I'll tell you, there were 2 times in my life that I endeavored to have a complete Marvel Super-Hero collection from FF# 1 and up. The first in the 1960s when I only had to buy the first 2 or 3 years that I missed. I sold that collection away in about 1974. Then in 1976 I got back into comics and wanted to repurchase the whole thing.

And in both cases, I also saved for last the same comic. Not FF#1 because it was the most expensive. It was always Tales To Astonish # 27, the first Ant-Man. And that was due to the fact I thought those early Ant-Man stories were so pedestrian and yet that introductory story was quite expensive. To me, it was money ill-spent but my OCD demanded I get it to complete the set

And if I had to do it the 3rd time, yet again, Tales To Astonish # 27 would be the last one I'd buy

Well, now that I have sold More Fun Comics #60 in order to cover some of the expenses of mine and my wife's separation (It's all good; it went to a great home, Phil Maurice ), the most I've ever paid for an issue is a three way tie. Meet the most cherished books in my collection:



I managed to obtain each for $350 at different times over a three year window. I began with #9 (which remains my favorite comic book possession to this day). Maybe fifteen years back, I first discovered Mile High Comics via the folks at the old classic comics community and joined their mailing list. A few days later, I got an e-mail from Mile High announcing a 60% OFF SALE!!! Now, you know and I know that Mile High's sales are a scam, but no one had told me this at the time, so I flew over to their site and dutifully began searching for books I might want. One of the first places I looked was the early Batman books and...somehow...someway...Batman #9 was there in 3.0 for only $350 after discount. For the first (and possibly only) time in history, Chuck actually offered real savings on a sale. It had to have been a listing error, right? Whatever the case, I got it and worried about what that would do to my budget afterward. It was still worth it.

Over the course of the next two years, I scoured ebay for its sister issues. It just seemed like an amazing idea to own a bunch of single digit Batman issues. It was really just plain luck that, over time, I found the one before and after it for around the same price and in roughly the same condition. Each time, it was more than I should have been spending, but come on! These books are now worth about three times what I paid for them.

These are the books that killed key issue collecting for me, as I knew I could never top these acquisitions, and acquiring anything less significant no longer held any true thrill for me. They were the highlight of my comic book collecting; these days, I'm far more of a comic book reader, but I regularly pull out these and other trophies to savor.

I had a chance to get one in the same grade for around the same price and held back because I wasn't sure if the Marvel Value Stamp was tampered with.

Only to find out there wasn't even one in the book, started the next issue I think.

I am still kicking myself.

Guess i am going to be the old skin flint of the group. In my prime buying times i never paid more than $5 for any back issue comic book in my life. Even though they were harder to find so therefore more collectible and i enjoyed the thrill of the hunt it was all about collecting what i liked and reading them. To me they are for reading and the pricing is always insanely beyond what i am willing to pay for such a guilty pleasure. Especially in this day and age where there is so much being reprinted in trades and digital copies and that pricing is all about what someone is willing to spend versus what someone is willing to accept in payment and the investor's trying to begin turning crap into gold I am happy with most all of what i have bought over the years. My pride and joys: complete Fantastic Four up to issue 416, Complete Avengers up to issue 402, Giant size X-Men 31 Uncanny X-Men from issue 95 through 320 and complete G.I. Joe and Star Wars complete. Each and everyone bought at cover price at printing or in the $4-5 range for back issues. All for reading and enjoying in their well read and fading glory!  

Well, most of mine were in that range, when I bought back issues.  Actually, more often than not, I got them for less than $5.  I'd go up to $10 for a really important one, like a Steranko; but, not many.  $25-30 I felt was justified, for a Golden Age comics.  I only had a handful of those.  That Exciting #9 was a rare moment of insanity.  I tried to talk the guy down to $70.  Condition was so-so, inside the cover, though the cover was in good shape.  I stopped buying back issues, once trades became more and more common.

I picked up the Defenders issues, with the Guardians of the Galaxy for about $.50 each, in the mid-80s; then was aghast when they were going for around $25, after the Valentino series was a hit.  That was insane, to me.

I never bothered with things like Spider-Man or X-Men, since I could get cheaper reprint comics.  For me, it was the story, not the specific comic or printing.  I bought a bunch of 70s DC and Marvel, in the 80s, for less than a buck, then saw them selling for over $10 in the 90s, because of something recent.  I knew that was out of whack, given how plentiful copies were.  That's when I stopped looking at price guides and, even before, I really only used them to hunt for artists on specific books.

True enough about availability,especially in today's comic book shops where the day of release of a comic has 25 cover versions and you can't get a single one of them at cover price unless you have a subscription box and/or willing to pay immediate mark up value of $3-10 more. I have even seen in some shops here in Phoenix where the standard cover is worth more the release day because the store under orders it specifically focusing on all the incentive covers. And why have incentive covers that carry the standard issue pricing which is what it should be selling at but the shops are allowed to mark up price to what they see as "trending" on the internet the 1st day it ships?
This is why my expensive buying is reserved for true specialty comic books. I pre-ordered Master of Kung Fu Omnibus's due to the fact that it was advertised and promoted as a limited printing and not likely to ever be reprinted again. That is worthwhile for a slightly higher pricing which is still costing less than trying to track down all the original issues (which i did in the 80's for those issues i missed out in the 70's) which are seemingly impossible to find.