Robot Man

Don't get all excited though. I know this lady. She is selling off her dead husband's collection. When she first started, I got a lot of great deals. The best one was several Timelys at quite a bit below guide. But, she has gotton a lot higher now. The comics and pulps are now priced at about 3 times their actual value. Many are now faded from sitting right under the lights. But as they say, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonaid. She obviously didn't do her homework on the monster stuff. I got the stuff below real cheap. Probably came from the same kid's house. The magazines are all three issues of this title published by Stan Lee. So cheap, I'm going back tomorrow with a little heavier wallet.

I did a little "antique mall crawl" today... What red blooded American comic book collector wouldn't have been caught cold in their tracks at this booth?

I finally got around to reading my copy. Man, it was bad. The last few issues had some promise. I did notice something in the back at the letters columns. It stated that the next issue would be reprints. Back to not a good sign again...

Congrats! Great to cross off 4 off the list at once. Not a glow in the dark but a recent find of a very nicely painted original.

Looks like MAD might be sticking around after all. I got my sub copy of #10 today. Still, all new content and a full page subscription ad. Note the statement under the black bar in the center..,

Got my subscription copy of #10 today and noticed something interesting. There is a full page subscription ad and just under the black bar in the center is a statement eluding to the fact that they might have changed their mind. This issue appears to be all new content as well. Interesting...

Did you notice I said “crack head”? This shop was in a real sketch part of town. Nobody wanted to go into the area. Thus, the cheap rent. There were probably more sellers than buyers and most of the buys were for junk.

Thanks, this one is fun too...

Any SO CA guys go to this today? I thought about it but took a close look at these. Pretty common sci fi pulps and from the '50's. Stuff I seem to see a lot of out at the flea markets. Decided that an hour and a half drive probably wouldn't be worth it...

LOL is all over the internet, just google it. My grand daughter finds plenty of it...

Excellent advice. I would say I can easily drop down to 8.0 depending. Once you hit 9.0 you are in the near perfect range. So many of them are so pretty I am very happy with them. After 9.0 it usually becomes just a number on a slab and not worth the extra cost to me. When you collect esoteric GA like I do, some times a 4.0 might be the best I can find. Buy it and be happy to own it at all. You can usually upgrade later. Sometimes not. But having a lower grade copy is better than not having one at all.

I am all about box diving. That is always were the best deals are. Don’t overlook other genres you might think you don’t want. Lots of under appreciated and overlooked stuff there at great prices. I usually buy one or two pretty wall books if there is something I really want and are maybe willing to pay a little more than the going rate for. Then I hit the boxes and find stuff to make up for the over payment. You just gotta work a little harder...

That is especially sloppy and unforgiveable for a dealer like that. I would expect much better. Reminds me of a typical Ebay listing. "We are not professional graders", grade the book yourself by the cover photos provided and the kicker... We do not accept returns. I buy VERY little there any more.

Yeah, pulps are off the hook Rick. Right up your alley. Just put them in a pretty mylar and enjoy the covers. They are endless. So many killer covers that I have never seen. In many cases, pulp covers are even better than comic book covers.

Cosmic Aeroplane copy Brian? Look inside to see if there a lot of check marks next to panels in the stories.

Got a friend who’s wife opened a small collectibles, vintage toy and comic shop for $700 a month locally. Got some walk in stuff for sale by the local crack heads. Comics were 95% ‘80’s-‘90’s stuff. Same thing with toys and collectibles. Was buying more than she was selling and closed after about a year and a half. Now she is stuck with a garage FULL of junk.

I quit buying Moderns with Simpsons #100. I know, probably a lame title to most, but I enjoyed it. Got sucked back in for a few months with the “New 52” but quickly got bored with them. The price was a bit of a factor. For the same price I was paying for them, I could buy GA/SA/BA readers that I actually enjoyed a lot more. I realized I was basically buying them out of habit and just storing them. They were taking up a lot of space I could put to better use with older books. I missed the store experience for a while but got over it quickly.

Yesterday’s flea market finds. No comics but some cool, fun stuff. The Popular Mechanics mag is from 1913!

Thanks for the post Alan! Good to see you are looking good and doing well. TGB was a HUGE part of my early years as a collector. It brought together so many of us that we would never have known about otherwise. I remember coming home at night to the latest issue, pouring over the ads, making calls and adding so many wonderful books to my collection. The articles also educated me to the history of comics. TGB ranks right up there with the most important achievements in fandom. Thanks so much for all your hard work on it! Got any cool stories about the “old days” of fandom?

I saw WD#1 the day it came out. Looked through it and decided the story looked lame and the art was terrible. Put it back. As long as the show stays on, your kids might have an education. Once it is canceled...

Take it

Oh, believe me, after 40+ years in this hobby I’ve heard it all. That one is very common. I don’t care what you do with it as long as you pay me what I want. Trouble is, I don’t know what to ask anymore. I’ve seen a lot of the younger flippers lose their shirts lately. I recently sold a book at a show for $1,200. To a guy who immediately put it on the bay and ended up with $925. for it. Between ebay and Instagram, I pay close attention to these guys. They probably figure I’m too old or stupid to do so. At best, most are making 5-10%. Many times losing money. This is bad for the hobby. They just have that quick “turn and burn” attitude. Us “old guys” just have a lot more patience...