Any one hear of Passaic Book Center? 2 2

[mccollect]

On 8/1/2018 at 11:34 AM, jimjum12 said:

Is it possible you're thinking of Grand Book Center out of Brooklyn..... they were in the game early on. GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

That was a great place, I used to stop there every day on my way home from school and get a new back issue. You would look at his price list and pick a book and he would get it.  I had a friend named Chris that worked for him sorting stuff in the basement where he kept all the back issues.  I lost touch with them, but by the time he stopped working there, he seemed to have every silver age issue of Marvel. I always wonder what ever happened to his collection.

 

[DanCooper]

18 minutes ago, mccollect said:

On 8/1/2018 at 11:34 AM, jimjum12 said:

Is it possible you're thinking of Grand Book Center out of Brooklyn..... they were in the game early on. GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

That was a great place, I used to stop there every day on my way home from school and get a new back issue. You would look at his price list and pick a book and he would get it.

My Grand Book experience - I was going to a lot of brick and mortar comic shops in the NY area in the mid-1980s seeking out vintage DC Silver Age. I visited Grand one day and when I walked in, I was disappointed because all I saw was paperbacks, hard covers, magazines, but NO COMICS! I asked the guy behind the counter if he had comics and he handed two printed lists - one for Marvel and one for DC. He said the comics were in a back room or basement area that was not open to the public. You would select the books you wanted and he would go and locate them.

Not ready for this protocol and perusing the list, I selected about five DCs from the 1960-1965 era. Among them, I asked for a Green Lantern 40 because it was becoming a "hot" book because of the recent Crisis series. The list had no conditions listed, The five books I selected were all $10 or under each. The GL 40 was listed for $5. Off the guy went and about 10 minutes later emerged with the books requested. Again, most were semi-keys or early run books like Flash 111, a few non-Adventure Legion appearances in Superboy and the GL 40. I think the whole lot came out to around $30-$40.

I looked at the books and most were in VG shape. However, the GL 40 and another book from around 1964 looked to be unread and crisp. At least VF, if not better. I paid for all the books and left.

I decided to return a couple of weeks later and try something. This time, I asked if I could buy five copies of GL 40. I also asked for two copies of My Greatest Adventure 80 (first Doom Patrol). The guy went off to the back room and emerged with the seven books. Now, I wasn't obligated to buy all copies he brought out if I wasn't keen on condition. But, I also didn't want to upset the apple cart if this guy was OK with me buying these in multiple quantity. The condition on two of the five GL40s were like the first time - crisp and unread. One of the two MGA 80s were like this also. All other books were in VG/VG+.

About a month later, I decided to push the game a little farther. I recognized the familiar face behind the counter and he recognized me. I asked if I could buy every copy he had of GL40 and MGA80. He asked surprisingly "every copy?" I said yes and off he went to the back room. He emerged with about 9 copies of GL40 and 4 copies of MGA80. Four of the nine GL40 copies were the unread crisp and two of MGA80s were the same. Everything else was VG or barely fine.

Those were my last visits to Grand in 1986. Why I didn't go back and explore and buy more, I don't know. I was more into buying 10 cent DCs. They were harder to locate in condition. 12 cent DC books seemed readily available in condition in 1986 and a lot were still in speculative stages like the GL40.

A couple of years later, I saw a huge Joe Koch ad in the Buyer's Guide advertising a new collection. One book that caught my eye was House of Mystery 143, that was a "hot" book of the time. I went to Joe's warehouse by the Brooklyn Navy Yard and he showed me five of the highest graded HOM143s. I think he was asking $100 each. I bought the best one and asked Joe if he could tell me any background on this new collection. Joe said he bought out Grand Book's inventory!

