I initially started this post by posing a rhetorical question but just decided to change it.  Originally I started out with, "what have I done?" ...

It's not that easy and I'll try to explain.

This picture, I believe, is where it begins.

It's 1989 and most likely I'm in the store at this very moment.  I'm all into Batman because of the insane hype surrounding the movie and I'm probably looking for Golden Age Batman books because it was right here, when I first felt that pull to the 1940's.  At this point The Shadow was simply a name and nothing else.  So If I'm in this shop at this very moment, but in order for me to go back in time to see this, based off of my research on the Shadow in 2023, did I just initiate a Bootstrap Paradox?! 

I'm wondering... this is certainly beyond The Doctor... beyond the TVA.  Something else has been manipulating me - driving me to a singular point in time...

But for what reason?

Of course.

All this time - it took so long that I couldn't see it coming, but here it is.  It wasn't the TVA after-all.  Well, at least not in terms of where this journey has led me.  The TVA was after The Book which served as a gateway to this alternate reality but there was something else lying, waiting, beyond that threshold on the other side.

It's almost not fair...

...

Now before I get into this next post, I do have to conduct another House Cleaning to kind of explain these past few weeks!

So.

House Cleaning...  (I have no freakin' idea what number I'm at so to Hell with it... )

Here's a cool video.

I traded in my old vehicle for something I've dubbed the Shadow-Mobile. 

It just kind of fits...

I haven't been able to post in a few weeks because I've dropped my hardwired internet service to a 5G service and there were a few bugs that I needed to iron out but it's looking good now.  There are many more stories to tell but I'll hold off on those for now.

"All they wanted was a sound that could kill someone from a distance, so we go ahead..."

I recently sent in three books to be graded by CGC and the results were pretty nice.

The 1948 comic, I was hoping for a 3.5 but expected a 3.0 ... I got a 4.5

The 1949 comic, I was hoping for a 8.0  but expected a 7.5 ... I got a 7.0

The 1966 comic, I was hoping for a 5.0 but expected a 4.0 ... I got a 6.0

Ok, back to business...

I'm finally about to get this journal on track.  Promise!

Let's go back to the end of the WandaVision series.  I've written thoroughly on that and it's certainly not new news, but just to recap, that one series grabbed me like no other miniseries before that nor afterwards as well.  I had accumulated a bunch of 'spec books' relating to the series as well as possible tie-in books that appealed to me.  Some of those spec books never panned out and some did... and it's my belief that still some others, may still indeed become very relevant in time.

The series concluded in March of 2021 and right after the final episode aired, I saw this online advertisement for a 1/6 scale Elizabeth Olsen / Scarlet Witch figure that was soon to be available from Hot Toys through Sideshow Toys.  We're all very familiar with Hot Toys as well as Sideshow Toys but surprisingly, the only two figures I owned (in March of 2021) was the WWI French Infantryman from the Bayonets and Barbed Wire collection along with the Silver Screen Edition of Max Shrek as The Vampyre (Nosferatu).

...

...

(Last year I added this unlicensed figure to my small collection - it's the same one I got for Rob)

So needless to say, when I saw the ad for the pre-sale of the WandaVision Scarlet Witch figure, I don't think I could order it fast enough.  I decided to do the 4 payment option as it seemed like a good idea at the time and I believe it was originally slated to be available in June or July of 2021.

Well...

The first 3 payments all were taken out accordingly but when it was time for the 4th and last payment, that's when I got the news that the figure would be delayed until November or December.

Well...

December rolled around and then January of 2022 came and went... as did March and April of 2022... November and December of 2022.

So after a long wait, over two years from the time I placed the order, she finally arrived and yes, it's a wonderful piece!

The luminous eyes effect (by use of Black Light) is pretty cool but I love that they fabricated a miniature version the The Darkhold! 

They're actually printed, individual pages which was a really nice touch in my opinion.

Looking at these pictures on the monitor, I can see that they're quite blurry - sorry about that.

(Better pictures here:  https://www.sideshow.com/collectibles/marvel-the-scarlet-witch-hot-toys-907935 )

Now after I ordered this figure in 2021, I needed more of Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch... I was obses... hooked.

I was accumulating a lot of books but there was something else I needed to obtain...

...

...

Her autograph.

I set out to find just the right signed item. 

So I saw a bunch of supposedly signed Funko Pop figures but I figured that many of those were forgeries... I found 8X10 photos which were kind of cool but I also had a suspicion that many of those were forgeries as well.

