Little Giant’s “Old School Comic Show” Concord, NH April 23, 2022 1 1

[Dick Pontoon]

On 4/24/2022 at 5:09 PM, Ryan. said:

Wait, that booth was Carbo's?

No, I believe his was the next one over. Carbo was either admiring the mystery dealer's taste or seeing dollar signs flashing before his eyes as he encountered a seemingly noob seller with one of the most desirable books in the hobby.

[KCOComics]

On 4/24/2022 at 5:03 PM, Robot Man said:

Carbo has been bringing it out for a couple of years. I believe from the Bob Kane bound volume. It does not belong to him. A “consignment” book. Why they would allow him to do that 

It certainly looked like a bound volume. 

I've seen pictures of it posted on the boards from previous shows, so I wasn't totally shocked to see it. 

I believe that's the first AC1 I've seen in person, though it had extensive resto. I sent the picture to my brother who asked if it was real. I replied "at least some of it is." 

The superman 1 and Bat 1s were very cool to see. Especially given recent sales. 

Edited April 24, 2022 by KCOComics

[Dick Pontoon]

On 4/24/2022 at 4:47 PM, Kevin76 said:

Think World War 2, especially hitler  

Right. That one.

It wasn't a #46 was it? You were at the show? I saw your brother there.

[Cobbledclam]

On 4/24/2022 at 2:20 PM, KCOComics said:

It certainly looked like a bound volume. 

I've seen pictures of it posted on the boards from previous shows, so I wasn't totally shocked to see it. 

I believe that's the first AC1 I've seen in person, though it had extensive resto. I sent the picture to my brother who asked if it was real. I replied "at least some of it is." 

The superman 1 and Bat 1s were very cool to see. Especially given recent sales. 

 

[Ryan.]

On 4/24/2022 at 5:18 PM, Pontoon said:

No, I believe his was the next one over. Carbo was either admiring the mystery dealer's taste or seeing dollar signs flashing before his eyes as he encountered a seemingly noob seller with one of the most desirable books in the hobby.

Ok that makes sense.

[Ryan.]

Here's my one purchase from the show.

[Larryw7]

Was Payette there? I'm always curious to see what he has on his wall.

[Dick Pontoon]

On 4/24/2022 at 5:34 PM, Ryan. said:

On 4/24/2022 at 5:18 PM, Pontoon said:

No, I believe his was the next one over. Carbo was either admiring the mystery dealer's taste or seeing dollar signs flashing before his eyes as he encountered a seemingly noob seller with one of the most desirable books in the hobby.

Ok that makes sense.

My assessment could be wrong, you can't always judge a book by the cover. That fellow behind the table did not look like a Carbonaro operative, but then most people would never guess that I work for the C.I.A. - I meant State Department.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Dick Pontoon

[Dick Pontoon]

On 4/24/2022 at 6:08 PM, Larryw7 said:

Was Payette there? I'm always curious to see what he has on his wall.

He was there, it's the only show he sets up at. He only has a small wall rack or two for a sample, but has several boxes of high grade and/or rare goodies behind the table.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Dick Pontoon

[Robot Man]

On 4/24/2022 at 3:08 PM, Pontoon said:

My assessment could be wrong, you can't always judge a book by the cover. That fellow behind the table did not look like a Carbonaro operative, but then most people would never guess that I work for the C.I.A. - I meant State Departement.

Carbo can’t sit still and is rarely in his booth. He had someone manning his WonderCon booth. The guy had to call Mike back every time someone had a question. He must pay for a table just to get in early. 

[Kevin76]

On 4/24/2022 at 5:21 PM, Pontoon said:

Right. That one.

It wasn't a #46 was it? You were at the show? I saw your brother there.

Not "that one"  but rather "all those"  if it's a WW2 cover, you're good,  If it's an early issue, you're good. If it has Hilter on the cover, you're good.  

Yes I was at the show, I'm an assistant to J&S at the booth, (A3) so I get into shows early, stay at a hotel and eat for free and not do any driving.    

[Kevin76]

On 4/24/2022 at 6:16 PM, Robot Man said:

Carbo can’t sit still and is rarely in his booth. He had someone manning his WonderCon booth. The guy had to call Mike back every time someone had a question. He must pay for a table just to get in early. 

