What is the weirdest encounter you have had to buy books?

[the blob]

not so weird...when i lived in manhattan there is a block where semi-homeless (living in a van) type guys set up and sell books and whatever. they often have comics they have come across. usually junk, but one day i noticed a bunch of coverless SA marvels. nothing too nuts, x-men 10, etc. and then i see a book missing its front page and it turns out it is JIM 83. anyway, i bought them at 50 cents each and I owned, sort of, a JIM 83 (sold to someone here eventually for not so much).

 

anyway, i wondered how long he had these comics and whether these were already cherry picked and the coverless AF 15, Hulk 1, FF 1, ASM 1, X-Men 1, etc. had already been picked up. a JIM 83, X-Men 10 and other random semi-early Marvels are, well, pretty random.

[letsgrumble]

This was in a Toronto shop about ten years ago:

 

After spending about an hour digging though the bins and finding some nice high-grade 70s books, I went to pay for them at the cash. The clerk proceeded to bend each book horizontally. II was an obvious FU move by someone full of hate.

 

I'll never forget that guy - what an a-hole.

[Aweandlorder]

Well, for instance, I was with my bro (MobMedina07) who is also on the boards, I found this add on craigslist for a warehouse full of comics, and I was like holy mess yo.. So we went, and when we got there there was an older fellow who didn't know much about comics, and then there was this younger cat, I'm guessing the books were his. So he tells us "yeah man, I have a lot of bronze age limited books dude worth a lot of money". I looked at my bro and we were like but we looked, and he had tons of boxes hours to look through them all, and there was nothing but drek, and I kid you not this guy knew he had junk drek, I peaked at the corner of my eye seeing him stare at us with a smirk, I was like damnit. And just left.. Now that I think of it. That was quite funny and a horrid situation, this guy was stacked with drek, trying to sell them for an arm and a leg..

So, what is your guys stories?

 

I would pay to have someone make an animated youtube video of this story, in the OPs own words..

[Aweandlorder]

I once went to someone's house in Newark NJ to inspect some comic books.. It was in my route so I figured what the heck..

I knocked on the door, and this bra-less older lady opens the door, cigarette in her mouth and a colt 45 can in her hand.. "u hea' for the camic behk's?" I said, mess, Im sure not here for anything else..

As we walked upstairs towards the attic, I see from the corner of my eye a rottweiler fighting a rat, at which point I turned around and just held my phone to my ear and mumbled "im sorry I was expecting this call i have to jet goodbeye

[kav]

One time I answered a CL add for some 'funny books' I get there and it was like a bomb had exploded in the place-debris everywhere. The owner was hocking loogies right and left he led me to a box in back by the pit bull compound there I saw stack after stack of Action #1-I'll take it I said just as the pits rushed up and began tearing the books to mess. Well dont that beat all the dude said as he hocked up another loogie.

[Count Zero]

This happened to a friend of a friend...

 

Guy walks into a local thrift store. Finds a short box of Bronze Age titles... Nothing big... As he is flipping through... He finds a manilla envelope... He pulls it out and opens it up...

 

$$$!!! It is full of hundred dollar bills... He puts it back in and looks around... He got very paranoid... He felt like he was being watched... Maybe it's a setup? - he thought...

 

After a few moments he took the entire box up to the counter and asked "Uh.. How much?"

 

"$50 for the box" was the reply.... He payed...walked out of there real fast... Put the box in his trunk and drove home...

 

When he got home he brought the box inside and opened up the envelope again...

 

$1000 in hundred dollar bills (thumbs u

[Aweandlorder]

I completely forgotten this happened to me a couple of years ago

[batman_fan]

WAY back when I was an undergrad, I would run ads in the local paper for buying comics. I picked up some decent SA and Bronze stuff but then I got the ultimate call from an elderly lady. She had a bunch of old comics she was wanting to sell. You can imagine my excitement. I walked to her house which was in an older very nice part of town. I rang the doorbell and it was a major score. She was probably about 70. She didn't want me in the house so she went to get the comics while I stood on the porch and waited. When she returned she had something like 3 or 4 books beat to heck and about 2-3 years old. Somehow the walk home seemed a little longer.

 

[porcupine48]

This was in a Toronto shop about ten years ago:

 

After spending about an hour digging though the bins and finding some nice high-grade 70s books, I went to pay for them at the cash. The clerk proceeded to bend each book horizontally. II was an obvious FU move by someone full of hate.

 

I'll never forget that guy - what an a-hole.

Care to tell the shop?is it still open?

[porcupine48]

Not comics but I went to buy a motorcycle dude said it was pristine. I went and the bike was a mess-stripped bolt heads-he said oh you can use a hack saw to cut new channel for screwdriver. Took it for a spin top speed was 20 mph. The motor was beat. Came back he was all hyped up saying you probably noticed it's kinda slow-that's because the tires are low-if you fill em up it will go top speed.

Like I was some complete imbecile buying his BS

Another guy with a 'pristine' bike I get there and here's this bike that had been wrecked. Clutch lever was broke. Dude said just get it going then jump on while it's moving. He had an arm in a cast from doing that.

 

I went to inspect a car which was quite a desirable model made in very low numbers. Arrived at 09:00am with my good friend who is a mechanic. We were welcomed by two guys sitting on the porch drinking Jim Beam from a bottle with no shirts on. Needless to say the car was a total wreck. They had decided they wanted it to be purple and had spray painted it with hardware pearlescent paint but only a few panels before they gave up, it also had a "custom" (read as home made pvc) inter-cooler.

You haven't seen a paint job till you've seen someone paint a car with a brush using housepaint.

I remember Carson talking about his first car on the Tonight Show...a forties heap painted matte black with a BROOM!

[porcupine48]

Another story from long ago.

