About 8 or 9 years ago--after not reading comics for decades--I was shocked to see GL and Metamorpho Showcases in a local Barnes and Noble, and I haven't looked back since!  I now have Essentials, Showcases, Masterworks, Archives, etc., so there's a lot of overlap--not that I'm complaining.  The Showcases and Essentials are great and remain my go-to sources. 

I'm going to have to go check my Showcase stash, but I know this is what I currently have for the Essentials:  

Essentials:

Avengers 1-9
Captain America 1-4
Daredevil 4   (for the Black Widow issues)
Fantastic Four 1-9
Ghost Rider 1-4
Human Torch 1
Iron Man 1-2
Marvel Saga 1-2
Marvel Two-In-One 1-4
Silver Surfer 1-2
Spider-Man 3
Thor 1
"Classic" X-Men 1-3 (complete O5 run plus appearances in ASM, Hulk, etc.)
X-Men 2, 3, 7

I checked Showcase Presents: Wonder Woman, Volume 3, out of the library yesterday. I was a little hesitant because I had trouble finishing the first volume. (Crazy Silver Age Wonder Woman is GREAT, but a little goes a long way.) (My library system does not have the second volume.)

But I was flipping through it at the bus stop and ... OMG! MOUSE MAN!

I've heard of him. I've seen articles about him on the Internet and I remember his entry in the Wonder Woman volume of the Encyclopedia of Super-Heroes by Michael Flesicher. (Which I got for Christmas in the 1970s.)

But this is the first time I've ever read a Mouse Man story!

It's hilarious! Mouse Man is now my new favorite stupid super-villain.

Pleasant surprises like this is why I still read comics and why I take chances on something as dodgy as Showcase Presents: Wonder Woman, Volume 3.

The only Essentials book I myself own is Captain Marvel #1.  I got it for free last Free Comic Book Day at my LCS; he was giving away a free Essentials to anyone under the age of 18 who came into the shop that day and since my younger daughter did not want one, "she" picked that one out since I had never read or owned any Captain Marvel before.

My nine year-old daughter actually owns more than I do, as she has Marvel Team-Up 2, 3, and 4, as well as Marvel Two-In-One 2 and 3, and she'll be getting Avengers 5 and 6 here in the next two months.  I had bought them along with the ones already mentioned at a BOGO sale at another LCS in the area and I have been giving them to her at a rate of one per month. 

The extent of my Essential collection is a little obsessive. I believe I have:

(Amazing) Spider-Man 1-10
Astonishing Ant-Man 1
Avengers 1-7
Black Panther 1
Captain America 1-7
Captain Marvel 2
Daredevil 1-6
Defenders 1-4
Doctor Strange 1-4
Fantastic Four 1-7
Howard the Duck 1
Human Torch 1
Incredible Hulk 1-7
Iron Fist 1
Iron Man 1-2
Marvel Horror 1
Marvel Team-Up 1
Marvel Two-in-One 1
Moon Knight 1
Ms. Marvel 1
OHOTMU '89 Update
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man 1-5
Power Man and Iron Fist 1
Punisher 2
Rampaging Hulk 1
Silver Surfer 1-2
Spider-Woman 1-2
Super-Villain Team-Up 1
Thor 1-3, 5-7
Tomb of Dracula 1-3
Warlock 1
Web of Spider-Man 1-2
Wolverine 1

I have far fewer Showcases - too lazy to list those right now though.

I love Marvel Essentials and wish we had them back in the 80s when I was a kid. I've used them to read a bunch of series I never read before. I've got some of the Showcases but not that many except the Batman and Brave and the Bold.

The Marvel Essentials are the most comprehensive reprint series Marvel has ever done. They got most of the main super hero lines reprinted from the 60s and 70s in the series. There are others that were done in Masterworks, but it is possible to pretty much get the early Marvel-U from those two reprint series. The Epic Collections should replace them, but it will take years to get nearly as comprehensive and I got a feeling many things will never be reprinted.

I don't have near all of the X-related Essentials. Only Uncanny X-men Vol. 1-3, so I don't have the Classic X-men, Wolverine or X-Factor in the Essential series. For the rest of the super hero line, I need a couple of Dr. Strange Essentials (which I have in color), Essential Thor Vol. 4 (which is crazy expensive now), Essential Ant-Man, Vol. 3 & 4 of the Punisher. Don't have that Essential Conan, but it's a pretty rare one as it was only printed one time before they lost the license. I don't have the Dazzler or Rawhide Kid and I would like to have the Werewolf by Night two volumes. I thing I have the rest of them.   I don't have the Godzilla one either.

I would have liked to have a New Mutants to see the Sienkiewicz artwork in black and white, but they decided to not go that way with that series.

Let's see:

Essentials

Ant-Man 1
Classic X-Men 3
Defenders 1-3
Dr. Strange 2-3
Frankenstein 1
Ghost Rider 1-4
Godzilla 1
Howard the Duck 1
Iron Fist 1
Killraven 1
Luke Cage 1-2
Man-Thing 1-2
Marvel Team-Up 1-2
Marvel Two-In-One 1-4
Ms Marvel 1
Nova 1
Official Handbook Deluxe Edition 1-3
Peter Parker 1-3
Rampaging Hulk 1
She-Hulk 1
Spider-Woman 1-2
Super-Villain Team-Up 1
Tomb of Dracula 1-3
Werewolf By Night 1-2
X-Men 1-2

I'd still like to pick up the Moon Knights, the Rawhide Kids, the Power Man & Iron Fists, the Marvel Horrors, the Captain Marvels, the rest of the Team-ups, Defenders and Dr. Stranges, the Tales of the Zombies and, someday, the full set of Avengers.

Showcases

Adam Strange 1
Aquaman 2
Atom 1-2
Batgirl 1
Bat Lash 1
Batman 1-2
Blackhawk 1
Challengers of the Unknown 1
Doom Patrol 1-2
Eclipso 1
Elongated Man 1
Enemy Ace 1
Flash 1-2
Green Arrow 1
Green Lantern 1-2
Haunted Tank 1
Hawkman 1-2
Jonah Hex 1
Legion of Super-Heroes 1-2
Martian Manhunter 1-2
Metal Men 1-2
Metamorpho 1
Phantom Stranger 1-2
Robin 1
Sgt. Rock 1
Super Friends 1
Supergirl 1
Superman 1-4
Superman Family 1-2
Teen Titans 1-2
War That Time Forgot 1
Wonder Woman 3-4
World's Finest 1, 3

In addition to finishing all the series listed above, I'd like to nab the volumes for Sea Devils, Rip Hunter, Dial H for Hero, Unknown Soldier, Captain Carrot, DC Comics Presents, Amethyst and the upcoming Showcase Showcase. No interest in the mystery anthologies.

Cei-U!
I summon the black-and-white bonanzas!