The Nik Appreciation Thread

[s-man]

Following such sad and terrible news, I think it would be nice to see some stories from those who knew, met or had dealings with Nik.

 

I never met him in person, but I did have dealings with him and bought a number of his books. My most recent conversation with him was about any up coming grading contest that he was putting together. He always seemed to take any ribbing about the so-called "Nik bump" during the contest with a laugh..

[DarkKnightReturns]

I first lurked here before signing up and read a lot of great posts of Niks. He was a well respected board member and he will be missed. In the days to come I'm sure we will hear some great stories of his character from his boardie friends.

[Wally's Comics]

He was my favorite guy to talk sports trash with.

 

Being that my fav teams are the yanks and 'phins and his are obviously from Boston

it was a water cooler spice element that I cherished.

 

Here is hoping the Bosox and Pats go all the way this year in his honor.

 

 

 

 

[Korvac Saga]

I remember how gracious he was in acknowledging that the Giants had played a great game in beating his beloved Pats in the Super Bowl. Not sure I would have reacted the same if my team had come that close to a perfect season. A true gentlemen + great fan.

[Aman619]

I never met him, but came to know him thru the grading contests. It was always a pkeasure tio receive his PMs because they clearly showed the great pleasure he took in organizing and running them. A real class act..

[comicdonna]

I always loved and looked forward to Nik's grading contests. That's why I donated a slabbed, GA Action the last 3 years. I would always PM him well in advance to see when the contest would start. His PM's for the contest were a blast.

[worldsbestcomics]

Like a lot of Board members, I enjoyed Nik's grading contests and getting his PMs after my grades were in.

 

He was a Thor collector like me and he encouraged me to continue my bronze Thor run when I was considering ways to reshape my collecting goals to fit my slimmed down comic budget after my son was born.

 

I looked forward to meeting him in person at WW Chicago one day and sharing some ouzo.

 

I will still toss one down for him. (thumbs u

[KingOfRulers]

Following such sad and terrible news, I think it would be nice to see some stories from those who knew, met or had dealings with Nik.

 

I will definitely miss him.

 

When I went to a small show in Boston in April, Nik was who I walked around with most of the day. I think one of the things I liked most about him was that he was quiet and funny. I'm not a talker at all, and can appreciate someone listening and observing. And he was funny. I remember walking the floor with him and just having a good time laughing and having fun about whatever was going on around the show. He had a very youthful kind of personality. A very generous person as well. He bought beers at the bar for a few boardies after the show at a restaurant across the street, while we were talking and waiting for the rest of the guys to show up for dinner. And I remember him lending money out to a friend for a book at that show. Just a very, very nice guy.

 

A snapshot from the day. Nik box digging:

 

 

 

I didn't know him as well as some boardies, but I've had the pleasure of hanging out with him several times over the past few years at shows. If I recall correctly, the last time I talked to him was at Heroes Con in Charlotte last month. Him, me, MCMiles, Tuppeny, Jive and Joeypost were box digging at a booth. I was next to Nik looking at the books that he was pulling for his stack. And I think the last thing I got to say to him, was I asked him if he wanted that FF #108 with the booger on it, and he then put the book back.

[fingfangfoom]

My first connection with Nik began shortly after he joined the boards. We joked that all the available pedigree Thors were going to end up in our two collections. I would bug him every few months for the Thor #168 Oakland copy and almost managed to pry it loose from him in exchange for a Nintendo Wii.

A week or two before Christmas a few years ago he couldn't locate the "must have, red hot" Wii for his children. I lucked upon one early one morning at Walmart and PM'd him immediately and joked we could make an exchange, just slowly put the Oakland down and step away.....He loved his kids so much he would have done it in a heartbeat but I just sold it for what I paid. He PM'd me the day after Christmas thanking me for providing such a wonderful gift that allowed his kids to play together.

 

[supapimp]

nik was my inside man for GPA quotes. he never hesitated, whatever i needed, he provided on anything. i'll miss you, buddy, and god bless your family.

[Silvers24]

Nik was really fun to talk with, it was great that I was able to help him with his Grading Contests. Not to mention it was fun to be in them aswell.

 

He was also the reason my ASM Todd McFarlane run got completed.

As he sent me an ASM 298 which I needed to complete the run, just for helping him.

 

He will be missed.

[buttock]

I got to meet him in person at Heroes this year. He was -- at the same time -- everything I expected him to be, and nothing I expected him to be. He did strike me as honest, likable, and genuine.

[jimjum12]

I'll always remember chatting with Nik in a thread that had somehow digressed to the topic of violent mating habits amongst lizards....how that happened in a comic book message board I no longer recall....he was just getting ready for one of his trips to Greece. I hope they can get a bit of Greek soil to go with him. I'll miss Nik....quite often the voice of reason in a sea of madness. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[VintageComics]

Jimbo, getting a bit of Greek soil to go with Nik is a cool idea.

 

I've already shared a few of my experiences with Nik but I would like to share them here too so that they are in the correct thread.

 

Nik was the guy that brought me to the boards. I had an eBay auction running with a Secret Wars #8 CGC 9.9 and he sent me an email through eBay telling me about how forumites were discussing my book inviting me to join in.

 

I remember my earliest email exchanges with him sounding like he was having a whole lot of fun with comics. He regularly used words like "trip" and "blast" and I got an immediate sense of him as easy going and fun through his emails.

