I went to a comic store

[ChrisInBaltimore]

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.

 

I have been in a lamp shade store with my mother before. Maybe it is a generational thing? She's got a stack of lamp shades in her basement.

 

Someone else mentioned a vacuum repair store. My mother, again, took my vacuum to a vacuum repair store. I had just purchased it prior to my son being born in the hopes it would clean the house better. While we were in the hospital, my mom decided to clean up and sucked up something and broke it.

 

I think a lot of these are just signs of how much society has changed. Growing up, we had the same TVs in our house for 20+ years. In my daughters short life, we've had upwards of 4 or 5 televisions. We didn't even recycle the old ones.

 

Products just aren't made to last. Heck, I remember my dad taking my copy of Star Wars to a VHS repairman back in the day. Could you imagine that today?

[Artboy99]

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.

 

I have been in a lamp shade store with my mother before. Maybe it is a generational thing? She's got a stack of lamp shades in her basement.

 

Someone else mentioned a vacuum repair store. My mother, again, took my vacuum to a vacuum repair store. I had just purchased it prior to my son being born in the hopes it would clean the house better. While we were in the hospital, my mom decided to clean up and sucked up something and broke it.

 

I think a lot of these are just signs of how much society has changed. Growing up, we had the same TVs in our house for 20+ years. In my daughters short life, we've had upwards of 4 or 5 televisions. We didn't even recycle the old ones.

 

Products just aren't made to last. Heck, I remember my dad taking my copy of Star Wars to a VHS repairman back in the day. Could you imagine that today?

 

Definitely have changed.

Today, TV's have a "fuse" of sorts inside the TV, it is a timer device and after so many hours of usage it will click off and your TV will no longer work. The fuse could be replaced but it is basicaly as expensive as buying a new TV.

In my bedroom I have a TV I bought in 1982, it still works.

[CKB]

GET OFF MY LAWN!

 

Sorry. :-)

[Robot Man]

That place reminds me of old used book stores. Long before the internet and comic book stores, those were the places to find comics. They were usually run by some mistrusting old man who didn't want to sell anything though.

 

I used to ride my bike to one that was packed with stuff. His comics consisted of a couple small boxes of lousy semi recent ones that I really didn't want.

 

One day I spied something bright yellow poking out of a stack of old b/w Life mags. I pulled it out and it was a nice GA Supe #6 with $3. penciled on the back cover. I about wet my pants. I kept poking and found a couple WDCS in the number 20's and an early Submariner (all priced $3.). I went over to the "newer box and picked ou a few 50 cent books and took them up to the front. The old man was shocked I found the GA books and wasn't going to sell them until I pointed out they were priced and showed him the money. I ended up just buying the 4 old ones and left.

 

I went back several more times and occasionally got a book or two. I got 5 EC's for a buck each. But had to endure the scorn of the old man. He would only talk to me if I "showed him the money"

 

There was talk in the neighborhood about the "basement" where they were supposedly piles of old comics. He wouldn't let us go down there though. A couple of my friends said they were able to distract him and one snuck down and saw the books but I never believed them. Many years later, I found it was true when the old man died and a local guy bought out the store. I used to dream about that basement and how I could get in...

 

I miss "used" bookstores!

[dupont2005]

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.

 

I have been in a lamp shade store with my mother before. Maybe it is a generational thing? She's got a stack of lamp shades in her basement.

 

Someone else mentioned a vacuum repair store. My mother, again, took my vacuum to a vacuum repair store. I had just purchased it prior to my son being born in the hopes it would clean the house better. While we were in the hospital, my mom decided to clean up and sucked up something and broke it.

 

I think a lot of these are just signs of how much society has changed. Growing up, we had the same TVs in our house for 20+ years. In my daughters short life, we've had upwards of 4 or 5 televisions. We didn't even recycle the old ones.

 

Products just aren't made to last. Heck, I remember my dad taking my copy of Star Wars to a VHS repairman back in the day. Could you imagine that today?

 

Definitely have changed.

Today, TV's have a "fuse" of sorts inside the TV, it is a timer device and after so many hours of usage it will click off and your TV will no longer work. The fuse could be replaced but it is basicaly as expensive as buying a new TV.

In my bedroom I have a TV I bought in 1982, it still works.

I just bought a tv a couple years ago and it's already got a thin yellow vertical line on the left side of the picture that seems to come and go as it pleases. I remember my dad buying used TV's from a used TV store when I was a kid. We had one of those black and white TV's that came in a furniture cabinet at one point.

[Robot Man]

Have one of these, and it still works. No, I didn't buy it new...

 

[Bill C]

Haven't been to House of Fantasy in a few years, although I pass it all the time. Nothing against the owner, I just don't really collect comics much at this point. He does (or did) have a lot of silver age backstock iirc. He has to go pull them out from the back room. The big negative about that place is that the owner is (was?) a massive smoker and all the books had a very strong smoke odor.

[Couchy81]

That place reminds me of old used book stores. Long before the internet and comic book stores, those were the places to find comics. They were usually run by some mistrusting old man who didn't want to sell anything though.

