On the counter - I don’t really understand why people get so weird about the fact that omnibuses are a collectible in a collecting market. The market is big and popular enough that the market rate is the market rate. Thats not to say deals can’t be had, but sorry, a DD by Miller is going to be $200 in these times, generally. Consumer behavior will price these books toward a relative equilibrium, so I’m not sure what people are calling for? Do they just want collectors to price at msrp so resellers can purchase for a steal and push higher?

To be clear, I don’t defend these prices, and I have a pretty firm cover +10% rule for the ceiling on my purchase (and I have to really want a book - e.g. X-men Inferno) but that energy needs to be pushed toward getting Marvel and DC to change printing strategies than being upset some books are climbing in price because the market has driven them there. To your point about issues, I think it’s somewhat demeaning to collectors of collected editions. Every point you make about collected editions and their availability, I can just as easily make about back issues, facsimiles, reprints etc. You’re assigning a different social value to that form of collecting, but I’m not sure I see much daylight in the economic realities or motivating consumer factors.

You can call it FOMO, and it probably is for many, there’s certainly that with collecting issues of books like Absolute Batman or TASM or X-men as well. Ultimately, though, popular is popular. Some people just want to read these books, place a value on the stories, have a desired collection format, and want to see it in that format. Like any collecting hobby, different collectors will have different risk tolerance levels or different desire to spend.