Just one. On Ebay. Action Comics #480.
Over my lifetime, my comic book collection has experienced quite a lot of ups and downs. I was a bit of a punching bag growing up, either at the hands of my stepfather or at the hands of kids at school. My mom used to buy me a comic book (just one) each time that she went to the grocery store. From about age nine (1974) until about age fourteen (1979). I amassed a nice little collection. On birthdays during those years, I would get special comics. I remember the year of two DOLLAR COMICS when I turned eleven and the Famous 1st Edition Superman #1 Golden Mint Series comic that I got when I turned fourteen.
I mentioned being abused at home and at school. At home, I would hide in my room and read comic books. At school, I just hid inside myself. I was so withdrawn that the highest grade I managed in school was a D, and I was held back three times before I finally dropped out altogether. I mention this because it speaks to my comic book collection. My stepfather decided that I needed to spend less time reading comic books and more time reading school books. To that end (to force me to do better in school) he made me take my entire accumulated comic book collection outside, throw it all into a metal rubbish bin, set it on fire (I had to do that, myself.) and watch it burn. (I did not do better in school.)
Stuff happened and I move away from home. I collect comics again, and at one point when I am out of work, I sell that collection to pay my rent. Eventually, I get a very good paying job and make lots of money. I have a wife and a daughter. (No room for comic books.) I get divorced and end up in a Poly relationship with a woman and another man. (No room for comic books.) Then my ex-wife passes away, leaving me with sole custody of our daughter. I leave the Poly relationship because I don't believe that it is the atmosphere that I want to raise my ten year old daughter in. (I did ask the woman to come with me. She decided to stay with the other man.)
I was supporting both of them, and paying my ex-wife alimony and child support. Alone, just me and my daughter, I had a lot of disposable income. I started buying comic books again. I spent a lot of time planning and compiling a list of comics that I wanted to include to recreate the collection of my childhood. I begin to build that collection. Then I lost my job. The money dried up and the collecting stalled. I had about fifteen hundred comics at that point. Two thirds of my planned collection.
I met my wife Julie. We got married. She retired and we moved to Michigan. During the move to Michigan, we didn't have a place to live for the first three months. Movers put everything that we owned in storage. When we finally got it back, a box marked "Marvel Comics" containing 600 comics from my collection (almost all of my Marvels) was either lost or stolen. It was a real kick in the stomach. I never recovered. I stopped wanting to buy more comics. When we moved from Muskegon to our house in Twin Lake, I sold the remaining 900 comics for $900. A buck a piece, all bronze age, all in very good or fine condition, all stored in mylar archival sleeves. I just sold them for a tiny fraction of their value to get a little extra money to help pay for the move, and because I hadn't looked at the collection in three years.
Lately, I have been struggling with some depression. I haven't been writing or really doing much of anything. I have decided that I want to give rebuilding my comic collection another try. Starting with one issue (out of 2000) Action Comics #480 is the first comic in that list. I was going to buy from Mile High and consolidate shipping. I ended up buying the comic on eBay for $6 and paying $5 in shipping. Eleven dollars for a comic that I sold a few years ago for basically $0.50. (Mylar sleeves cost $0.50 by themselves.) Mile High listed the same comic for $12. That's before shipping. I was pretty shocked, but after some market research, eBay is my most affordable option.
If I buy one hundred comics a year, I will complete my collection when I am 80 years old.
Regards,
Jeff
P.S. -- I just bought a dozen more Action Comic issues on sale "buy two, get two free" and brought my average cost per issue down to $5. Also met my quota for the month. (So, exciting.)