 

I used to ride my bike to one that was packed with stuff. His comics consisted of a couple small boxes of lousy semi recent ones that I really didn't want.

 

One day I spied something bright yellow poking out of a stack of old b/w Life mags. I pulled it out and it was a nice GA Supe #6 with $3. penciled on the back cover. I about wet my pants. I kept poking and found a couple WDCS in the number 20's and an early Submariner (all priced $3.). I went over to the "newer box and picked ou a few 50 cent books and took them up to the front. The old man was shocked I found the GA books and wasn't going to sell them until I pointed out they were priced and showed him the money. I ended up just buying the 4 old ones and left.

 

I went back several more times and occasionally got a book or two. I got 5 EC's for a buck each. But had to endure the scorn of the old man. He would only talk to me if I "showed him the money"

 

There was talk in the neighborhood about the "basement" where they were supposedly piles of old comics. He wouldn't let us go down there though. A couple of my friends said they were able to distract him and one snuck down and saw the books but I never believed them. Many years later, I found it was true when the old man died and a local guy bought out the store. I used to dream about that basement and how I could get in...

 

I miss "used" bookstores!

 

I'm sad I never got to "experience" the used book store. The stories like the one you just told and many more like it from collectors in the early days make me envious. So much so that a few months ago when I picked up a collection of books and was flipping through a copy of BB#67 I spotted a local book store stamp on the inside on the first page.

 

 

I was intrigued so I looked it up online and read about its history. It was supposedly the oldest book store in the city, founded in 1931. Now it is an antiquarian book shop, and it is located in one of the worst spots in the city, next to a park notorious for drug dealing and next to halfway houses / shelters etc. Despite all that my curiosity got the better of me and I couldn't resist the hunting bug and made the trek downtown on a Saturday morning. 11 am at the corner of the nearest intersection to the store some young shady looking dude asked if I was "in need" .

 

The store was very cool, chatted to the clerk on hand who was a younger guy, mentioned the comic with the stamp and asked about it but he said they didn't have any old comics any more, sold them all a long long time ago. Too bad. I still couldn't shake the feeling there was an old box in the basement long forgotten that held some treasure. Ah well, the hunt continues...

 

 

 

 

[dupont2005]

Yeah. My first LCS was downtown Rialto back in the late 80's. At that time I'm pretty sure the store had been open for many years. It sold coins and comics. The quarter bins were full of beat up Silver Age Archies and C list Marvel and DC from about late silver to current. He had a high shelf just below the ceiling that ran across an entire wall that had those big manga phone books, and this was in the 80's so I don't think that was common. He had so many of the black and white indies in his quarter bins, that's where my love of those things developed from. Lots of weird stuff. I also pulled out a strangely high number of Christian comics considering I was never specifically looking for Christian comics, so I assume the bargain bin was well stocked with those. The store stayed open for years after I had moved away and every time I was in town I made sure to stop in. It was a fantastic place until the day it closed, and I seriously regret not bringing home every Archie in those bins.

[Chip Cataldo]

For me it was Book Thrift (one spinner rack of comics, 10 minute bike ride from the house) and George's (large wall mag rack full of comics, 30 minute bike ride from the house). That was the very early 1980's. Then I went to Ravenswood Comics in 1984 and was blown away. A whole store dedicated to comic books! Unfortunately that was a 30-minute drive for my folks and "out of their way." They never liked me collecting comics (or anything in general) so I didn't get out there regularly at all...maybe twice a year until I started driving myself. The owner, John Julian passed away and left the shop to his sister. She kept it going for years...unknown if it's still open as I write this. I'll have to check. :-)

[Chaseman210]

There a used bookstore I go to with a really small comic section. I don't know how much people go in looking for comics, but I've snagged some pretty cool books there the past month or so I've been going. Foom #2 and #3, Spider-Man vs. The Hulk at the Winter Olympics, What if #7, etc.

[dupont2005]

Oh, that reminds me. A local thrift shop just acquired a collection, I might bring $40 with me this weekend

[wombat]

I have to go to one place by me and take pictures. It makes the place in this thread seem really organized and clean. There is always a chance of a comic avalanche whenever you try to dig through a box. I'm pretty sure a few people have probably been crushed to death and just got absorbed by some long boxes.

 

On the plus side the owner has zero interest in really selling anything.

[RidersRohan]

I'm going to buy a lamp shade today

 

Me too because my

 

 

[Bird]

I have to go to one place by me and take pictures. It makes the place in this thread seem really organized and clean. There is always a chance of a comic avalanche whenever you try to dig through a box. I'm pretty sure a few people have probably been crushed to death and just got absorbed by some long boxes.

 

On the plus side the owner has zero interest in really selling anything.

 

Maybe we are thinking of the same store? I have been to a store in Hamilton NJ, the Comic Lair, that is this place but with one-third the available space. I went yesterday on a whim during lunch in the hopes of scoring a Walking Dead 154 or three but the door had a hard written "Be Back in 5" sign despite Monday hours being 12-5 so no luck there. Closed Tuesdays (he told me that me had trouble with Diamond for releasing comics on Tuesdays so now does not open at all on T).

