A musing on collecting

Baseball cards

The mere mention of these words would be enough to drive me into a near blissful hysteria to a twelve year old Greg. And around that time, there was no card that I wanted more than this card, a 1998 Mike Piazza Florida Marlins card.

There were other cards for sure, but considering that Mike Piazza was a Florida Marlin for what felt like a nanosecond, getting this card I felt would be the key to my then growing regular baseball card collection (I also had a seperate Mets baseball cards and memorabilia collection going on). One day, I got this card and then 2 other special foiled baseball Mike Piazza Floria Marlins cards. I was in heaven. Yet, when I think back on this period in my life, I wonder why it was so important to me? Sure, the "cool" factor was there and also the thought that this could be rare and valuable one day weighed heavily on me at that time.

I no longer collect baseball cards or Mets memorabilia (although once in a blue moon I will come across something that is cool, but I mostly no longer find myself collecting this). These days, I find myself collecting some comic books (primarily the collected editions of these books) and Star Wars books (almost a lot of Star Wars literature, primarily the novels and comics). 

Avengers #181

From my comic book collection, I would say the most valuable books I have right now are Avengers #181 (first appearance of Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (the second person to wear the costume and become the Ant-Man)). The other book in my comic collection that falls into this category as well is The Amazing Spider-Man #36 (this issue is the one that Marvel put out shortly after 9/11 that addresses the 9/11 terrorist attacks).

The Amazing Spider-Man #36

 In terms of the Star Wars literature, there is nothing that I would say that stands out in terms of valuable; however, I do have some of the original paperback editions of Marvel Comics' adapation of the trilogy as well as having a copy of the original paperback of Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope. This then lead me to begin thinking what I think is the golden question of any collector: why collect at all?

For other collectors, it is about making an investiment and making money off of that. For those who collect for this purpose I hold nothing against. To them, it is about owning an item with the hopes that over time the collectible can gain value and can then sell for a profit. 

Other collect simply because it is something out of love for whatever it is they collect. One of the best examples of these is Rancho Obi-Wan. This collection, owned by Steve Sansweet, President and CEO of Rancho Obi-Wan, simply does this for one reason: for the love of Star Wars.

 

 I like to think that I fall into this category because I do have a love for the comic book heroes (if anyone asks, it is Batman as my all time favorite super hero. In terms of Marvel heroes, my favorite is Captain America, followed by the Hulk) and I do have a love for Star Wars, but it made me wonder, why does anyone collect to begin with? It is an illogical notion, to think that these books, comics, actions figures, etc. would somehow bind me to these exciting worlds and characters. However, the reason people collect to begin with I think is to show one another how much someone loves something and to share it with each other. 

This love for these things bring people together and can bind fans, even those who would never talk to each other or don't know the first thing about perhaps their relgious or social background can automatically discuss about this mutual love. An example of this can be related to an event that happened while I was heading to work. I was waiting for an elevator to head to my floor when I saw a woman who was older than I am carrying a Marvel Enyclopedia (Updated and Expanded). When I mentioned to her that it was a cool book, she mentioned that her pastor was a big Marvel fan and they wanted to get him a gift.

Yes, collecting at times can be difficult, whether it is something that exceeds price, or losing out on an eBay auction; however, these silly things that we all love is something that helps bring collectors (those who collect because they love it) together over these silly things and, to paraphrase here, bind the galaxy together.