Collecting for validation instead of joy after a 97 issue handoff

Last weekend my buddy Mark downsized his collection and gave me first pick from his long boxes. I grabbed 97 issues, mostly 90s X-Men and random Image stuff, then spent Sunday afternoon bagging them up. About 30 issues in I realized I was checking artist names like a detective, not because I liked them but because I remembered seeing their names on forums as 'holy grail' picks. That flipped something in my head. I used to just buy whatever looked cool off the spinner rack, no research, no checklist, just vibes. Now I feel like I'm collecting what other fans approve of instead of what actually speaks to me. Is anyone else tired of feeling like their pull list is just a popularity contest? Mark kept saying 'you know that one's worth something' and I kept thinking, so what if I never enjoyed reading it once? That stack of 97 issues taught me more about my own taste than 20 years of browsing did, and now I'm second guessing half of what I grabbed. Anyone else hit that moment where they realized they were collecting for clout instead of joy?

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jessica13017d ago

That line about checking artist names like a detective hit hard, I've caught myself doing the exact same thing with variant covers. Honestly half the stuff in my long boxes I bought because some forum said it was a key issue, and I couldn't tell you a single thing that happens in them.

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