Mile High Chuck's place in the hobby

[Mr Pristine-migration]

In related news, other sellers are rallying againcst Mile High. Their complaint being that attendee $$ spent at the Mile High booth might have potentially been $$ that would have been spent at their booth on their Con Exclusives

[RCheli]

This is what he said the day after the storm:

 

There are times when I wish that I was wrong in my predictions. In the case of Hurricane Sandy, however, I was not. The storm came just as predicted, and the resulting damage to the entire Northeast was even more severe than I thought. NEWSDAY, for example, is reporting that 93% of the households on Long Island lost power during the storm. That is a percentage of loss that is almost beyond comprehension. We send our very best wishes to those who were affected by the storm, and hope that you, and your families made it through this epic storm unscathed.

 

Given the severity of the storm, it also came as no surprise to us when orders for comics from that region almost entirely shut down in the wake of the storm. That development is particularly unfortunate, as one of our largest concentration of long time Mile High Comics supporters live along the eastern seaboard, especially in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland areas. Seven million households in that region are still without power, so this event will have a very negative impact not only on us, but the entire USA economy, for quite some time to come. Sigh...

 

All of the above having been said, I have no choice but to extend the 30% off FRANKENSTORM codeword sale through at least this upcoming weekend. This sale includes all of our best back issue comics and magazines, including all of of our Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, and CGC-graded comics, as well as all eight million of our 1982-2011 back issues. Only new comics, books, non-comics items, and oversize items are excluded from the sale.

 

It doesn't sound good at all, and I'm sure that he regretted writing it. However, this is what Chuck does. He puts out to his e-mail list what others are just saying within their own inner circle. Every business that dealt in mail order felt a drop in sales after Sandy (or other large natural disasters). They are just smart enough not to say anything to the public.

 

However, the next e-mail, he wrote this:

 

I want to start off today by thanking everyone who has helped us to keep our sales intact during the disruptions of Hurricane Sandy. Thanks to your generous support, we have been able to maintain our operations even though a significant percentage of our clientele were without power for the past week. That having been said, we are now in a position to begin helping those who were affected by the storm. I am going to start off by offering to give away for free 10,000 of our comics from our reserve stock to those in the path of Sandy who may have lost part, or all, of their personal collections. Send us proof of your losses, and we will help you to replace at least a few of the your comics that were destroyed by the storm. We will even pay the shipping costs of delivering these free comics to your home...

 

So you know, we already know that this is going to be a difficult program to administer, as we are going to have to first verify claims, and then try to provide individual help based upon case-by case considerations. If you are among those who lost comics in the storm, please feel free to let us know the extent of your losses. Our reserve stocks generally do not contain very many high-demand back issues, but we can definitely help you out with your replacement of runs of issues on many bread-and-butter titles. Receiving a free long box of back issues clearly cannot make up for the devastation you may have suffered, but we do want to help you to the extent that we can.

 

This same offer of free back issues is available to comics retailers who may have suffered flood damage. If receiving a couple of free long boxes of our reserve back issues and extra TPB's might help you to get back on your feet, please write to me at chuck@milehighcomics.com. I will gladly help you, just as so many other have helped us to overcome unexpected difficulties in the past.

 

So, it seems like he's only half an .

[HouseofComics.Com]

Bill Schelly wrote a book on the Founders of Comic Fandom. I am going to buy it. I wonder if Chuck is in there. I bet he is. Chuck was one of many dealers who made a difference. I don't think anyone would deny that.

 

I happened to read this book yesterday. Tremendous, I recommend it. You'll like it.

 

But Chuck is not in it. By 1970 the 1st OPG was out and the San Diego Comic-Con had started, fans were moving into being pros, there had been years of RBCC, Alter Ego, etc. So Schelly considers that by 1970 comics fandom had been established. Chuck was too young. Buddy Saunders is in it as a fanzine contributor/founder.

 

The dealer section in the book is interesting. Man, Rogofsky was making a killing!

[shadroch]

Bill Schelly wrote a book on the Founders of Comic Fandom. I am going to buy it. I wonder if Chuck is in there. I bet he is. Chuck was one of many dealers who made a difference. I don't think anyone would deny that.

 

I happened to read this book yesterday. Tremendous, I recommend it. You'll like it.

 

But Chuck is not in it. By 1970 the 1st OPG was out and the San Diego Comic-Con had started, fans were moving into being pros, there had been years of RBCC, Alter Ego, etc. So Schelly considers that by 1970 comics fandom had been established. Chuck was too young. Buddy Saunders is in it as a fanzine contributor/founder.

 

The dealer section in the book is interesting. Man, Rogofsky was making a killing!

 

 

I recieved this as a gift from a secret santa a few years back. It was amazed how few of the people I knew. Almost all were gone from the scene by the mid-1970s.

[Bookery]

I read the entire thread and I feel a bit like the guy who wrote the poem about Richard Corey.

 

 

Whenever Chuck Rozanski strolled the Con,

We people in the aisles looked at him:

He was a tattooed man from sole to crown,

Unshaven, slightly short and rather slim.

 

And his stock was spread on tables and arrayed,

With prices high as Denver's elevation;

But still his name and fame brought him attention,

And steady traffic passed before his station.

 

And he was rich -- richer than most at least --

And from his blog his life he oft confessed:

For his stature made him special in this way--

As he once owned some comics thought the best.

