Episode 31: My Uncle Scrooge Collection Conundrum
Don’t you hate it when the set looks incomplete?
One of my annual Christmas presents for the past few years has been the slipcased edition of the Don Rosa Library from Fantagraphics.
Last year, though, the set with the last two volumes in the regular series (9 and 10) wasn’t available in time for Christmas on Amazon. “No problem,” I thought, “I’ll pick it up another time, or next Christmas.”
Fast forward to this Christmas, and the slipcased edition is nowhere to be found.
It’s sold out.
It’s only available on eBay that I’ve seen so far, and I’d have to ship it in from Canada and it would cost twice as much.
There’s the conundrum: Do I pay extra to get the one cardboard box to match the other 10 books in the set? Or do I just buy the books, themselves, not worry about the slipcase, and just be happy that I own a copy of the complete library?
That’s the question I explore on the podcast today.
Have You Seen It?
Does you local comic shop have a set available? Have you seen one around somewhere, online or not? Let me know. Drop me a line at [email protected] — I’d love to find a reasonable solution to this gnarly little problem…
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Let it go and accept it as the crack in perfection that allows the beauty to enter. Spend the money on creative work by a living creator who will benefit from it instead of on a pointless box that only encourages your OCD tendencies.
Your maturity is wise beyond my years. And Don Rosa is still alive… But I do have a healthy list of other books I’d like to buy, for sure….
Nah I disagree. collecting is not based on reason. Collecting is based on mild OCD. Which means that the disposition has to be flawless. I’ve run into that situation many times and never will I rest until the set is pristine and whole as God intended 😀
You’re right, JC, that there’s very little logic in the world of collecting. But I also agree with Aaron that I’d rather spend the money on EVEN MORE reading material. My recent hobby of buying Pilote Journal issues needs more funding, after all! 😉
Fair enough.
Collecting Pilote issue by issue must be quite pricey, if you want them in good condition, complete with the Pilotorama centerfold that is often missing from single issues. Back when I was collecting it, the yearly compendia (reliure or recueil in French) were the way to go. Albeit still expensive,,they were easier to follow full serialized stories, especially for a lot of things that have never been collected into albums.
I’m not terribly concerned about condition, to be honest, and the centerfolds are mostly missing. But you’re right– those hardcover books are the way to go. They effectively become like slipcases, since they’re just 10 issues glued together inside the hardcover. 50 years later, that glue is useless and the issues are coming apart. So it’s like buying 10 issues for one price. Works for me. Honestly, at this point, I’ve average about $2 or $2.50 per issue. I have enough now that I’m only looking to buy more if they have specific Asterix stories in them I love (just picked up a collection from the “Soothsayer” days) or something else so historically interesting that I can write about it here on the website.
Volume 10 is the best of the bunch, in my opinion. “The old castle’s other secret” ties up so many of Rosa’s plots and character work from other volumes. Whether or not you get the box, I think you really need to read that one.
The funny thing about that story is that I just read it last summer. I came across the original comic it was published in, realized I had never actually read the thing, and stopped everything to do so. It was a great story, though I didn’t realize at the time that it was his last. There are a couple of other stories from late in his run that are likely in that 9th or 10th volume that I haven’t read yet, though.
I think I’m going to give in and just buy the books and forget the slipcase. It’s the stories that count, right?
Thanks for reminding me!