The London Mart Tomorrow

[Ian_Levine]

Is anyone from these boards going to the smaller London comic fair tomorrow, apart from Andy from Golddust Comics

[goldust40]

Anybody?

[Ian_Levine]

Anybody?

 

I'm going. I was hpoing to meet gpcove or whatever his name is. And that Ewan too.

[comicmankev]

Not sure if GP is on the boards tonight, but he asked me for directions to the show this morning

[JohnBull]

It's Gary. In theory I'm going if I can shake off a general feeling of ennui. It's half a dozen stops on the tube and maybe half an hour door to door, so I'll try and get the energy. I estimate my chances of buying anything at about 1 in 100!

[goldust40]

Curb your enthusiasm, old boy. Seriously, if you manage the trek over to Camden, introduce yourself. Same goes for you, Kev. Be interesting to put faces to names.

[Ian_Levine]

It's half a dozen stops on the tube and maybe half an hour door to door

 

Oh dear.

That sounds a bit excessive.

Maybe they'll move it nearer to you next time.

[JohnBull]

Kev is DIYing. Assuming your books say Goldust on them, I'll be sure to say hello. Unless of course you write it in black marker on the covers, in which case I may run and hide.

[goldust40]

My labels don't have my name on them (just a grade and price) but I'll be opposite East Coast Comics. As you come through the main entrance, go to your right, and I'm in the first centre aisle opposite the right hand wall. Alternatively you could just ask where Goldust is.

[JohnBull]

[drice6900]

I just love when a group of Brits get together for a discussion. I read everything with that cool accent in my head. Kinda like a group of James Bonds planning for their next mission

[goldust40]

Has to be said all the posts in this thread sounded clipped and curt, as if we were all in a hurry.

 

As for the James Bond comparison, if only things were a hundredth as glamorous. This is the Camden Centre we're talking about, which is located in the rather less than salubrious Kings Cross. Ah well........

[blowout]

I read everything with that cool accent in my head. Kinda like a group of James Bonds planning for their next mission

 

I would be very surprised if everyone in England was as cool as James Bond. Especially those on their way to a comic con.

[The_End_At_Last]

Not me this time. Just had to pay car insurance, flat maintenance etc etc. However I'll be interested to hear from you how FT does at this show because last time he did really well. BUT this time he doesn't have a 20% sale. Now, if he had done such a benevolent thing today, I might have got off my a$%! and made the trip...

 

Always looking for a deal...

 

TEAL

[ultimatevenom]

Yeah tell us how it goes.

 

I wish i could get up there for it, but i live all the way up in Nottingham.

 

Hope you have a good time

 

Danny

[comicmankev]

Quite an easy journy from Notts, you'd probably get there quicker than most of us locals

 

Wold like to attend but DIY calls (thanks for reminding me GP ), I'll see if I can make it to the National

[JohnBull]

Well, I made the trip to the first mart I've been to in 17 years and the first in London since 1982. So what were my thoughts?

 

I was impressed with the overall level of stock around. In days gone by you'd have been hard pushed to find a pre-1960 book, but there was a reasonable amount around from the 30's onwards and from a reasonable number of publishers too. I didn't look at any of the SA or later stuff so I can't comment on prices there, but the earlier material seemed not unreasonable. I only picked up one book (although another is on the way!), a lower grade Showcase 3 which I was quite pleased with. A nice gap-filler.

 

Silver Acre had a couple of nice but expensive books. There was a Detective 34 (around VG- with some colour touch), a very sound looking book for £695 and an Action 18 (maybe VG+ or FN-, with what looked like evidence of some tape removal) for about £795, again a very nice book structurally.

 

There was a definite odour present in the building, but that's been touched on before.

 

Managed to meet Andy (Goldust40) and hopefully our long chat didn't cost him any business. He has a very impressive stock and while I was there he managed to send a few customers away with smiles on their faces (by selling them books, before you ask). A nice guy, as is Joel who was working with him.

 

Also bumped into John Pires and from the hints he dropped, it sounds like the next Vaul Auctions catalogue (May?) is going to be a cracker. Possibly not the news my bank account needed.

 

The highlight was probably getting to meet Ian Levine, who was a lot more grounded than I expected from reading his posts. He struck me as being a very genuine, friendly guy and also very helpful. Don't let the postings of some of the trolls cloud your judgement on him.

 

I shall try and do one of the shows at the Bedford Square venue to compare with. Maybe not next time, but they are apparently much larger and less smellier. If the extra space is full of old stock and not piles of modern cr*p and toys, then I'm definitely interested.

[ultimatevenom]

Were there many CGC books at the show?

 

Danny

[JohnBull]

Were there many CGC books at the show?

 

Danny

 

No. Unless I missed a big box, there were maybe 2 or 3 dozen displayed in total. I couldn't see the numbers on a lot of them (old style cases at a distance), but there was nothing to really interest me. There did seem to be a fair few X-men's. The only one I asked to look at was a House of Mystery 1 in 5.5 (my kinda number) which Silver Acre had. It had some awful foxing or something right over front and back cover. Structurally ok but very little eye appeal.

[goldust40]

Thanks for the testimonial GP! And for the record, you're not the only one who found the place a tad malodorous. Certainly not a James Bond situation.......

 

I'd give the Royal National show a tilt at some point, although I understand that temptation can obviously lead to overspending. It's a bigger, better laid out, more customer- friendly show, with a few more comic dealers than Camden. And yes, it's cleaner.