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Non-Con Con Report - An Afternoon with PovertyRow - Lots of scans warning

Started by jimm94,

21 posts in this topic

jimm94

jimm94

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Let me start by saying I wanted to call this thread something far more clever, such as “An Afternoon on PovertyRow” or “An Afternoon in Poverty”. However, the imagery these turns of phrase conjures seemed a bit disturbing for my long-winded, self-indulgent account of a purely platonic Saturday! Uhhh, yeah.

 

To give you a little background, Pov and I are both residents of the Bay Area. We seemed to hit it off pretty well at the WonderCon dinner, and the night before that having drinks and a meal with FFB and his girlfriend Liz. We’ve kept in touch on occasion through PM’s, but today was the first time we had gotten together in person since the show. One thing we share in common is that we’ve both lived out here for about the same amount of time. A little over 3 years for me, and around 4 years for Pov. He’s from Boston and I’m from Ohio, so we are both still discovering all the cool, fun places to go around here.

 

Today was our chosen date to hang out for the afternoon. I recommended we visit some comic shops that I’m familiar with but he had never been to. Pov is a genuine city slicker and doesn’t own a car, so I picked him up late this morning in San Francisco as we headed to our first destination, Comic Collector Shop in Mountain View. Comic Collector Shop (CCS) is about an hour away, so we chatted casually during the drive about our respective collecting interests and about our jobs as we got to know each a little better off the boards. Pov is quite the pre-code horror guru, but has taken a liking recently to DC bronze horror which seems to be a pretty hot genre among numerous forumites. I remain a Marvel zombie, and am currently in search of a couple different titles. I’ve been buying mostly silver age lately, but am definitely a bronze fan too.

 

When we got to CCS, it was nice to see that the owner, Phil, was there today. He had recently finished grading and pricing some fresh stock, and we were quickly greeted with several handfuls of books of various genres to comb through. CCS is a very well stocked LCS with a healthy supply of mid to high grade silver and bronze, and all the latest moderns and popular graphic novels one could hope for. They also have a small but nice representative sampling of golden age and pre-code material. Numerous boxes of quality $1.00 books and very nice 70’s comic magazines occupy additional space within the store.

 

It didn’t take me long to find 3 high grade Captain America issues I’ve been looking for, and several late silver/early bronze Sgt. Fury’s. Pov asked about the availability of some DC bronze horror, and was presented with a small stack. Phil was apologetic as he explained that this genre sold especially well for him in San Diego and he didn’t think he had much else to choose from. Within the new stuff was a fairly substantial run of minty fresh late 70’s Charlton horror comics. While some of these books have an almost Archie-esque feel to the art, others were very striking covers that bore resemblance to those found on the DC horror books and horror mags. Pov was very pleased to see these comics, and shared his knowledge of the hobby by pointing out very insightful parallels and contrasts to other books published around the same time. While we were still picking through these goodies, Phil remembered that he had some additional unpriced and ungraded comics that might be of interest to Pov. So while I went about my ritual of perusing Marvel silver, Pov was presented with a foot high stack of DC BRONZE HORROR. Jackpot!!! The planets must have been in alignment today for two collectors with such divergent interests to find so many quality books in one location. In addition to the aforementioned Caps and Sgt. Fury’s, I picked out very nice copies of Sgt. Fury #19 and Tales of Suspense #71 from their existing backstock. Meanwhile, Pov selected the nicer specimens of DC bronze. I’ll let him share the details of his purchases if he so desires. Phil graded and priced Pov’s books, and we both paid the piper before departing. I was happy to have found the books I did, but probably spent more than I should have. Pov, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprised to have spent more than he had anticipated since his expectations were rather low as a first time visitor to the store.

 

Before our second comic stop, we decided to pause for lunch. We settled on Bennigan’s for a good old-fashioned, one step up from TGIF’s dining experience. I had a Reuben with fries, and Pov choose the Cajun grilled shrimp on a bed of rice pillaf with a side of hot apples. Yummy! We took this opportunity to muse about the board in general, and the myriad of forumites who have come and gone during Pov’s tenure on the forum. We also got a chance to more closely examine our respective purchases. A man of his word, Pov gave me a dirty look when I offered to pay for my own lunch. Thanks Pov! BTW – Our server, Bianca, was very attentive, and very, very cute! angel.gif

 

Our second stop of the day was Brian’s Books in Santa Clara. It was only a few miles away from the restaurant, and is a nice place to buy comics. They’ve got plenty of “wall books” and a number of low to mid grade boxes of silver. Their selection of bronze is somewhat small, but they have plenty of moderns to choose from. Pov wasn’t as fortunate this time around as the bins were bereft of his beloved bronze books. I was tempted by a clean looking Strange Tales #128 on the wall, but passed when I found a large crease on the back cover. Just as well. I had done enough damage for one day. Ready to depart empty handed, we exchanged pleasantries with the store’s new owner, Andy, and complimented him on having a well kept shop. We’re extremely lucky in this neck of the woods to have so many decent to excellent comic shops. It’s definitely not something to take for granted.

