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A little corner of the UK
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Started by Comicopolis,

9,411 posts in this topic

Whizzer

Whizzer

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Posted
I remember Avalon Comics had a 50% off sale once and it was actually great. Got some really cool stuff, this was in the 90's mind you.

 

Anyone remember "Books Bits N' Bobs" in Kingston or "They Walk Among Us" in Richmond or "30th Century Comics" in Putney?

 

 

 

They Walk Among Us sounds familiar, didn't they used to be one of the main mail order dealers? I also remember names like; Dangerous Visions and Dark They Were and something Eyed??

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Kevin.J

Kevin.J

Posted
Posted
I remember Avalon Comics had a 50% off sale once and it was actually great. Got some really cool stuff, this was in the 90's mind you.

 

Anyone remember "Books Bits N' Bobs" in Kingston or "They Walk Among Us" in Richmond or "30th Century Comics" in Putney?

 

I used to buy mail order from 30th Century Comics, I think I even bought something as recent as last year on ebay. Still miss the old catalogues.

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Kevin.J

Kevin.J

Posted
Posted
I remember Avalon Comics had a 50% off sale once and it was actually great. Got some really cool stuff, this was in the 90's mind you.

 

Anyone remember "Books Bits N' Bobs" in Kingston or "They Walk Among Us" in Richmond or "30th Century Comics" in Putney?

 

 

 

They Walk Among Us sounds familiar, didn't they used to be one of the main mail order dealers? I also remember names like; Dangerous Visions and Dark They Were and something Eyed??

 

Dark they were and golden eyed. Great stuff

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goldust40

goldust40

Posted
Posted
I remember Avalon Comics had a 50% off sale once and it was actually great. Got some really cool stuff, this was in the 90's mind you.

 

Anyone remember "Books Bits N' Bobs" in Kingston or "They Walk Among Us" in Richmond or "30th Century Comics" in Putney?

 

 

 

They Walk Among Us sounds familiar, didn't they used to be one of the main mail order dealers? I also remember names like; Dangerous Visions and Dark They Were and something Eyed??

 

Dark They Were And Golden Eyed was the first proper comic shop in London, situated in St. Anne's Court in Soho (ironically the same building where Ross and Gambaccini's Top Ten Comics was, in the early 90s). It was the mecca / hangout for what was then a pretty small geek community. It shut its doors in the late 70s, with most of its staff, including a pre-Comic Showcase Paul Hudson, relocating to Forbidden Planet in Denmark Street.

 

They Walk Among Us was in Richmond - it had back issues but was mainly focused on merchandise and imports. After at least 15 years of trading it got taken over by Biff Averre of Ace Comics and is still very much open for business. Worth checking out if you're in Richmond...it's near the high street.

 

30th Century Comics is also still going - located on the Lower Richmond Road near Putney Bridge / High Street, it's definitely worth a look as they have a decent back issue selection.

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Ken Aldred

Ken Aldred

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They Walk Among Us sounds familiar...

 

The comic shop featured in 'Spaced'.

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Kevin.J

Kevin.J

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Posted
I remember Avalon Comics had a 50% off sale once and it was actually great. Got some really cool stuff, this was in the 90's mind you.

 

Anyone remember "Books Bits N' Bobs" in Kingston or "They Walk Among Us" in Richmond or "30th Century Comics" in Putney?

 

 

 

They Walk Among Us sounds familiar, didn't they used to be one of the main mail order dealers? I also remember names like; Dangerous Visions and Dark They Were and something Eyed??

 

Dark They Were And Golden Eyed was the first proper comic shop in London, situated in St. Anne's Court in Soho (ironically the same building where Ross and Gambaccini's Top Ten Comics was, in the early 90s). It was the mecca / hangout for what was then a pretty small geek community. It shut its doors in the late 70s, with most of its staff, including a pre-Comic Showcase Paul Hudson, relocating to Forbidden Planet in Denmark Street.

 

They Walk Among Us was in Richmond - it had back issues but was mainly focused on merchandise and imports. After at least 15 years of trading it got taken over by Biff Averre of Ace Comics and is still very much open for business. Worth checking out if you're in Richmond...it's near the high street.

 

30th Century Comics is also still going - located on the Lower Richmond Road near Putney Bridge / High Street, it's definitely worth a look as they have a decent back issue selection.

 

Its great to reminisce and hear details about these shops, most of them I never went to but just bought out of their catalogues.

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Ken Aldred

Ken Aldred

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And then there was Comic Showcase, which opened just before the direct market changed everything. When I first went there in 79 / 80 it was a tiny little place round the corner from the Lyceum. Cool place to hang out in..

 

Always liked Comic Showcase.  I would go down to London on a school genealogy excursion to the public records office, located nearby at the end of Aldwych, and get bored senseless there in about 15 minutes.  I'd ask the supervisor, my history teacher,  if I could go off around London for a bit, surprisingly experiencing no resistance whatsoever, not even once, just a 'Make sure you're at Euston Station for 5pm'.  Fair enough.   :o (thumbs u Then it would be that tiny, original Showcase shop for a couple of hours and the original FP for the rest of the day, back when it was really excellent.

