The Wisdom of Chuck Rozanski
I love Mile High comics. Chuck Rozanski is an absolute legend. My collection of trade paperbacks would not be the same without him. He is a man who has dedicated himself to helping others achieve their dreams. I could wax lyrical about his contributions to collecting, and one day I shall. However, today I wish merely to share the following with you, in light of some of my dilemmas regarding the storage of my beloved comics. It is the last paragraph of his 31st December 2005 newsletter.
“In closing today's column, I want to give all of you a bit of advice. In every collector's life there inevitably arise moments of stress or weakness, when disposing of some, or all, of your collections seems like a good idea. Whatever you do, don't sell! Because of space constraints brought on by the birth of my four wonderful daughters, I was forced to put my comics into storage for over 20 years. I never gave up on the plan, however, that I would someday be able to find the space in which to enjoy them all over again. During the intervening 22 years I continued to collect, but could only add more boxes into my storage piles each year, without any organization. Now that I'm sorting everything out, however, I'm discovering that I have more than 10,000 (!) pre-1980 comics and fanzines in my personal collection, quite a few of which are so rare (such as very small press Underground Comix or 1950's Promotional Comics too scarce to be listed in Overstreet) that I have no idea about how I could ever replace them. The message that comes through to me loud and clear from this realization is that there is always some sort of storage available. You might just have to wrap your boxes in plastic and stack them in the garage for many years (or in the hay barn, as I did...), but the rewards that come from letting time pass are enormous! A great many comics that were relatively common in 1982, when my collection first went into storage, are now almost impossible to find. With each box I am opening, I am finding more great books that make me thank my lucky stars that I was able to preserve my collection intact through all those many years. Finding storage for your collection may sometimes be extremely difficult, but my experience has shown that going through the effort to preserve your collection can really pay off in the end!
You have spoken, oh mighty Chuck! I will never get rid of any of my comics again.
And a Happy New Year to you all.
“In closing today's column, I want to give all of you a bit of advice. In every collector's life there inevitably arise moments of stress or weakness, when disposing of some, or all, of your collections seems like a good idea. Whatever you do, don't sell! Because of space constraints brought on by the birth of my four wonderful daughters, I was forced to put my comics into storage for over 20 years. I never gave up on the plan, however, that I would someday be able to find the space in which to enjoy them all over again. During the intervening 22 years I continued to collect, but could only add more boxes into my storage piles each year, without any organization. Now that I'm sorting everything out, however, I'm discovering that I have more than 10,000 (!) pre-1980 comics and fanzines in my personal collection, quite a few of which are so rare (such as very small press Underground Comix or 1950's Promotional Comics too scarce to be listed in Overstreet) that I have no idea about how I could ever replace them. The message that comes through to me loud and clear from this realization is that there is always some sort of storage available. You might just have to wrap your boxes in plastic and stack them in the garage for many years (or in the hay barn, as I did...), but the rewards that come from letting time pass are enormous! A great many comics that were relatively common in 1982, when my collection first went into storage, are now almost impossible to find. With each box I am opening, I am finding more great books that make me thank my lucky stars that I was able to preserve my collection intact through all those many years. Finding storage for your collection may sometimes be extremely difficult, but my experience has shown that going through the effort to preserve your collection can really pay off in the end!
You have spoken, oh mighty Chuck! I will never get rid of any of my comics again.
And a Happy New Year to you all.
posted by Bat-Mac at 4:14:00 pm
4 Comments:
I don't know what to say except to offer you my deepest condolences.
Before I left for Japan I donated all of my duplicates to Ian at the Comics Fair, but that is the closest I have got to a culling.
In order to go back and change history for the better I suggest studying episodes of Quantum Leap or Doctor Who for some time-travelling advice.
Very interesting post. I do believe that Mighty Chuck has a lot of wisdom. He is totally right. I sold my comic book collections a couple of times, always not because of storage problems but because for one reason or another I was bored by comic books in general.
Ah, so many times I regretted this decision. I still remember all those 90s comics I sold! They were part of my childhood!
On one hand he is telling all of you to hold on to your collection, while for the last few years he travels the entireeast coast beating outfans at conventions and picking through all thr good comics first. he even has scouts out looking to buy collections he isa business man, not a comic collector s buddy as he wants all of you to think
he is buying collections and getting first dibbs at conventions all the time. Come on peole wise up he is not your frind , he is a businesss man
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