 

On the way back to San Francisco, we talked more about comics and just life in general. I dropped Pov off near one of the city’s shopping centers, and headed back home. All in all, it was a great afternoon that went by far too quickly. For those of you who don’t know already, Pov is a great guy. Very intelligent and well traveled. He has a wicked sense of humor, and a quick wit. The best part of the day was that he only called me an insufficiently_thoughtful_person and/or insufficiently_thoughtful_person two or three times! Thanks Pov! cloud9.gif

 

Below are scans of the books I acquired on our little adventure. I hope you enjoyed spending some time reading about our field trip. Unfortunately, I can’t offer refunds or give back any time you feel you may have wasted! sorry.gif

 

-Jim

 

 

Cap112-fr-600sm.jpg

 

Cap113-fr-600sm.jpg

 

Cap114-fr-600sm.jpg

 

SGTFURY19-fr-600sm.jpg

 

SGTFURY69-fr-600sm.jpg

 

SGTFURY74-fr600sm.jpg

 

SGTFURY95-fr-600sm.jpg

 

SGTFURY98-fr-600sm.jpg

 

SGTFURY100-fr-600sm.jpg

 

TOS71-fr-600sm.jpg

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PovertyRow

PovertyRow

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Sounds like you guys had a great time.

Nice looking books.

That Cap 114 is killer!

thumbsup2.gif

 

That Cap 114 I kept remarking on. Great looking book!

 

Definitely a good time. We will do this again and are thinking about hitting A-1 comics.

 

Basically I spent about $200 (before the damned TAX which was enough to get two more BA Horrors!) and walked away with five Charlton's (all literally 9.4 at least - Scary Stories 4, 9, 13, 15 and 20 - posted in Infinite BA thread), Strange Sports Stories 1 VF, Weird War Tales 23 NM, House of Secrets 89 VF, House of Secrets 109 NM-, House of Secrets 110 VF/NM, House of Secrets 112 VF/NM, House of Secrets 126 VF, House of Mystery 212 NM-, House of Mystery 220 VF, House of Mystery 235 VF, House of Mystery 275 NM, the last two CBMs (both horror oriented), Overstreet Comic Book Update 22 and 23 (nostalgia) and reader (VG) Marvel Tales 2 (X-Men, Doc Strange and Avengers origins) and Marvel Tales 12. DID see a Marvel Tales #1 in the 2nd store @$29 but am looking for a nicer copy of THAT one.

 

Jim's ok as far as comic geeks go - you know, you have to explain things a few times and show some kind patience. Smile in appreciation of MARVEL books - you get the scene! grin.gif (Jeeze Jim, just kidding!)

 

Anyway, the best time by far I've had at an LCS. Looking forward to more adventure!

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PovertyRow

PovertyRow

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Gawd...how the mighty have fallen...Pov used to collect books like Action #1 and the sort...now he's relegated to BA horror.... 893whatthe.gif

 

What to say? confused-smiley-013.gif I mean, how many times can you read Action 1 alonmg with a Superman 1 to see what you missed? I mean, really! grin.gif

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PovertyRow

PovertyRow

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flowerred.gif

 

Hell! I still love the GA - but I'll tell you -0 my last trip to Wondercon where I onl;y got 4 or 5 GA books and spent more on the forum partying than comics was an eye-opener. I was seeing pre-code horror starting to hit stupid prices for really [!@#%^&^] grade. I can buy literally 5-10 really cool BA horror in at least VF for the price of one Fine good pre-code. And I think, too, that having once owned almost 900 different pre-codes - well - I am re-buying things I once had but all these BA books - many of them rivallig the pre-codes in cover AND content - are really new to me. Why, these BA horrors have knocked a good 3 months of my age!!!!!!! 27_laughing.gif

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Larryw7

Larryw7

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Sounds like a great time!

 

Unfortunately, Philly hasn't been quite as blessed with LCS as San Fran and other places of high culture. The best store in the area is Fat Jack's. I was there Friday for the first time in ages, and while I picked up a Barks Uncle Scrooge("Back to the Klondike") in VG+ and a couple of 6.0 Adams Batman books, the back issue stock of Gold, Silver and early Bronze has been highly depleted since my last visit. I guess the shops can't compete with eBay.

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