 

Three such highly educational and productive trips to our capital city, in total.  Always returned with a bag full of advance import comics, anyway.   :cloud9:

 

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Ken Aldred

Ken Aldred

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Kevin the shop you mean in Leeds - SKYRACK -was a stall in the Merrion indoor market. Ran by a nice guy called Ron.

 

I really thought Skyrack first opened in the 60s? I thought it might be a frontrunner for the title of earliest comic book store here.

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Ken Aldred

Ken Aldred

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Bookchain - a  Manchester shop that I forgot about.   Its basement was depressing and damp, filled to capacity with stacks of unbagged, distributed American comics. The guy who managed the place was  one of the most condescending individuals I've ever met, and the prices he expected for the run-of -the -mill drek books  moldering down there were nosebleed extortionate.

 

However, I remember most vividly one of the older wall books displayed on the ground floor, a FN - ish copy of GL/GA 76, for £100. This was late 1980, so that equated to around $ 220. At the time a NM set of all of the Adams issues would have been £80 or so.

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nmtg9

nmtg9

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Kevin the shop you mean in Leeds - SKYRACK -was a stall in the Merrion indoor market. Ran by a nice guy called Ron.

 

I really thought Skyrack first opened in the 60s? I thought it might be a frontrunner for the title of earliest comic book store here.

 

Yeah you're right Paul. I was saying Odyssey opened up in the Eighties. Ron had been there a long time though.

 

Does anyone know/remember the Comic Shack in Leytonstone? Bought mail order from them aand when I sold my collection he rang me and was really helpful.

They have a site still but it doesn't look like its been updated for years.

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Comicopolis

Comicopolis

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Well i'm only 30 so I can't possibly comment :sorry:

 

Does that make us young or old by the standards of the boards...? Hard to tell.

 

hm

 

30 is young here. Especially in the GA section.

 

55 is young over there.

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Ken Aldred

Ken Aldred

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Well i'm only 30 so I can't possibly comment :sorry:

 

Does that make us young or old by the standards of the boards...? Hard to tell.

 

hm

 

:preach: Well I will be 50 next birthday, I always wanted to post the old guy emoticon but never had a reason until now. lol

 

You're a mere stripling.  In board years you're in your prime.

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Deanokeeno

Deanokeeno

Posted
Posted (edited)

All this talk of old comic shops got me thinking.. hm

 

I had been trying to remember my first comic mart. I knew it was in London in the mid 70s but couldn't remember anything specifc about it, other than I picked up a couple of silver Daredevil's inc a very tatty #2. ('twas all my meagre schoolboy budget would allow - even after saving pocket and pape round money for months).

 

Anyways, I thought I would do some googling and OMG I found it on a page on Dez Skins site. It was Comicon 1976. Every page of the scanned programme brought memories flooding back, especially the cap-cap by John Romita, washing over me in one huge wave of nostalgia. :cloud9:

 

I must have kept the programme for years as every page is familiar. Wish I had it now.

 

Check it out here. http://dezskinn.com/fanzines-3/

 

Dez Skin

 

Was anyone else there?

 

Has anyone, by chance got a programme?

Edited by Deanokeeno
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nmtg9

nmtg9

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Posted (edited)

Leeds Mart at the Griffin hotel on Boar Lane in 1986 didn't miss one for the next four years. They were great and well attended. :cloud9:

Edited by nmtg9
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Kevin.J

Kevin.J

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My 1st mart was Newcastle at Blackfriars hall, went to a couple, then set up myself until it moved to the University, I only set up there a few times to get rid of drek before I did a big deal and got rid of 90% of my drek in one go. I used to get into trouble with other dealers for my "half price and clearance sales" as when I was there everyone held on to their cash until my sale was anounced.

At some point in the 1990s all the major dealers ( I hope it wasnt my fault) stopped coming to Newcastle, Silver acre, Quick silver, Red Hot and others just were not there ever again. Newcastle became a waste of time for me as no one there had anything I wanted.

I have never been for about 15 years but friends that go still say its rubbish.

 

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Comicopolis

Comicopolis

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My 1st mart was Newcastle at Blackfriars hall, went to a couple, then set up myself until it moved to the University, I only set up there a few times to get rid of drek before I did a big deal and got rid of 90% of my drek in one go. I used to get into trouble with other dealers for my "half price and clearance sales" as when I was there everyone held on to their cash until my sale was anounced.

At some point in the 1990s all the major dealers ( I hope it wasnt my fault) stopped coming to Newcastle, Silver acre, Quick silver, Red Hot and others just were not there ever again. Newcastle became a waste of time for me as no one there had anything I wanted.

I have never been for about 15 years but friends that go still say its rubbish.

 

Your friends are correct.

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