 

Ran a newspaper ad and I guy called me up saying he had tons of old comics. I went over to his house and went in a dark dirty garage. There were piles of magazines, books, photos ect. (Literally the whole garage full). He pointed me to the comics. I was heavily into EC's at the time and he showed me full runs! He wanted to sell them by whole run. Of course being young, I didn't have that kind of money so I talked him into selling me just the whole run of annuals for $100. (all the money I had). He also threw in the run of Piracy & the 2 3D issues because I had shown an interest in them. I remember a ton of early GA stuff too but I really wanted the EC's. I had to put back a nice Submariner #1 for $40 because I just had no more money.

 

I asked if I could come back in a month or so when I saved up some more money and he said sure. A couple months later, I had as much cash as I could drag up or borrow and I called him. No answer for a couple of days so I decided to go over. I got there and no one answered the door. I looked in the window and the place was empty. I went out to the garage and looked in the window and it was cleaned out! Now this garage was PACKED!. Where did it all go so fast?

 

Annother one I think about that got away...

Love this story!

[letsgrumble]

This was in a Toronto shop about ten years ago:

 

After spending about an hour digging though the bins and finding some nice high-grade 70s books, I went to pay for them at the cash. The clerk proceeded to bend each book horizontally. II was an obvious FU move by someone full of hate.

 

I'll never forget that guy - what an a-hole.

Care to tell the shop?is it still open?

 

BMV Uptown

 

Discount/used bookstore with three locations that carries tons of comics. The Annex store has an entire floor dedicated to comics. Fun place to browse but I rarely go there now (and I work close by). I've had luck finding nice books there in the past. There are/were a few employees who collected comic and they kept the store well stocked, priced them way below market, and sometimes there were some amazing finds (amid mostly drek). But there were also some real goofballs who worked there that really hated the comic crowd, and they'd be quite open about it. A weird dichotomy.

[IchigosSoul]

I guess I don't have a real cool comic stories, but this thread is pretty good. Best I have is when I traded one of my Dad's old Playboys for a beat to hell X-Men 101 in the 7th grade.

[MetalPSI]

Anytime I went to my local LCS growing up.

 

A middle aged fat lady and a young asian.

 

Not the best mix. Trust me

[porcupine48]

This was in a Toronto shop about ten years ago:

 

After spending about an hour digging though the bins and finding some nice high-grade 70s books, I went to pay for them at the cash. The clerk proceeded to bend each book horizontally. II was an obvious FU move by someone full of hate.

 

I'll never forget that guy - what an a-hole.

Care to tell the shop?is it still open?

 

BMV Uptown

 

Discount/used bookstore with three locations that carries tons of comics. The Annex store has an entire floor dedicated to comics. Fun place to browse but I rarely go there now (and I work close by). I've had luck finding nice books there in the past. There are/were a few employees who collected comic and they kept the store well stocked, priced them way below market, and sometimes there were some amazing finds (amid mostly drek). But there were also some real goofballs who worked there that really hated the comic crowd, and they'd be quite open about it. A weird dichotomy.

Thanks,I dont know that shop!in Ottawa here,glad you did not say the Snail!

[Sekowskyfan10]

In 1986 I made my monthly trip to Berkeley to buy back issues. At that time I generally visited Comics & Comix (when they still had a back loft loaded with SA). A buddy went with me - he wasn't a comic purchaser, but enjoyed going to record stores there (Rasputin, Leopold's, etc).

 

After walking from BART thru the UC Berkeley campus, we made our way down Telegraph Avenue. Along the way to Comics & Comix, I discovered another LCS called Best of 2 Worlds. It wasn't there the last time I visited Berkeley. My buddy went on to the record stores while I entered this store.

 

I was awed by two things: first, the general disorganization; second, the sheer variety of items for sale (including a DC comic rack, circa late 40s).

 

I picked out an Action Comics issue (#96) and Flash Comics #65 for purchase - both VG. Sweet Joe Kubert cover on the Flash.

 

The owner said he didn't have a cash register. He did have a ledger to record the sale, and when I paid, he opened up a cigar box that was loaded with cash to give me change. I thought that this guy wasn't going to be open for business very soon with that kind of security.

 

While paying, my friend walked in and seemed shaken. He explained that he had been approached by a woman carrying a bottle, claiming nitro glycerin was in it, and that it would "blow him clean up." I explained it was probably a crazy lady and not to worry, but he insisted on leaving town then and there.

 

I went into Berkeley a few months later, without my friend who went back to his college town. Best of 2 Worlds was gone. I thought perhaps my buddy was right about the woman and she blew the shop up.

[porcupine48]

Did you see any wild parrots?

[kav]

Yeah that was the crazy nitro lady of Berkeley-cousin to the Unabomer.

[Brock]

 

BMV Uptown

 

Discount/used bookstore with three locations that carries tons of comics. The Annex store has an entire floor dedicated to comics. Fun place to browse but I rarely go there now (and I work close by). I've had luck finding nice books there in the past. There are/were a few employees who collected comic and they kept the store well stocked, priced them way below market, and sometimes there were some amazing finds (amid mostly drek). But there were also some real goofballs who worked there that really hated the comic crowd, and they'd be quite open about it. A weird dichotomy.

 

I like BMV... It's not really an LCS, and it's 98% drek - but you just never know what you'll find. About 18 months ago, I snagged a Betty & Veronica #320 in VF for $1.

[Doohickamabob]

This was in a Toronto shop about ten years ago: After spending about an hour digging though the bins and finding some nice high-grade 70s books, I went to pay for them at the cash. The clerk proceeded to bend each book horizontally. II was an obvious FU move by someone full of hate. I'll never forget that guy - what an a-hole.

What the hell? Did you say mean things about his mother or something?