IDW buying habits

[Baar Baar Jinx]

What are everyone's IDW-Disney comics buying habits? I, for example, buy just one copy of each individual issue, with the cover I like best. However, is there anyone who buys all variants? Anyone who buys just the trades? Just the hardbacks? Or buys all individual issues with variants, and the trades, and the hardbacks (and thus contributes mightily to the long-term success of the IDW Disney line!)?

In general, I prefer buying trades, but as someone else pointed out, with the high-numbered, long-standing run of the "Core Four" it seems inappropriate to buy just collected volumes. Buying Disney comics each month (when they're being published in the US) is a tradition I've followed for decades and cannot see myself ending. Plus, I'm told that the trades are smaller than the traditional comic book size (haven't actually seen one so not sure if that's accurate); if so, that doesn't sit well with me. I like all my comics and trades to be of uniform size so they look nice in piles.

[Fritz]

I buy the "floppies", usually whichever cover they had me from my pull file, though they know in IDW's case I've found I prefer the "A" covers most of the time. I usually skip variants, except sometimes on first issues. Haven't bothered with any of the trades yet.

[Matilda]

Yes, the trades are smaller than the regular comics. So far, the only trade I've bought is the second Uncle $crooge one, in order to get "The Grand Canyon Conquest" under a single cover...and to be able to store it on the shelf next to "The Great Paint Robbery" (U$ 353). Like you, I buy one copy of each monthly comic, with the cover I like best. Then I buy one more copy of any I want to keep myself, so that I have a complete run to pass on to a certain young relative. Comics for me are like novels; I read a great number, and keep in my own collection only a very small percentage of that total.

[deb]

I get one copy of each of the monthly comics, and have only bought one of the paperback editions after I found out that they were printing hardcover collections. I don't know if I'd get all of the hardcover collections, but I have the first three (Donald, Scrooge and Mickey). So far there hasn't been a Walt Disney's Comics and Stories hardcover announced, just a book collecting the Zodiac Stone story. I'm still on the fence about that one.

[RobbK1]

I only buy IDW books that have stories or covers drawn or written by myself or friends of mine(Jan Gulbransson, Freddy Milton, Daan Jippes, Mau & Bas Heymans, Henrieke Goorhuis, Frank Jonker, Gorm Transgaard, Tim Artz) if I don't already have them in Dutch magazines or earlier English language printings. And I also buy an IDW book if it has a good long story by Daniel Branca or Romano Scarpa that I don't already have in a Dutch or English language magazine. There are only a few Branca stories that I dont have in Dutch or English. I don't like most of the Italian artists' drawing style, so, I don't even collect The Dutch pocket books, or most IDW books.

[squeakyboots]

I usually only buy one copy of an issue, whichever out of the two main covers I like best. That was also what I did back when Boom was doing variant covers. There are only two issues that I own more than one cover for. I plan to eventually get every issue except for Mickey Mouse Shorts.

At this time, I do not own any of IDW's trade releases. I may pick up the Timeless Tales hardcovers if they ever go down in price (Assuming those are full size. I've yet to see one in person.) and I'd like to get the Donald Duck Newspaper collections someday when I have the money for them. I'm not a fan of the smaller size for the trade releases either but I could live with them if they weren't printed any other way. The trade releases Boom made for Wizards of Mickey, Double Duck, and Uncle Scrooge were that size as well.

[deb]

The hardcover Timeless Tales books are the same size as Fantagraphics' Carl Barks hardcovers.  The Donald Duck newspaper strip books are not as encyclopedic as Fantagraphics' Gottfredson books, but if you like Taliaferro's strips, they are a good buy, despite being rather spendy.