Usually Saturdays are a happy time here at Robot 6 as we share a fan's collection with the world, but today's edition is bittersweet, as future father Rich shares the collection he sold on eBay to buy nursery furniture. Rich's art, figures and more have moved on, and hopefully this post will help give Rich the closure he needs. (But seriously, congrats to Rich and his wife on the upcoming addition to their family).

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And now here's Rich ...

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In Memoriam (2005-2013)

Hi, my name’s Rich and I’m a secondary school teacher from the UK. Due to the imminent arrival of my first bundle of joy later this year, I recently sold the vast majority of my comic book collection to gain funds for nursery furniture. Before I posted the fruits of my seven year old collection out to their respective eBay winners, I felt compelled to take a record of what I’d amassed as a personal reminder of the parental sacrifice I’ve made with absolutely no element of resentment to my unborn child whatsoever. So here it is, the obituary of a collection that is, by the time you read this, a distant memory.

First things first, to put the photos in context, the entire collection is housed in my office at school (my wife isn’t keen on having the walls of our house covered in comic art for some reason) but it’s an office I share with another teacher so there’s a sort of invisible line down the middle of the room that I can’t encroach past. That said, I like to think I’ve maximised the space I’ve got to work with.

The first thing that hits as you walk in is the original art on the wall facing you. There’s a McGuinness page from the outstanding Joe Kelly run on Deadpool, a Steve Dillon page from The Ultimates and a Doug Braithwaite page from Punisher Max.

Underneath, there’s a Mike Collins Slaine page from Diceman, and two Carlos Ezquerra pages from Strontium Dog, the detail on which are incredible. I was raised on 2000ad and Strontium Dog and Ezquerra were my absolute favourites so to own these is a dream.

Underneath those are sketches I was lucky enough to get from the living legends that are Alan Davis, Mark Farmer and Steve Dillon from various UK conventions. To be able to watch these guys, whose work has meant so much to me and whose art I spent hours copying as a kid, sketching in front of me was honestly mind blowing. Mark Farmer especially was inspiring to a frustrated writer to talk to. Anyway, there’s sketches of Harry 20, D.R. and Quinch and from Preacher, Jesse and Tulip.

Next to the art on the wall is a signed photo of The Fonz I was lucky enough to get when the school librarian (after much pleading from me) managed to get Henry Winkler in to do a book signing for the kids, which leads you down then to the bookcase.

I’m a total Marvel zombie but most of my collection is in floppies so this bookcase houses a lot of my non-Marvel collection. There’s runs on Scalped, Fables, Transmetropolitan, Planetary and Ellis’ Stormwatch stuff here, all ably watched over in the corner by Ram-Man.

On the shelf underneath are some random hardbacks, including the wrist breaking Invisibles omnibus.

Next to that are my Invincible collection and a signed Neil Gaiman book, (again courtesy of the marvelous school librarian!)

On the bottom shelf are the Marvel Omnibus editions which I’ve become a little bit addicted to in all honesty. Everything from the size of these books to the stitching to the paper quality have seen me spend a fortune on them and just in the corner you can see Cap’s shield, cracked from where I frisbeed it off the side of a friend’s head.

Then on the other wall, there’s some more pages. There’s an Exiles page by Paul Pelletier, an FF page by Mike McKone, a Hitman page by John McCrea and a page from the Hulk by Dale Keown. Next to them are some action figures from MOTU and Secret Wars and statues of Kraven and Doc Doom.

Over on the shelves on the opposite side are my Garth Ennis books, possibly my favourite comics writer of all time, and these books have survived the cull! Next to that is the original He-Man figure my dad got me for my fourth birthday and the original colour guide from a page of Secret Wars. And then finally, my work desk with yet more graphic novels, my favourite Spidey coffee mug and a Punisher page by Steve Dillon which is waiting to be framed and hung (although quite where, I don’t know as there’s no more room)

Well, there it is, what was once a proud collection. I will just add that although much of the office’s contents have been sold, I made enough money from the Omnibus editions that I didn’t need to sell any of the artwork so the walls are still as they are, although the bookcase has taken a hit! Ah well, easy come easy go I suppose. I just hope that one day, my son or daughter realises and appreciates the sacrifice I’ve made. Hope you enjoyed! Cheers, Rich