Son of My 50 Year Junk Obsession 16 16

[gadzukes]

On 9/17/2021 at 5:53 PM, Robot Man said:

 Love the Cop stuff and especially the G-Man machine gun.  

I love that one too.  He told me he found it at an antique store with a price on it of $180.  The owner saw him holding it and said he'd let it go for $90.  As my friend paused and thought "wow, what a good deal!", the owner blurted out "$80 and it's yours".  My friend bought it for $80, which I'm going to guess is a really good deal.

[Robot Man]

On 9/17/2021 at 3:51 PM, gadzukes said:

I love that one too.  He told me he found it at an antique store with a price on it of $180.  The owner saw him holding it and said he'd let it go for $90.  As my friend paused and thought "wow, what a good deal!", the owner blurted out "$80 and it's yours".  My friend bought it for $80, which I'm going to guess is a really good deal.

Oh, yeah. I wouldn’t be able to get my wallet out fast enough. $180, I would have passed. 

[Robot Man]

The "Thrill of the Hunt" (for stuff I didn't know existed) department.

Got this cool little item in today. Although not what many of the uninitiated might recognize or care about, I'm a dedicated collector.

Let's see, 1.) Goofy look, 2.) The hair and 3.) the missing tooth. Could this be one of Alfred E Neuman's long lost relatives? I thought it did enough to lay down dead presidents for it.

What is cool when collecting pinbacks are ones that are very regional, one day events and graphic. This hits them all and due to being 98 years old might be the only existing example. 

Very happy to add to my collection of pre-MAD Alfred pinbacks and MAD stuff in general. 

The hunt goes on...

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

Back east for a long weekend and my brother and I hit one of my old flea market haunts on Sunday, the Collingwood New Jersey auction. It was a beautiful day and this particular flea; while not large always has an interesting assortment of folks selling all kinds of junk. I snapped the picture of the action below. Right after this in true New Jersey fashion a five minute back and forth of "F U!", "No F U!" broke out between a seller and buyer. All part of the fun.

I also spotted this particular piece of junk and thought it funny. One of the oddities of this flea is vendors leave their junk out all week covered in tarps then untarp on sale days. How they think this is a good idea is beyond me but this poor Treasury is rotting away in one such pile. And no I didn't ask the price.

Inside there used to be a couple of fun vendors. One magazine and comic vendor had been around for years selling remaindered books. He was gone, the only evidence of his having been there was a forlorn sign saying "Comics!" where his booth used to be. In the back they used to have a slot car track. That was now taken over by a comic / record / pop culture store. Prices weren't too bad actually and I picked up the Adam Strange Mystery in Space below for $25. A nice solid mid grade copy with great stories and artwork.

The flea markets back east are always fun and the dealers don't act like they are the foremost authorities on everything with prices to match. Refreshing!

Edited September 27, 2021 by 50YrsCollctngCmcs

[Robot Man]

So cool. I am officially jealous. I really miss East Coast Flea Markets. My wife and I always did well at Elephant Trunk in CT. Other real good ones were Renniger’s and Black Angus in Adamstown, PA (just across the river from NJ). Last time I was there was about 5 years ago. Never heard of the one you went to. Seems like there is still a lot of real nice stuff still coming out of houses and barns in PA. 

Thanks for posting and not surprised about the “colorful” language in NJ...

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 9/27/2021 at 8:39 AM, Robot Man said:

So cool. I am officially jealous. I really miss East Coast Flea Markets. My wife and I always did well at Elephant Trunk in CT. Other real good ones were Renniger’s and Black Angus in Adamstown, PA (just across the river from NJ). Last time I was there was about 5 years ago. Never heard of the one you went to. Seems like there is still a lot of real nice stuff still coming out of houses and barns in PA. 

Thanks for posting and not surprised about the “colorful” language in NJ...

Collingwood is really small but that helps as it is just full of local junk! You never know what you might come across. My brother who is a big train collector frequents the Pennyslvania fleas and sales and is always finding treasures. He knew of both those you mentioned. We grew up at the Englishtown Flea Market which had lost its juju for junk but my younger brother tells me it may be getting some of it back. Most of the old barns around here have been torn down to make way for housing developments but there are still plenty of old homes that get cleaned out now and again that yield up treasure. A local favorite are the Hess trucks that were sold by that gas station chain at Christmas every year. You always see them in various condition around here at the fleas. Of course my brother who is a semi-hoarder has a whole chest of them in the basement all unopened in the box. Someone is going to have some fun cleaning up his house someday which is packed top to bottom with railroad memorabilia.

