I remember when the San Diego comic con was only comic books, and I was in heaven. 1 1

[tth2]

On 6/20/2023 at 3:12 AM, Flex Mentallo said:

Were there ever conversations along the lines of 'I wonder where the hobby might be in 50 years time?'

I'm sure there were many predictions that prices would have collapsed by then because there was no way that they could remain at their then-crazy levels.

That's the most consistent prediction I've heard about comics since I started collecting in the mid-1970s.  

[action1kid]

On 6/12/2023 at 12:42 PM, Frisco Larson said:

My first (and only, so far) San Diego Comic Con was in 1994. I'd already been to the Chicago Comic Con and a multitude of shows here in Minnesota, but I wasn't quite prepared for all that the San Diego show was!!! Carpeted and quite fancy by comparison to Chicago, it didn't disappoint in the variety of comics available!!! Metropolis had several display cases, and among the contents, passersby and my attending friends as well, gasped at the sight of a copy of Suspense #3!!! I purchased a mid-grade copy of Captain America #4 from Metropolis but that was all of my money that they wanted at that show, so I kept circulating. I passed by tables of dealers, some barely active today, like Four Color Comics ... some gone all together, like PCE: Pacific Comics Exchange. I purchased comics from longtime names in the hobby, like Harley Yee, A-1 Comics and John Hauser, and bought supplies and fortresses from conservation innovator Chris Pedrin. Making my way around to the back of the auditorium, I spied a dealer with a lot of novels and other hard cover books. They had a glass showcase and in it was the only copy of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 plus front cover printer proofs of the next few issues that I had ever seen in person, up until that point!!! I couldn't believe my eyes!!!    It was really quite a spectacular moment!!! He said he could let me have it for $7500, which was nearly four times my budget for the show. They also had a short box of comics, of which I looked thru and bought my first copy of Amazing Spider-Man #2, which I still have!!! The four-day show is a bit of a blur in regard to what happened on which specific day, but walking around the show, I saw and met comics legends like Stan Lee and Bob Overstreet, both of whom were just walking around and mingling with guests and fans! By the end of the fourth day, I had spent all my loot, but Gary Dolgoff convinced me to do some mail order with him, so I actually was able to secure other books and pay for them at a later time! What a comic show!!! I could go on and on about the time spent OUTSIDE the show, and you're probably afraid that I will, so I won't.   I'll leave you with a pic of the Spidey #2 though, just for fun!  

I bought that motion picture funnies from him at the show. 8k. He was not with the other dealers he was on the other end of the hall.

He was more a book dealer out of California 

 

[Frisco Larson]

On 6/21/2023 at 11:20 PM, action1kid said:

I bought that motion picture funnies from him at the show. 8k. He was not with the other dealers he was on the other end of the hall.

He was more a book dealer out of California 

 

Yeah, that's how I remember it, in the back, almost exclusively books, just that short box of comics. I had heard that it sold for a higher price than he quoted me. I found it right away, on my own, then later in the day there was a big buzz between the biggest dealers, which likely escalated the price. I didn't ask to handle it, as I couldn't afford it, but was curious as to the page quality. Do you recall the pq?

[aardvark88]

On 6/21/2023 at 9:20 PM, action1kid said:

He was not with the other dealers he was on the other end of the hall.

He was more a book dealer out of California 

 

I think I remember that dealer. I was almost out of funds by the time I found him at the far end of SDCC hall. Could not believe the nice comics he had in that 1 box. I wanted to buy a raw GA Detective Comics 38 but could only afford a raw All-Star #33 that I still have today.

[action1kid]

On 6/12/2023 at 4:10 PM, Aman619 said:

dealers always have time for the whales at cons!  : )

You go to the show and everything Big that is on display there is in an auction. There is no excitement in being able to buy.

[Robot Man]

On 6/21/2023 at 9:20 PM, action1kid said:

I bought that motion picture funnies from him at the show. 8k. He was not with the other dealers he was on the other end of the hall.

He was more a book dealer out of California 

 

That might have been John McLaughlin of The Book Sail. He had a lot of “Family Money” and a penchant for very nice funny books and rare books. At one time had a couple thousand lower priced Church books that he was paying crazy money at the time for. They were in large un-bagged stacks on his living room floor. He had a bunch of cats and some of the cats lifted their legs on them. 

[DanCooper]

On 6/23/2023 at 5:53 PM, Robot Man said:

That might have been John McLaughlin of The Book Sail.

I think John owned the Mile High Pep 22 and Archie 1 at one point. (I believe those are now with Dave the Dentist. Like everything else!)

John was definitely one of the unique and colorful characters that made this hobby of ours great and interesting!

[Robot Man]

On 6/23/2023 at 3:20 PM, DanCooper said:

I think John owned the Mile High Pep 22 and Archie 1 at one point. (I believe those are now with Dave the Dentist. Like everything else!)

John was definitely one of the unique and colorful characters that made this hobby of ours great and interesting!

Indeed. and his mood would change with the snap of a finger. I remember at a local show he had a whole table of unbagged books at $5. each. I grabbed a bunch of them. Don't remember exactly which ones but I know this was one of them...

[action1kid]

On 6/23/2023 at 6:20 PM, DanCooper said:

I think John owned the Mile High Pep 22 and Archie 1 at one point. (I believe those are now with Dave the Dentist. Like everything else!)

John was definitely one of the unique and colorful characters that made this hobby of ours great and interesting!

Yes! That’s his name . I got the MPFW1 from him

[action1kid]

I remember he had a reputation for his temperament . He was the comic book soup Nazi. You had to watch how you approached him. I’m serious!

Edited June 24, 2023 by action1kid

[Robot Man]

A weird guy for sure. He was always happiest talking about himself.

A good friend of mine was one of his best customers. I got lucky enough to go over to John’s house a few times. Just jaw dropping stuff just strewn all over the place.

One time he was just yapping away about his collection, he literally tossed me a book.

It was an autographed first edition of Dracula autographed by Bram Stoker…

[adamstrange]

Quote

I remember he had a reputation for his temperament . He was the comic book soup Nazi. You had to watch how you approached him. I’m serious!

He almost got into a fight at SD Con with a friend of mine.  He was eventually banned from the Con.

Edited June 24, 2023 by adamstrange

[PopKulture]

On 6/24/2023 at 12:42 PM, adamstrange said:

He almost got into a fight at SD Con with a friend of mine.  He was eventually banned from the Con.

What we’re they fighting over?  

[Robot Man]

On 6/24/2023 at 10:42 AM, adamstrange said:

He almost got into a fight at SD Con with a friend of mine.  He was eventually banned from the Con.

That’s weird. That isn’t my quote it is Action1kid’s. I would never bring up that N word. Wonder how my name got attached to it? 

Funny, it wouldn’t have taken much to win that fight…

[adamstrange]

On 6/24/2023 at 2:22 PM, Robot Man said:

That’s weird. That isn’t my quote it is Action1kid’s. I would never bring up that N word. Wonder how my name got attached to it? 

Funny, it wouldn’t have taken much to win that fight…

Copy/paste error on my part.  Now corrected.

[Azkaban]

I'm so jealous 

[jimbo_7071]

On 6/14/2023 at 3:13 AM, Primetime said:

Here’s a fabulous trio @G.A.tor @hockeyboy13 and Harley 

Might be circa 2003?

Harley looks the same as he did back in the 80s. (I used to see him at Mike & Marsha Lester's Encore-cons and Xtrava-cons here in the Detroit area.)