Are Comic Collectors Toxic?

[@Cjspectre7782]

The main reason I started reading comics is because I felt disillusioned by Horror movies. I tend to gravitate towards the darker, spookier stories. I feel lucky that most of my collection is 90s outlaw comix from the dollar bin. I think batman is cool, but my world changed when I discovered The Spectre. So I am always happy to see any of his appearances and usually in the dollar bin. I try and not let the whole red-pill rage bait keep me away lol. You hit the nail on the head with this video

[@kevinkelley3906]

OMG I LOVE The Spectre!! He is so underrated. If he's in it I pick it up. Especially on the cover is the best!! I'm not sure if I want a movie because they'll just screw it up if they don't get the right people to make it.👍

[@Matt_Likes_Comics]

As a die-hard comic fan, I try to always be positive about them as I want to attract new readers, and I love to share.

[@kevinkelley3906]

Same here! I got my oldest Daughter into comics and I try to tell her what I know if she has a question

[@ManuelleMagnus]

Cilia, I understand what you say about talking comics with some people out of community who are not into that hobby, and telling them some interesting facts about comics. That's pretty exciting to attract new readers. I often find myself in the situations like: - My favorite movie is Atomic Blonde. - Did you know that this movie is based on a comic? - Really? Where can I read that? Or: - I really like Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. - Do you know that there's a comic book continuation to that? - Wow, intriguing. That would be interesting to read.

[@bizarrebraincomics7819]

My gripe is the cost of new comics. A little less expensive printing and paper would help. Most of the stories don't warrant that extra cost plus the story arc are longer than they need to be. They're thinking of the reprint albums. More one, two, or three issue stories allow for jumping on points Reading is the thing..

[@Bel_Izeard]

This! ⬆

[@kevinkelley3906]

THANK YOU!!!!! I cannot justify spending $4.99 for a basic comic book then having the variant be a dollar more. They're not that important to me

[@NotNearMint]

I'm an atypical comic collector, with 27,000 books I've been collecting since I was a kid beginning in 1987. Being older and watching this industry over the decades, I'm seeing the younger generation don't read or collect comics. If we don't have new blood constantly trying to get into reading or getting involved breaking into comics or even the social media aspect, if they don't come in as older fans die then these books will die out and go away. The Library of Alexandria was set on fire and destroyed but it already fell into disrepair long before it burned. That's the horror of the future. If we aren't inclusive to all facets of comics, it hurts us all in the longrun.

[@dagrcards3075]

You are a spicy meatball 😅😂Well said. I just got back into collecting comics recently. There are a lot of great online comic creators, but unfortunately, there are bad apples everywhere. I do see where you are coming from, though. Positivity is the way to go!!

[@Dev003x]

Collecting went form a hobby to a competition. We have gone from grading books to grading collections. I personally don't care what ya collect or what condition it's in. If it makes you happy and it's comics. I salute you and i am genuinely excited for ya!!!!!!!

[@adamgardner2244]

I agree. I sometimes got a weird look at a comic shop when I said I collect comics just for the cover art. I don't read most of my books. I do read some indy books but I still have to like the cover art. Even if I collect then just for the art I'm still a collector.

[@Dev003x]

@@adamgardner2244 There are some absolutely beautiful covers out there. My buddy is a cover collector. And his displays make my jaw drop.

[@dwaynemuth8775]

I’ve been reading comics for quite some time and have learned to try NOT to drive off people coming in and point them in the direction of some good reading! These days there’s a variety of comics to pursue especially with the indie titles! As I’ve gotten older I got turned off to DC&MARVEL repetitive decline and concentrated on other titles, occasionally stepped back in depending on the creative team! I hate bloated croosovers with no ongoing consequences,numerous reboots and lame variant covers that saturate shops and are just another deterrent to a new reader audience in my opinion! Bait and switch nonsense,watering down stories and many characters have a big family of characters to slow things down! Super man, Batman, Flash, wonder, woman, and Spider-Man, just to name a few! But what’s old for me is brand new to somebody else and everybody has to find their own way! It’s foolish to alienate anyone!Retailers have a right to be pissed off at the big 2 antics and then there’s the recent Diamond distribution going under! No easy answers in the real world!

[@kevinkelley3906]

There are too many titles and not enough quality on them as opposed to actually making less title with actual story and art value.