 

So while we worked and toiled to sell drek,

His Warehouse glowed in Denver sunset red:

And Chuck Rozanski, one summer night declared,

His SDCC sales had been dead.

 

[thunsicker]

I think Chuck's place in comic history is set, though I don't think if someone were writing the history of comic collecting in the 90's, 2000's or 2010's he would get much of a mention.

[That Ron Dude]

 

 

Bill Schelly wrote a book on the Founders of Comic Fandom. I am going to buy it. I wonder if Chuck is in there. I bet he is. Chuck was one of many dealers who made a difference. I don't think anyone would deny that.

 

I happened to read this book yesterday. Tremendous, I recommend it. You'll like it.

 

But Chuck is not in it. By 1970 the 1st OPG was out and the San Diego Comic-Con had started, fans were moving into being pros, there had been years of RBCC, Alter Ego, etc. So Schelly considers that by 1970 comics fandom had been established. Chuck was too young. Buddy Saunders is in it as a fanzine contributor/founder.

 

The dealer section in the book is interesting. Man, Rogofsky was making a killing!

 

 

 

 

I recieved this as a gift from a secret santa a few years back. It was amazed how few of the people I knew. Almost all were gone from the scene by the mid-1970s.

 

Thanks for the instant review.

 

I bought it on Amazon about two hours ago. There is only one more copy there at $25 if anyone reading is interested. Several copies are there at higher prices.

 

I, myself, started with all this in 1970 at the Detroit Triple Fan Fair and I went to a Seuling Con in 1971. Much of my life begins there. I love Schelly's contribution. I have many of his books. I am sure he has a sensible perspective on it. What I noticed all those years ago is that in 1970 people said that no one would ever make their living off of fandom. This was a truism. If someone published a fanzine it was considered poor form to do any more than break even. A dealer was someone selling out his personal collection. By 1973 it had become a business though I would imagine that it was not a lucrative one.

 

People hated Rogofsky's guts. He had a different business plan from the rest of them. I remember a fan, it might have been Dwight Decker, who wrote a story that might have been called, "The $15 styrofoam drinking cup, used and signed by Frank Frazetta". A character that might have been called "the Fandom Stranger" hunted down a Rogofsky like character and did unspeakable horrors to him". It was a long time ago. I don't recall the details well at all. But the title was based on an item Rogofsky had in his catalogue. He was also selling a $15 empty paint tube of Frazetta's.

 

It turned out that Rogofsky saw something the rest of us would take a few more years to see. I don't applaud him. There was a loss of innocence there. That is the way it goes.

 

I wouldn't award Chuck a place in the book if I was writing it and if it went a few years into the future. I just don't see what he has done as being that significant, though he made himself some money and distributed, at significant personal profit, the collection of the Church family.

 

[That Ron Dude]

I read the entire thread and I feel a bit like the guy who wrote the poem about Richard Corey.

 

 

Whenever Chuck Rozanski strolled the Con,

We people in the aisles looked at him:

He was a tattooed man from sole to crown,

Unshaven, slightly short and rather slim.

 

And his stock was spread on tables and arrayed,

With prices high as Denver's elevation;

But still his name and fame brought him attention,

And steady traffic passed before his station.

 

And he was rich -- richer than most at least --

And from his blog his life he oft confessed:

For his stature made him special in this way--

As he once owned some comics thought the best.

 

So while we worked and toiled to sell drek,

His Warehouse glowed in Denver sunset red:

And Chuck Rozanski, one summer night declared,

His SDCC sales had been dead.

 

 

 

WOW!! They should give that one to school kids. Have you talked to Paul Simon?

[DavidTheDavid]

I read the entire thread and I feel a bit like the guy who wrote the poem about Richard Corey.

 

 

Whenever Chuck Rozanski strolled the Con,

We people in the aisles looked at him:

He was a tattooed man from sole to crown,

Unshaven, slightly short and rather slim.

 

And his stock was spread on tables and arrayed,

With prices high as Denver's elevation;

But still his name and fame brought him attention,

And steady traffic passed before his station.

 

And he was rich -- richer than most at least --

And from his blog his life he oft confessed:

For his stature made him special in this way--

As he once owned some comics thought the best.

 

So while we worked and toiled to sell drek,

His Warehouse glowed in Denver sunset red:

And Chuck Rozanski, one summer night declared,

His SDCC sales had been dead.

 

That's perfect.

[01TheDude]

I read the entire thread and I feel a bit like the guy who wrote the poem about Richard Corey.

 

 

Whenever Chuck Rozanski strolled the Con,

We people in the aisles looked at him:

He was a tattooed man from sole to crown,

Unshaven, slightly short and rather slim.

 

And his stock was spread on tables and arrayed,

With prices high as Denver's elevation;

But still his name and fame brought him attention,

And steady traffic passed before his station.

 

And he was rich -- richer than most at least --

And from his blog his life he oft confessed:

For his stature made him special in this way--

As he once owned some comics thought the best.

 

So while we worked and toiled to sell drek,

His Warehouse glowed in Denver sunset red:

And Chuck Rozanski, one summer night declared,

His SDCC sales had been dead.

 

you should title that

 

Codeword SANDIEGO

[Gatsby77]

Don't forget that Simon & Garfunkel were just aping the original poem...

 

But yeah - mad props!