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REMEMBERING THAT FIRST LCS...
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361 posts in this topic

Pauls sweet shop on ststen island.got my candy ,comic books snd KISS magazines there .later became famous when they found a mobster dead in the basement.store closed now. (That was 40 years ago)as for a real comic book store it was Jim Haneys first store on Staten Island which is still there but moved a few blocks.still go there when visiting family on the island.

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My first LCS was Mike's Comic Hut, in Flushing, Queens, on Northern Blvd. It was a little store, in the same building as the UA Quartet movie theater. The first time I was ever there, my Dad took me and my sister to see Animal House and we went into the store after the movie. I got my dad to buy me a copy of Iron Man #3 for $5. After that I made many trips there to get my back issues and new comics that the candy stores by my house did not carry. Mike, the owner, was a great guy. He had the greatest bags a store could ever have. The art on them was drawn by George Perez.

 

mike1.gif

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I grew up in Southern Indiana.

The closest comic store was in Louisville, KY.

 

It is still there and is called The Great Escape.

 

Its dark, smells like old paper, and is basically heaven to a 10 year old boy who loves comics.

 

It was like I was transported into a different world when I walked through those doors.

Man, I loved it. It was special every time my parents would take me. Priceless memories, for sure.

 

I got some great raw books there back in the day. Way before I cared about numbers like 9.8. All I knew is that the copy of ASM #300, or NM #87, was a little slice of happiness, and I couldn't have been more excited, and proud, to add them to my collection.

 

They had/have a huge wall of new weeklies, and a lot of back issues.

The box I always loved to look through was the $20.00 and up short boxes. Oh, to be able to own all of those back then, haha!

 

They also had a wall behind the counter of the more expensive issues.

 

I also scored a Captain America Annual #8 poster (vs Wolverine. And I still own it too!), and it was the coolest thing ever to me back then.

 

Thanks for this thread. It brought back some very happy memories...

Edited by vikingreed
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The first actual comic shop - not a bookstore that sold comics for half of cover, or the Odds and Ends store that sold, well, odds and ends, including comics - that I ever shopped at was B&D Comics in Roanoke, VA. I was at college nearby (Go, Hokies!) and had started back reading comics due to some guys on my dorm hall who collected. This was in 1981, maybe 1982, and for me, anyway, the notion of a "comic shop" was rather novel.

 

B&D was fairly typical of what you might find in the early 80s - front room with new releases, back room of back issues, discounted subscription service. I only made it in once a month or so, and my biggest memory of the store was how on only my second or third visit, the owner (The Baroness aka Terry Baucom) working the register knew who I was and had my subscription books ready when I got to the counter. I was really amazed, and a bit disappointed the next month when I had to give my name - the other owner (The Duke aka Phil Davis) apparently wasn't as good as that sort of thing as his partner.

 

A quick search shows the shop is still in business, not at the same location I shopped at, and that Terry is still running things. I'll have to stop by next time I'm down there and see if she remembers me.

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Joe Sarno would've done a lot better sales wise near the end if he started ordering trade paperbacks. He was so against them -- he only wanted to sell the individual comics. Very nice guy. He and Larry Charet were the deans of comic book stores in the city. Larry's Comics -- which closed right around the same time as Joe Sarno's -- was up on Devon on the far north side of Chicago. To say that it was dirty is an understatement. I didn't move here until 2001, so I didn't see either shop in their heyday.

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I grew up in Southern Indiana.

The closest comic store was in Louisville, KY.

 

It is still there and is called The Great Escape.

 

Its dark, smells like old paper, and is basically heaven to a 10 year old boy who loves comics.

 

It was like I was transported into a different world when I walked through those doors.

Man, I loved it. It was special every time my parents would take me. Priceless memories, for sure.

 

I got some great raw books there back in the day. Way before I cared about numbers like 9.8. All I knew is that the copy of ASM #300, or NM #87, was a little slice of happiness, and I couldn't have been more excited, and proud, to add them to my collection.

 

They had/have a huge wall of new weeklies, and a lot of back issues.

The box I always loved to look through was the $20.00 and up short boxes. Oh, to be able to own all of those back then, haha!

 

They also had a wall behind the counter of the more expensive issues.

