Comic Dealers in the 1970s 2 2

[Toz]

Looking through a Bronze Avengers and remembering all the old ads of "Comics For Sale".Robert Bell,Howard M.Rogofsky,Richard Ald,Passic Book Center,etc... I ordered a few from Richard Alf once,A Thor # 193,an Amazin Adventures with Killraven but don't remember the number and a couple more that I forget.You had to list a second choice if they were out of a copy you wanted.I got the Thor but can't recall the rest.He also included a copy of his mini comic Alf #1.Always wanter a # 2 but never got it. I also got a price list from somewhere else but but never ordered any more after that.

My question is,does anyone here still have the catalogs from the sellers back then? It would be really cool to see them. Also any stories if you ordered too.

[shadroch]

I have a few catalogs from Marcs Comic Room, circa 1974, and some Max Seely brochures. I'd have to dig them out as I have no iea where they are. The Marcs Comic Room ones are illustrated by a very young Gene Day.

Ordering usually went like this- send money and a list of comics, with some alternatives. Wait six to eight weeks and get a box of mostly the alternatives. 

I think dealers figured if they sent you mostly alternatives, you'd have to order again to get the books you really wanted.  I reckoned two could play that game so I listed the books I really wanted as alternatives and got a deal deal of them.

In the summer of 1974, I studied Marcs catalog and worked all summer as a caddy. I saved up a princely sum and sent them a big order. I remember I ordered JIM 83, Conan  1, Cap 100, Strange Tales 110 and TTA 35.  In one swoop I was going to get a good chunk of Marvels heavy hitters. About three weeks later, I got a postcard saying Marcs was no longer doing mail order. No check or money order, just a post card. I quickly wrote back demanding my money be returned. It took a few more letters but about eight months later I did get my money back and he sent me a few Avengers  on the house for my troubles. I suspect it was a young kid who got in over his head. 

In 1977(?), my friend  advertised in CBG that we had copies of SpiderWoman 1 for sale. Maybe $1 each. I think we had 50 copies , give or take a few. I honestly forget the details.  Orders dribbled in for a few days, then one day we got 15 orders for almost 100 books.  I think we ended up getting ten orders for every book we had.  In some cases, we recieved an envelope with a dollar bill or two inside, with no ordering information.  It was a complete fiasco, and I'm sure some people sent money and never got anything for it. 

For months afterward we'd get an angry letter from someone who sent money and never got a book. The strange thing was many of these letters also contained no information such as an address or how many they ordered.  I was very concerned we would get in trouble with either CBG or the postal police but nothing came of it. 

[Spider-Variant]

I started a thread on this years ago.

I used to keep all those catalogs, but are long gone.

I loved mail order collecting.  I can remember the excitement of opening the mailbox and finding my packaged comics waiting for me.  This was after begging my older brother to write a check or pleading for my mom to take me to get a postal money order.

As mentioned in that thread, Best book I remember getting was a VF/NM ASM 129 for $2.00. Man, that was a good time. 

 

[Randall Ries]

I remember Howard Rogofsky and Passaic. Passaic had the book with the superhero muscles. I bought my 1st mail order comic book in 1973 from Rogofsky. A Green Lantern 85. That was a gas for an 11 year old kid. Payed something like $.60 for it. Funny stuff. I didn't buy #86 until 2012. A little more than $.60. LOL!

[jimjum12]

On 10/28/2021 at 6:08 PM, Spider-Variant said:

I used to keep all those catalogs, but are long gone.

I loved mail order collecting.  I can remember the excitement of opening the mailbox and finding my packaged comics waiting for me.  This was after begging my older brother to write a check or pleading for my mom to take me to get a postal money order.

As mentioned in that thread, Best book I remember getting was a VF/NM ASM 129 for $2.00. Man, that was a good time. 

I still remember those days fondly. The Fantastic Four were my first love, and I remember when the only ones that exceeded 10 bucks each were the first 3 ... but getting 10 bucks was a long and drawn out process in those days. Luckily, I made friends with a kid everyone else was ignoring, and it turned out he was a collector AND had a paper route that had grown too large for just him. I suddenly found myself making 10 bucks a WEEK, . As i became a young man, shops began to pop up, but they were few and far between in the area back then. By that point you were paying 50 dollars each for the first 10  issues of ASM, with the exception of the first 2. I had friends who would go door to door and offer to clean out attics in exchange for old comics ... one of those guys showed me my first Famous Funnies 214 ...  A near mint copy of FF 48 was 75 cents. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Edited October 29, 2021 by jimjum12

[MattTheDuck]

For some reason I've never been able to explain even to myself, I never used the numerous "mail-order" opportunities advertised in comics.  For several years in the early 70s I lamented that there was no place to buy "back issues" without realizing they were right there in the books I had purchased!  Jeez, what a dope.  I think I had an inherent distrust of these ads and I have no idea how that developed.  I never had any experience with them, much less a bad one.  Like many who were around then, I certainly had the money (either my own or "borrowed" from my parents) to get my hands on all the books I wanted then, and sure wish I had now.

[divad]

Never once bought a mail order book (that I remember), but I did buy my first comic bags from Robert Bell - man, did those things yellow and stick over time like nobody's business. 

[namisgr]

Same for me, I never ordered back issues from the dealers advertising in comic books.  But a comic collector/reader friend in high school recommended to me Alan Light's newsprint periodical, The Buyer's Guide For Comic Fandom.  I subscribed to it, and the day it would arrive in the mail would scour the dozens of dealer-made adverts for cheap back issue readers, mostly of 1960s Marvels.  I can remember paying $1 for a copy of Ironman #1, and back issues of Thor, Spiderman, and Fantastic Four were my main focus.  Condition didn't matter at the time, and it wasn't until I re-entered the hobby in a serious way in the early 1990s that acquiring books in really nice shape became important.  By then, TBG had become the Comic Buyer's Guide (CBG) and was a resource for major dealers of the 1990s to reach customers all over North America.  I still have a few issues of CBG from that early 90s time period, but sadly none of the TBG issues from much earlier.

