to view them, even if it might have to skirt the rules a bit, right?

Josh-da-man

Yeah, I'm sure there's a way to do this.

Aren't most of the pirated "scans" of new comics now digital rips?

Supermallet

Yes. In fact, some sites even have programs that rip them automatically and post them, without a human ever being involved in the process. Pretty crazy.

As far as physical comics go, I don't bother with them anymore. They're expensive and take up space. This is singles, mind you. I'll still get tbp from time to time, but only stuff I know I'm going to read more than once or twice. And if possible, I try to get a deluxe edition so it's more like a book on my shelf and less like a collection of comics bound up.

I don't read a whole lot of titles per month, so I'm fine sticking to digital for monthlies. I used to have a much bigger collection as a kid, but most of them are gone. The only thing I have now that isn't long buried in a box are the first 50 or 55 issues of Spawn, including a #1 signed by McFarlane. And I'm not keeping those out of sentimental value, just haven't bothered to sell them yet.

My dad has a decent collection of comics from when he was a kid, which is pretty damn cool, but most of them are in bad shape. He's asked me to bag and board them, but frankly I don't have enough time, and the damage is pretty much already done.

Still, it was cool to read old issues of Fantastic Four when I was a kid, including the Galactus/Silver Surfer issues, and not have it be a reprint. I guess my kids won't have that kind of experience with the comics I grew up with, but such is life.