What I got this month....

Well, the worst has come to pass. My "dealer" told me it's time to trim the list. That's right, my monthly payment no longer covers the books I order so I need to trim until the backlog is cleared.

I was shocked! Cutting back???? Is the man insane???? What self respecting comic book collector cuts back? Just because I can't afford everything I order doesn't mean I need to cut back!!!! As you can see from this photo of the entry to Man-Room, I still have lots of space to fill!

Just to prove there's no need to cut back, here is my very reasonable list from the February previews...
All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder Vol. 01 HC
Welcome to Tranquility Vol. 02 SC
Howard the Duck: Media Duckling SC
Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 03 HC (variant cover)
New Mutants Classic Vol. 03 SC
Punisher: Circle of Blood HC
Creepy Archives HC
Crawl Space: XXXombies Vol. 01 SC
Another Dirt Sandwich GN - Don't Eat Any Bugs Productions
Get a Life HC - Drawn & Quarterly
Alieeen SC - :01 First Second
Kaput & Zosky - :01 First Second
Billy Hazelnuts HC - Fantagraphics Books
Our Gang Vol. 03 SC - Fantagraphics Books
Bill Ward's Torchy Vol. 01 SC - Pure Imagination Publishing
Jeff Hawke Vol. 01 - Titan Books UK
X-O Manowar: Birth HC – Valiant

SEE! That list isn't to bad. And I even managed to cut the list down from where I started. I have a separate "remember to look for these cheap on ebay" list. Now this is just the trades-hardcover list. I get some floppies but not very many. The only floppies right now...
Exterminators… Fables… Jack of Hearts… 100 bullets… Hellblazer… She Hulk... there might be one or two others that I am forgetting.

But, on the plus side, this has made me really evaluate my collection. With an imposed spending limit it's time to decide what I want my collection to look like in the future. In fact, in the last year or so the collection has really started to change. You see, I don't have time to keep up with a monthly book so I've dropped almost all of them.

Even for the monthlies I still get, at my current reading rate I am going to be self 'trading' and reading chunks at a time. For example, I'm only 40+ issues behind in 100 Bullets but who's counting.

The other thing I found, I really like 'seeing' the collection. A wall full of long boxes is impressive looking (see photo) but, in the end, not all that satisfying. The wall of HC's that I have is great fun and looks a lot better than long boxes. (see other photo)

I hate to say it but it may be time to stop floppies all together and just go the trade route. Then I can complain about not having enough shelf space. Maybe for my birthday I'll ask for a real library double sided shelf so I can store everything.

Now that would be cool.

Oh... in case your wondering. The desk is filled with action figures.