I asked Joe if he had any Green Lantern 40s from the collection. He said "Strangely...no" 

 

 

[mccollect]

1 hour ago, DanCooper said:

My Grand Book experience - I was going to a lot of brick and mortar comic shops in the NY area in the mid-1980s seeking out vintage DC Silver Age. I visited Grand one day and when I walked in, I was disappointed because all I saw was paperbacks, hard covers, magazines, but NO COMICS! I asked the guy behind the counter if he had comics and he handed two printed lists - one for Marvel and one for DC. He said the comics were in a back room or basement area that was not open to the public. You would select the books you wanted and he would go and locate them.

Not ready for this protocol and perusing the list, I selected about five DCs from the 1960-1965 era. Among them, I asked for a Green Lantern 40 because it was becoming a "hot" book because of the recent Crisis series. The list had no conditions listed, The five books I selected were all $10 or under each. The GL 40 was listed for $5. Off the guy went and about 10 minutes later emerged with the books requested. Again, most were semi-keys or early run books like Flash 111, a few non-Adventure Legion appearances in Superboy and the GL 40. I think the whole lot came out to around $30-$40.

I looked at the books and most were in VG shape. However, the GL 40 and another book from around 1964 looked to be unread and crisp. At least VF, if not better. I paid for all the books and left.

I decided to return a couple of weeks later and try something. This time, I asked if I could buy five copies of GL 40. I also asked for two copies of My Greatest Adventure 80 (first Doom Patrol). The guy went off to the back room and emerged with the seven books. Now, I wasn't obligated to buy all copies he brought out if I wasn't keen on condition. But, I also didn't want to upset the apple cart if this guy was OK with me buying these in multiple quantity. The condition on two of the five GL40s were like the first time - crisp and unread. One of the two MGA 80s were like this also. All other books were in VG/VG+.

About a month later, I decided to push the game a little farther. I recognized the familiar face behind the counter and he recognized me. I asked if I could buy every copy he had of GL40 and MGA80. He asked surprisingly "every copy?" I said yes and off he went to the back room. He emerged with about 9 copies of GL40 and 4 copies of MGA80. Four of the nine GL40 copies were the unread crisp and two of MGA80s were the same. Everything else was VG or barely fine.

Those were my last visits to Grand in 1986. Why I didn't go back and explore and buy more, I don't know. I was more into buying 10 cent DCs. They were harder to locate in condition. 12 cent DC books seemed readily available in condition in 1986 and a lot were still in speculative stages like the GL40.

A couple of years later, I saw a huge Joe Koch ad in the Buyer's Guide advertising a new collection. One book that caught my eye was House of Mystery 143, that was a "hot" book of the time. I went to Joe's warehouse by the Brooklyn Navy Yard and he showed me five of the highest graded HOM143s. I think he was asking $100 each. I bought the best one and asked Joe if he could tell me any background on this new collection. Joe said he bought out Grand Book's inventory!

I asked Joe if he had any Green Lantern 40s from the collection. He said "Strangely...no" 

 

 

I went there from when I was a kid, back around the late 70's early 80's. I pretty much bought every issue of Daredevil for $2 each.  I used to like his grab bags too, he had a stack of silver age books and you would pay $1.00 and pick one pack out of the stack.  Got a few Silver Surfers out of there.  I never knew Koch bought him out.

[Fan Boy]

Great read! Funny enough ... I did remembered saw this ad about Passaic Book Center in the old OSPG books I had years ago and in some of comic books I had read back then. Had wondered about going there to check out that store. Naturally it never happened...

My best memory was in the basement of a Winnipeg comic book store. That, had overblew my teenaged mind, when I stared at shelves full of GA/SA/BA raw comics around me as I stand by the table. Thousands of them, I tell you. 

[captain.spatzman]

Yes, I heard of Passiac Book Center.  I bought "Mystery Grab Boxes" of 100 comics for I believe $5.  There would be a lot of "turkeys" in these boxes, but every box held some "gems".  I picked up a lot of good comics for my own collection, and the rest I'd sell at cover price at conventions and through mail order.  This was back in 1974-1978.

[quicksilver]

You should have seen the 'warehouse' shelving in the back of the store...fifteen feet high, and over a million books. 

I bought about 75 long boxes full for $1.25 a book in 1999...great days.