And since someone else mentioned it: librarybinding sews all their books, their not glued.

This is on eBay right now and is currently at $127. It is issues 1-14. I wish I would get it.

I totally get it. That's the same reason I buy comics.
I gave up all notions of getting rich or even making money off my comics a loooooonng time ago.
Right around the time Superman died somebody offered me $2,000.00 for my entire collection - I figured 'hell if they'll pay $2K now, they'll pay $5K in a couple years'. Now that same collection is basically worthless and still in the same condition it was in then. I've tried repeatedly to unload about 2/3 of it and can't even get more than $100.00 in trade credit...

What do you have?

A bunch of crap. Mostly anything with a "#1" on the cover from about 1991 to 1994. "ENHANCED!", embossed, foil covers of terrible comics that Image and DC shoveled onto the shelves to feed the speculators. I totally fell for it - hook, line, & sinker.
I actually gave a good portion of it to my cousin in 2004. He promptly stuffed it in the back of a closet and never looked at it again. When I started collecting again after Infinite Crisis I asked him for all the Green Lantern books back and he "kindly" offered to sell them to me. (Dick!)

No, we "get" it, I just think the wisdom being practiced is being brought into question.

From what I have gathered, for folks who do not have books that are worth much it is a procedure worth considering. For those who have precious or vintage books, the 1% in other words, that many of us would sacrifice nearly everything to keep unadulterated, it is less appealing.

I would never say it is an "easier" avenue, though. Easier for me is to pick up a copy of the TPB, or check it out of the library for reading.

Sure, that's how I'm getting all the oringal Marvel GI Joe issues, but not everything has been collected in TPB and as mentioned earlier, binding allows you to throw in cross-overs etc and leave out certain issues if you want to for whatever reason.

I wish I lived in a magical place where the library had a copy of every comic ever made and every book was collected in trade but I don't.

my local library system has a pretty decent collection of TPBs and GNs, but certainly not individual comics.
though the library where I grew up did have a pretty collection of comics...

Well... you are in Arizona.

Same here. It is about the stories for me. I know that I will never own something that is going to be so rare that it will make me rich. I just could never stay a comic collector if that was the whole reason I was into them.

I want to have something to pass onto my kid and if binding my collection like this would make them last longer than I would be all for it. It is about the stories and being able to enjoy them.

I am tempted to do this with my Deathlok comics. It would be nice to have them all on one to two volumes. The same with Punisher and some other books that I know I would read more if I had them like this.

If you are truly worries about value over time but wanted to do this then get two copies. One you intend to bind and one that you want to keep as a single. At least that is what I would do if it was feasible.

Now this has me thinking of how nice 52 and Countdown would look bound like this!

Thanks, no. We already had to endure one speculator market!

Pic's from my recent binds:

Still investigating this.

CHeck this out, the experts may recognize:

http://cgi.ebay.com/File-Copy-Boy-Comics-Crime-Does-Not-Pay-Daredevil_W0QQitemZ150421933511QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2305d88dc7

now here is a classic collection of Crime Does Not Pay (among other scarce classics) that were collected and bound for official use. It appears to have been compiled back in the day, judging from the actual binding/engraving as shown in the photo.

By themselves, they would fetch more than the bound edition. A single Crime issue can fetch a few hundred dollars, so here is an example of the sum of the parts being greater than the whole.

On the other hand, the seller may move this compilation quicker under this binding technique. I admit I was tempted to snag this, but a part of me will always wonder how well each issue would have "stood up" had they been separate.

Another problem is my greatest fear realized : see the water damage? This effected the majority of the books. Had they been separate...

I've seen some books on ebay from time to time that have been "removed" from bound volumes.It's not a pretty sight.These had been glued in and the spines were pretty torn up.Seems like it was a bunch of EC books that still brought a few hundred dollars each.

Another vestige I thought of: if you have a lot of rare books with lousy spines, this could be a recourse to "hide" any damage.

Dementia, not to be contrary or anything but I don't think these are worth that much. In my 2004 CBG it says that G to VG are worth $50 to $100 each, and with these having such bad water damage I think these got a good price. $50 x 15 books is $750 so the $800 plus is a good deal all around. And wow do they look good! I love that Crime does not Pay cover!

These Master of Kung Fu bound volumes got $130 on E-Bay recently. The first volume was #15- #32, and the second was #33- #50. I think that
s a good deal for them. I sold a whole collection for that. Granted mine weren't in VF condition so $130 for half of them in VF condition seems good to me.


Master of Kung Fu bound volumes 1-50

Here is a collection of Marvel Premiere #1- #50 going on sale for #225. This seems like a lot but it does include the 1st Iron Fist and some Doctor Strange so it is a more desirable collection than MOKF. We'll have to see if he gets it.

Marvel premiere bound volumes 1-50

How is it speculating if you buy two copies. One to bind and one to keep happy and free is not speculating. That is just being able to have it both ways and be happy with it.

My latest 9 binds came through today!

2 Volumes of 'Solo Avengers / Spotlight' (Hawkeye Purple Buckram, Gold foil, Custom Avengers stamp)

1 Volume of 'The Mighty Avengers' (Mid Blue Buckram, Gold foil, Custom Avengers stamp)

3 Volumes of 'The New Avengers Vol.1' (Same as 'The Mighty Avengers')

1 Pictorial Volume of 'Dark Avengers' (Russet Buckram, Gold foil)

2 Volumes of 'Captain America Vol.3' (Light Blue Buckram, Silver foil, Custom Cap Shield stamp)