Yeah same with Little Giant, he did have a really nice ASM 13 I picked up off of him, it hurt handing him money, felt like I was handing cash to Satan himself  

[AndyFish]

Made the 90 minute trip up solely to say hello to son's #2 and #2 who were manning the SUPERWORLD Booth and to get my STERANKO Hardcover signed.  There's a story here, so please excuse me; I've always been a big Steranko fan but none of his reprinted works fit on a shelf in my art studio where I keep "inspirational" work-i.e. some Kirby collections, some Eisner, etc.   So I made a hardcover of all of Jim's original Marvel work, complete with a slipcover and as an edition of 1/1.   I not only love the work of Steranko, I love the guy-- he and I have a bond in that we both learned to box to get ourselves out of bad neighborhoods where bullying was the norm.   We both knew Mickey Spillane and we've got other connections as well, so it was great to spend so much time with him.  For anyone who came up behind me to his line, I happily stepped aside so he could interact with other fans but it was late enough in the day that things had slowed down.   We talked old movies, serials, pulps, art supplies, painting techniques, gallery shows and made plans to get together later in the summer.  He's the best.  Highlight for me was when he made me an official Steranko Henchmen, complete with the secret password and a T-Shirt you cannot buy.

The irony there is that I don't wear T-Shirts, never have.   I'm a collared shirt guy and always have been, and I don't like printed T-Shirts but if I'm going to be someone's henchman it would be Steranko.

I made a lightning fast pass through the show, said hello to Mike Royer and checked in on my boys who had already gathered a box of books from the show which they kindly give me dibs on should there be something that catches my eye.

On the way back my wife and I stopped at a good deli that was at the plaza with the New Hampshire State Liquor store and I picked up a few bargains there too.

Life is good.  Little Giant is an impressive little show that seems to bring in the good stuff.

 

 

Edited April 24, 2022 by AndyFish

[manetteska]

On 4/24/2022 at 5:10 PM, Pontoon said:

He was there, it's the only show he sets up at. He only has a small wall rack or two for a sample, but has several boxes of high grade and/or rare goodies behind the table.

Doh; I wish I would have known about the extra boxes. I mostly saw the $1 boxes on the table and a bunch of Archie-related titles. 
 

Did anyone here buy anything from those boxes?

[Dick Pontoon]

On 4/24/2022 at 8:47 PM, manetteska said:

Doh; I wish I would have known about the extra boxes. I mostly saw the $1 boxes on the table and a bunch of Archie-related titles. 
 

Did anyone here buy anything from those boxes?

Big Boy Books were not in my budget this weekend, so I did not even look. I did make purchases from his table inventory though. The X-Men, Thor, Strange Tales, Iron Man, FF #32 and Cap #162 I posted were part of what I bought there. Besides the Archies and $1 bins he had tables of Marvel A-Z and DC A-Z.

Edited April 25, 2022 by Dick Pontoon

[Robot Man]

On 4/24/2022 at 4:04 PM, AndyFish said:

Made the 90 minute trip up solely to say hello to son's #2 and #2 who were manning the SUPERWORLD Booth and to get my STERANKO Hardcover signed.  There's a story here, so please excuse me; I've always been a big Steranko fan but none of his reprinted works fit on a shelf in my art studio where I keep "inspirational" work-i.e. some Kirby collections, some Eisner, etc.   So I made a hardcover of all of Jim's original Marvel work, complete with a slipcover and as an edition of 1/1.   I not only love the work of Steranko, I love the guy-- he and I have a bond in that we both learned to box to get ourselves out of bad neighborhoods where bullying was the norm.   We both knew Mickey Spillane and we've got other connections as well, so it was great to spend so much time with him.  For anyone who came up behind me to his line, I happily stepped aside so he could interact with other fans but it was late enough in the day that things had slowed down.   We talked old movies, serials, pulps, art supplies, painting techniques, gallery shows and made plans to get together later in the summer.  He's the best.  Highlight for me was when he made me an official Steranko Henchmen, complete with the secret password and a T-Shirt you cannot buy.

The irony there is that I don't wear T-Shirts, never have.   I'm a collared shirt guy and always have been, and I don't like printed T-Shirts but if I'm going to be someone's henchman it would be Steranko.

I made a lightning fast pass through the show, said hello to Mike Royer and checked in on my boys who had already gathered a box of books from the show which they kindly give me dibs on should there be something that catches my eye.

On the way back my wife and I stopped at a good deli that was at the plaza with the New Hampshire State Liquor store and I picked up a few bargains there too.

