Well, obviously I can read them, but the way I explain it to people is like this:
Most people will read a volume in 30 minutes or whatever and put it on the shelf. How is it much different reading the manga online while putting the Japanese volume on the shelf?
With the added benefit of directly supporting the author, and they often have neat stuff like extras at the end of the volume, doodles between chapters, and alternate art under the dust jacket.
Sadly, translated volumes overseas aren't tracked as a metric for keeping the author in the magazine, and it's my gut feeling any royalties the author may see from them is also much smaller. (Since the publisher gets less money from a license payment, hence the author gets less as well.) I've tried emailing Yen Press for clarification on how royalties/author support works for overseas titles, but never got a response. Maybe I should try Seven Seas, they seem to license a lot of fan favorites.
This picture is pretty old at this point. I have about double that amount now. I finally bought a 2nd bookshelf, so once that's assembled and stocked, I'll update my collection picture.
Edited by Aereus, 27 February 2015 - 10:00 AM.