Avengers Assemble(d)

It's done... I have them...all of them and I'm happy as a lark, strange that most of the time I feel like the path of my life is strewn with cowpats from the devil's own satanic herd.
Of course I'm talking about that constant thorn in my side the last few months... the one I have been bugging the two or three readers that actually read my blog.

I just received my first package of 2005 and as a result of some weird synchronicity it contained the last book I bought in 2004 and the final issue of a very large run....

Book was Avengers #4 and now I'm the proud owner of Avengers #1 through to #503.
I initially wanted to stop at #500, but then the news came the series would stop at #503, so I bought the last three crappy issues as well to get a full set.
None of the Silver books are high grade, but what does maybe make the collection a bit special is that not a single book was bought domestically, yes the 500+ books were all bought abroad and by mail, so basically I didn't buy a single book in person or was able to check it out before buying.

Avengers V3 were bought from a Dutch dealer and from Mile High
Avengers V2 I got from a German website
And the first +- 400 I got from the US, mainly from CGC board members.
Putting this collection together, reminds me how thankful I must be for the internet, webboards and e-commerce in general, without this I would NEVER have finished this collection....It's pretty rough living in a country where there are no Bronze or Silver age collectors or back issues and every new issue has to be special ordered and is marked up 200%. But I'm keeping the fires burning and am hoping to finish Fantastic Four #1 - #520 in 2005 as well (only need 6 more issues).
Once I get home, I'll put a scan up of Avengers #4...which was the most expensive and last book I needed...there's some Zen in there somewhere...

My New Year started off very well I hope yours did too, yeah surprisingly enough I don't hate New Year's Day..only Xmas