Austin, TX - Preferred LCS for getting CGC worthy subs?

[Humangatan]

Hi guys, I'm leaving Tampa, FL and heading back overseas for work, and as such I need to change how I get my comics. My family is in Austin so my sister said she can pick up my comics from any store in Austin.

 

So, out of the many good LCS in Austin, which one do you prefer to get CGC 9.8 worthy subscriptions? I'm looking for an LCS which immediately bags/boards people's subs, offers a decent price, and also has a decent selection and solution for Variants. And of course most importantly, which LCS have you had best luck with as far as comic grade.

 

Thanks for your help!

[yoddler]

Have you thought of dcbs? You could even pick out your books each month and ship them to your sister. They bag and board plus you will get nice copies shipped securely at a discount. Just another option to consider!

[bug33fouf]

Austin books & comics off of n. lamor is a great place. Have bought a few silver books there.

 

[Humangatan]

Thanks for the suggestions! I do use DCBS often and in the past, the only reason I'd rather not this time is a) having my sister pick them up from a store removes the risk of damage during shipping and b) dcbs seems to charge quite a bit for variants. Unless it's just me? It seemed to me that they charge a premium for variant covers, as opposed to an LCS who will usually give a good deal to a subscriber.

 

Austin Books is a great place, and they have an easy online order form. Have you had an experience with subscriptions and how they look?

[bug33fouf]

Haven't bought moderns from there. But, they might be the biggest comic store in Austin .

 

[DigsUT]

I get all my subs from Capstone Comics. They do bag and board books immediately unless you want to do a sub with them to get a discount. The more books you sub, the higher the discount. I believe you can still request that they bag and board them, even with a sub, but I am not sure how that will effect the discount.

 

Condition is really hit or miss unfortunately. There seems to be some heavy handed folks bagging the books from time to time. However, I would say that they are top notch more times than not. If you go with them, just mention that you would like the highest condition books. I know that they do pay attention to that, as some of their customers do ask for it.

[Humangatan]

Awesome, exactly what I was looking for, thanks for the information DigsUT! Do you know how it works with Variants - is it first come first serve, raffle, or something else?

[DigsUT]

Awesome, exactly what I was looking for, thanks for the information DigsUT! Do you know how it works with Variants - is it first come first serve, raffle, or something else?

 

It is typically first come first served. However, if you are a long time subscriber, they have been known to pull a variant or two and put it in your pull box . Also, I feel that they price the variants well, either at or under FMV.

[Humangatan]

Awesome, exactly what I was looking for, thanks for the information DigsUT! Do you know how it works with Variants - is it first come first serve, raffle, or something else?

 

It is typically first come first served. However, if you are a long time subscriber, they have been known to pull a variant or two and put it in your pull box . Also, I feel that they price the variants well, either at or under FMV.

 

good to know. Thanks for the info Digs. I've been to Capstone twice and it seemed like a pretty good place, so your testemonial will help me make a decision.

 

Hopefully some other fellow boardies have info to share on the other LCS in Austin.

[Meeklo]

I've been in Austin all my life.

 

Dragon's Lair used to be THE best but they have grown more into those strategy games that take up 3/4th of the store so their comic selection is only stuck with new issues.

 

Capstone Comics recently moved to off of Lamar from Parmer Ln and they store is much more spacious. They are trying to increase their slabs but do not have very much as of right now. They roughly have only one wall dedicated to new issues and a bunch of tables of back issues.

 

Austin Books and Comics is the biggest store with the best selection IMHO. Tons of back issues and they stay current on a lot of new issues. They also own two other stores in the same "shopping center", one does Japanese import stuff like Domos and Uglydoll and another is a dedicated toy store, like Wonkos but with better stuff. ABC is pretty good with pricing but if you are buying anything rare or key, double check their pricing as it can sometime be a little out there. They currently have a raw Amazing Spider-Man #1 for $4000 but in it's condition, I couldn't see it being more than $1500.

[kaholo1256]

For new or modern books I typically go with ABC (Austin Books and Comics) for my pick-ups mainly due to the large availability of picking up variants. Additionally they know me and how picky I tend to be about my books and grades and do an amazing job picking them out for me. I have had to have large amounts though stored there for pick-up since I deploy to Afghanistan and used to be Iraq from out of Fort Hood in Killeen. Gotta say they always looked out for me and if my wife wasn't able to go down and make my payment for me and pick them up they used to schedule a bi-weekly payment with me.

 

I used to like Dragon's Lair but they only pull variants for long time customers and usually my requests were left unanswered and with little heads up that it wasn't pulled leaving me to have to search. May have gotten better or may not but it has been about a year or two since I last decided to stop by there especially since it seems to be more about the board game things than comics.

 

Capstone was pretty cool but never really caught on for me like ABC I guess. There was one other there in some small shopping plaza but honestly can't think of the name... I guess they may not be worth it either.

 

Overall while deployed, or overseas, or whatever I say go with ABC. Additionally the newsletter they send out usually gives me a good jump on my pulls as well.

 

Good luck