I went to a comic store

[MetalPSI]

I think it's money laundering myself. There is a vacuum repair shop that's been open since I was a kid. There is just no way that guy could have stayed in business this long, considering I've never ever seen anyone ever go into the store. Not that I stood there keeping tabs, but the whole time I lived in that area, which is a good 20+ years, I never noticed on a busy afternoon anyone going into that shop.

[jsilverjanet]

I'm going to buy a lamp shade today

[Doktor]

I'm going to buy a lamp shade today

 

Weird...

 

Go buy a new lamp.

[letsgrumble]

Looks like an overpriced storage locker for a rich kid who doesn't care anymore

 

The owner was a 60 year old hippie who didn't understand CGC and was anit-eBay.

 

 

House of Fantasy, Niagara Falls, NY?

[jsilverjanet]

I'm going to buy a lamp shade today

 

Weird...

 

Go buy a new lamp.

is that code for a hooker?

[Logan510]

As someone loaded with OCD, this store drives me especially crazy. It's just another example of someone with a store who doesn't deserve one.

 

Please don't take this the wrong way, but why do you always come off as so bitter like this?

[BlowUpTheMoon]

Looks like an overpriced storage locker for a rich kid who doesn't care anymore

 

The owner was a 60 year old hippie who didn't understand CGC and was anit-eBay.

 

 

House of Fantasy, Niagara Falls, NY?

 

Nope.

[Doktor]

I'm going to buy a lamp shade today

 

Weird...

 

Go buy a new lamp.

is that code for a hooker?

 

That's a socket.

[FutureFlash]

What I don't understand is how places like this tend to stay open.

 

Lets say for the sake of it, this store has been open and active for 10 years. How does it happen? I see stores everywhere that are mind boggling that they remain open. Appliance repair shops, computer repair shops, shoe repair shops, electronics repair shops, vacuum cleaner repair shops, and comic shops like these. They are all dingy, unkempt and just unpleasant to be in, but remain open for YEARS.

 

How do they do it? Government subsidy?

 

Selling cocaine out of the back room.

 

There was a lamp shade store near my parents house for a decade. Seriously. A lamp shade store. Nobody needs a lamp shade that often that they will actively seek out a store for lamp shades. Unless they're just weird. There's no conceivable way that that store could have stayed in business for that long. So I decided they must be selling cocaine out of the back room. This is now my default belief for any store whose very existence is inexplicable.

 

Cocaine is a hell of a drug. -Rick James

[mystrymachine]

Looks like an overpriced storage locker for a rich kid who doesn't care anymore

 

The owner was a 60 year old hippie who didn't understand CGC and was anit-eBay.

 

 

House of Fantasy, Niagara Falls, NY?

 

Niagara Falls! Slowly I turned, step by step..

[letsgrumble]

Looks like an overpriced storage locker for a rich kid who doesn't care anymore

 

The owner was a 60 year old hippie who didn't understand CGC and was anit-eBay.

 

 

House of Fantasy, Niagara Falls, NY?

 

Nope.

 

House of Fantasy:

 

Owned by 60-year old hippie... check.

Decor... check.

Comics in old boxes all over the place... check.

Didn't understand CGC... hmmm check.

 

You mean there's another one of these stores in the vicinity?

 

[BlowUpTheMoon]

Looks like an overpriced storage locker for a rich kid who doesn't care anymore

 

The owner was a 60 year old hippie who didn't understand CGC and was anit-eBay.

 

 

House of Fantasy, Niagara Falls, NY?

 

Nope.

 

House of Fantasy:

 

Owned by 60-year old hippie... check.

Decor... check.

Comics in old boxes all over the place... check.

Didn't understand CGC... hmmm check.

 

You mean there's another one of these stores in the vicinity?

 

I was vacationing somewhere in New York and tripped over this store.

 

Have never heard of House of Fantasy. Will have to check it out.

[the blob]

obviously you need an owner/manager willing to sell stuff, but that's the sort of place you can do alright at with a fair amount of box moving, but you have to get a sense of what he's charging in advance, he can't make up a price once you've done all the work. "so these boxes are $1 each, right?"

 

if he says he needs to look up every book you just walk out. on the other hand, if he is looking up each book in overstreet, if you have an encyclopedic memory of what has popped on ebay, but not on overstreet, you can do well. of course, if he tries to charge OPG it will be $3-$5 a book, which could be too high, so you need to fight on that.