TBG was also important in exposing me to columnists and news reporters from comic fandom, especially Don and Maggie Thompson and Murray Bischoff who wrote regular columns for it.  It began the near 50 year journey of education in the hobby.

Edited October 29, 2021 by namisgr

[Readcomix]

The first comic-advertised mail order dealer that I remember ordering from was Harti Comics (Rita Jackson). One of my friends told me about Harti because he was happy. Prices seemed reasonable and service was fast. I also ordered  more than once from Hugh O’Kennon. There was always pleasant correspondence, and I think I still have some of the letters/notes in a binder.

Come to think of it, I probably even have receipts or order invoices in there too. I’ll look later and see who else I ordered from. I’m sure there were others too.

[Spider-Variant]

Mail Order had its hits and misses.  Mainly around condition, but as an eleven year old, condition wasn't all that to me.  I know I received a few books that had no Marvel Value Stamp in them.

As I got older, condition came into play.  I remember looking over ASM 39 and 40 real carefully.

Hell, I think I even ordered Sea Monkeys as well.

Edited October 29, 2021 by Spider-Variant

[shadroch]

On 10/29/2021 at 3:39 AM, Readcomix said:

The first comic-advertised mail order dealer that I remember ordering from was Harti Comics (Rita Jackson). One of my friends told me about Harti because he was happy. Prices seemed reasonable and service was fast. I also ordered  more than once from Hugh O’Kennon. There was always pleasant correspondence, and I think I still have some of the letters/notes in a binder.

Come to think of it, I probably even have receipts or order invoices in there too. I’ll look later and see who else I ordered from. I’m sure there were others too.

My first mail order was from Hugh O'kennon.  My parents were very leery of me getting ripped off by mail order dealers but agreed to let me order from him since he appeared to be a proper Irishman.  Thankfully he came through as I doubt I would have been allowed a second shot.

[LowGradeBronze]

Some great replies here! My first mail order list was from a Paul Burton in Kent. Send 50 pence for 5 US Marvels and a list of items for sale he typed himself and reproduced on an old mimeograph machine. I remember the 5 US Marvels include a Where Monsters Dwell 13 with that lovely purple picture frame cover and a Frankenstein 15. And they were in lovely condition, maybe around VF. Elsewhere on this list you could have had ASM100 for 40 pence. Probably about a dollar. 

Well, you can see two thirds of the way down page 9 (my red ink from 1973,) under "9: Specials" that he had an AF15 in VG for £25. (I could barely muster £5 for an order to give you an idea.) So £25 was a lot of money and way beyond my reach. Paul Burton sold advance import marvel and DCs back issues, treasuries, UK editions as well as 45 rpm 7 inch singles. Later, possibly around 1977 a school friend had a Justin Ebbs catalogue that a few of us ordered from and he would bring them into school and dish out the orders. Got my X Men 137 that way as it was ND non distributed in the UK. Happy days!

Edited October 29, 2021 by LowGradeBronze

[rexinnih]

Never ordered anything mail order as I was lucky to have the Con and numerous LCS's growing up in San Diego. I have saved a Overstreet Guide from 1982 and look at it every once in a while to see the mail order prices. 

[Math Teacher]

The first back issue I ever bought was Metal Men #11, but I don't remember who from. I know I ordered before 1970, as I remember I was in Junior High at the time. For a large number of days, I ran out to our mailbox hoping to find this issue. As a Junior High student, I had no concept of how long things took to travel through the USPS.

I also fell into the trap of listing alternates. I remember ordering a $50 issue of ASM (don't remember who from), but, instead of that issue, I remember that I got several books in return. One book I got was Adventure into Fear #19, the first appearance of Howard the Duck.  I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I was.

[shadroch]

I remember sending money to a dealer upstate NY for a Conan 1 only to get a bunch of JLAs and a note the Conan was sold out. A week later I get a postcard that they have new inventory including a Conan 1 for $40. I'm pretty sure it would have been "sold out" again if I ordered it again.

[csaag]

Good ol' Robert Bell.  I also bought those bags that yellowed over time.  Got all my Treasury editions thru him (Sup vs Spiderman/ Muhammad Ali etc)  Wish I had stored the catalogs with my comics 

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

[jimjum12]

On 11/9/2021 at 1:51 PM, onlyweaknesskryptonite said:

How much for the naked guy in the window ? GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 11/9/2021 at 1:08 PM, jimjum12 said:

How much for the naked guy in the window ? GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

 

[01TheDude]

On 11/9/2021 at 10:50 AM, csaag said:

Good ol' Robert Bell.  I also bought those bags that yellowed over time.  Got all my Treasury editions thru him (Sup vs Spiderman/ Muhammad Ali etc)  Wish I had stored the catalogs with my comics 

I have posted a copy of Robert Bell's catalog several times and you can find it if you search on his name via google probably-- here is a taste

I also bought a bunch of those bags-- I think the cheapest versions and they did indeed turn yellow but it was good in the end as it made me understand that all bags have a certain life span before needing to be replaced - not to mention it made me go ahead and add backing boards starting with my first re-bagging effort. I also bought the magazine size ones as well as a bunch of the treasury sized. Probably one of the best things I bought at that time as those books were stored away for decades(other than timely re-bagging) and that kept them as fresh as possible.

I did at one point have a comic I bought through Robert Bell as well -- that came in his heavy mylar type bag (no idea what that was-- but it is not a service I found worthwhile).

Edited November 16, 2021 by 01TheDude