25 years ago...all over again...(Convention Ramblings)

[ArAich]

I thought I would share with the forums my experiance at a local convention this weekend....as the title says...it has been 25 years since my last one.

 

'Twas a rainy Sunday morn and all was right with the world. I had heard earlier in the week that a local convention was to happen this day, and I was eagerly anticipating attending.

The hours were 11 - 5 so I made sure that i was that at 11:00 am sharp. It was held at the Elks Lodge and was to have approx. 14 dealers. I entered the building, walked through a hallway, up a flight of stairs then I was there. I had to pay $1 for admission and there before me in an open hall was the advertised amount of dealers with oodles and oodles of long boxes chock ful of comics.

I entered and decided to first wander around the room and see what books were displayed and see what key issues these guys had. This strategy did not work that well as I stopped about 20 feet into the room to rummage through long boxes of silver instead. While furrowing through a box of "Avengers" a guy next to me started talking to a dealer. They were on a first name basis with each other and the talk suddenly turned to "So what HG books do you have?". At that point he whipped out an "Avengers 24" that from my vantage point was "Gem Mint". The guy says to the dealer "Wow...that may be a 9.6 ...take it out." At this the dealer complies while saying it was not for sale. The book was then rebagged and I proceeded to browse. I mention this incident because I know that I would never take a uber HG book out of the bag unless the person was intent on buying it.

 

$0.50 boxes were plentiful and I would rummage through them here and there in hopes of finding something worth more than $0.50 . After growing weary of this strategy I then found a dealer (his name was Norm) that was selling an original owner collection of nice SA books. I managed to find a "Sub-Mariner" #8 which features a black cover depicting Subby fighting the Thing. I quickly put that on hold. I also found a some "sweet, sweet DC's" but they all seemed just under the grade that I was willing to pay for. He had a "Shadow #1" that seemed flawless to me so I grabbed that. With a couple of nice purchases I moved on.

The next stop was really fun. The dealer at this table had a whole table of books in multiples at $1.00 each and was willing to come down on price. I found a lot of stuff here. (3) Space Adventures #44 (first Mercury Man) , (4) Capt. Savage #2 just to name a couple. I also picked up a VF+ early FF ( the issue escapes me but I think it was 62). This guy had a stack of about 100 of NM Heroes, Inc. by Wally Wood for $1.00@ and I was tempted to buy them but I could not come up with any good reason to do so.

 

After browsing through tons of long boxes and not really finding anything else I decided I should probably head out. As I was leaving I managed swing by and talk to Norm and arrange for some tenative deals and private viewings. And then I proceeded home.

 

On closing...I must say I now am anticipating going to a "Big Apple" convention in NY and am seriously contemplating going to "Extrosion" and next years SD con. It was so refreshing actually talking with real people in the hobby instead of typing on a computer (not that there's anything wrong with that). I have the convention bug now and I believe there may be no cure.

[drice6900]

Is it just me, or is there a whoooooooole lot of high grade Avengers #24? You are right though, why remove it if the guy has no intention of buying?

 

- D.

[sfilosa]

Avengers #24 is by far the easy of the early books to find in high grade. Do I hear Mile High II?

[Ron_Nasty]

Hal's show. I picked up three or four comics.

 

Used to be better in the mid 80's and early 90's. The shows in New Haven too.

[ArAich]

Yes indeedy...Hal Kinney of "The Bookie" in E. Hartford....I remember in the late '70s his books were highly unattainable by me....perhaps it is time for me to stop in again...

 

So when is the con in N. Haven???...

[Ron_Nasty]

Last con in New Haven was around 93 or 94, Big Eastern Conventions or something like that. The organizer used to do the big shows in NYC, last one I attended was at the Jacob Javitz Center probably in 1995. No real big shows here in CT at all, but you can get some decent deals when they happen.