Bumble Kitty

For those of you that can't see paying good money for comics, there is a solution...

I didn't realize I took so many pictures. A few are a little blurry, as I was walking and taking snap shots at the same time. So here we go...

I got in late last night and I have a full day today. I took plenty of pics and I will post them first half of tomorrow, along with my observations and experiences.

A fourth reason is the new venue is closer to my house. But I don't think Terry had that in mind when he made the change.

A change of venue might be because...(1) the dealer's room will be a little bigger and all dealers will be in one location, as opposed to spread out over two rooms and a patio. A change of venue might be because...(2) there will be more parking. A change of venue might be because...(3) there are more eateries within walking distance.

This sounds like fun, but unfortunately, I will not be arriving until early Thursday morning.

Here are some pics I took today...

Steve, I agree. Finding neat comic books is nice, but catching up with friends is a whole lot of fun! The last time I was at the Palladium was back in 1990 for a concert. I remember thinking it is an "old" building. So what. But today, I appreciate the Art Deco architecture of the hall. I wonder what it was like back in the thirties, forties and fifties!

The dealer line up for this year's show seems better than last year! That says quite a bit about the show and says quite a bit about SDCC (in a different way). I was not thrilled about the LAX location last year, but I understood why it was held there. This year, parking seems to be a little more reasonable and there appears to be some more choices for eateries. But people come for the comic books, and there appears to be quite a few!

Thank you! This is shaping up to be a great con!

Do you plan on releasing a final dealer's list? If not, can you confirm that ComicLink will be there? It would be much easier for me to carry "auction" books to Torpedo Con than to San Diego.

I plan to be there, as I have a badge, hotel and parking. But Torpedo Con is making things very interesting...in the coming years.

Actually, that is Yvonne De Carlo.

The sad reality is that fine art crime is not considered a serious crime in the USA (it is in Europe). Robert Wittman (I believe that is his name), former FBI agent, wrote a book detailing his time in the fine art crime division in the bureau. It took him 20 plus years to build up his reputation in the black market and he was able to bring many criminals to justice. However, new management forced him to bring a new agent along to a "meeting". This new agent used TV crime shows as his guide. In a short amount of time, the author's cover was blown because of this rookie agent. Very interesting read. Now, comic books may not be fine art (some may disagree). But in some (or most) localities, the theft of funny books is not taken seriously. I guess when you deal with assault, rape, murder and "other" things, it just doesn't measure up to some. To me, it is not the police who don't care. It is the elected officials who want to deal with these other matters that they consider important. I have also heard this is an issue from dealers in other collectible fields. I think the best way to deal with this is to be vigilant and carry insurance. I can also see why some victims of theft give up, sell what they have left, and leave the hobby. But on the bright side, Harley got virtually all of his livelihood back. I think that counts for something.

I also remember the comic book shop owner saying this was the first time Harley left a vehicle (with comic books) unattended.

I just finished listening to the story on youtube. I am glad Harley got all his books back (except one). I doubt those three perps will see any jail time.

Yes, yes, yes!

Yeah, but at least in California we got rid of the straws in restaurants...well, sort of. But back to topic, I hope Harley gets all of his books back. And I hope the three perps are prosecuted to the full extent of the law, as this is a high dollar robbery.

Unfortunately, this isn't far from the truth.

RM, good report. What other show did you attend today? A few of the dealers had depleted stock because the Seattle show was two weeks ago and C2E2 was last week. They were also physically tired. However, if you were looking for Romance, there was a lot of it in all grades and prices. I took home a bunch on Friday and a bunch on Saturday. I also bought some more on Sunday, as one dealer had some new stock come in today! Yes today, Sunday! I also tried to walk and peruse the whole exhibit hall on Saturday. I gave up about half way through it, because I was a little sleep deprived and I was very tired. I was afraid someone would think I was in costume as a tired, old dog, because my rear end was literally dragging. I talked to a couple of dealers and they described the comic book hobby as "vibrant". I agree. One last thing, the Torpedo Con will be held on Sunday, July 14 at the Hollywood Palladium. That will be very interesting and I look forward to it.

I had a conflict, so I could not attend on Saturday. I made it very late on Sunday, and I was charged a little less than the actual entrance cost. Thanks LBCE! There were more dealers than I had anticipated. Unfortunately, I was not able to check every single comic box. I only made a quick look at the wall books. But I managed to pick a few nice books from this dealer...

Still waiting on mine.