Was my instinct right? Perhaps...

Perhaps not.

I definitely had to find just the right item and that's when I found this gem of information!

This was posted on the CGC website in 2021...

Just needed to hear this tonight...

I was thinking that it was kind of risky to obtain a signed item that may or may not have been 'authenticated' by PSA or some other company... I mean, stickers are stickers, right?  But when I dug a little deeper and saw that CGC had held a signing event, which I missed and didn't know about, that (to me) was the most logical choice in terms of seeking out what I was (desperately?) looking for! 

I did a little more research and found this... the fee schedule for this particular CGC signing event...

So this gave me an idea of what to expect in terms of looking at items for sale on eBay and other sites.  After a couple of weeks or searching and research, I finally settled on my book.  This one was going to be more pricey in terms of what I was originally seeking but it made too much sense.  I couldn't pass this item up, seeing how well it was priced.  Basically, I purchased this for one dollar LESS than just the CGC advertised price of just two autographs.  That was the first selling point... the second, third and forth selling points were that this item had excellent signature placements, it marked my favorite artists first issue on this run and it was a grade match to a book that I had submitted to CGC at the height of the WandaVision series.

Here's John Byrne's first issue on West Coast Avengers which marked the start of the Vision Quest story line (which might prove to be an important issue going forward!), signed by both Elizabeth Olsen ("Lizzie Olsen") and Paul Bettany.  I really like how the two placed their signatures on the corresponding figures on this issue.  And even though it's only a 9.4, it's the only 9.4 signature series issue on the CGC census (2nd highest) and a nice compliment to my West Coast Avengers 45.

Now of course I wasn't done with this new obses fascination of mine... oh-no, not at all!  

There were certainly more issues to seek and buy.  I guess I had a sort of destination in mind but it kind of took a life of its own, at this point.  I also needed the Scarlet Witch's origin too, right?  I mean before retcon was a thing, of course.  So once again, I turned to my comic book artist 'spiritual advisor', John Byrne and sought to acquire those issues as well, but of course, you know, they had to match! 

And so I eventually found the Scarlet Witch origin trilogy after weeks of searching. 

This was back in 2021, two years ago now. 

Many collectors seek the 9.8's which of course is admirable but for me, a 9.2 can be just about as good based off of how I was raised as a collector.  I'm not sure if that makes any sense but it's my sense (or non-sense ) ...

Now these, I was very particular about!

They all had to be 9.2's with WHITE Pages but they also had to be direct editions too... which based on my information, were more rare than newsstand copies at this point in time (1979).

1979.

This is what happens to me...

So yes, I was very pleased to have been able to secure the Scarlet Witch origin trilogy but no... I was certainly not done!

I think there was something else going on...

To Be Continued.

When I was looking for more Scarlet Witch key issues to buy along with the signed copy, I kept going back to this House of M #1, Joe Quesada 1:20 variant.  I thought it was a cool book to have signed by Elizabeth Olsen and it may actually prove to be THE book, if the MCU does what it should and taps into that story-line in some way. Although unrelated to the WandaVision series, the cover nicely complimented the 'unraveling' Wanda experienced in it.

I ended up getting a raw copy for my personal collection but not a graded or signed one for that matter. 

Now I had a few other books that I was targeting as well but I was also findIng a lot of other books that wasn't initially on my radar.  This one for example, I thought was a really nice runner up to the House of M, Quesada variant in itself but with the added signature, it was an absolute 'no-brainer' that this one had to be acquired as well.  It was also priced very reasonably so that greatly added to the appeal!

Now, of course, what did I do to myself with the acquisition of the Scarlet Witch #1 Hip-Hop variant?

Well obviously I had to pair that up with the Vision #1 Hip-Hop variant too, right?  Of course!  That proved to be too troublesome though as there would be no way to secure a Bill Sieniewicz signed copy of that one at a CGC 9.0.  Regardless, I found this Vanesa Del Rey Hip-Hop variant copy and decided to add this one to the collection. 

Now if Viv Vision becomes a thing...

BTW... my scanner absolutely HATED this book!

I think I mentioned in my Silver Surfer #3 / Mephisto post that this was one of my favorite childhood Halloween decorations...

Anyways, so those two books were not ones that I had initially sought out but they were certainly ones that I had to have... and so it went.

