http://comicbookdb.com/collection.php?ID=3319

That's just the new stuff, from sometime in 2004 when Whedon's Astonishing X-Men started (That's what got me back into comics) until now. So there is around 2200 there, plus the couple thousand I have scattered around the house in boxes from when I collected as a kid...probably somewhere around 4000-5000 total.

Although I only bought singles weekly from 2004 until around 2008 or so. That's when I just stopped buying them altogether and switched to primarily trades.

Just about any comic pre-1975 or so can be sold easily if priced reasonably . But all those books bought after will mostly get sold as bulk. I hear you might get about $10 for a long box of commons. So lets say you paid $2 each and a long box holds 300 comics. You lost $590 (not counting interest you might have made otherwise). Or you lose $525 if you sell them for a quarter each to get rid of them quickly.
So between my OCD condition, love of comics and knowing the bath I'll take when I finally dump them is why I've hesitated. But then I'm paying monthly rent on the space which I guess just makes me an idiot.

It does not make you a idiot. Just a hold out or a hopeful person. I can understand your math. I know my GL that I have everyone wants know. I think I paid if this about $10 for the 1st issues and maybe $5 for the 2nd issue. Those are not for sale (I do not sell the 1st 25 of any superhero I own).

Your math about $10 for a box of 300 is about right. Dealers just buy them really cheap and then want to make $$$ off of them. I say hold on to your top superhero's. With all the movies that are coming out. You should make money on those, that is if you have the 1st 25 of them (Those always seem to be what everyone wants).

I just started collecting a little over two months ago and I already have 5 longboxes and maybe 20 hardcover trades and deluxe editions, this does not bode well for the future. What can I say, when I can get great series for 25-48 cents a piece for single issues why not. Anything that I've wanted to read I've eventually found plus the thrill of the hunt is awesome.

Between this, my video game collection, dvd collection, record collection, and screenprinted prints I have absolutely no idea how my fiance is as good looking as she is.

Taking a note from Bob Bobbson, here's my paltry library on ComicBookDB. It used to be about four times this size, but I sold a lot of it over the years to a friend of mine who was more interested in them than I was. I've been actively rebuilding it for about six months or so now, picking up a few issues here and there. I'm not going to replace every issue I ever owned and I'm looking for stuff that I never got around to reading in the first place. I find it far more enjoyable now than I have in a good ten years or so because I'm not bothering with anything that's currently being published. There's absolutely no pressure at all to keep up with a storyline; I buy whatever I find whenever I find it at a price I'm willing to pay. If it takes me fourteen years to complete Strangers in Paradise, so be it.

I just re-read the first page of this thread and someone actually said "I collect to invest"???

Unless you're spending hundreds or thousands on rare Golden or Silver Age comics in a desirable condition,

Ya, I think the most I spent on one had to be Detective Comics #38, 2nd is Showcase #4. Action #1 was given to me (Help to have your Grandmother that dated Joe S.)

For the life of me I will never ever do this. I will never ever buy one. The graded comics that are in cased in whatever its called. From time to time I like to read some of my really old comics. I love the smell of them, the look of them and knowing if I do not take my time I can trash it.

Not very big. I have quite a few comics from when I was a kid. Mainly Spider-Man stuff. Some X-Files too, as well as some other superhero and cartoon-based comics. My most treasured is a four issue set of a Spider-Man substory from the 90s.

My Grandfather has quite a few old comics he's asked me to try to sell for him. I just don't know where to really start looking other than Ebay.

I've only paid full price for some tpb's at Kevin Smiths store, otherwise I've just bought lots of stuff off ebay for far below what they were priced, or tpb's online on sale from amazon or other cheap sources. My collection could probably fit in one box.

I think the comic companies in the early 90s understood supply and demand alright- it was the buying-to-invest person who did not. Demand was great because of the hope/hype of increased value for fancy covers, x-overs, special editions, etc, and comic companies printed more to sell to cash in on the craze. It was the collector who didn't foresee what was coming.

I would modify this assertion by saying that supply & demand were poorly understood by the "investor" who concentrated on the big mainstream releases that had the holo-foil covers, etc. There were, of course, plenty of issues of various titles that had much smaller print runs that would have made wise purchases.

I say, "would have" because what I don't think anyone anticipated was that the bottom would drop out of the industry altogether the way it has. After Batman brought a lot of readers to comic books in 1989, it seemed logical that, as Hollywood finally began releasing sophisticated, successful movies based on comics that business would explode. What no one anticipated was that the kids of the 2000s are excited to see the movies and play the video games, but they're not reading the comic books (or, for that matter, buying the toys). It turns out, the industry needs those kids--the antithesis of "investors"--to buy and read in order to stay healthy.

