Back in 1999, I lost my collection of nearly 6000 comics. You would think that would be the last I would ever see of them. But, no, back in 2022, I got a call, and next thing you know, I was reunited with the very thing that made me Mr. Spider. IA story for another day.
I had lost interest in collecting in 1996; with the rise of Image, Marvel tried to copy their success. The result was poorly drawn and badly written comics. This sums up my opinion about most Image comics at the time. All to appease people seeking a quick form of wealth.
On top of that, I watched comics go from $1 at the start of the 90s to $1.25 in 1993 and again to $1.50 in 1994. Never mind the random gimmick issue added to the bill. Oh, and they went to $1.95 in 1996, only to go up to $1.99 a year later. This means I had to work nearly a half hour to get one comic. The bargain bins from which I had gotten so many issues were now picked clean of any recognizable character. I found Sensational She-Hulk & Doctor Strange Vol 1 issues 1 in those bins.
My interest had waned, and my minimum wage job strained my ability to collect and pay the rising cost of living. I had to cut back, and of all titles, I canceled the Spider-Man titles. A character that I loved so much, I was called Spider, and later, I would take it as my last name. Marvel had sacrificed its soul for the almighty dollar. Let’s not talk about what they did to Sue Richards. The iconic parts had been stripped, and all that character growth I grew to love from the 80s was thrown aside. Everything has been changed for the sake of buyers who could not tell you who Betty Brant or Robbie Robertson is. The Clone Saga was what did it for me. I was a guy who sacrificed for a box of Iron Man comics, living off ramen and peanut butter for a month. But, even if I had money flowing in, it was hard to justify something I had no interest in reading.
That would not be the last time in the 90s I would get comics. In 1998, a friend wanted help cleaning his garage. I had debated on not going that day, but I needed the money. I did not expect to find treasure as well. As I pulled out boxes of junk, I came across Strange Tales 174, Tales of Suspense 85.., *queue the music* and Captain America 100… but there was more… Iron Man 1.
I approached my friend, trying to repress a grin as I held these silver-age issues before him. He did not even look slightly interested in what I had found. He said, “If you don’t want those, you can toss them in the garbage.”. Clearly, he understood my look of horror after such sacrilege. Despite telling him their value after, he said I could sell them, knowing I was having trouble making ends meet. But I kept them.
By the end of 1999, I lost the comics – But I got them back in 2022.
So, after getting my comics back, you would think that would be that, right? Having all those comics back together again, I started to reread them. Among my reads, the issues that started my obsession was the original 5, given as a Christmas gift from an aunt who wanted me to be put up for adoption. The bag they were in had a $0.75 clearance sticker on it. There was also the first comics I bought the issues from a vintage pharmacy in Ephraim, Utah. The comics from the summer of 1989 when I discovered Annuals. Issues bought on Thanksgiving 1989 by a stepbrother who eagerly packed me up with books and comics. Then Silver Surfer 50, Ghost Rider 13. and Spider-Man 1.
There were many issues I had not collected from the storylines I was interested in. I did not have all of the Acts of Vengence, one of my favorite crossovers. Inferno, the Secret Wars, Atlantis Attacks, Kraven’s Last Hunt… I wanted it all. The first cross-over I ever completed was Infinity Gauntlet. But the 6 parts to that were missing.
That box of Iron Man I had sacrificed for, along with others I had collected, led to me having 3/4ths of the collection, and I had Iron Man 1. I needed to finish Iron Man Vol 1. as it was a chance to finish a Silver Age collection. The biggest hurdle in my collection was Iron Man 55 (first Thanos, Drax, Starfox, Mentor…) at the time. I was nowhere as restricted in my budget as back then. I found myself on eBay looking to finish the issues off, completing that year. 55 was bought with credit card points,
As I rebuilt my database, I realized I was only 17 issues from finishing New Mutants… which led to finding the entire Excalibur series, for which I only had 9 issues. Eventually, I finished Iron Man and Captain America. 
So I am on to Thor with a mere 16 issues to go. This leads to me buying Thor Giant Sized number 1. a collection of reprinted stories from various issues. Normally, I avoid reprints, but I considered this part of the series like the Annuals. At $25, I did not expect it to be in mylar and in better condition than they listed it (not uncommon), let alone with a nice little metal skeleton key. I had a thing for Skelton keys when I was a kid… I really had to write a positive review for these guys. You don’t have to bribe me to get a good review. But giving me something I will obsess over until I write that review helps. The guilt does not go away until I do.
I will be buying again from them once I finish off Thor. You can find their store here:
https://www.ebay.com/str/skeletonkeycomics
I suck at writing positive reviews.
Overall, I would say I have had a 99% positive experience with people who sell on eBay. …and I rarely write positive reviews. But, I have given a review of every bad experience that was not resolved by the seller. Sending the wrong thing, damaged goods, not as described, canceling the order without notifying me as to why, or not sending it. Granted, I do contact them before I do unless they cancel or do not send out the item. Or, in one case, they sent unbagged loose comics in a rotting box with whatever garbage they had nearby to pack the box. I saw no need to contact them.
When it comes to writing positive reviews, I tend to worry that I don’t come across as genuine. I suffer from imposter syndrome, not unique to someone with ADHD. So, I worry that my review may not be seen as sincere, or worse, in an age of browser extensions like Fakespot, my review might be marked as fake. Yet, I try to make an effort when they are new or give me some insane deal like I got this Sentinel. Because, again, I will obsess about making things right.
I don’t plan to make this blog a replacement for Hosting-Reviews-Exposed.com. There are a lot of write-ups I plan to publish, and I may revisit certain topics. Ultimately, I want to try writing about what brings me joy. There is not much that makes me nostalgic about my childhood because I had been treated as an outcast due to my ADHD. But comics had not just provided an escape; they had also provided a connection to people with similar interests. So, hopefully, I can not make this a business blog. Instead, I intend to focus more on Comics and my other hobbies after I get the backlog of articles off my machine.