 

I went to a second comic store...and got that WD 154 and a 138 as well (for cover).

[Wall-Crawler]

Have one of these, and it still works. No, I didn't buy it new...

 

 

That is AWESOME.

[Paddy_McShillihan]

I have to go to one place by me and take pictures. It makes the place in this thread seem really organized and clean. There is always a chance of a comic avalanche whenever you try to dig through a box. I'm pretty sure a few people have probably been crushed to death and just got absorbed by some long boxes.

 

On the plus side the owner has zero interest in really selling anything.

 

I almost broke my back going through these ... But I did score couple books made it worth it ... Flipped them

 

[wombat]

I have to go to one place by me and take pictures. It makes the place in this thread seem really organized and clean. There is always a chance of a comic avalanche whenever you try to dig through a box. I'm pretty sure a few people have probably been crushed to death and just got absorbed by some long boxes.

 

On the plus side the owner has zero interest in really selling anything.

 

I almost broke my back going through these ... But I did score couple books made it worth it ... Flipped them

 

 

Most of the shop was kind of like that. Except the boxes on bottom were at the point of just giving out at any moment.

[wombat]

I have to go to one place by me and take pictures. It makes the place in this thread seem really organized and clean. There is always a chance of a comic avalanche whenever you try to dig through a box. I'm pretty sure a few people have probably been crushed to death and just got absorbed by some long boxes.

 

On the plus side the owner has zero interest in really selling anything.

 

Maybe we are thinking of the same store? I have been to a store in Hamilton NJ, the Comic Lair, that is this place but with one-third the available space. I went yesterday on a whim during lunch in the hopes of scoring a Walking Dead 154 or three but the door had a hard written "Be Back in 5" sign despite Monday hours being 12-5 so no luck there. Closed Tuesdays (he told me that me had trouble with Diamond for releasing comics on Tuesdays so now does not open at all on T).

 

I went to a second comic store...and got that WD 154 and a 138 as well (for cover).

 

This place is in Feasterville. I think it is called Comic Collection.

[letsgrumble]

That place reminds me of old used book stores. Long before the internet and comic book stores, those were the places to find comics. They were usually run by some mistrusting old man who didn't want to sell anything though.

 

I used to ride my bike to one that was packed with stuff. His comics consisted of a couple small boxes of lousy semi recent ones that I really didn't want.

 

One day I spied something bright yellow poking out of a stack of old b/w Life mags. I pulled it out and it was a nice GA Supe #6 with $3. penciled on the back cover. I about wet my pants. I kept poking and found a couple WDCS in the number 20's and an early Submariner (all priced $3.). I went over to the "newer box and picked ou a few 50 cent books and took them up to the front. The old man was shocked I found the GA books and wasn't going to sell them until I pointed out they were priced and showed him the money. I ended up just buying the 4 old ones and left.

 

I went back several more times and occasionally got a book or two. I got 5 EC's for a buck each. But had to endure the scorn of the old man. He would only talk to me if I "showed him the money"

 

There was talk in the neighborhood about the "basement" where they were supposedly piles of old comics. He wouldn't let us go down there though. A couple of my friends said they were able to distract him and one snuck down and saw the books but I never believed them. Many years later, I found it was true when the old man died and a local guy bought out the store. I used to dream about that basement and how I could get in...

 

I miss "used" bookstores!

 

I'm sad I never got to "experience" the used book store. The stories like the one you just told and many more like it from collectors in the early days make me envious. So much so that a few months ago when I picked up a collection of books and was flipping through a copy of BB#67 I spotted a local book store stamp on the inside on the first page.

 

 

I was intrigued so I looked it up online and read about its history. It was supposedly the oldest book store in the city, founded in 1931. Now it is an antiquarian book shop, and it is located in one of the worst spots in the city, next to a park notorious for drug dealing and next to halfway houses / shelters etc. Despite all that my curiosity got the better of me and I couldn't resist the hunting bug and made the trek downtown on a Saturday morning. 11 am at the corner of the nearest intersection to the store some young shady looking dude asked if I was "in need" .

 

The store was very cool, chatted to the clerk on hand who was a younger guy, mentioned the comic with the stamp and asked about it but he said they didn't have any old comics any more, sold them all a long long time ago. Too bad. I still couldn't shake the feeling there was an old box in the basement long forgotten that held some treasure. Ah well, the hunt continues...

 

 

 

 

Very, very cool! Acadia is the oldest surviving bookstore in Toronto. Though the business changed ownership in 1957 it was once known for newspapers, magazines, comics, pulps, and general interest books. I'm sure all of the GA/SA comic grails passed hands there. The owner began selling more antiquarian books as he got older. His daughter and her husband took over the business in the 1990s. They have since changed its focus to more high-end antiquarian books specializing in art and design. And, yes, it is located in one sketchy area of the city!