Trevor

No crazy thoughts like finding a flea market with mispriced gems, or purchases just to flip them for profit, but what realistic scenario would have you paying the most for a single book you'd keep?

I'll have to think about whether my current answer would be different from past scenarios. My answers below in a bit after I research some old ebay records.

Josh-da-man

A few bucks.

I now have, literally, everything I could ever want. Full runs of Sandman, Preacher, Walking Dead, Boys, Miracleman, Saga, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Hellblazer.

In theory, I would probably drop several hundred if I found something I really had to absolutely have, but I can't think of what that would be.

Timber

On a single issue maybe $5. On a graphic novel/TPB maybe I'd go to $15.

Bronkster

Years ago, when I was a well-paid I.T. drone, I spent a little over a thousand on a copy of Amazing Spider-man #1. I HAVE NO REGRETS!!!!1!!

Paul_SD

The only comics I could see buying at this point re things that would have intense nostalgic value for me. Those are mainly DC's from the early 70's. The 20¢ covers and 100 page Super Spectaculars.

I toyed with the idea of collecting the latter several years back, but other areas of interest needed to be funded and that got pushed to the back burner. At this point I can't see dropping the money on them for the conditions I would want. They would just get bagged and boarded and never read. At that point I was prepared to pay up to $100 per issue, I guess for a high grade.

Now? If by some amazing stroke of fortune I was able to run across someone selling copies of them, even in a less than high grade state, I might be willing to pay $10-20 each. But I would still have to think long and hard on it first. And then probably pass.

I'm just too content now to have a few representative issues in my collection and use digital files and trade collections to actually read and enjoy the material.

cultshock

Hmmm, the most I have paid for a single issue was around fifty bucks in a few instances over the years, but at this point there are maybe a handful of golden age issues I'd pay three figures for, that's about it. I have paid $1000 for a vintage toy, I think that's my limit for that collectible field, anything more than that I would just feel guilty.

rocket1312

I think the most I ever spent on a single issue was around $20, and that was in the early 90's at the peak of the speculator boom. Today, I couldn't imagine spending more than a couple of bucks. The "collecting" aspect of comics holds no real appeal, especially now that everything is digital. I did just spend $215 on a copy of the X-Men Inferno Omnibus. It's long out of print and the only classic X-Men oversized hardcover volume I was missing. It makes me a little sick to my stomach that I paid that much, but unless it goes back to print at some point, it's just going to get more expensive.

Now if you were to ask this question about original art, that would be a much different story...

fujishig

I'm fairly sure Inferno would go back to print at some point unless we run out of paper or something. And that's the thing, I used to have to buy back issues just to be able to read the story, now not only is nearly everything collected in trade multiple times over, when those go out of print you probably have digital.

Not that people collecting high end comics (or alternate covers for that matter) actually read them, but I'm old school that way.

PhantomStranger

My personal limit is $3 million and not a penny more.

Truthfully, immaculate entire runs and original artwork get me more excited these days than buying single issues.

movieguru

I think th highest prices I've paid were about $300 for a CGC 9.4 Sub-mariner #1 and just under $250 for aDoctor Strange #168 CGC 9.4 around 2002. I sold both of these a few years back for $800 and $750. I bought these with the knowlege that I could easily resell them for at least what I paid for them within a year or tow after I purchased them. I kept them both for about 12 years and just decided I'd rather have the money to invest in something else.

majorjoe23

I spent $50 on Miracleman 15 back in 2000.

mrhan

I have almost everything I wanted; mostly BA books. I still buy filler issues but I won't spend more than $20 bucks. Most can still be had for a lot less.

rocket1312

Inferno will undoubtedly come back in print at some point, but maybe not in this particular format (which is what I want). As far as I'm aware, the only X-Men omnibuses/OHCs that have gone back to print are the 2 Claremont/Byrne volumes.

davidh777

It'd be cool to own a true collectible, but I'm not really much for wall trophies so I'd never actually pay market value for one.

A few years back, I gave up hope that DC would ever TPB-ize the Legion Earthwar series so I bought the floppies, and at the same time I started looking at the 100-page Super Spectaculars in the same bins. I bought a handful of them, but only the cheap ones--I'd be surprised if I paid more than $5 for one. I love how DC is now releasing these in digital form, and not just the main story. The backup reprints were my first exposure to the Silver Age and obscure titles like the Silent Knight.

Trevor

For current books and most back issues, I'm pretty entrenched at $1 a book being my max price. Between Comixology sales, bundles, collections, and bargain bins, you can probably own every comic every created for $1 each, possibly having to wait some months for sales. I'll fudge that rule and spend $2-3 on an oversized special or annual sometimes, but the math has to work out to roughly $1 per ~20 pages. For collections and graphic novels, about half cover price is my max (easily obtained via pre-ordering or IST), and that usually equates to roughly $1 an issue.

Prices will likely continue to rise, and there may come a point where bargain bins and Comixology sales are over $1 an issue. I'm not sure what I'll do at that point. I'll never illegally download books, but at a certain price point I may abandon most new books and live with what I own already.

fujishig

Let's be honest Trevor. You, I, probably a bunch of other people, have so many comics and digital comics that could take up all our free time for the next decade. If they shoot themselves in the foot by taking away my cheaper options, well, I guess I'll read my backlog.

And I'm a guy who will spend money on a collection of, say, Byrne superman stories just to have it on the bookshelf, even though seeking out the individual issues would probably be cheaper. But if I had to actually pay what they retail for? Forget it.

Trevor

As a collector and completest, high priced back issues have always been continually on my radar. I'd love to own tons of "key issues" and buy every comic I read as a kid. But I think $100 per book is roughly the most I ever paid in the past, for the first appearances of the Justice League in The Brave and the Bold issues 28-30. I have most of what I really want, still filling in some DC 100 pager holes, and occasionally spending ~$20 on something like those or a first appearance of Eclipso or something random and cool. But for the most part, my back issue dives are for $1 and below books, with anything over that being a rare event. I'm still open to my $100 max if I stumble on something I really want, but think I already have everything I really want that might be in that price range. I'd love to own Showcase #4 and tons of other keys, but could never spend multiple hundreds, let alone thousands, on a book.

I'll buy maybe one $2-3 bin book a month at my LCBS, but that's more to throw them a bone and lessen my guilt for mainly using them for just hanging out and checking out new stuff, and getting freebies.

stingermck

Oooof. Well the most ive spent on a book is $2,800 for a Detective Comics #38. Ive bought and sold many keys that have cost a pretty penny.

Trevor

True. I've a couple decades of unread books at one comic a day, so hopefully I speed up my reading.

And yeah, collections tempt me both ways. Some stuff I really want in singles, mainly the stuff I bought in the 70s and 80s, and the characters I collect every plead acne (wtf autocorrect?! No, not "plead acne", but "appearance") of like Swamp Thing. Most things I love to re-read I prefer in physical collections. But almost all things I like available to me digitally. So I end up with some stuff in all possible formats.

Paul_SD

I've recently gotten to the point where I'm ok with having the same material in multiple formats (hard copies and digital). I don't mind digital usually, but I've come to realize I just prefer the sense nature of hard copies.

I also recently found a very comfortable chair I love (finally) and that's made sitting down and spending time with books much more pleasurable.

davidh777

stingermck wins the thread!

PhantomStranger

That is often overlooked. A comfortable place to read is so valuable.