And ASM V2#25 makes it a full run

That's  right, kids, I now have a complete run of Amazing Spider-Man. Yes, that's including Spidey's first appearance in Amazing Fantasy # 15.

The really interesting thing (to me) is that the last couple of issues I needed to collect to complete my full run of this series were not the lower-numbered (earliest) issues, but the ones that came out in the mid-to-late '90s. In fact the final issue I needed (the one I received today) was actually Amazing Spider-Man Vol 2 #25. For some reason this single issue has proven to be harder to track down than some of the more "exotic" issues.

Near as I can figure (because there really is nothing extraordinarily special about it as far as I can tell), is that it came out at a time when Marvel was playing everything close to the vest and (quite literally) only printed what was ordered. Thus proving that scarcity coupled with demand is what determines pricing, not price guide guides or hype.

I've been looking for this particular issue for well over a year now, but most of the time that I saw it (when I could actually find it), the issue was priced well beyond, not only what I was willing to spend for it, but way beyond what the issues on either side of it were commanding.

Sure I wanted it, but no, I simply was not going to pay that much for the issue. As it turns out, I didn't have to (over)pay for it. Even as I searched for it at conventions, I stalked it online at auction sites. I did see it a couple of times priced lower (and missed the bid), but more often than not, I saw it much higher. Finally, the other day I saw it at a reasonable price (a touch higher than I was hoping to pay for it, but not so much so as to make acquiring it painful), so I snatched it up.

Now I just have to look over the other Spider-Titles to see what's missing and then set about filling in those holes as well.