 

I also scored a Captain America Annual #8 poster (vs Wolverine. And I still own it too!), and it was the coolest thing ever to me back then.

 

Thanks for this thread. It brought back some very happy memories...

 

 

Too funny, I was jumping in this thread to mention The Great Escape myself! I started buying comics off the rack at a convenience store at the end of the street when I was a kid. In time my best friend told me about a store that JUST sold comics. Eventually his folks took us both there and my mind was blown. The posters on the walls, the smell of the newsprint, and the bins full of 25, 35 and 50 cent books! I was in heaven. After that I was able to talk my folks into taking me out there every other month or so. This was back when I could recycle aluminum cans and gather my meager allowance, head into the store with $5-$10, and walk out with armloads of stuff.

 

I eventually ended up working there when I got out of high school, when I was about 19. A lot of fond memories of that brief year and a half as well. But when I go in there now, as a nearly 40-year old man, I still see the place through the eyes of 10-year-old me.

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Being from the UK, comic shops were a bit of a rarity! But my LCS which is approaching 20 years in business is called Infinity & Beyond, based in Shrewsbury! Not sure how long its been in its current location? But I remember it in the high street :)

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The first comic shop I ever went to was Cap's Comics Cavalcade, which was in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. (About a half hour west of Allentown.) It was 1984, and they had everything. I was able to buy about a dozen Daredevils from the 30s and 40s, all in pretty great condition, for a buck or two each.

 

Later on, Third Street Comics Emporium opened in Easton (a little closer to home), which became Mr. Monster's Comic Crypt. That was a pretty bad shop. Beachhead opened in Allentown, which was run by a surly guy. The last time I was there, about a decade ago, he still wasn't accepting credit cards. Cash only.

 

Finally, in 1985, Dreamscape Comics opened in my hometown of Bethlehem, and I was one of the first few customers. Within a few months I was working there, and I worked and shopped there off and on for the next 15 years. The owner passed away suddenly a couple of years ago (probably the fittest comic shop owner on the planet -- the antithesis of Comic Book Guy) at a pretty young age, and it's barely hanging on (they don't get new books any more -- just selling their old stock, open a few days a week).

 

I haven't been back in a looooong time. But it's sad to know what it's become (and what it had become in the last 5 or so years the owner was alive -- a little too much "Hoarder" happening, if you know what I mean).

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My first place I went to frequently was Newbury Comics in Harvard Square early 80s this was a time when Newbury Comics was still mostly comics and Indy,Punk and New wave vinyl. Going in there they had great comics and you were sure to see some hardcore oldschool punk rockers people who only existed on MTV for a 10 year old.

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I grew up in Southern Indiana.

The closest comic store was in Louisville, KY.

 

It is still there and is called The Great Escape.

 

Its dark, smells like old paper, and is basically heaven to a 10 year old boy who loves comics.

 

It was like I was transported into a different world when I walked through those doors.

Man, I loved it. It was special every time my parents would take me. Priceless memories, for sure.

 

I got some great raw books there back in the day. Way before I cared about numbers like 9.8. All I knew is that the copy of ASM #300, or NM #87, was a little slice of happiness, and I couldn't have been more excited, and proud, to add them to my collection.

 

They had/have a huge wall of new weeklies, and a lot of back issues.

The box I always loved to look through was the $20.00 and up short boxes. Oh, to be able to own all of those back then, haha!

 

They also had a wall behind the counter of the more expensive issues.

 

I also scored a Captain America Annual #8 poster (vs Wolverine. And I still own it too!), and it was the coolest thing ever to me back then.

 

Thanks for this thread. It brought back some very happy memories...

 

 

Too funny, I was jumping in this thread to mention The Great Escape myself! I started buying comics off the rack at a convenience store at the end of the street when I was a kid. In time my best friend told me about a store that JUST sold comics. Eventually his folks took us both there and my mind was blown. The posters on the walls, the smell of the newsprint, and the bins full of 25, 35 and 50 cent books! I was in heaven. After that I was able to talk my folks into taking me out there every other month or so. This was back when I could recycle aluminum cans and gather my meager allowance, head into the store with $5-$10, and walk out with armloads of stuff.

 

I eventually ended up working there when I got out of high school, when I was about 19. A lot of fond memories of that brief year and a half as well. But when I go in there now, as a nearly 40-year old man, I still see the place through the eyes of 10-year-old me.