Life is good.  Little Giant is an impressive little show that seems to bring in the good stuff.

 

 

Steranko is a living legend. And a heck of a nice guy as well. Always has time to talk to his fans, sign and autograph or take a picture. Not to mention, his autograph is always a “statement” and a work of art in it’s self. 

[manetteska]

Here is my very specific attendee report, with pictures of my purchases.

Specific in that I am on the hunt for comics not everyone else is; I go to a number of conventions (small and large in a few different states) only for comics; I had these specific interactions; and I made the trip from Chicago for this show (based on pictures and reports from previous years, as well as being a comics-only show).

The Good: As advertised, it was a very comic-centric show. One aisle + of artists and such; the rest mostly comic vendors (with some grading companies, auction houses, and "influencers" thrown in). Several national dealers as well as many local dealers/stores. To a comment earlier on prices: In general, every dealer at any show will have some prices that are out of bounds, some on-point, and some cheap (relative to whatever you think FMV is). However, it depends on what you are looking for. Well-known keys will never be cheap (or if they are that dealer isn't around long); but high-grade BA could be, or a hidden gem in the long-boxes. I've purchased nice GA at very reasonable prices from Harley, Terry, and Bob S; some from the wall and some from digging. It all depends on what you are looking for and how much work you want to put in. 

The Bad: I found 5 decent Star Wars comics in a 50% off long-box. As I was totaling up the cost the dealer leaned over and said, "I think that's the first appearance of the Black Wookie from that show; let me look that up." He then looked it up on eBay (Doctor Aphra Annual #1), saw prices of $25 and said, "That comic shouldn't be in there. Someone must have put it there by mistake." Now who that person would be, I don't know, as he said these were all unsold comics from his own store. As to if it should have been in there, I'm pretty sure yes, as the other 4 comics I did purchase are also ~$15 each but those he didn't bother to look up. The 50% off long-box was only loose comics, while every other comic he had was bagged and boarded.

 

The Unlucky: First, I wish I had known Jim Payette had more stock in the covered boxes behind the table. From what I saw on his wall there were a few GA Fight comics and thought that was it..

Second, a dealer had about 10 unassuming short-boxes on his table. I started looking through and found SA DC romance. I flipped to Secret Hearts which started around issue #77; everything was priced at $15. I found my way to #83 and was excited as it is a valuable issue; however, of course, this one did not have a price on it. I pulled it out with other issues saying, "These are all marked $15; how much is this one?" He then proceeds to look it up on eBay and his eyes get wide. Over the course of the day I came back and offered him more and more and he turned it down. He said, "There was a reason I didn't price that one; I knew it was important. I actually like it a lot." Which is complete baloney based on what I did end up buying from him. I also overheard him talking to a friend, showing him the issue, making fun of me and my increasing offers on a book he had no idea about. That issue was not priced, so he can do what he want, but insulting me and saying he knew all about it was a bit much.

 

Overall: As touted, there were a lot of comics in the room. There were also a lot of national dealers which I see at my hometown shows, so not much of a gain for me there (like I said, a specific report). I am not from the area, so can't say how often Terry, semi-Harley (Harley himself was not there and it looked like a partial setup), Richie, and Ted make it up there (though Ted is local-ish). My main draw was Jason/Little Giant himself (as he doesn't do shows save for his own), but it seems some of the comics I had seen him advertise were not there when I got in the door. I'm pretty sure, though, he had just about any BA and forward key you could want at his booth/wall. Very impressive. 

If I lived nearby this show would be a must; a great day to spend overwhelmed with comics. But just coming from another show, with all of the extra cosplay/trinkets/etc, it seemed about even. Yes, there are more booths to sidestep, but I found just as much at that show as this one (YMMV).

Other Purchases

Jason:

Jim P $1 boxes: 

$3:

Random:

[jsilverjanet]

Are the rising stars worth money? I have a ton of those including the variants 

[manetteska]

On 4/25/2022 at 12:07 PM, jsilverjanet said:

Are the rising stars worth money? I have a ton of those including the variants 

Don't think so; I just keep picking up the variants if they are cheap enough. It's one of my long-shot pick-ups, but, as you said, even if something does happen, I think the multitude of variants (and 0, 1/2, 1, previews, etc) is just too confusing.

[Ryan.]

On 4/25/2022 at 12:19 PM, manetteska said:

Here is my very specific attendee report,

Thanks for saying hi.