The thrill of the hunt is thrilling when you find the book 3 3

[jimjum12]

On 9/22/2021 at 1:35 PM, Robot Man said:

Yeah, clicking a button gets the job done, but there is nothing like an “in the wild” find...

I remember buying a HIT 5 from the LCS .... smaller town, too. It had tape but man the gloss and color was great. $ 300 I think ? GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[shadroch]

On 9/22/2021 at 10:30 AM, Robot Man said:

Yeah, me too. We also put up ads on the grocery store bulletins and even went door to door with our little red wagon. People would quite often just give us stashes of old comics. You never knew what you would find. Anything that was a “10 center” was a major score. 

Didn’t Ritchie Munchen sell at the Aqueduct flea market? 

Yes, he did and he was just as friendly and talkative back then.  He and his competitor( who ended up starting Crown Comics, a short lived distributor in the 1980s) didn't spring for permanent spots so every week they were someplace else. 

 

Edit- I don't know why they didn't have permanent spots. It could have been any number of reasons, not simply because they were cheap. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by shadroch

[batman_fan]

On 9/22/2021 at 10:04 AM, shadroch said:

The internet killed the thrill of the hunt for me. Back in the day, it took me over a year to find a copy of Avengers 3 that was priced right. Today there are dozens of copies on the web. 

There was something special about saving up for the semi-annual convention and hoping one of the dealers would have what were then obscure Marvels. It took me forever to find a FF 2 without marvel chipping, which wasn't so accepted in the mid 1970s.

I actually had a very similar experience as a young kid.  The places you got comics from was the local drug store until they quit carrying comics then it was a trek to the next town over to buy new book (courtesy of mom).  It was unbelievable when I discovered a used book store that had comics and it was about 32 miles from where I lived so monthly trips.  Seeing any silver age was virtually unheard of.  It wasn’t until the late 70s when I moved to Wyoming that I saw an actual comic book store (Mile High in Fort Collins, CO).  Went once, bought a ton, went back and they were gone.  I did a little mail order but always got boned (bought high grade got low grade, 2nd choice, etc).

My first comic book show was a local show in WY but Over the Rainbow came and I saw my 1st real GA books.  I came away with a Batman 15.

 

Edited September 22, 2021 by batman_fan

[twmjr1]

Anybody ever buy from Passaic Book Center back in the '70s? I bought tons of books from them. They put out a massive catalog every six months for several years, and advertised through Marvel and DC.

[shadroch]

On 9/22/2021 at 11:11 AM, twmjr1 said:

Anybody ever buy from Passaic Book Center back in the '70s? I bought tons of books from them. They put out a massive catalog every six months for several years, and advertised through Marvel and DC.

I bought a fair amount from them via mail order but never went to their store. In the early 1980s, they ran a CBG ad for a run of Batbooks- Batman 201- 350 and Detective 301-450 for fifty cents each. I couldn't believe it was stll available when I saw it. Some people paid a small fortune for Fed Ex to deliver the paper before everyone else got it.

[Hap Hazard]

On 9/22/2021 at 6:54 AM, SuperBird said:

Now you just need the other 11 issues!

Here you go, completed this run a few years back.

 

 

[Kevin.J]

This is all I got  

 

 

[batman_fan]

On 9/22/2021 at 12:11 PM, twmjr1 said:

Anybody ever buy from Passaic Book Center back in the '70s? I bought tons of books from them. They put out a massive catalog every six months for several years, and advertised through Marvel and DC.

I dont ever remember seeing their ad.  My go to was Robert Bell (exclusively for Marvel titles) and later Mile High Comics

[Robot Man]

On 9/22/2021 at 10:43 AM, Randall Dowling said:

The Batcave was our favorite place when I was a kid.  I think it was in Greenwich Village back then.

I remember on a trip to NY a few months before 911, my daughter and i took a subway trip to the village. Saw no comic stores but went to an Awsome place called Second Childhood I believe. Was just packed with beautiful vintage toys and character items dating back to turn of the century. Probably long gone now. 

[Kevin.J]

I cast my net very wide as I collect all titles, all company's, all genres, all ages, slabbed and raw.

That for me means the hunt is never over and sometimes I need to shake my head and say what the hell am I doing 

I think the only books I enjoy are the ones I don't have.

Search for months obsessing over a certain book, drive miles, pay a fortune and finally get the book, happy.....not much, scan it, bag and board it, tick it off the list and lose all interest in it, file it away among the hoard to wait the time my missus sells the lot cheaply to a dealer when I am gone.

Its a sickness I tell ya, a sickness 

[Robot Man]

On 9/22/2021 at 11:03 AM, shadroch said:

Yes, he did and he was just as friendly and talkative back then.  He and his competitor( who ended up starting Crown Comics, a short lived distributor in the 1980s) didn't spring for permanent spots so every week they were someplace else. 

I heard he used to hang comics on the fence with close pins. And had tons of unbagged GA on his table. 

Ritchie is one of those peculiar old school dealers. Most who are still active are a bit peculiar. I won’t post my list but you older guys would probably agree. Further evidence that comics rot your mind...

