Why do new collectors keep calling their first dozen books a 'grail'?

I saw a post where someone said their Batman #428 was a grail and I swear that book goes for like $30. Grail means something you actually had to hunt for years to find, not just whatever you picked up at the shop last Saturday, right?

3 comments

3 Comments

gracethomas18d ago

Yeah I mean I get what you're saying, but I also remember when I first started collecting and I thought my copy of Superman #75 with the bag and the armband was like the holy grail of comics. It's kind of funny looking back now because that book is basically filler at this point, but back then it felt like the biggest deal to me. Maybe it's just part of the journey where everything new feels special until you learn the difference between a hunt and a lucky find.

nancy_wood18d ago

And @gracethomas hit it on the head. When I first started I thought my copy of Amazing Spider-Man #300 was a grail. Paid like $40 for it. Felt like I'd won the lottery. Now I look at it sitting in my longbox and laugh. It's a key book sure but grail? Nah. Real grails are the ones you chase for years. Like that copy of Incredible Hulk #181 I finally traded for last summer. Took me three years of hunting shows and conventions. THAT'S a grail. Not something you grabbed off the shelf on a Tuesday.

emma_baker6118d ago

Three years hunting for that Hulk 181, seriously? That's wild dedication, @nancy_wood. I guess I never thought about grails in terms of the time you spend chasing them, but you're totally right. That Spider-Man 300 just sitting in a box doesn't have the same weight as a book you had to work that hard for.