[Robot Man]

On 9/27/2021 at 6:19 PM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

Collingwood is really small but that helps as it is just full of local junk! You never know what you might come across. My brother who is a big train collector frequents the Pennyslvania fleas and sales and is always finding treasures. He knew of both those you mentioned. We grew up at the Englishtown Flea Market which had lost its juju for junk but my younger brother tells me it may be getting some of it back. Most of the old barns around here have been torn down to make way for housing developments but there are still plenty of old homes that get cleaned out now and again that yield up treasure. A local favorite are the Hess trucks that were sold by that gas station chain at Christmas every year. You always see them in various condition around here at the fleas. Of course my brother who is a semi-hoarder has a whole chest of them in the basement all unopened in the box. Someone is going to have some fun cleaning up his house someday which is packed top to bottom with railroad memorabilia.

Don’t laugh, that could be you!

I cut my teeth at the Rose Bowl and Azusa Swap Meet. I can’t remember all the comic finds I had at those places back in the day. Bought my first BO Japanese Robot in the box at the bowl on a whim. I remember paying either $5 or $10 for a Reform School Girl from a regular young guy that sold comics. 

But, in order to be a first class junker, you have to hit the WEEK long Brimfield  MA Flea Market in May. Mind blowing. Not for the lazy but always worth the trip. Google it, then put it on your bucket list! 

[Robot Man]

Looks like no comic shows for a while so a local guy decided to have another little comic book “meet up”. About 15-20 guys. Everyone is invited to bring books to buy, sell or trade. Comics, pulps and just vintage paper. 

[Robot Man]

Meet up organizer, promoter of the killer All American Collector’s show and my good buddy Jim Malley.

[Robot Man]

The boards only @Dreamtoreal1 Pablo with his newest passion, VHS tapes.

One of the coolest guys around and helped make my day today.

[Robot Man]

[Robot Man]

And Pablo invited this guy. He had 5 boxes of GA. No big superhero, horror or keys but tons of interesting old books. 

No prices but he said “cheap” so I tested the waters with a small pile. I was pretty shocked. He then gave me his “each” price and I went back with a fine tooth comb. Couldn’t believe there was virtually no interest. Man I scored! 

[Robot Man]

Outstanding way to spend the day. I will have a lot of fun with this load! 

[Dreamtoreal1]

Was nice to see you Bob. Was a fun comic meetup.thanks for coming!

 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 10/2/2021 at 6:49 PM, Robot Man said:

The boards only @Dreamtoreal1 Pablo with his newest passion, VHS tapes.

One of the coolest guys around and helped make my day today.

I read those are making a comeback!

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 10/2/2021 at 6:55 PM, Robot Man said:

And Pablo invited this guy. He had 5 boxes of GA. No big superhero, horror or keys but tons of interesting old books. 

No prices but he said “cheap” so I tested the waters with a small pile. I was pretty shocked. He then gave me his “each” price and I went back with a fine tooth comb. Couldn’t believe there was virtually no interest. Man I scored! 

Wow! Sorry I missed that I would have been all over some of those books in that pile! The EC's, Boy Commandos and Congo Bill are all great reads!

[Robot Man]

Too bad you couldn’t make it. You would have even loved the other stuff even more. Lots of strip reprint stuff back to 1936. Lots of Dell’s much in real nice shape. Stuff from late ‘30’s-‘50’s. Hardly any superhero, no horror or sci fi but just about every other genre and publisher including giveaways. I bought all the holiday covers and WWII covers. About 150 books. Loved the “each” prices. Best haul I’ve had in a few years. Will start looking through them in the next few days. 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 10/3/2021 at 4:37 PM, Robot Man said:

Too bad you couldn’t make it. You would have even loved the other stuff even more. Lots of strip reprint stuff back to 1936. Lots of Dell’s much in real nice shape. Stuff from late ‘30’s-‘50’s. Hardly any superhero, no horror or sci fi but just about every other genre and publisher including giveaways. I bought all the holiday covers and WWII covers. About 150 books. Loved the “each” prices. Best haul I’ve had in a few years. Will start looking through them in the next few days. 

You are killing me Bob, that's all the stuff I love!

[Robot Man]

Yeah you would have loved this load. I left some stuff I probably should have bought but am very happy with what I got. I still can’t believe no one was looking at them but me. It was a superhero crowd and a bunch of young flippers. They saw some Dell’s, westerns and strip reprints and just walked away. I just got to take my time. 

[Robot Man]

My granddaughter lost her first tooth yesterday. I just couldn’t resist...