I have always liked Ritchie but he will talk your ears off. And if you want a deal all you got to do is mention baseball and praise the Mets. 

[jimjum12]

On 9/22/2021 at 2:10 PM, batman_fan said:

 I came away with a Batman 15.

.... And thus it began  GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Robot Man]

On 9/22/2021 at 11:31 AM, Kevin.J said:

I cast my net very wide as I collect all titles, all company's, all genres, all ages, slabbed and raw.

That for me means the hunt is never over and sometimes I need to shake my head and say what the hell am I doing 

I think the only books I enjoy are the ones I don't have.

Search for months obsessing over a certain book, drive miles, pay a fortune and finally get the book, happy.....not much, scan it, bag and board it, tick it off the list and lose all interest in it, file it away among the hoard to wait the time my missus sells the lot cheaply to a dealer when I am gone.

Its a sickness I tell ya, a sickness 

I think this is true of most of us. There are lots of people buying stuff. Many are “catch and release” and then there are people who love to hang out trophies on the wall so to speak. I fall into that category. Nothing like looking at a con wall and thinking “got it, got it, don’t want it, got it”. 

I do have to say, I pull out boxes all the time and look at my books, thumb through them, use for research and yes reread many. I still enjoy the heck out of my hord. 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 9/22/2021 at 10:43 AM, Randall Dowling said:

The Batcave was our favorite place when I was a kid.  I think it was in Greenwich Village back then.

I "found" the Batcave back in 1977 or 1978. I was up in Hoboken at Stevens Tech as a high school student taking some aptitude tests and when I finished I took the Path train over to 9th Street and walked to the Batcave. I must have seen an ad in the Buyer's Guide or Overstreet. Later when I ended up at Stevens for college the Batcave became my go to place to pick up new comics. Great store and if you look closely in the movie, "The Wanderers" you'll see it in the background of the scene involving Dylan or a Dylan look alike.

And as a side story if any of you are Simpsons fans the prank calls that Bart always calls into the bar are based on a wild tape of real prank calls made tot the Tube Bar. The tubes is what they used to call the Path train and the Tube Bar was located above an entrance in Jersey City. Look it up on line great story.

[gunsmokin]

The Comic Buyers Guide was a necessity to finding books before the internet. I used to pour over John Hauser's mail catalog the minute I pulled it out of the mailbox and if I didn't call soon enough, I was out of luck. Bought lots of mail order from Discount Comics in the late 70's and 80's. I just about burst with joy when I attended my first ChicagoCon in the late 80's. Closest LCS back then was 40 miles away. 

[MattTheDuck]

For some reason which defies explanation, despite seeing the same ads in comics and the Guide as everyone else, it never really occurred to me to order a comic book from anyone other than Marvel (through subscriptions) in the 70s.  It sounds like about a 50/50 proposition that I would have been disappointed in the result if I had, BUT it would have also given me access to some Silver books that I otherwise never even saw, much less had a chance to buy at the local LCS's.  On the other hand, I would not experience the thrill I'm about to of finding a huge, high quality Silver/Bronze collection at one of the estate/garage/yard/other sales I'm attending.

Edited September 22, 2021 by MattTheDuck

[shadroch]

On 9/22/2021 at 11:39 AM, Robot Man said:

I heard he used to hang comics on the fence with close pins. And had tons of unbagged GA on his table. 

Ritchie is one of those peculiar old school dealers. Most who are still active are a bit peculiar. I won’t post my list but you older guys would probably agree. Further evidence that comics rot your mind...

I have always liked Ritchie but he will talk your ears off. And if you want a deal all you got to do is mention baseball and praise the Mets. 

When I started, bags were still pretty uncommon. I used to buy food storage bags at the local grocery store. As an aside, I once was approached by two female cashiers from my supermarket at a party. They were somehow convinced I sold pot. It finally came out that they'd observed me buying all those storage bags and couldn't think of any other reason why I'd be buying them. 

Richie had lots of raggedy Golden  Age books, but I didn't collect them so I never looked at them. I doubt he had anything great at the flea market. 

[batman_fan]

My first bags were from Robert Bell.  I bought some heavier ones with his name on them but later bought 100 very thin ones.  I stuck two books per bag.  Good days, good days.

[SuperBird]

I remember having to go to show after show to hunt down every little book I needed to complete a dozen runs, from Miller Daredevils to Cerebus. Condition was irrelevant for a lot of it. Truly the thrill of the hunt! These days, I barely see the point in going to shows. It's just a different hobby. I prefer reading TPBs and not bothering with single issues anymore. 

[gunsmokin]

On 9/22/2021 at 3:57 PM, SuperBird said:

I remember having to go to show after show to hunt down every little book I needed to complete a dozen runs, from Miller Daredevils to Cerebus. Condition was irrelevant for a lot of it. Truly the thrill of the hunt! These days, I barely see the point in going to shows. It's just a different hobby. I prefer reading TPBs and not bothering with single issues anymore. 

Same here. I went to shows to meet the silver age artists and buy books. All of the silver and gold artists are essentially gone now and I can find books on the internet so why go anymore?

Edited September 22, 2021 by gunsmokin