What else did I need relating to the Scarlet Witch? 

Ah, yes... the Darkhold.  I did explain how I thought it was a nice touch to actually make a miniature mock up of the Darkhold for the Elizabeth Olsen / Scarlet Witch figure, right?  Well, prior to that, I needed the Darkhold as well and this book features the first appearance of it, but not its first mention.

And of course, this issue features a sweet date stamp as well!

The first mention of the Darkhold appeared in the issue before this one, in Marvel Spotlight #3.

There's a really weird twist in that book though that I haven't seen written about anywhere.  Before I get to that though, yes, I'm working on getting a paired match to this one but I think it's going to be slightly off.

No surprise, right?

So here's the weird twist or mix-up in Marvel Spotlight #3 referencing the first mention of the Darkhold.

In a few panels, this character is referred to as Andrea but then, in others, as Agatha... which makes sense relating to her likeness of Agatha Harkness, but in later comic lore. 

Maybe it's a Matrix-y thing...

Apologies for the blurry pic.

It's just very odd how this character shifts between Andrea and Agatha in this issue!

And so, with this, I'm nearing the end of my Scarlet Witch thread and I'm sure some are hoping it would be done already.  Well, I do have one more recent acquisition to talk about and then I'll be able to go forward.

But seriously, is there any 'moving on' from this?

I'll say... No. 

BTW, Elizabeth Olsen is ready to lead the MCU...

https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a35278472/elizabeth-olsen-wandavision-interview/

To be continued...

So to close out the Scarlet Witch books, I have these last two to add but they're very recent acquisitions... in part because one of them was just released and is just such a great cover! 

The new Scarlet Witch series, released this year (2023), is written by Steve Orlando, with cover art by Russell Dauterman and interior art by Sara Pichelli.

Sara Pichelli and interior art...

It's a really good series although I do have to admit that I'm a few issues behind now. 

The first issues marked the debut of Darcy Lewis...

https://comicbook.com/comics/news/marvel-comics-darcy-lewis-first-appearance-scarlet-witch-2/

Anyways, the first issue featured a bunch of variant cover including this really nice piece by David Nakayama.

But the book I had to get was the amazing variant done by Adam Hughes and the reasoning behind that is pretty obvious... after-all, it's an homage cover to John Byrne's West Coast Avengers #56 and the beginning of 'Dark Scarlet Witch'.  Of course I had to pair this Adam Hughes book to the original.  At the end of the WandaVision series, West Coast Avengers 56 spiked a little in demand and value but it has since cooled off quite a bit and is just another book at this point.  Adam Hughes did a phenomenal job on this one (when doesn't he?) but this copy, with the complimentary signature, just sealed the deal for me. 

Such a great cover!

John Byrne : West Coast Avengers 56 from 1990...

So that's the end of the story on the arrival of the Hot Toys Scarlet Witch along with a majority of the key books I acquired since the end of the WandaVision series two years ago.  It's been fun finding these and adding them to my personal collection and I'm sure there will be more to add in time... especially with the upcoming MCU series featuring Agatha and another with Vision.

There was one last thing I neglected to add to this Scarlet Witch addition - the finale, of which I found a little late.

Yes, I posted this video before but it's an appropriate bookend to this post. 

As I was browsing through various sites, in search of Elizabeth Olsen / Scarlet Witch memorabilia, I found this trading card.

So, to be honest, up to this point, I hadn't even considered that trading cards were a still a thing in the realm of non-sports cards.  So this was kind of a shock but it led me to another quest.  That resulted in my discovering that Upper Deck had actually released a WandaVision card set earlier this year!  Now of course, once I discovered this, I immediately reverted back to the early to mid 90's and bought a box and two booster boxes.  I told my wife that I had just set up a retro 'date night' for us...

Well.

I bought a box from SteelCityCollectibles...

Along with a couple of booster boxes from another site...

I set aside a Saturday night for my wife and I to open up a bunch of packs - I know, crazy fun, right?! ... but it wasn't long, before we both realized that we really weren't in the 90's any longer.  The quality of these cards were sub-par (in my opinion)  and the fact that the best chase cards we pulled out of a box and two boosters was Jimmy Woo, only left me with more disappointment. 

Lesson learned.

So that is (now) officially the end of the Scarlet Witch thread within this journal... it was fun, enlightening and certainly, memorable!

And so from here, I can continue on with my time travel... I have so many stories!

