"Is Crypto Like Comic Book Collecting? (A Newbie Hypothesizes From a Point of Ignorance)" by Richard F. Yates

I am relatively new to crypto culture. Just three or four months ago, the only cryptocurrency I'd heard of was Bitcoin, and (no joke) I half-thought it was those big, silver coins that somehow had micro-circuitry in them. (I don't know current tech very well, but I grew up reading science fiction stories. We are right there in William Gibson territory, if you ask me...)

Anyway, I was introduced to crypto when a staffer at MakersPlace saw some of my art on Ello and asked if I wanted to create some "crypto-art" for their market. I'd never heard of Ethereum (or crypto-art), so I thought it was a scam! And I blew the guy off... He sent me two or three emails, and I finally went online (just like in Neuromancer) and looked up this Ethereum thing....

BAM!

It was like walking into my first comic shop when I was 11 or 12 years old... Suddenly this vast, colourful, freaky UNIVERSE appeared before my eyes, and I realized it had existed for years, and there were so many choices that you got dizzy---and could easily become overwhelmed...

Back in 1983, I knew about the BIG GUNS: Marvel Comics and DC. (In crypto terms, I came into the space knowing about Bitcoin, mostly from an episode of John Oliver's Last Week Tonight where he focused on HODL GANG, lambos, and Bitconnect, and---thanks to MakersPlace---I knew about Ethereum.) But suddenly, I learned about all of these other companies and strange characters... (I could list a bunch of old school comics and long-lost publishers, but most folks probably wouldn't recognize them, and I'm not feeling the need to flex my old-guy nerd muscles right now.)

So, I'm a new guy when it comes to crypto. I've only been on Steemit since November, and the only cryptocurrencies I've purchased---using money from art sales---are Bitcoin and Steem. And, honestly, I only bought the Bitcoin so I could USE it to buy Steem! Now, going back to my comic collecting analogy, crypto has a thousand different currencies out there, with adherents and fanatics supporting each, (just like with comics,) so how does a new guy, just walking into the comic shop for the first time and seeing all these weird names and colorful logos, know what to "collect?" Is there more to it than just buying the comics that are the most popular and valuable, according to the price guides? (Those have mostly been replace by YouTube videos doing market reports for the crypto world.)

Back in the day (the 80s,) my Uncle Randy and I would go to comic conventions and various shops looking for comics. My uncle would study the trends and watch prices, and when we went out, he bought, mostly, comics with 12 cent cover prices, because, he said, "Silver age comics are under-valued and going up in price real soon." He was right, and you can add a zero to the end of what he invested, and that's a conservative estimate for what his books are worth today.

However, most of what he bought was purchased for what he thought its value would be in the future. He rarely READ any of the books he bought, and only ever took a few of them out of their bags to flip through them. He was as close to a pure speculator as I've ever seen---and he was good at it!

Not me---because the "value" of my comic purchases didn't come from what I might or might not sell them for later on. (Incidentally, Randy HASN'T sold ANY of his comics, yet---THREE DECADES LATER!!!) For me, the value in the comic comes from enjoying the story or the artwork or (in some cases) both! I love the EXPERIENCE of the comic. Unlike a savings bond or a short term stock that you flip when the price goes up, things that are BORING until they can be turned into cash, comics are FUN!

Looking back to crypto, again I have to reiterate that I am completely new in this field, I see all these different coins with flashy names: Tron (which almost makes me want to buy it because I loved the original movie) and Stellar and Litecoin---remember, I grew up loving sci-fi and these sound VERY sci-fi to me---and Zencash (I also love kung-fu movies,) all of these things SOUND great---but besides going up or down in value, what can I DO with them? Where is the artwork and the story???

I suppose, if all you want is a way to make some noney turn into more money, then buying a popular coin (and then selling it when the price goes up) is a good plan. If you do your research and can SPECULATE as well my uncle, you'll have a collection worth mucho bucks...

But that's not how I like to play. I want excitement and adventure! (I'll never be a good Jedi...) And I want a solid story and some cool art---and I've found those things in a few places (Steemit, Partiko, MakersPlace, SuperRare, DADA.nyc, and a few more...)

Give me an EXPERIENCE!

This analogy could also work with trading cards or record collecting or even marbles (anybody out there old enough to remember playing and collecting and trading marbles???) There is the "market" value of the item to consider, sure, but there is also the experience of USING whatever it is (Pokemon or Magic the Gathering cards, a Frank Zappa 10" on yellow vinyl, or a sweet cat's eye that never failed to knock the other guy's marble out of the circle!)

It's possible that I may be missing some of the major points of what crypto is REALLY about, but I'm also old, and I've seen a LOT of tech, which is supposedly going to CHANGE THE WORLD FOREVER---but it comes and goes... (And I've seen OLD tech make a comeback or two. I have vinyl records that are almost 60 years old that still play fine---and there are brand new records at department stores, RIGHT NOW, that I can get and play on the very same machine that plays my old Louis Armstrong albums.)

Do I have a point? I suppose my point is this: If I like the story or I enjoy the art, I buy the comic. If it goes up in value, great! Will I SELL if it goes up??? Maybe??? I once sold a first print of James O'Barr's The Crow issue #2---I bought it because I loved the cover art---and I got enough in trade credit that I was able to purchase the entire collected volume of The Crow (including the story from the book I'd just sold) AND a bag full of books from the fifty cent bins. Economically speaking, I LOST market value, as neither the trade paperback nor the "junk" books had resale potential, but I got a MASSIVE amount of experiential value out of the deal---and for me, that's definitely trading up!

Am I missing something important with this comparison? If so, feel free to enlighten me! I love to learn!!!

---Richard F. Yates

Posted using Partiko Android