 

I was visiting my Uncle in Franklin, TN and I could've sworn i went to this awesome shop called the Great Escape near Nashville. Had to be early 90's. They sold toys, records, anything pop culture.

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My first LCS was the comic shop in Cinderella City in Englewood, CO. It was down in Cinder Alley, and it was awesome. They had silent auctions (my first win was Wolverine limited #1 for $5, which was astronomical to me) and I had a regular pull order.

 

I'd bought comics before that at newsstands, but that was my first legit LCS. My mom loved taking me there because the mall was so cool. Hard to believe that it's been abandoned - but man, in the 80s, Cinderella City was amazing.

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My first shop was Comics & Cards on Wiles Rd. in Coconut Creek Florida.

 

This was about 93-94 and I was 9-10 years old.

 

I was more into Marvel cards than comics. 1992 Marvel Masterpieces is what got me into comics.

 

I think they way Joe Jusko painted the heroes and villains so realistically is what drew me in.

 

Anyway, I remember Comics & Cards would have the special/insert cards under the display for what seemed like a million dollars at the time ($20), which I could never afford. So I would buy a pack in hopes of getting a special.

 

I remember loving venom, carnage and the whole Maxium Carnage story. i bought the TPB since the issues seemed so expensive back then. I remember the Spider-Man 30th Anniversary hologram set seeming like the holy grails.

 

I know I'm making some older collectors cringe, but thats what it was like for me.

 

I remember seeing the first appearances on the back of the Marvel Masterpieces and thinking, "one day I'll get those."

 

Looks at sig *cough cough*

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I grew up in Hampton, VA and the first place I remember coming across old comics for sale was "Paul's Coin Shop". It was around 1973 and I was 7 years old, and had started buying new comics along with my older brother. My Dad was into collecting coins and I went along with him one day to this shop. It was a small place with not only coins, but various old stuff, lots of great junk!

 

What caught my attention right away was several tall stacks of comics. I think they were 10 cents each, or he would trade 1 for each 2 you brought in. My little mind was completely blown, I had a quarter but wanted to buy everything! I don't remember much what was in the stacks, I ended up buying Not Brand Echh #7 because it had parodies of Superman and the FF and I thought that was really cool. Seeing cover prices of 10 and 12 cents was a revelation (comics were 20 cents then). I do remember lots of Westerns (i.e. Rawhide Kid etc), never my cup of tea.

 

It was a few months before I got a chance to get back to Paul's, but it was always changing (for the worst, from my perspective). Now the big stacks were gone, just a handful of books left. In the next few years, Paul began to specialize in Art Supplies, and changed the store's name to Paul's Discount Center and then Paul's Art Supplies or something like that. He continued to carry comics for a while, I remember going there and scooping up some Silver/Bronze Avengers back issues, Hulks, and Spider-Mans. But as the Art Supplies became his bread and butter the comics were phased out completely.

 

Later discovered Bender's in Phoebus and agree with Jimbo, Dave has always been a great guy to deal with.

 

Paul's :cloud9: ..... my buddy Richard got his first ASM 1 there for 10 cents..... which was shortly stolen by a "friend"...... GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

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My first LCS was the back of Richie Muchins van at the Aqueduct Racetrack flee market.

 

During the summer I went every Saturday to pick up my back issues. New comics were off the spinner rack at the soda shop on the corner.

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My first LCS was the back of Richie Muchins van at the Aqueduct Racetrack flee market.

 

During the summer I went every Saturday to pick up my back issues. New comics were off the spinner rack at the soda shop on the corner.

 

Richie Muchin :cloud9: ...... I love that guy..... and he still has some mind boggling books. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

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I was visiting my older brother and sister in San Jose, and my sister took me to Bob Sidebottom's Comic Collector Shop. It had a complete run of the Amazing Spider-Man on the wall behind the register, along with AF #15.

I was entranced.

 

At that time Spidey was up to #60 or something like that.

 

That was my first comic shop. I was going to school at SJSU. It was only a few blocks from campus. I got drawn in by the Mister Natural sign he had on the sidewalk in front of the store. I remember all the stacks of comics he had on the floor for a quarter each. That's where I bought my first back issue.

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