Tomorrow, I'll finally get to meet up with Rob for his birthday and then it's full speed ahead.

...

...

"There's no such thing as the unknown—only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood.”

“Beam me up, Scotty!”

What a night!

I ended up taking that long trip out to Russia to see Rob again at his (partially owned) bar... I believe it's called the Broken Gull, if memory serves me right.  I met more new friendly faces and had a few delicious beers along with the amazing pizza that I had the last time I was down here, although I had to share it this time around... I just wasn't feeling like I could finish the whole thing tonight.  I was able to check on the Blue Coal Time Damper in the basement and was happy to see that it was working perfectly.  I made a slight adjustment though based on the events of the night.  Somehow, someway, a member of the TVA was able to slip in and was able to conduct a full conversation with me and pulled some vital childhood information before I was able to figure out exactly what was going on.  I was able to determine that this was just a chance encounter as this person's cloaking device was working flawlessly without a single glitch.  If he only knew that he was mere feet away from the only two patrons who had possession of The Book!  I have a feeling that this individual (I'll call him Kevin) was on a separate reconnaissance mission and Rob and I were not (or could not be) on his target list for the evening!  Needless to say, we made it out without a hitch and upon inspection, the Blue Coal Time Damper was humming right along... cloaking our time and local coordinates!

*** BREAKING ***

***ATTENTION***

The aforementioned TVA has been identified without the use of a cloaking device. 

If such a being is witnessed, initiate evasive maneuvers!

Yes, this was a harrowing experience for the both of us but we made it out with stealth and wit.

Definitely a learning experience!

So...

Speaking of experience, my theme song came up once again tonight in our discussions and I thought it would only be appropriate to link it here, once again.

I'll call this 'Intermission' for some strange reason ...

And so with that, and as a nod to my dear friend, Rob, who had a profound effect on me writing this journal... I'll end it here.

THE END.

...

...

...

The End to this chapter that set to document 2020, TheEndOfTheWorld along with the insanity that followed in this post-pandemic market where we saw copies of Marvel Two-in-One #62 reach two point five million dollars (sarcastically)  due to this infamous spanking panel!

Say...

Does anyone want to see some 90's 'Super-Models' ...?

Like Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbel, Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford?

Oh, just say YES!

And now here we are...

Where Rob kind of started it.

Where I began it, where I sold it... and where I now begin anew.

So...

...

...

...

2013 - 2023

Rusty Staples and Sunken Treasure...

Or how an owl found his way underwater ... underground.

I think I've figured out this journal thing finally and hopefully the 2 other attempts can be deleted in time.

Anyways...

A few weeks back I met a good friend of mine for lunch and for some strange reason, he had just out of the blue purchased a really cool book for me. Why? He's just like that and an overall good guy.

Anyways, that generous act sort of gave me an idea to write about how my collecting focus has evolved from the time I got back into collecting and buying key books to where I am now after finding these boards. Maybe along the way I'll discover why I'm attracted to these types of books so much.

And with that, perhaps it will prove to be therapeutic!

To start this off I'll post the very book that my friend Rob purchased for me. We couldn't figure out why Pizza Hut found this book to be so important to reprint it and use it as a giveaway...

Let's start this of with a video, shall we?

To be continued...

2013

(2023 Review... )

2013 - 2023

Rusty Staples and Sunken Treasure...

Or how an owl found his way underwater ... underground.

DIGITAL STAPLES : PART II

I still find this kind of crazy how this all lined up and rather organically too.  Re-reading those first couple of entries from ten years ago, when this nutty journey of mine (or should I say, this nutty journal)  started, was a little difficult.  What I mean by that, is that I distinctly remember that moment in time - the moment right before I headed underwater.  Little did I know that it was to be a metaphor with what was going on in my personal life.  Now when I stated that Rob started all of this (in terms of writing this journal) , well maybe that was a bit of hyperbole.  Yes, he certainly encouraged me and definitely helped to fuel many of the topics I've written about. Yet, right there in the first few lines of that initial post from ten years...

Anyways, that generous act sort of gave me an idea to write about how my collecting focus has evolved from the time I got back into collecting and buying key books to where I am now after finding these boards. Maybe along the way I'll discover why I'm attracted to these types of books so much.

From the start, I've been on this path of discovery.  Trying to find something... it started as a past reflection which ultimately led to a fascination with underwater themed books and then moon themed books.  As things in my life changed, so did my collecting habits until it all kind of started to fall apart. 