[@Ace_of_The_Reckoning]

Awesome video!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 and yea I mean the comic content world is categorized by different sections, collecting, reviews, merchandise, shop owners, lore, the industry, character, etc. I mean there is so many areas to dive into but I agree I feel like if I’m able to, why not share my excitement for comics and the stories I love!!🤘🏼🔥🔥

[@Lithograph_Comics]

I suppose my main complaint would be the judgements and assumptions from certain sections of the community. I'm a huge Lobo fan, and back 25 years ago a shop owner made fun of me for buying whatever the latest Lobo book was at that time. This was a book he was selling, I might add. To this day, 2.5 decades later, that comment stuck with me about how absolutely asinine it was to say, especially to a customer. (I actually left that shop soon after that.) For me these days, I'm fairly vocal amongst my friends and work about being a comic book guy. I wear comic-themed shirts and whatnot often, so I get asked a lot of questions. Sometimes about the hobby itself, often about the value of my collection, but also about the movies and other media. For example, a guy at my gym is playing Marvel Rivals and asked me "Is Squirrel Girl a real character?", as he had never heard of her prior to the game. I could respond in a million ways to things like that, but I always react the same way: With respect and shared enthusiasm. In my opinion, a rising tide raises all the ships, and if you're condescending or "eye rolling" in tone, then you're part of the problem. I believe I have one life, and I'm not going to spend it being a dick and/or surrounding myself with an echo chamber of dicks. My mission is and always will be to promote the positivity of the hobby. It's a hobby that has improved my life in drastic ways, and I want others to have the same positive, life-changing opportunity.

[@dwaynemuth8775]

🎯👍I’m a big fan of the Spectre goin back to short but sweet run in Adventure Comics by Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo and much later in the mid nineties beautiful run by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake! It’s always great to see someone appreciate a very underrated character!

[@Eyrrll]

Honestly, fans of nearly any hobby can legitimately be called toxic. There is always a number of people that take their hobby too seriously and try to establish what is (and is not) the right way to enjoy that hobby. I have seen this in MANY hobbies over the years, from computer gaming, to RPGs, to comics, to Barbie collecting, to cosplay, to toy collecting (the list goes on). I think it’s just part of human nature.

[@kevinkelley3906]

The one hobby I have is Nascar Diecast. We are not aholes.

[@erraticstatic70]

being a comic book collector isnt about being a speculator, or a reselling hoarder, its about being an ambassador to a dying hobby! and people like that are vastly responsible for killing off the hobby!

[@kevinkelley3906]

My LCS owner is awesome!! He helps the community and will help you out immensely. New or old to Comics. He's a great guy.

[@Bel_Izeard]

I don't really myself a diehard comic book collector. I tend to collect randomly from year to year. This year is the most I've been collecting for over a decade. I prefer to hunt in dollar bins and like to hunt in used book stores or in antique stores, which means that I don't usually have to deal with 'toxic collectors'. Also, when it comes to my local comic book shops, I prefer to stick to the shops that have a more welcoming 'feel' with good owners.

[@erraticstatic70]

the problem ive ran into is usually from people that say they are comic collectors, but they really are not! they are people that are resellers, not real collectors! they gouge prices by causing speculation! ive ran into alot of just hoarding resellers that dont really know value of comics, or just dont care, so they overprice their books way beyond their actual worth! they think they have a gold mine, but they really dont!

[@themarvelanddcmarshlands]

Absolutely agree with the point of this video

[@kevinkelley3906]

I went to a nearby comic shop and the owner was a major dbag!! He tried selling me the current issue of a comic when I didn't have the first 2 issues. Then he says "You don't know anything about comics do you?" GFY buddy!! Why the hell am I going to start in the midddle of a story arc!!! It's Comics For Collectors in Ithaca, NY by the way. I've heard other negative stories about the owner.

[@benng4376]

Familiarity breeds contempt. Nerds tend to be hypercritical.

[@loringbush1455]

And listening and headbanging to Slayer!

[@murreygellmann7708]

My beef with the comics industry is the same beef I have with the vinyl collecting community..... The endless variants-remixes -remasters of every comic/ record. It turns listening and reading into a purely speculative hobby.

[@zombiegod333]

Spicey Spicey. My least favorite part about the comic book community, are these damn marvel movies that make an art form that I happen to care about, look like a joke And warner brothers seemingly intentionally destroying dc movies

[@kevinkelley3906]

They don't stick to the source material just to say screw you. It pisses me off!! Jimmie Olsen is not a black guy and stop race and gender swapping and making every character gay.

[@loringbush1455]

I only buy back issues at Ollie's good stuff cheap! I don't care about the new bs that Marvel and DC produce! Miles Morales is not Spider-Man because he wasn't created bye Stan Lee same goes for Spider Gwen!

[@erraticstatic70]

i got made fun of during a what not show for collecting Aquaman!

[@kevinkelley3906]

Hey. I'm 54 and I collect Power Girl and am working on the Rebirth series of Aquaman up to when Kelly Sue McConnick or whatever the hell her name is. She's a garbage human being. I might check out the new Aquaman

[@robertharrison2.055]

i read comic books in bed ' the radio on low. have you seen bambi vrs godzilla ? i was going to buy conan 23 '' people shooting their mouths have made that comic go way up in price .

[@kellyphillips2239]

I don't race swipes of established characters it's very lame😊

[@kevinkelley3906]

I'm so glad somebody else sees it.😊