Originally presented and written for Comicbooked.com

Have you ever wanted that one special comic book? You know the one that is slightly out of your price range and you need to borrow money from your parents to get it. The one you begged and pleaded for. The one that got you "no" after "No" after "NO", with maybe a few profanities placed in between, but enough about last week.

I was 16 when I was becoming enamored with Daredevil and I was doing everything I could to purchase the back issues between #158 and #191 along with the new releases. At this point of my life I lived with my Father who had no problem with me collecting comic books, not to mention he allowed me to walk to my Local Comic Shop once a week.

ComiCards, my original LCS had just purchased some key back issues and conveniently placed them on the wall behind the register. They were safely placed in Mylar bags and boarded for their protection, (you know before CGC came along). A few books caught my eye, of course there were only two that I vividly remember; both of which were in beautiful condition (as beautiful as a new book straight off the shelf).

After three years as a customer I learned to trust their judgment on what to pick up and what to pass on, although I still stayed away from The Watchman (what can I say, I was a Marvel elitist). I can almost recall some X-men around issue #100 but what I remember most were the two beautiful copies of Amazing Spider-Man #129 and Daredevil #1. Spider-man I liked right away (who didn't) and Daredevil I learned to love. I started to get into a number one craze, but the silver age books I couldn't afford unlike Power Pack, ElfQuest, and Cloak and Dagger(to name a few).

I asked Dane (the proprietor) if he could hold them for me and he said yes, even if he was a bit skeptical. Mind you I was a teen so maybe in the store owner's eyes I was never going to be able to afford either one, but he could have also remembered how I spent over $70 when I was just thirteen and paid with a $100 bill. I might have been young but I was a regular. He gave me a week.

Daredevil #1 was my first choice and I had to figure out how to ask my Father for the money. The $300 value was a bit out of my range, the Amazing Spider-Man #129 was a bit more realistic to my wallet priced at $100. The comic shop fortunately took trade-ins (if they needed them). One of the ones I had of value was a copy of Iron man #1 and a few other books I have forgotten. I thought I would get more because it was a number one but was still naïve enough not to realize it wasn't a first appearance. I was offered about $50 for the Iron Man, a few extra dollars for a few others (some were turned down), along with cash and the Amazing Spider-Man #129 was mine. I held onto this book for years eventually getting it signed by Stan Lee and John Romita, then graded by CGC.

Today, all these years later, I tend to point out to my Father the book that I did get compared to the Daredevil I didn't. I don't mind that he said no, but I do like to point out that the $300 he could have loaned me for a Near Mint copy of Daredevil #1 (9.4)now goes for (approximately) $25,000 and the ASM #129 ( 9.4 signature series) last sold for about $1300. It took twenty five years but I finally have him trained to realize that when I need to borrow money for a comic book or original artwork he lets me. Of course the original artwork I am mentioning, I just paid three times the amount for two pages compared to the $300 I originally asked to borrow those two and a half decades ago. I guess my credit is now good.

Thanks for Reading

Tneb