It’s time to put the Undervalued Spotlight on the shelf, I’m stopping my weekly column after 10+ years of posts. I’ll leave the door ajar and allow myself to revisit this post if and when the urge and inspiration arises.
I posted the very 1st Spotlight back on September 1st 2009 and that actually turned out to be a bit of a dud. Gah!
I’m not sure what my record is for these picks but I know I’ve had more than my fair share of duds, I hope nobody was planning their retirement around my picks!
I did have some highlights, my favorite Spotlight lead to a nice pen pal friendship with former Dell Comics editor D.J Arneson. Lobo #1 is still underappreciated for its historical significance.
Here I’ll list my top 5 read posts of all time with their unique view counts;
- #79 – X-Force #2 – 4,300 – is the most popular Spotlight by views, wow did I get some nasty comments on this one!
- #64 – Tarzan #1 (Marvel) – 3,356
- #154 – Amazing Spider-Man #360 – 3,222
- #184 – New Teen Titans #21 – 3,181
- #76 – Captain Canuck #1 – 2,602
Again I’d like to note that my five most popular Undervalued Spotlights as measured by views are all duds! Man I really do hope nobody planned for their retirement with these things.
The Undervalued Spotlight has been an important part of my life for the past decade, the amount of people it has allowed me to meet and get to know in person and on line is crazy. I’m all the richer for it.
I would love to list some names of people to thank but am petrified I will leave some people out that I shouldn’t so I’ll just say thank you to everyone who has supported the Spotlight over the years and a special thanks has to go out to the Guest Spotlight writers that have added so much to this column.
I thought you going to do one on the Christmas and Archie treasury edition.
I have really enjoyed this column and am going to miss it. I looked forward to it each week. Whether or not the book “hit” didn’t matter much as you always pointed out interesting angles to comics, which has always been one of the joys of collecting. Thank you Walter.
Your column has become a weekly staple for me-it will be missed. Thanks Walter and good luck.
Walter. Greetings from the UK. This is the first time I’ve commented on your amazing output. Checking your site is a daily staple. Thanks for all your efforts it’s been much appreciated. Hope you still find time to post articles. All the best for 2020. Craig.
Thanks for the kind words guys. I think I just need a break from the routine, the Undervalued posts are a great vehicle for my learning and for getting feedback from others so while I’m stepping back from it for a while I’m not abandoning it all together.
Klaus, I was supposed to do that one as my Christmas post but was fighting the flu and somehow just never got to it, apologies.
Chris, you hit it on the head when you said joys of collecting, I think any future ones will be a better mix of investing and collecting.
Thanks for supporting the post Brian.
Craig! Nice to hear from you and all the best to you in the new year.
Wow… I think I might start having withdrawal symptoms! So one pass me an old comic… I need a fix!!
Hi from Australia. Very sad to see the end of your great weekly post. Always looked forward to it. Thanks. Michael
As much as I will miss Covered 365 (so much so that I am trying to keep it going – plugging https://chrismeli.wordpress.com/ ), I will miss spotlight more because of its intellectual challenge. Do I agree? I it supportable? What are the stats? Etc. Sure, many people will throw out a comment that this or that comic is undervalued, but without much thought or structure. Your posts always had more depth of one sort or another, and every one was backed by your wisdom from decades of experience in the market. No question that keeping the picks on a weekly schedule would get to be too much, but do leave that door open – throw one up there when it speaks to you!
Hi Michael, hope you are staying safe and cool down under and thanks for supporting the post.
Thanks Chris, the door is ajar!
It was so enjoyable reading your insights on whichever book each week. No joke: I just got a bladeless vasectomy on Friday, which was uncomfortable, and still is, but this is painful and will be so for many Tuesdays to come. Hope to see more writings from you at some point. I wish you well and thanks.
Colin that may be the best compliment I’ve ever received, appreciate it and um… hang in there (ok that was bad).
Sorry to hear about the end of Undervalued Spotlight. What a great thing it’s been and huge thanks for so many terrific posts which I have regularly looked forward to reading for years – and I even got to do one myself 🙂 I do understand that “all things must pass” – so best of luck with the next endeavor and a very big thank you again!!
I’m sure I’ll do a few more in the coming year Simon, I think you should get another one ready too! Thanks for supporting the Spotlight!
Thanks for the great posts over the years Walt! Some of your picks were clear winners. I remember your post from 2015 on Wonder Woman – you “knocked the ball out of the park” with your Wonder Woman #98 pick. I can’t believe how much that book has appreciated since 2015. If only I had listened to you and bought a copy.
I will also put in I have acted on a couple of your spotlights. The second appearance of Brainiac was one… I can’t afford the first appearance but got his next 6 including cameos!
I ENJOYED IT SIR, SOME HOW LIFE’S ROADS ALWAYS CROSS AGAIN. I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOUR INFORMATIVE ARTICLES LATER ON DOWN THE ROAD.
These where awesome reads! this will be missed. I hope you do it quarterly or something.
Don’t worry about the duds Walter, I’ve made up for any losses with volume. Lol and thanks for your efforts.
4.5
5
This news hit me harder than it should have. Maybe it’s because I’m stuck inside like everyone else but I definitely teared up a little reading this. It will be sorely missed. This column has been the single biggest contributor to my comic book education over the last ten years and I looked forward to it each week. I will now be increasingly dumber each day until you return. Thanks for all content and look forward to what comes next.