Imagine This (Part 3)

[Alawson453]

The Ring!

 

I'm going to start this part of the story off going back a few years to one of my first trips to The Book Rack. I was about 13 years old and thought I would sneak out of the house while my mom and dad were at work. Keep in mind It was about 5 miles and I had to walk during this trip (the lengths I would go to for a fix). I'm almost there and as i'm crossing the street in front of Jerry's Nugget Gambling Hall I see something shiny in the street. Lucky it was early morning and not many cars on the road. I pick up the shiny object hoping it might be a quarter (I could buy another book or two if it was. No such luck, it was a stupid ring still I put it in my pocket and forget about it.

 

I make it to the book store and get back home safe mom and dad are none the wiser. Well I ended up getting into trouble later that day and mom makes me empty my pockets (busted). She see's the shiny stupid ring and gives me the third degree. Finally I fess up and tell her how I came by it. Don't know why but I didn't get grounded. She tells me a couple years later that the ring I found was a solid gold 1893 one dollar gold piece ring and that my dad had it fixed because it was bent from being run over in the street but still in excellent condition. Believe it or not she gave me the ring a couple years ago and I have it to this very day.

 

I thought some of you might like this story (it's totally true) I have the ring in my safe. But funny how in my quest to find comics at the age of about 13, before a true golden age I find gold

 

Now you would think after acquiring what I considered the deal/dream of a lifetime the story would end, well it doesn't!

 

I come to find out that the old guy I purchased the book store from still had more comics stashed in some storage facility! Yeah, I was shocked as hell when he comes waltzing in with one of the trademark brown paper bags filled with books and ask if I might be interested. I figure what the heck I already have the store and everything I wanted and more. We open the bag and the stuff inside was absolute primo condition books all 12 cent cover price marvel and or dc. Now I am confused as hell, did this guy just play me (yep) I think so but still I really couldn't complain. I came to realize that the paper bags once completely filled to the top would hold about 200+ comics (normal size silver age).

 

The best thing about the way he stored his comics was that they were always laying flat and the pressure kept them that way. This was crazy there were 5 copies of each book the entire doctor strange run starting with #170 up to 183 also runs on strange tales, tales to astonish and tales of suspense, remember all of these were primo nothing less than 9.0 I kid you not.

 

I ask where did he get these and he told me he also had a store up in tonapah in the mid to late 60's and this all was in storage. We worked out a deal for the entire bag remember I was pricing at 1991 overstreet prices and didn't have to pay multiples of guide. I asked if he had any more and he told he had about twenty thousand. Now i'm double confused, why the hell didn't he have the stuff in the store trying to make money in the first place? Oh well I ended up buying a couple thousand more books and told him I would have to stop for a while I was seriously out of cash and couldn't move the books fast enough. That's when I decided to start doing the LA Shrine Show.

 

I never saw the old man after that and had dreams for the longest time wondering just what else I missed out on. I did score a vg spider-man #1 out of the deal as well. Now everyone has gone back in time with me on one of the most amazing rides I could ever ask for, and even though I have bought many more collections since. None have and I doubt will ever compare to the deal I made when I bought "The Book Rack".

 

Thanks 4 Reading

 

See more journals by Dre

[Tnerb]

I love this story. In the eighties when I begged my father to open the comic shop he was thinking about he had this large oversized folder of all the books that were coming out. I felt like I knew something before anyone else. He even had a price guide that I would magically imagine being able to pick out any comic I so chose. It's kind of funny that he didn't allow me to purchase a Daredevil Comic book and I wonder did he subconsciously think that if they were that expensive how would he get a back stock. He should have been thinking if a sixteen year old kid would want to spend so much, what would a grown adult pay that had disposable income.

 

 

[Qua-Brot]

Absolutely love (and am absolutely jealous of) the story! So many hours of fun and profit (hopefully) and just great books to discover and read. We all look for our own "Mile High" collection, and you seem to have not only come across it, but been able to enjoy it. Thanks for sharing.

[surfer99]

Great story Dre, thank you again for sharing. It's like every comic book collector's dream come true to experience that kind of find. With the popularity of comics today, the exposure of the Internet, and the emergence of CGC, I can't help but think hidden collections like this are a thing of the past. I hope I'm wrong.

 

P.S. - Let me know if you run across another high grade copy of Doctor Strange 182. I love the Juggernaut cover and would like to add to my collection. Thanks!

 

 

[Alawson453]

Surfer will do on the Doctor Strange 182, that Juggy cover was one of my favorites of the run along with the Spidey appearance in 179 (my favorite cover). Sorry took so long to get back to responding on this one and yes Qua-Brot I cannot even begin to describe the way I felt after acquiring the store collection. There are collections out there guys just waiting for us to find, we just have to put forth the effort and track them down.