I found a few defibrillators which helped to keep things ticking...

In time, the hobby kind of reset itself within me and I admit, some of that was caused by the nonsense of 2020 - 2021. In these past three to four years, I've surpassed the collection I assembled ten years ago in terms of number of books but no where near the quality.  The books I've sought out in these past few years are ones that I'm fond of for one reason or another but they're no where near the quality (not speaking of grades, but titles and issues) of the books assembled during my underwater and moon phases. 

The evidence for that statement is right here in these long departed books...

RIP... 

And so here I am, yet again, embarking on a new journey with new discoveries... trying to find something, although I've already kind of hinted at what it is that I'm searching for.  That's probably why I chose the Star Trek quote a few entries back.

This new expedition is leading me not underwater but underground.  That being said, the collections I've assembled over the years may still pop up in this new venture.  For instance Dan Dare and the Fantastic Four are still very important to me as are certain underwater themed books as well as the moon themed books.  I've talked about three of those already in the Detective Comics 70, House of Secrets 92 and Daredevil 158 issues.

The rest of this year is going to be quite interesting for me and it all started forming back in December of 2022. 

In a few days I'll be heading down to Pittsburgh, PA for PulpFest 2023 ( https://pulpfest.com/ ) and to be honest, I'm just as excited by this as the first time I went to NYCC with Rob all those years ago. 

So this is officially the beginning of the next chapter.

How an owl found his way underwater ... underground.

Like I said. this new chapter kind of started last November / December (2022) when my interest in the character, The Shadow first sparked.  There's so much to write about and it's kind of difficult to sort it all out seeing how we're now 8 months into 2023 but I'll try to fill this in appropriately.  The reason why I'm saying it's a little difficult is because I haven't been keeping track of the time frame in which I've acquired certain items.  I've accumulated a rather nice assortment of Shadow related memorabilia in addition to some pulps and comics.  I'll get to those soon enough but I guess a good starting point will be to go back to what really pulled me into the character, before I started linking all of these other thoughts I've had over the course of the past year.  And for that, I'll reference my entry relating to The Shadow that I made back in March of this year.  I focused that entry around the visuals of looking through multiple images of The Shadow Magazine pulps and 'seeing' Batman.

From that, I discovered the Anthony Tollin article in Alter Ego #176...

Now prior to this, I had written about some other related Shadow material but I wasn't being too clear on that... to no surprise.  Part of the reason why those posts were so disjointed was because as I was writing this stuff, I became aware that I was very close to writing a screenplay and I had to stop... I was just enjoying it way too much and it sounded so good.  I needed to pull it back.  Anyways, now that I have a definitive direction I'm going in, I can now try to lay out a more concise layout of this collection of mine and tying into the stories that I'm truly fascinated by as it relates to The Shadow!  So yes, the images I was seeing from the pulps, the connections to Batman... that was certainly enough to pull me in but it was actually another media that truly hooked me and that was radio. Being able to take that journey back in time as I would drive through the night, hit just right and set me off on this trail.

When this number starts (at the 2:56 mark), it's 1937 and I'm definitely tuning in!

This was one of the first episodes I listened to... I admit, I was jumping around a lot and not listening to these in any order. 

Early on, I was more fixated on the names of the episodes rather than the years or seasons and voice actors and actresses.  So, just to highlight how everything was synchronized just right at this time, in order to fuel this search I was on, I listened to this episode called The Mark of the Bat.  The name certainly stuck out of the playlist I was looking at and with good reason.  After I listened to this one, I had to see when it originally aired and had to smile and shake my head when I saw that it was first heard on the air during the last week in July of 1938... 85 years ago this week!

At the 5:21 mark, Alexi says to Marie ... "Shadow passed across the moon"  "No, no. Bat, like a great bird, it's an omen..."

Based on how popular this series was in 1938, I'm pretty sure Bill Finger listened to this one!  Again, I listened to this right around the same time that I discovered this 1936 cover of The Shadow Magazine.

Something else started to happen here as well and I can't really tell you why, although I certainly mentioned it when I wrote about the Pennsylvania Anthracite region.  I listened to a lot of episodes over a short period of time and perhaps that's where the 'theater of the mind' aspect took an unexpected turn.  The best example of this (for me)  is within this Shadow episode that aired on December 19th, of 1937, the week before Christmas. 

