Over Memorial Day weekend we loaded up our van and headed to see our family who lives eight hours away. While visiting we attended a Comic Con, Lunchie is a collector of comic books.
The convention hall was packed with table after table full of comics, toys, and collectibles. I could see my husband's eyes light up like a kid at Christmas. We walked slowly through each isle looking everything over completely. At one booth there were thousands of comics. People were surrounding the booth with arm fulls of books. I could swear I saw Lunchie drool a little.
Before we left for the comic convention we set a modest budget. Once we got into the con it became apparent that our budget was really small compared to the prices. We spent a few hours walking through the con with out buying anything before we left to get lunch.
At lunch we discussed quality versus quantity. After looking at prices, the quality option was that he could spend 75% of the budget and get an artist to draw a cover specifically for him and still have 25% to spend on other random items. The other option was to spend the whole budget and leave with 50 or more comic books and other items.
After much internal debate he decided to have a blank Superior Spider-man cover drawn for him by the current artist, Ryan Stegman. He then had Ryan Browne draw a cover to another blank comic for him. This used 95% of his budget. He then bought a few $0.50 comics to share with the boys as well as a few for himself.
Watching the other people at the con walking around with their arms full of bags was hard for him. I know he debated with his decision the whole weekend until we were leaving. I think it was almost an "ah ha" moment. He had two comic's that will never be recreated as well as the time he spent forming relationships with the two artists.
Had he chose to buy the quantity option he knew the comic's would have ended up in a box not to be seen or read. He is now looking to get two frames for the comics to hang in his office.
I often wonder why we chose quantity over quality. I believe that big box stores have lead us to believe that it is better to have more items than to have a few high quality items. At a big box store you can buy a large number of bathroom towels for very little money compared to buying them at a department store. However, the towels purchased at the box store are not the same quality and are not going to last as long as the department store towels. I know this from experience.
My grandmother was a stern believer of purchasing things from department stores. When she passed away I inherited her bathroom towels. These were added to my supply of box store towels. Now 10 years later I still have and use some of the towels that were my grandmothers. Granted they aren't beautiful and I hide them from guests, but they are still soft and free of holes. My box store towels barely lasted me 3 years.
With the cost of replacing towels every 3 to 4 years you could save your self money in the long run by buying the more expensive towels that will hold up longer.
We've been trained to think more is always better, which isn't always the case. I am always looking for a good deal, but when it comes to some things you just can't skimp on quality.
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