Comments on: Rethinking a Hobby

By: the other Tammy

the other Tammy — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:56:42 +0000

My husband has been paring down his comic collection…in years past it was imperative that he own every issue of every Batman spinoff ever written; now he is weeding through them, keeping the ones he really likes and selling the ones he doesn’t care so much about in lots on Ebay.

By: EngineerMom

EngineerMom — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:10:50 +0000

I kind of did this with my knitting/crocheting hobby. I used to go to this local yarn store and buy yarn at least once per month, more than I could easily use in that time frame. I liked the social aspect of going to knitting groups once a week, the creative aspect of knitting my own mittens and scarves, and just the sheer pleasure of handling fine yarn.

Having a kid drastically reduced the amount of free time I had for knitting and crocheting, so I eventually sorted through my rather extensive yarn collection, saved the few skeins for which I had specific plans, and gifted the rest to friends and family that Christmas. I’d had some of those skeins for 3+ years! I saved a ton of money that Christmas, and all that yarn was knitted up within 6 months into throws, baby clothes, and even diaper covers. Much better than sitting in my closet, unused!

By: Riki

Riki — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:59:05 +0000

I agree with Cc . . . when I’ve outgrown previously loved items, I always feel better knowing they go to another good home.

I just sold my first digital camera this afternoon and while I’m kind of sad to see it go, I’m really pleased that it will continue to take great pictures rather than sit on a shelf to get dusty. And the proceeds from the sale are helping to pay for my new (and significantly more expensive) camera. Everybody wins.

By: Cc

Cc — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:36:12 +0000

You could always do the classic “pick one or two that you really like (or a box of your favorite issues) and sell the rest off.” I’ve done this with the hobbies I’ve outgrown and it’s nice to just have a small set of your favorite things from that era of your life, as opposed to an overwhelming number of boxes. You can get some of your space back, make a little coin, and pass on your collection for others to enjoy.
That last bit is usually what drives me to get rid of items- knowing they’re going to a good home to be enjoyed is a lot more satisfying that holding onto the stuff forever in your closet in the dark.

By: joan

joan — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:31:02 +0000

I want to mention that the fact that you are taking such good care of the comic books means that they will be worth money years down the line. Some of the comics that I read and threw away are now in great command by collectors.

By: Sonja

Sonja — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:14:17 +0000

Also, I forgot to mention that there are some good serialized comics online for free. Check out Mark Seigel’s webcomic “Sailor Twain or The Mermaid in the Hudson”. Might not be to everyone’s taste but I am addicted and the drawings are quite good.

By: Sonja

Sonja — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:09:15 +0000

Junot Diaz, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel “The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao”, said in an interview in Time magazine that his guilty pleasure was to read volumes of the graphic novel serial “Monster” by Naoki Urasawa, and he said he loved it because it was a classic battle of good vs evil. There is no shame in reading comics.

If anyone wants to read the article do a google search on “famous authors guilty pleasures”.

By: CNM

CNM — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:16:04 +0000

What about buying bound comic collections, rather than individual comics? They are more like a book so they’re easier to store and they’re less expensive then buying each comic individually.