Does anyone else remember Unknown Worlds comic shop in Toronto? 2 2

[Hepcat]

On 5/10/2024 at 4:00 PM, jjonahjameson11 said:

I'll never forget that massive collection he picked up circa 2001 from Buffalo - multiple copies each of ultra-high grade/uncirculated ASM 129, Hulk 181, GS X-Men 1, X-Men 94, tons of late 60's/early 70's Richie Rich, the complete run of GK Scooby Doo, more Marvel Giant Size books and DC 100 pagers than you can count, etc. 

I picked up several key books, but what I should have done was take out a Line of Credit. 

I might have given some of the DC 100 Page Super Spectaculars a glance but the rest I would have dismissed as common stuff that's everywhere.

[Hepcat]

On 4/14/2020 at 9:20 AM, jjonahjameson11 said:

Dragon Lady also opened a second location very briefly, in Mirvish Village, literally across the street from the Beguiling.

This was well after Dragon Lady moved from the north side of Queen Street West to the south side of College Avenue circa 1996 though.

On 4/14/2020 at 9:01 AM, jjonahjameson11 said:

The Snail's second location?  Actually, the opposite...it was on the second level of a retail location, and you had to take some steps up (8-10).

You're not thinking of the location on the east side of Yonge Street opposite the Eaton Centre to which Silver Snail moved circa 2012 , are you? That was upstairs.

 

Edited May 11 by Hepcat

[jjonahjameson11]

On 5/10/2024 at 5:10 PM, Hepcat said:

This was well after Dragon Lady moved from the north side of Queen Street West to the south side of College Avenue circa 2000(?) though.

You're not thinking of the location on the east side of Yonge Street opposite the Eaton Centre to which Silver Snail moved circa 2010(?) , are you? That was upstairs.

 

The second Dragon Lady store across from the Beguiling - the date escapes me, but John was there for a very short time.  I don’t recall if it preceded his move to the College St location.

Regarding the Snail, the second Toronto location was on Yonge, North of Eglinton.  It was on the West side on Yonge, and you had to take a short flight (8-10) of steps up in order to get to the store.  George was assistant manager.

later, Ron closed down the Eglinton location, followed by the Ottawa store, before selling the Queen St location to George and his silent partner.  They stayed there a year, maybe two, before moving to a 2nd fl location on the East side of Yonge St, north of Dundas.  That location was a smaller space, less focused on back issues.  But it did have the Black Canary cafe, which was an interesting concept at the time…a cafe in a comic shop.

[Phicks]

On 4/14/2020 at 9:49 PM, VintageComics said:

Now apparently THAT was a store. Some of the treasures that came through that place were apparently legendary but it was before my time in Kitchener.

Andy the former manager of Now And Then now runs Carry On Comics in Waterloo.

Now and Then was indeed a great store, and I got a lot of my silver age collection shopping there in the 80s when I went to the University of Waterloo.

 

But Andy never managed Now and Then; he only worked there as an employee.  Harry was the boss until his death.  After he died, a fan who had zero work ethic convinced some people to invest and buy the business.  He then ran it into the ground.

[Phicks]

BTW, the Silver Snail abandoned their upstairs location with the cafe, and has moved back to its original location on Queen St.

[Hepcat]

On 4/14/2020 at 9:49 PM, VintageComics said:

Now apparently THAT was a store. Some of the treasures that came through that place were apparently legendary but it was before my time in Kitchener.

On 5/11/2024 at 10:24 PM, Phicks said:

Now and Then was indeed a great store, and I got a lot of my silver age collection shopping there in the 80s when I went to the University of Waterloo.

Whenever I hear such reports I'm intrigued. But then it almost invariably turns out that the reporter was talking about Marvels and basically only Marvels. Was that the case at Now and Then as well?

What really intrigues me though is that I've heard of a big time Silver Age DC collector in Kitchener but I've never met him. Would that be Andy himself?

Edited May 12 by Hepcat

[Hepcat]

On 5/11/2024 at 10:28 PM, Phicks said:

BTW, the Silver Snail abandoned their upstairs location with the cafe, and has moved back to its original location on Queen St.

Not quite. It was previously at 367 Queen Street West. It's now a few blocks west at 809 Queen Street West.

[Hepcat]

On 4/14/2020 at 7:49 AM, VintageComics said:

I used to work at VW Richmond Hill back in 1989 and would walk down to his Richmond Hill store every Friday with a fresh paycheck. A few years ago  I somehow randomly found his latest store was in Richmond Hill and that he was still in business, just north of his old location from the 1980's in a strip mall.

So what have you been doing for the last three months? Browsing through the long boxes in his Richmond Hill store?

[Phicks]

On 5/11/2024 at 11:31 PM, Hepcat said:

Whenever I hear such reports I'm intrigued. But then it almost invariably turns out that the reporter was talking about Marvels and basically only Marvels. Was that the case at Now and Then as well?

What really intrigues me though is that I've heard of a big time Silver Age DC collector in Kitchener but I've never met him. Would that be Andy himself?

