ThreeSeas

My guess: $963.98

Oh..My..Gosh... That is exactly it! The Strange Change Toy. Thank you so much for finding that. Boy the memories. Making creatures, burning my hand once on it lol. I had that Lost World version with the T-Rex shown. I was five in 1968 so I cannot remember if I got it that young or maybe a couple of years later, but it was the same one pictured.

I had a version of the Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker. Oh that brings back memories. I also had another similar type Mattel thing, but it used plastic squares that when heated up they would pop into dinosaur and monster shapes, and then when you wanted to change them back, you heated them up again in the machine and you used the machines press to make them back into squares. I can still see, in my mind, the Mattel trademark on the monster squares. Now going from memory of around fifty years ago, the squares were about an inch and a half by an inch and a half by maybe a half inch thick and you could buy the squares separately. It was cool to have back in the day.

Don't tell me that that was Jimmy Olsen in a wig and dress?

No one recognizes Robin Hoods hat? Maybe I am getting too old.

It is different. I think that the one you are referring to is comics.org

Thank you!! I was trying to figure out the "lower left" thing and did not realize it was all the way down..kept missing it. I'm the guy that when given something to find in a store by my daughter, will walk right by it a few times before a) getting lucky enough to notice it, or b) flagging down an employee to help me find it. Thanks for providing the "b" option.

Thanks for the update, and you most certainly look younger than 66.

I use this thread, but beware, it's 117 pages long:

I see that there is a Berkbridge Foundation Facebook page and also there are three R Jalali's on Facebook. I wonder if any of those three is the one that runs this foundation?

Thanks for posting this picture and bringing this thread to the front page. Being a history buff, I like reading about how other comic collectors put together their collections. I had heard of this, but had never read about this one until now.

The CGC forums never fail to entertain... I do feel sad for the OP, or anyone who has lost something to a criminal. I just hope that those responsible for the thievery get sent to the big house and don't get off on a technicality or because the Op posted too much about them.

That's cool that you're doing that, but I would recommend instead of saying "I paid too little", maybe say "because I am enjoying the comics so much". If the lady has an addiction(s), then she may not be too happy knowing that she let some money get away. But maybe I've read too many stories where a person tries to do good and ends up being punished for it.

Oh my word. That was interesting. But Bettie Pages? Why not Rosie Chuckles or some such? But all kidding aside, love him or hate him, he has had a big impact on comic collecting. Keep us entertained, Chuck, keep us entertained...

My brother and I had Amazing Spider-Man # 1 among a bunch of other Marvel's published from 1963 to 1969. My parents had a garage sale in 1970 and they were sold for a dime each. I really was too young to remember them, but my brother specifically remembers the first Spider-Man comic and a few other Marvels that are high dollar now. I even had a Spider-Man costume I wore for Halloween in 1968 or 1969, which was probably sold then too. That costume I do remember. My grandmother bought my mother and her sister comics in the 1940's and 1950's and when my brother and I were born she bought them for us, right up until 1981. Mom's golden age comics, like many of that era, were disposed of after being read.

I had always thought it sounded like the word Mariner from the book "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and how I've heard that book title pronounced.

Me, I'd hang onto the book and not send it back, because if you did, you would most likely get what you paid, but, less $100. The seller would say you paid $300 (I think it was $300...so many pages to this thread), He may say here's $200 from me plus you got $100 from Paypal, there's your $300. Maybe this is why he will not commit to a specific dollar amount for the refund. But on the other hand, if he refunded the full $300, then what's to stop Paypal from reversing and taking back the $100 they gave you, because after all, they figured that you were refunded? You survived your trial by fire here at CGC. I'm not sure if the seller did.

Filemaker: This looks pretty cool - I would like to see the template too, thanks. I've never heard of this program, I'll have to read up on it.

The weirdest thing was when my daughter and her friend and I were going into a comic shop and there was an earthquake, well not really enough of one for us to feel, but it happened while we comic shopping. I think it was free comic day and was just a few years back. Oh yeah, we live in Michigan. My son was at home and he said he could hear the old farm house making creaking noises. Another weird time was back in the 80's at the shop I used to frequent, one time I went there for new comic day and the owner was so stoned that he reminded me of a zombie from a movie. I asked his helper "what the heck is wrong with the boss?" and he told me he was just stoned. Another time about the same year I went there and the store owner had two black eyes and looked like he was on the receiving end of something.. was told he had gone through a bad drug deal. He closed up in 1998. I looked him up on facebook just last year on a whim to see what ever happened to him, I find his page and there he had posted pics of himself with a puffy red face and black eye, said he was on the receiving end of a neighbor he didn't get along with. Twenty years later and still getting beat up, presumably over drugs again as his other pics and comments told about that type of problem in the area. Also said he wanted to leave the "hood" really badly. I hope he gets out of there...

Thanks for the info. I only looked inside one, and it had a date of 1957. I'll have to check the rest. The HRN's on the back were all 169. The HRN's for the Junior editions was 576. I'll have to see if the Overstreet guide gives a published date. I never knew they were still printing them in the 70's.

Picked up some books for a dollar each. Mads are from 1972 to 1982. Classic Illustrated are from the late 50's. A lot of the Mad's are subscription copies - they have a brown wrapper that is basically an outer cover. The staples for the book go through the brown shipping wrapper too. In some cases the mailing label is still on them. Whoever had the subscription got lucky as none of them have a subscription fold. The ones that I didn't take looked like 1990's Marvel drek (although I could be wrong on that). Some Marvel series called Life Force or something like that, I'll do some looking and see what they are about.The only older Marvel is the Invaders and Wolverine you see in the picture. There were two lone Charlton comics and one Whitman which I picked up.

To answer the original question - what is happening to the hobby? I think it is growing, having occasional growing pains, sometimes maybe shrinking a little, then growing again. It seems like I've heard stories of how the hobby is dying since at least the 1980's, but I don't think it really is dying. Sure we may lose a few collectors, but we gain some too. Think of how many people quit the hobby pre-internet, before they knew that there were many others just like them. Sometimes when (in the old days) they felt alone they would just quit comics, but now all you have to do to find like minded people is just click away on your internet device...ahh...back home with my online friends again.... None of my close friends collect, but it doesn't matter to me, because I know how cool and enjoyable this hobby is. So for me it will always be a living hobby.

I'm glad to hear that. As i mentioned a long long time ago, it was someone linking to this thread that led me to the discovery of forums dedicated to comics. Comics General, the Gold forum, and the Water Cooler are three of my daily lunch time stops.

I watch and have subscribed to a few comic book related Youtube video makers, some of who are in the opening post above. I just haven't seen very many that are not on Youtube.

Richard Lupoff? It took me a second to recognize his name. I'm currently reading All in Color for a Dime, which I got it for Christmas. I just love reading the stories about the history of the comics industry and the people that created the hobby that I enjoy so much, plus all the stories from other collectors. It's good to see that Mr. Lupoff is out and about. Thanks for posting updates to this thread I enjoy much, Robot Man!