This episode is one of my favorites and features Orson Welles as The Shadow / Lamont Cranston and Agnes Moorehead as Margot Lane. 

It's a take off of Dickens' - A Christmas Carol, but oh, so good!

In that 1937 episode, which marked the 13th of the premier season, included in the sponsors advertisement, is this little message... "Ladies and Gentleman. An event of unusual interest will be broadcast from this studio at the end of the program."  So not only were you held in suspense by this episode of The Shadow... you were also going to be held in suspense from Blue Coal as well!  What was this event that was going to be broadcast? 

Well, as usual, half way through the episode there was the commercial break where the announcer included this important message ...

"While you're engaged in last minute preparations for Christmas, don't neglect the health and comfort of your family. Be sure of a cozy, warm home during the holidays by ordering a supply of Blue Coal.  No matter how cold or how mild the weather, Blue Coal is the most economical fuel for heating or cooking purposes.  Up in the arctic regions where the temperature today is at least 60 degrees below zero, fur traders and trappers are keeping warm with Blue Coal.  They've used other fuels, only to find that Blue Coal will keep them warm, more economically than any other fuel.  Blue Coal is a Pennsylvania Anthracite. The fuel that burns long and steadily.  It is the fuel that furnaces, parlor stoves and cooking ranges in New England, were especially designed to burn.  And the finest Pennsylvania Anthracite is Blue Coal - mined by the Glen Alden Coal Company, employing American labor and it is transported by American railroad.  Every carload is laboratory tested for purity and uniform size before shipment.  Blue Coal comes in all domestic sizes - egg, stove, chestnut and pea size.  For economy sake and for greatest comfort in cold weather, insist on Blue Coal.  Phone your nearest Blue Coal dealer.  You'll find his name listed in the 'where to buy' section, of your classified telephone directory, under the name Blue Coal."

Now I don't know if it was just the repetition of the name, but I was beginning to think that this Blue Coal was magic!   

In case you were wondering about the sizing mentioned in the commercial, this is what he was referring to...

• Egg: Comparable to a softball in size, egg is one of the largest sizes available (between 2 7/16” and 3 ¼”). Egg is not very common and is often omitted in some classifications.
• Stove: Stove is equivalent in size to a baseball (between 1 5/8 and 2 7/16”) and is one of the most popular sizes in the large coal segment.
• Chestnut: Often referred to as nut, the chestnut size is slightly larger than a golf ball (13/16” to 1-5/8”).
• Pea: Comparable to a quarter (9/16” to 13/16”), the pea finishes up the larger sizes of coal.

Anyways, this wasn't the 'event of unusual interest' that was teased at the beginning of this episode... apparently that big announcement was still to come.  Right now, however, it was time to get back to see how Daniel Carver was going to be shown the error of his ways during this Christmas season!

Finally, at the end of this episode it was time for the unusual event.  That event was the announcement that The Shadow radio program was to be given the coveted Pilot Radio Award.  The award was presented to Harry A. Smith, president of the Blue Coal Company, who accepted it on behalf of the Glen Alden Company and D.L. & W. (Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad). 

It was this that made me believe that Blue Coal was so very instrumental in the success of The Shadow radio program and I needed to start digging (underground perhaps) to see just how long this 'marriage' went back.  The story or origins of The Shadow went back to 1931 (technically July, 1930... 93 years ago!) with the magazine publishers, Street & Smith but there was another story here that I needed to discover! 

I'll have to break this attempt at continuity for a moment to start to document this incredible weekend that's now winding down.  But before I get to that, I have to go back a little bit as apparently I wasn't done with my Elizabeth Olsen / WandaVision post.  I mentioned above that this weekend was going to be my first experience going to a pulp convention... Pulp Fest!  But before we all made that trip, I received an email from Sideshow offering me a discount on selected items.  I curiously looked through their selections and when I saw that the Iron Studios Halloween Wanda statue was included, well...

So it was delivered just as we were getting back home but here she is.

Details and (much) better pictures here!

https://www.sideshow.com/collectibles/marvel-wanda-halloween-Version-iron-studios-909485

So back to very important (and serious) business...

When I discovered this thing called "PulpFest" earlier this year, I made it a point to try and get to this event.  One of the first things, was going to be to try and secure this date around my work and get this time off as a vacation week.  Once that feat was accomplished, it was interesting to see how everything else just fell in line to make this trip and experience a reality. 

