# "Serious" Comic Book Collectors - Is Digital A Good Thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-comic-book-collectors-is-digital-a-good-thing/547992 "2010-07-25T23:38:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-comic-book-collectors-is-digital-a-good-thing/547992/21 "2010-07-28T19:33:32Z")
No, that’s investment value. Collecting a set of something because you want to own all of that set does not depend on the item being expensive. Collecting can be fun for hobbyists regardless of rarity. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-comic-book-collectors-is-digital-a-good-thing/547992/22 "2010-07-28T23:21:32Z")
The only people the digital revolution of comics is bad for are the comics retailers. And for them, it’s as serious as a heart attack unless they start diversifying their business model now. I don’t know exactly what kind of community the naysayers are losing because people can just as easily get together in real life and hang out and do or talk about anything they please. Whether or not it happens in a cramped comic book store depends only to the store owner. This complaint also ignores the fact that fanboys have already established a strongly vocal presence on the Internet. How many of you feel the SDMB is a community? How many of you are reading a thread about comic books this very second? Those people talk about the enjoyment of hunting down some obscure back issue are talking about the Collectables market, which is a different market than selling new books. The people who are seeking out that book aren’t seeking it out to _read_ it, but to _own_ it, keeping it preserved in a mylar bag backed with an acid-free backing board. Comic book unit sales are at the lowest they’ve ever been (I think), and no one in their right mind will eschew a technology that puts stories in the hands of new people. Digital is a **must**. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-comic-book-collectors-is-digital-a-good-thing/547992/23 "2010-07-29T03:04:46Z")
I’m in favor of digital with a caveat: the savings in publishing costs (or at least a substantial portion thereof) _must_ be passed along to readers. That’s the only way I think kids will be able to afford comics. ---
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-comic-book-collectors-is-digital-a-good-thing/547992/24 "2010-07-29T03:26:04Z")
The other positive so far as digital goes, for both customers and creators, is that digital means your book is effectively in print forever, which would be pretty sweet. I don’t torrent books I don’t own, but I also draw the line at paying $40 for a used TPB, for example, which means I just miss out on some works I’d be interested in at a lower price point. Not a big loss for me, potentially a loss for a writer or artist whose work I could have gotten familiar with and become a fan of. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-comic-book-collectors-is-digital-a-good-thing/547992/25 "2010-07-30T00:04:46Z")
Can you choose the ending of digital comics? That was the promise in _Big_, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-comic-book-collectors-is-digital-a-good-thing/547992/26 "2010-07-30T12:30:55Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > I don’t know exactly what kind of community the naysayers are losing because people can just as easily get together in real life and hang out and do or talk about anything they please. I don’t know about comics, but one thing I miss with the digitalization of music is the closure of all the used CD stores. It was so much fun to browse and you would get a sense of community as you’d see the same people in there and you’d talk for a bit with them. It wasn’t like you wanted to purposely get together and hang out but it was nice to run across them. I recall at one time in Chicago by Belmont and Clark there was at least seven used CD stores and it was fun to browse. Now in that area I can only think of two used CD stores and you can go to Reckless online, so I usually do that before a trip out there. So perhaps that’s what they mean by community? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-comic-book-collectors-is-digital-a-good-thing/547992/27 "2010-07-30T13:42:13Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > Who has traded a comic book in the last 25 years? > > … > > –Cliffy Myself, I sold my collection and got enough for a down payment on my house and a helluva nice dinner. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-comic-book-collectors-is-digital-a-good-thing/547992/28 "2010-07-30T17:47:12Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > > [@Cliffy](#): > > > > Who has traded a comic book in the last 25 years? > > > > … > > > > –Cliffy > > Myself, I sold my collection and got enough for a down payment on my house and a helluva nice dinner. Congrats! Though as someone who has sold his collection, I’m assuming yours was not the typical collection, and I don’t think that selling a collection really qualifies as “trading.” About how much did you get and what was it that made it so valuable? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-comic-book-collectors-is-digital-a-good-thing/547992.md?page=1)