[Chip Cataldo]

As someone loaded with OCD, this store drives me especially crazy. It's just another example of someone with a store who doesn't deserve one.

 

Please don't take this the wrong way, but why do you always come off as so bitter like this?

...because I want a shop. I want a shop like Chris' (Junkdrawer). There's nothing like it for miles down here and the "regular" comic shops here all suck save for one. I know for a fact I can do a better job than most of the yahoos out there. I lack the funds, end of story. The fact that places like the one in this thread (and the ones around here) exist just rubs me the wrong way. It's all luck, and I grow tired of seeing it whenever it pops up.

 

Most of the shops around here I wonder HOW they stay open. Hell, even the guys at the flea markets I wonder how...even assuming they have other jobs. I just don't get it all, and that makes me depressed.

 

 

[letsgrumble]

Looks like an overpriced storage locker for a rich kid who doesn't care anymore

 

The owner was a 60 year old hippie who didn't understand CGC and was anit-eBay.

 

 

House of Fantasy, Niagara Falls, NY?

 

Nope.

 

House of Fantasy:

 

Owned by 60-year old hippie... check.

Decor... check.

Comics in old boxes all over the place... check.

Didn't understand CGC... hmmm check.

 

You mean there's another one of these stores in the vicinity?

 

I was vacationing somewhere in New York and tripped over this store.

 

Have never heard of House of Fantasy. Will have to check it out.

 

Oh, I can't wait to see your report on House of Fantasy.

 

Actually, not that bad of a store. Bought some books when I was there over a decade ago.

[StingerMcK]

Looks like a fun store to me. Part of the fun is looking around for treasure.

[the blob]

As someone loaded with OCD, this store drives me especially crazy. It's just another example of someone with a store who doesn't deserve one.

 

Please don't take this the wrong way, but why do you always come off as so bitter like this?

...because I want a shop. I want a shop like Chris' (Junkdrawer). There's nothing like it for miles down here and the "regular" comic shops here all suck save for one. I know for a fact I can do a better job than most of the yahoos out there. I lack the funds, end of story. The fact that places like the one in this thread (and the ones around here) exist just rubs me the wrong way. It's all luck, and I grow tired of seeing it whenever it pops up.

 

Most of the shops around here I wonder HOW they stay open. Hell, even the guys at the flea markets I wonder how...even assuming they have other jobs. I just don't get it all, and that makes me depressed.

 

 

Luck, or an owner with low rent who is willing to live off $20K a year...maybe.

 

 

Chip, what would a 500 square foot place in one of the many mrytle beach shopping malls cost you?

 

I go to a shop that is actually smaller than that (not including the storage room downstairs, which is not really integral to the store. Granted, it is in NYC, so there is a lot of foot traffic, but he manages to support 2 employees and himself (with a house in the suburbs, a child and a stay at home wife) on it somehow.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

Looks like a fun store to me. Part of the fun is looking around for treasure.

 

Got there at 4:45 on Friday and he was closing at 5p to go to his other job, as the comic book store doesn't pay the bills. Was super stoked to dive into the long boxes and see every book in the room.

 

Got back to the store when it opened at 1p on Saturday. Spent a couple of hours there and walked away empty handed. Well, my hands were filthy after I got done in there.

[letsgrumble]

Looks like a fun store to me. Part of the fun is looking around for treasure.

 

Absolutely!

 

I really wish I took photos of some of the remote off-the-beaten-path comic shops I've visited over the years. Many of them set up shop and disappear within a year or two.

[Chaseman210]

As someone loaded with OCD, this store drives me especially crazy. It's just another example of someone with a store who doesn't deserve one.

 

Please don't take this the wrong way, but why do you always come off as so bitter like this?

...because I want a shop. I want a shop like Chris' (Junkdrawer). There's nothing like it for miles down here and the "regular" comic shops here all suck save for one. I know for a fact I can do a better job than most of the yahoos out there. I lack the funds, end of story. The fact that places like the one in this thread (and the ones around here) exist just rubs me the wrong way. It's all luck, and I grow tired of seeing it whenever it pops up.

 

Most of the shops around here I wonder HOW they stay open. Hell, even the guys at the flea markets I wonder how...even assuming they have other jobs. I just don't get it all, and that makes me depressed.

 

 

Which ones in the area do you like/not like? I'm just curious because I usually go to all of them when I'm down at the beach for a day or weekend.