GUEST BLOG: Evan on collecting (and letting go).
Last week, Evan did something that took a lot of courage—he let go of a huge portion of a collection that had started to own him as it grew too large to manage or even appreciate. I asked him to write about the experience, since I think it’s something that a lot of people will face at some point in their lives.
At the risk of melodrama, the picture above represents a big part of my childhood which was just sold for a fraction of its value. I recently decided that it was time to let go of most of my comic books. I’ve been reading comics since I was about 6. Tales of the Teen Titans 44 is what made them a lifelong obsession for me. Maybe it was Dick Grayson’s shedding of the Robin mantle and transition from teen to adult as Nightwing that did it, but more than likely it was that sweet blue and yellow disco costume.
Since then, my collection had swelled to over 6000 comics, filling around 40 boxes. While it’s still fairly modest by fanboy standards, it does take up a lot of space. Once Anna and I bought our house, I knew pretty quickly this was going to be a problem. I think I had been mentally preparing myself for letting go over the last few years. Storage wasn’t the only issue—I’ve been downsizing a lot of my possessions over the last couple of years, be it books, CDs, DVDs, etc. Like plenty of other people, I found that getting rid of the clutter made me feel a lot better. However, my comics were a different beast altogether for nostalgic reasons.
I didn’t get rid of everything; I’m keeping a small amount of books that actually mean something. Some of them are worth money, some of them aren’t, but what’s left is all equally valuable to me. It may just be some oddball comic that I have a soft spot for, like the Uncanny X-Men at the State Fair of Texas (trust me, you don’t want to know what they were doing there, but sadly, it didn’t involve corn dogs and pig races), or something more significant. For instance, I remember buying Iron Fist 14 (which also happens to be the first appearance of Sabretooth, if you care), in the summer of 1989 at a comic book show run by Fred Greenberg’s East Coast Conventions in the basement of the Hyatt hotel in New Brunswick, NJ. I paid $14. My friend James and I used to go to those cons every month, like clockwork, and I’ve got a lot of great memories from those times.
But honestly, this feels right; good, even. I still love comics and I’m not giving them up. I’ve drastically reduced the number of titles I read monthly over the last few years, going for quality over quantity. I feel pretty confident that I’ll never be owned by them again. When I flip through my collection now, I’m happy to see that there’s no filler and I can trace every book to a time and place. In the end, curating has allowed me to enjoy more by having less.
Last Tuesday, I helped a guy load up his truck with over 30 comic boxes. He’ll sell it off in pieces on eBay, and pick at the bones until there’s nothing left. And I’m totally fine with that.
(posted by Evan)
22 Comments so far
way to go…it must feel good to have downsized such a large usage of space!
Very inspiring! I totally understand the emotional attachment. I have an issue of ROM that means nothing to anybody but me. I could never get rid of it. Also, I recently went through my DVD collection (1,000+) and pulled out the ones that I may want to watch at a moments notice and only pulled out 26. It seemed like a perfect first step in letting go. Now I just need to take the time to get rid of the rest.
Very well put Evan, and advice I am trying to follow myself. I don;t really have any large collections, but I have lots and lots of smaller ones. As I go through my house remodeling I plan on weeding out a lot of things that I just don’t enjoy so much anymore and let others who might enjoy them more have them. I’m trying to make sure I no longer purchase anything unless I really love it.
Good job. It’s hard. I am trying to do likewise with a lot of my possessions. They just aren’t as fun when they start possessing you!
Wow, what a task! This is really inspiring - I just moved a huge quantity of my old photos and art into a tiny apartment, and it’s good to hear about someone feeling better after letting go of stuff…
Thanks for the inspiration Evan. I’m a hoarder by nature and have been trying to weed through the collections lately. It’s hard.
And off topic I just want to say - your floors are so beautiful! I love that little detail around the bay window… sigh.
My heart goes out to you Evan. I only hope that one day I can be as brave as you. I’m not there yet. But I can feel the inspiration beginning to well up.
I totally understand your attachement… My room is filled with little things that I collect, and I never seem to want to throw them away! Maybe one day I will, but in the meantime, where did you get those boxes ? Before being able to let go of them, at least I’ll try and de-clutter :)
thanks and congratulations, you’re a brave man !!
thanks, that was encouraging, inspiring and moving. Thanks for sharing. I wonder, is the pic at the top what’s left, or is that the ‘before’ shot’? I agree with Z, it’s very orderly! I’m trying to give away stuff to people I think might get some pleasure from it - a DVD or CD here, a framed picture there. Somehow it helps to know these bits and bobs are going to someone who will enjoy them as I have done.
cheers!
