⭕The Butcher⭕️

This might sound surprising coming from me 😆 but I want to be transparent about something, because I feel I owe it to this community. I believe I have the largest FA year collection on VeVe, and I know a lot of people assume I pay the premiums I've been paying because I think they're a great investment. That's not why I buy them. Not at all. Just to be clear, I'm talking about FA year serials, the edition numbers that match a character's first appearance year, like Spider-Man #1962. For me, FA years are the undisputed kings of serial numbers. Darth Vader #1977, for instance, is the ultimate Vader. But that doesn't mean I think they're the best investment. Here's a real example: my most recent purchase. I paid 25,000 for Steamboat Willie #1928, and the floor is currently around 100. That's roughly 250x the floor. Now, purely hypothetically, imagine a floor Steamboat Willie were worth 10,000 someday. My #1928 would need to be worth 2.5 million just to keep that same premium. And nobody even knows if prices will ever go up. I've been a collector my entire life, long before VeVe existed, and special numbers matter in the physical world too. A #1 or a matching number on a numbered collectible usually carries a premium, and it should. But in my experience, it's a few times the regular price, not hundreds. At the end of the day, it's the same collectible. An FA year deserves a premium. I'm just questioning whether a premium that size makes financial sense. I'm probably a big part of why those premiums got so high. More than once, I've been asked to pay more for an FA year serial because "that's what the market is paying"… using MY OWN purchases as reference 🤣 I know some collectors aren't too happy with me about all this, and I get it. At the same time, I've recently had conversations with other FA year collectors, and when I told them what I really think, they were genuinely shocked. They had assumed I saw these as a huge investment, and looking at what I've been paying, I can see why. Part of me felt a bit responsible. I'd hate for anyone to pay today's prices just because they figure that if I'm paying that much, it must be a great investment. That's really why I'm writing this, to clear it up once and for all. I pay those premiums out of passion, sometimes even on a whim, and there are purchases I've questioned myself. If FA year premiums ever drop, nobody loses more on paper than I do, and I'm fine with that, because I don't intend to sell. One of my dreams is to eventually build a digital museum, with every iconic character represented by its official FA year. Whether my collection becomes worth 10 times more or drops to almost nothing, its value to me doesn't change. I'm not telling anyone not to buy FA years. If you love them, go for it. Buy whatever you want, for your own reasons. Just please don't do it because I do. Not financial advice, just how I see it. The best collectible isn't necessarily the best investment. I'm a collector, not an investor 🥂 #VeVe #DigitalCollectibles