And that needs to mark the emphasis of this entry.

Synchonicity.

(For all of us of a certain age, yes, we watched this on our first generation cable TV)

So why Synchroncity? 

Well that was the term that was used in the 80's - twenty years later it was discovered that this was actually the Matrix.

Ok, I'm just kidding here but that's exactly what it feels like.

It was going to be a long drive down to Pittsburgh, PA but I was kind of excited, not only for the Pulp Fest, but because I hadn't been to any location in Western PA.  My familiarity was strictly focused around North Eastern Pennsylvania as well as central PA,  I just thought it would be nice to semi explore a new section of the state!

So now, before I get to this next portion of this journal - I'm going to have to go back in time (no surprise) once again, to set up the subtleties of this weekend. 

What in the world have I gotten myself into?!

I have to flashback to March of this year (2023)... my daughter is about to embark on a 4 month journey to Japan as part of her collegiate studies.

In March, we drove her down to Newark, NJ for her flight to Japan. On the way down, from Central NY to Newark, NJ, I stopped at a Cigar's International Superstore in Bethlahem, PA.  I bought a nice selection of cigars including this Japanese influenced one.. the Kintsugi from Alec & Bradley.

https://www.cigarsinternational.com/p/alec-bradley-kintsugi/2036410/

That was going to be my farewell cigar.

Now I know that I've written about this before but this was certainly a trying time for me.  The night we arrived in NJ, I ordered us a Margarita Pizza for all of us and I proceeded to find some Ginger Ale for my mixer. I debated going outside to have that cigar against pouring a Scotch and Ginger Ale and staying in the room.  Well, I decided to stay in the room as my wife and my daughter spent the entire evening going over last minute preparations on one of the beds.

I camped out on the couch on the far end of the room and enjoyed my mixer while I reviewed some of my watched items on eBay that night.  There were a couple of books that I was targeting and with some of those, the auctions had ended.  Well there was this one book that I was paying very close attention to because it was another of my favorites, but the recent prices jumped so much on this issue that it was getting close to becoming out of my league.  One of the auctions that had recently ended on this issue was for a purple label, restored copy.  It went for a bit more than I would've paid but there was another copy, this one with a green label or 'Qualified' grade that I was kind of interested in as well.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do on this particular book as the timer was ticking down to the last 20 minutes or so. 

I'm sipping my drink and reflecting on the moment, with my daughter just hours away from getting on a plane to travel 6,713 miles...

Of course my mind went back to one of my favorite memories with her, as she would often come into my comic room when I had it set up as such.  She would sit with me at the desk chair and would look at all the comics I had on the walls.  I would have her pick out her favorite comic and then her second and third and so on... she would always pick this one particular book as her favorite and it made sense to me as it featured a family on the cover and she has always been about her family!

So as those thoughts drifted through and kind of settled where appropriate, I decided to throw in a bid for this book that was now minutes away from ending even though what I really wanted to do was take her back home like we did when we escaped the dreaded Canadian Maple TVA Terror Drones back in 2006...

I put in a bid and was surprised to see that I won the book... I figured it was just meant to be!

So this was more of a sentimental purchase than anything even though it is a book I genuinely like as well.  I've owned two copies of this one in the past... one that I purchased raw and sent it in to CGC with it coming back as a 4.0 and another that was a CGC 3.5 in an old blue square label.  So this copy, graded as a CGC 2.5 (Qualified) fell a little short of the others but it had just enough eye appeal for my liking.  This one was a little different than the other green label copies that I had been seeing.  Most of these were missing a page or two but this one was complete - just married pages. 

Fantastic Four #3

The first issue of the FF with their Costumes, Headquaters and Fantasti-Car along with the 1st appearance of the Miracle Man.

What was shocking and provided more evidence that this was meant to be, was that this book that I won (CGC 2.5 Qualified) went for $370 less than the other copy I was watching that ended just two days earlier. 

That issue was a CGC 1.8 (Restored) with tear seals to cover, cover re-attached, with glue, all 3 edges trimmed and the back cover married.

So that was certainly a win for me and it felt right to have this book (what was my daughter's favorite all those years ago) back again. 

The next morning was one of the most difficult mornings for me that I can remember. 

I gave her a small Bon Voyage bag that had this last little 'school drawing' inside that I had done for her a couple of nights earlier...

But it was this picture that was absolutely crushing.

Even today...