The annual fair in Saginaw, Michigan always had a barn full of collectible exhibits. It was always interesting to see which collections won the fab $25 1st prize and those that became mere runners up. Everything from bottle caps, sport cards, and stamps could be seen , however in 1986 something new had caught my eye. Several collections of comics appeared for the first time.

The 1st collection had some memorable golden-age comics. A Detective 27, an All Winners 3, a  Submariner 1and 10. Other Golden age comics made this an expensive collection that most collectors would be lucky to own. Another collection with Flash 105, Spider-man #1 , Fantastic Four 2-5 and some silver-age Captain America rounded out a 60's set. Many of the collections were displayed in elaborate wood and glass frames with hand carved decorations and velvet interiors. All were extensive  with over a hundred books each that must have cost the owners a small fortune.

Way down at the end of the barn I could see from the corner of my eye the blue ribbon grand prize winner calling to me. I had to look over the other collections first. No willy nilly stuff for me. I was a methodical person and I was determined to examine each collection in the order they were presented. As I looked at all these collections , I envisioned the nature of the fabulous collection that had beaten out all the others.

Finally, it was time to view the winner of over one thousand entries. The blue ribbon sat next to the collection that was judged to be the best of the best, the crème de crème. Twelve recent issues of Secret Wars sat neatly stacked in order with the #1 sitting on top of the pile. No bags, no boards, no fancy locked glass case with velvet lining. A ten year old owned the winning collection.

I was mystified. "Why did this simple collection win the grand prize?" I asked myself. The whole set probably cost a mere ten dollars for the entire set. A first glance , it didn't seem right. Perhaps the ten year old's dad was the judge. "Yea. It must have been fixed. "

A little reflection was in order. Perhaps the kid wasn't the son of a judge. Other sets were elaborate and had cost the owners big bucks, however these collections were not even in the runner-up class.

As I looked over the collections, it became clear why the ten year old had won the prize. The others were simply a mish-mash of expensive stuff. No clear order was apparent. The owners bought random items with no real plan as to what the goal of the collection might be. Collections were so extensive , it was likely none of them would ever be "complete." The fancy cases were simply like icing on a lopsided wedding cake. No matter how much icing, the cake would always be lopsided underneath. An issue here and another there; randomness seemed to pervade every collection except the blue ribbon stack of seventy-five cent comics. .

The ten year old had beaten out the big guns with his orderly twelve mint comics purchased with his allowance money, piled neatly in the corner.. He knew he had all twelve too. No issue thirteen would ever appear. The series had reached the final issue. His humble submission was the only complete collection in the barn. It was like a perfect cake with no icing.

This concept struck me to the core like a bolt of lightning that would stick with me the rest of my life. I imagine the barn had a lightning rod on it's roof, otherwise I might be pushing up daisies today.

My collecting habits changed forever from that moment. For the first time in my life, I knew that a ten year old kid who loved to read comics had taught me the true meaning of the the word, "collector."

RJ