Part of the problem is that the parents who grew up in the 80s didn't bother to foster much interest for reading in their children. But more significantly than that, I think, is that you have to go to a book store to find comic books today. There are a few comic book specialty shops in Louisville, but we've only had one in the adjacent county where I grew up, and we've never had a Borders or Barnes & Noble type book seller here. As a kid, though, I was able to get comics at gas stations, Kroger (regional grocery chain) and Walmart. Kids in my county today don't have that kind of access, because the publishers don't distribute their product to those retailers anymore. I'm sure it made sense to someone to cut off such mainstream outlets, but I can't for the life of me understand why they've kept it cut off this long.

Hell, I'd probably have kept up with at least one or two titles if they still had that kind of distribution. I'm not about to subscribe to a comic and have issues arrive mangled from the post office (I did that with assorted DC titles years ago), and it's simply too much hassle to go on a regular basis to the places that sell comics. Way to stay vibrant and relevant, comic book industry!

Not many at all. I have one short box. As far as HC/trades/omnibuses, I have less than 50.

Sooooo... my multiple copies of Spawn 1 are no good?

I never ever spent more than a couple of bucks on a book or even less on my collection. Here's a few pics I took some time ago of some of my Adams books for insurance purposes. I've had them since the early 70's. It's a good thing that someone taught me how to collect so I never messed them up to begin with. If your collection don't consist of this stuff or older SA or GA stuff it's practically worthless. Sure, some newer books are worth something but they fluctuate a lot more than the older books. I also don't go for the graded books. I actually like to read my books and I never got into the "investment" mentality; that whole thing that happened in the 90's really turned me off to buying books because everyone was hording them. I'm glad the market fell through for all those idiots that horded.

In the last year or so I've gotten back into it, only this time I'm not trying to follow any current ongoing books and I'm not concerned at all about anything "collectible." No variant covers, no special collector's editions, none of that. If I turn up such a variant for the same price I'm willing to pay for its regular counterpart--and it's a hole in my library--I'll bite, but otherwise I'm not going out of my way to "complete" a series.

It's been a lot of fun for me to rummage through back issues and quarter bins, and to go back and read titles I always heard were good but was too caught up in Gotham and Metropolis to explore anything else. It turns out that Bone and Strangers in Paradise really are that good!

Let us know what titles you begin reading and what you think of them.

Well, you're already aware that there's more to the comic book medium than superhero stories so that's a good start. I haven't read any of it so I can't comment on how good it might be, but there's a Twilight Zone comic book that may interest you. I dig Bone, but that's fantasy/adventure rather than science fiction. (Think: The Lord of the Rings by way of Tex Avery or Walt Disney.)

Not very big really. I'm basically just a Batman fan really but have been looking to expand my collection a little and branch out to other titles. I've probably got somewhere around 50-100 single issues of various titles (a lot of them being Batman). The rest of my collection is made up of the following trades:

Batman:
(Paperbacks)
Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth
Batman Begins: The Movie & Other Tales of The Dark Knight
The Batman Chronicles Volume 2
The Batman Chronicles Volume 3
The Dark Knight Returns
Going Sane
Gothic
Hush: Volume 1
Hush: Volume 2
Tales of the Demon
Year One

(Hardcovers)
The Killing Joke
The Man Who Laughs
R.I.P
Battle for the Cowl
The Return of Bruce Wayne
Time and Batman

Other Titles:
Superman: Earth One
The Walking Dead: Volume 1
Watchmen

I'd like to eventually get into Green Lantern somewhat as he seems like an interesting character and the Blackest Night storyline sounds like it's been good. I've been meaning to get some more Superman and I started a thread on here a while back about where to start with him since I don't really know the character too well but I forgot about ordering them. I'm not very big on most Marvel stuff (used to like Spidey but I've grown somewhat tired of him) but am interested in the X-Men. Problem is I really have no idea where to start with them.

I currently have about 90% of all Marvel titles printed from about 1970 to 1980 including practically all the key issues. I have about 40-50% of all 60's titles including a large majority of the key issues. I also collect silver age DC and EC horror comics. It's funny how one assumes it's only current stuff people are investing in. I agree that most books from the 90's are wothless although there are a few gems out there.
When I retire (hopefully in about 15 years) I hope to part with the books and if the trend continues the way it has in the last 20 years, I will be laughing all the way to the bank my friend.
I sold several of my doubles and triples and lower grade stuff a few years ago and put a generous down payment on my current home. Comics have had in the last decade, a better return than the stock market in most cases. There are people out there who are buying. A recent auction of books discovered in St. Louis 2 years ago netted 1.5 million.
And who said anything about spending hundreds or thousands on rare books. Just like this site, there are bargains on comics if you know where to find them.

I have about 15 short boxes and 2-3 long boxes- DC from the late 80's to mid 90's it got to be costly, I was collecting and my ex was collecting Marvel, then someone intorduced him to Magic the Gathering, and something had to give.

Oh, most of you folks are so young....

I had over 50 long boxes - sold most of them for about 15K (and that was at sacrifice prices)

time passes things change.