I purchased many DC books at Now and Then comics back in the 80s.  I never felt there was a Marvel skew to their stock.
 

I am a high grade Silver Age collector, and I live in Waterloo (which is waaaay better than Kitchener).   Whether I am “big time” is subjective, so I don’t know if I rate anywhere in the rumour mill.   Could be somebody else.  But I was at a show once asking about back issues, and the dealer (whom I did not recognize) said “Oh, I know who you are,”
 

There is someone here local who made the newspapers a while back.  He is a Grandmaster level collector who limits his collection to only 100 books.   Whenever he buys one, he forces himself to sell one.   And all 100 books are hi grade CGC slabbed early Action and Superman comics, including an Action #1.

 

[Hepcat]

On 6/23/2024 at 5:00 PM, Phicks said:

Whether I am “big time” is subjective, so I don’t know if I rate anywhere in the rumour mill.   Could be somebody else.

Well then how many nice copies (F/VF+) do you have of:

Showcase 6 - 40

Brave & the Bold 23 - 41

Wonder Woman 98 - 135

Flash 105 - 124

Green Lantern 1 - 9

Justice League of America 1 - 7

Challengers of the Unknown 1 - 22

Mystery in Space 53 - 71

Tales of the Unexpected 41 - 67

House of Secrets 23 - 58

Fox and the Crow, Superman, Action, Adventure, Batman, Detective, World's Finest, War titles back to about 1957-58?

If you have a whole bunch of the above, my hat's off to you because you're bigger time than I am! 

On 6/23/2024 at 5:00 PM, Phicks said:

But I was at a show once asking about back issues, and the dealer (whom I did not recognize) said “Oh, I know who you are,”

How long have you been collecting? Have you dealt much with Harley Yee or Motor City Comics?

Edited June 24 by Hepcat

[Phicks]

I have very few of the above.  Green Lantern is my favourite character, so I do have 1-6, and 8-89.

I started collecting in 1984, buying a bunch every month or so at Now and Then in Kitchener.  I did work terms in Toronto in the late 80s, and made similar monthly buys at Silver Snail and Dragon Lady.  

My wife travels a lot for work.  Probably once a year, I will tag along as a tourist, and check out another city’s comic stores.  I remember some good pickups in Chicago and Pittsburgh.  My wife and some girlfriends did a trip to NYC once and picked up an order for me at Metropolis (before I knew they shilled bids, I won’t give them any more business).

These days I pickup occasional books at Carry On in Waterloo or The Comic Warehouse in Kitchener.  Plus books from this board, and eBay.

I now have about 1,500 high grade Marvels and DCs, most from 1965-1975.  I’m a completionist, so I am always looking to extend any continuous runs.   

 

 

 

[Hepcat]

Do you ever check out any of the comic stores in Hamilton or London? How do Carry On and the Comic Warehouse compare to the bigger ones in Hamilton and London?

Edited June 25 by Hepcat

[Hepcat]

On 6/24/2024 at 5:38 PM, Phicks said:

I have very few of the above.  Green Lantern is my favourite character, so I do have 1-6, and 8-89.

I started collecting in 1984....

 

I now have about 1,500 high grade Marvels and DCs, most from 1965-1975.  I’m a completionist, so I am always looking to extend any continuous runs.   

I started re-amassing the 1961-65 comics I had as a kid in 1979. Like you I'm a completist. Here's my Want List which of course shows where I stand on some of my favourite through to well into the Bronze Age when I sort of lose interest and lose track:

Flash 106U 107 108 112 113 114 115 120 123 126 127 plus of course the Showcases

But do I really need to "upgrade" my #106?

Green Lantern 4 6 13U 15U 25U 47U plus the Showcase 22 & 23

But do I really need to upgrade these two?

• 
•  
• 

Aquaman - Showcase 33U & 9U 56U

Once again I'm being very picky regarding the upgrades I "need"

Atom - Not even a weak link.

Hawkman  - My Brave and the Bold 34 is my "weak link" because it's not quite perfect enough:

Wonder Woman 98-109 111 113-116 124 125 128 138 174U

Justice League of America 3U 5U 6 47U

My "weak" link:

World's Finest -110 113 117

I'm basically solid on my other favourite titles such as Mystery in Space with Adam Strange, Challengers of the Unknown, Tales of the Unexpected with Space Ranger, Brave and the Bold with the team-ups, Sea Devils, Metal Men, House of Secrets with Mark Merlin, Teen Titans, Adventures of the Fly, Adventures of the Jaguar, Captain Atom and Blue Beetle from 1963 onward with some earlier holes. But some such as Star Spangled War Stories, Fox and the Crow, Space Adventures with Captain Atom and Gorgo are tough to find even from 1963 onward! And I have many holes in my Superman and Batman title runs.

But when COVID hit in January 2020 I took "early" retirement at the age of 67 and much of the time these days I can't afford to add to my comic and other collections. But I keep considering looking for a job to enable me to do precisely that!

Edited June 25 by Hepcat