 

Over the years Nik and I met and spoke and also PMd back and forth many times. Some times it was business some times it was pleasure but he was always fun and easy and a true class act.

 

I remember meeting Nik in Chicago 2007 on the con floor with Arex IIRC. I recognized the two of them instantly. It was my first big con as I was not a real "con" person until a few years ago.

 

I remember getting back to the hotel and meeting them in the courtyard later that day. Our travelling crew which included Louise, Jim and Drew, was hanging out as board members began to show up. We hung out there for hours getting to know each other over a tall cool one. Many of us met there for the first time in person. It was ground zero for me as it was my first big "boardie" get together.

 

I remember on the same con weekend coming back one night with Louise at about 2 am after a night of sight seeing and we bumped into Nik in the courtyard. He was enjoying the evening. We chatted like old friends laughing and sharing funny stories for a long time before finally saying good night.

 

I remember being in Shoeless Joe's for dinner one night, and me being the class clown trying to ham it up a bit by walking across a bunch of bar stools over Lou and a few board members to get to my stool. When I looked over at Nik he had his head in his hands, was laughing and saying something comical about me. Not judgemental. Just took it all in as good fun.

 

I remember PMing back and forth with him about the time when his wife talked about them moving to Montana. He was torn between wanting to make her happy and figuring out what was best for his family. He was a family man first.

 

I remember PMing Nik when I had a car problem and he was quick to help out a

fellow technician. He was a very generous with his time and eager to help wherever and whenever he could .

 

I remember him telling me over and over to keep my JIM #114 CGC 9.4 when I

I was torn as to whether or not to sell. He was a fellow Thor collector.

 

I am saddened that I have not seen Nik since Chicago 2008 as I had hoped to run into him in NYC, Philly or even invite him and some forumites to Toronto. I was talking to cgcworld about getting a group of forumites to come up to Toronto for the big Fan Expo con at the end of August. Not sure how that will play out.

 

Just wanted to share a few of my experiences with Nik. I really can't add much more to all the wonderful things that have already been said about Nik. He was a true example of a "good man" and his impact upon both Louise and I has been positive and lasting. He'll be fondly remembered. I don't think there is a bigger or better gift to leave behind than that.

 

R.

[joeypost]

Following such sad and terrible news, I think it would be nice to see some stories from those who knew, met or had dealings with Nik.

 

I will definitely miss him.

 

When I went to a small show in Boston in April, Nik was who I walked around with most of the day. I think one of the things I liked most about him was that he was quiet and funny. I'm not a talker at all, and can appreciate someone listening and observing. And he was funny. I remember walking the floor with him and just having a good time laughing and having fun about whatever was going on around the show. He had a very youthful kind of personality. A very generous person as well. He bought beers at the bar for a few boardies after the show at a restaurant across the street, while we were talking and waiting for the rest of the guys to show up for dinner. And I remember him lending money out to a friend for a book at that show. Just a very, very nice guy.

 

A snapshot from the day. Nik box digging:

 

 

 

I didn't know him as well as some boardies, but I've had the pleasure of hanging out with him several times over the past few years at shows. If I recall correctly, the last time I talked to him was at Heroes Con in Charlotte last month. Him, me, MCMiles, Tuppeny, Jive and Joeypost were box digging at a booth. I was next to Nik looking at the books that he was pulling for his stack. And I think the last thing I got to say to him, was I asked him if he wanted that FF #108 with the booger on it, and he then put the book back.

 

I remember that.

[Jeffro.]

I never got a chance to meet him even though I'm only about 2 hours from him but we did speak a bit through PMs and he bought some books from me. He seemed like a really nice guy. So sad for his family.

[Ogami]

I've only got a couple of Nik stories to tell, and they don't amount to much, but I think telling stories about a person is one of the best ways to honor them.

 

I joined the boards years ago, but was only an active poster during two periods. Intially, and then again, about five months ago. One of my first posts back involved a self depricating joke at my own expense about the lack of length of my member. .

 

Immediately realising this was a horrible idea, and that I would be propogating a false image forerver on the internet, I went back and deleted it.

 

Seconds later, Nik posted a post, something to the effect of, "I saw it".

 

He wasn't taking a pot shot at me. Just good natured fun.

 

 

 

One of my fondest memories of Nik is a recent thread where I was asking advice on a trip to Nashville. He came into the thread and just started bullshi.tting around and the usual gang of id.ee.ots showed up and crashed the place. I think I posted something along the lines of, "I'm so happy- the cool kids are hanging out in my thread."

 

Nik was/is one of the cool kids.

[Spider-Variant]

It seems like Nik made a big impact on these boards.

 

Has anyone thought about maybe trying to have one of the forums named in his honor?

 

Like the "Silver Age (Nik Memorial Forum)" or something like that.

 

 

Or, even a sub-forum under the Comics General Forum

 

called the Nik Memorial Forum (Meet your fellow boardie)

 

and move stuff like the "what do you look like" and "do you have a comics room" under those.

 

Just some ideas. Seems like there would be a lot of support for something like that.

[DrWatson]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not quite ready for that.

[TheShadowKnows]

A little too soon for me also.Maybe when I can read a Nik post without getting a lump in my throat.