Congrats! That is hard to do. I don’t really collect, but I face the same issue with books. I would love to someday have my own little library, but in the meantime, living in NYC, I have to prune ruthlessly, or I’ll become the crazy woman with stacks of books.
thanks for the support, everyone!
michael: 26 out of 1000 sounds about right. the nice thing i’ve found is that there are always people on craig’s list or ebay who are more than happy to absorb your stuff.
adam: i think the timing is just right for you with the remodel. you’ll probably find that even once you have more room, your perception of the space won’t accomodate all of your collections. and really, do you need another darth vader light saber variant, anyway?! by the way, anna’s got a friend who is more than happy to take any donated action figures for his collection.
anthony: chin up, man. it gets easier the more you do it. would you believe that at one point i had 5 years worth of bmx plus magazine?
z: there are plenty of places to order comic boxes online (look at http://tcbulk.com). better yet, support a local comics retailer (http://csls.diamondcomics.com) as i’m sure he or she could really use your help. i’m never happy with the boxes i order online, and my preference is for boxes that have tape on the corners rather than glue. they’re stronger and last longer.
jen: the first picture is a before shot, but only a portion of the original collection. i went from 39 small comic boxes to 8.
Great post. I especially connected as, last year, I watched my husband go through an emotional purge of vinyl before we moved across the country. Good for you for a little letting go.
I love that I’m not alone in this! the revelation for me was taking a photo or scanning something — then I have no problem letting go of it. 21 Sassy magazines are just about to finish on ebay… it’s actually kind of fun to pass them on to new appreciators…
great story; i need to do the same… someday! in the meanwhile… who makes that wooden shelving in the first pic? it’s a much better looking solution for my many short boxes than what I have now. [which is *nothing*.] are they from IKEA? it looks familiar…
jjay: Yes, the shelves are from IKEA! They’re from the Norrebo line. The weight limit is really high, and they look great.
My husband recently began to purge his own comic book collection. This is something he had discussed doing for some time. Excess and bulk were primary reasons. Also a shifting of priorities. He hasn’t stopped collecting but he collects selected titles only. I don’t believe it was too painful but perhaps the end of a chapter in his life. Though, seriously he’ll always love comic books…and I’m good with that
Very inspiring. When we’ve finished our house and filled as many walls with floor-to-ceiling shelving as possible, then we’re going to take stock of what needs to go. Our house is only 600 sq. ft. and we both collect a whole lot of vinyl, CDs, DVDs, books and magazines…
Awesome, Evan! It is so hard to let go of ’stuff’ (especially collections), but just feeling free and easy for it is so SO good. And it’s so wonderful to know that what you’ve got left is what you REALLY want. Living in four countries in three years helped me work out what possessions were necessary, and what weren’t. That said, I’ve never concerned myself comic books (apart from Archie, Richie Rich and Uncle Scrooge as a kid), but am now hankering for ‘The Uncanny X-Men at the State Fair of Texas’ on account of the title.
Yay! Interesting.
Great blog!
hey Evan, if you’ll actually read this…
about a year ago, in preparation to move to TX from NYC i too sold off a hefty portion of comic books. my situation was a lot different because my small collection in comparison was cobbled together since i started collecting again around
02. but you know… one day i pulled out all the long boxes from under the bed and i went through everything and it was hard to really pull the trigger. faced with all of the floppies i found myself struggling to add things to the “to-go” pile. a large portion of these comics was even given to me by a friend, and so i really had no rational attachment to it. i remember sitting there on the floor surrounded by piles of books and bargaining with myself. i was trying to rationalize keeping comics that i already had trade paperback collections for because i could someday give them to a potential offspring.
comics to me are definitely an odd beast. they have such a strong bond with nostalgia and memory. it is as if they are permanently bonded to this collective history, this “continuity” of themselves and their fans. i think they hold this odd place with their fans and/or collectors more so than some other forms of memorabilia.
i too have cut back on my purchasing, realizing i was often buying books out of some weird impulse to have “the entire story” rather than something i was really riveted to read. i used to go to the shop weekly, post on the messageboards, and go to the cons. this was of course a deep shame for my wife as she likes to joke. now i go to a shop once every couple of weeks and pick up a couple issues here and there.
being a comic book reader and fan is definitely a strange place for me, since i never really felt any sort of bond with some of the hardcore fanboys, of which the majority of the comics reading market tends to be nowadays. but every so often there is someone like yourself, me, or a handful of guys i know out there who maintain that love of comics, but it doesn’t take over their life.
this is really long. i will stop.
anyway, glad you made it through, and it only gets easier as you go along.
This reminds me that I really should downsize my magazines collection…