Comic finds in unexpected places

[RaccoonRaccoon]

Interested in hearing stories about where you turned up comics in the most unexpected places..

 

A random store, garage sale, the garbage (homage to the "have you every thrown out a comic book thread)

 

Value is not a factor, but describe where it was, what you found and what you did.

[october]

My buddy works at the local library and every once in a while they get mysterious comic book related drop offs. It's always from the same person and they are always bagged and boarded moderns. Whenever a new batch comes in, he calls me and I sift through them parsing out the stuff that's appropriate for kids, the stuff that should be resold, and the stuff that should be put on eBay. For my effort I usually grab one or two. Last time was a Superman/Batman 1 first print.

[langur88]

A friend of mine was doing some work on his house and found a Batman 9 and a Suspense 1(Schomburg classic cover) in a wall. Really. I sold them at a Boston Con around 1994. Sure wish I still had them.

[october]

Beats my story! That's what I get for being born 20 years too late. All the good stuff happened before my day.

[drbanner]

A friend of mine was doing some work on his house and found a Batman 9 and a Suspense 1(Schomburg classic cover) in a wall. Really. I sold them at a Boston Con around 1994. Sure wish I still had them.

 

Sounds like the "Cereal Box" collection discovered several years back - I don't recall the exact details, but there were a bunch of pristine books inserted into cereal boxes, which were in turn used between wall studs as insulation.

 

Many were graded, many were the top-census copies (I think most of the books were 50's funny animal and cartoon character books). Some of the NC collectors must recall this story as Dave (??) found them...anyone? Bueller?

[skybolt]

A friend of mine was doing some work on his house and found a Batman 9 and a Suspense 1(Schomburg classic cover) in a wall. Really. I sold them at a Boston Con around 1994. Sure wish I still had them.

 

That's it, I'm tearing down my walls tonight.

[Ringfinger]

Nice find!!

[followtheleader]

That is just straight up nutty.

 

Any cool time capsule stories? Like the Honus Wagner stories?

 

My oddest place to find: In a LCS in Denver. Yes, it's true. It's rarer to find a great comic in a Colorado Comic Shop then it is to find a Batman 9 in a wall!

 

Pat

[Ringfinger]

You are a regular stitch there...

[tilleycs]

I was surprised to find comic books at used bookstores. The ones in my area sell them for half-cover price (one store has a 50-cent minimum price if the cover price is less than a dollar), regardless of how much they're worth in the "real world". I got (I think) Silver Age GL #'s 109-111 for fifty cents each at one of them.

[Ringfinger]

That would rock!!

[B-Smooth]

I was surprised to find comic books at used bookstores. The ones in my area sell them for half-cover price (one store has a 50-cent minimum price if the cover price is less than a dollar), regardless of how much they're worth in the "real world". I got (I think) Silver Age GL #'s 109-111 for fifty cents each at one of them.

 

There was a bookstore around here that had the same thing. Only problem was that they crossed out the price with a marker to let everyone know they were half price.

[Buck Biggins]

The collection I found last time had an odd/weird owner. The owner was about 40 years old and lost the collection due to foreclosure on a house he inherited. The house was really small. It was about the size of a small apartment. The person who sold me the books said this about the place. He is in the process of renovating the place so he can rent it out. Apparently the water didn’t work in the house so the guy either relieved himself out back or urinated in milk jugs. It was heated by a fireplace and you could only access 2 rooms. The rest was filled full of boxes of stuff. The amount of mouse pooped was incredible he said. I agree with that because when I picked up the books the bags(bagged 12 to a newspaper like bag) were covered in it. On my way out he told me that he threw away box after box of coverless comics. I wonder what they were.

 

Through all this mess I was able to pull out 4 short boxes of 1979-1987 stuff in vf+ or better. Main run titles like Batman, Amazing Spiderman, Sups, Teen Titans, X-Men and the like. Most are vf/nm or better. I just find it amazing that they survived in those conditions considering the guy left the house sit for about 9 months with no power.

 

Funnny thing is that he could have sold the collection to stop the foreclosure.

[otherworldcomics]

My biggest find was about 15 years ago. My great aunt had passed away and my brother and I were going through a this storage shed she had. Apparently my father had stored a lot of junk at her house at some point. found a foot locker with a really beat up Daredevil #1, ASM #50-53, a whole run of Sgt Fury and the Howling Commandos, a few Marvel Tales, Batman #13, ASM Annual #! (without front cover), Our Army At War, Two Colt Kid, and 4-5 SA Daredevil books. The MT's were in pretty bad shape, apparently the mice must have liked them the most. The rest were in pretty decent shape considering where they were stored. My dad had been in the Air Force so I knew they had to be his. Still have them to this day except for the ASM 50 that I sold to my LCS when I first started collecting and didn't know anything. Guy ripped me off with a straight face.

[finecomics]

I put an ad in the paper after I lost my job in 2001 to sell about 3k worth of stuff. I got a call a few days later asking if I bought comics. I said "no", but quickly changed my story to see what he had.

 

"I've just got these old spideys I used to read and collect with my kids".

 

"Which ones"

 

"All of them" he replied.

 

I was there the next day. Interesting fellow.

 

I did look in the paper afterwards and there actually was an ad to buy old comics right under mine to sell.

[Sal]

I put an ad in the paper after I lost my job in 2001 to sell about 3k worth of stuff. I got a call a few days later asking if I bought comics. I said "no", but quickly changed my story to see what he had.

 

"I've just got these old spideys I used to read and collect with my kids".

 

"Which ones"

 

"All of them" he replied.

 

I was there the next day. Interesting fellow.

 

I did look in the paper afterwards and there actually was an ad to buy old comics right under mine to sell.

 

and thus, a legend was born

[the blob]

I bought a coverless and front pageless copy of JIM 83 from a homeless guy selling comics on the street. A few other less key coverless marvels like x-men 10, DD 7, etc. as well. 50 cents each, not so bad.

[Rob]

I found a VG ASM 21 in a used bookstore for half cover. Yup, sold it to me for 6¢. This was about 10 years ago. Sold it on eBay for $40.

[otherworldcomics]

The collection I found last time had an odd/weird owner. The owner was about 40 years old and lost the collection due to foreclosure on a house he inherited. The house was really small. It was about the size of a small apartment. The person who sold me the books said this about the place. He is in the process of renovating the place so he can rent it out. Apparently the water didn’t work in the house so the guy either relieved himself out back or urinated in milk jugs. It was heated by a fireplace and you could only access 2 rooms. The rest was filled full of boxes of stuff. The amount of mouse pooped was incredible he said. I agree with that because when I picked up the books the bags(bagged 12 to a newspaper like bag) were covered in it. On my way out he told me that he threw away box after box of coverless comics. I wonder what they were.

 

Through all this mess I was able to pull out 4 short boxes of 1979-1987 stuff in vf+ or better. Main run titles like Batman, Amazing Spiderman, Sups, Teen Titans, X-Men and the like. Most are vf/nm or better. I just find it amazing that they survived in those conditions considering the guy left the house sit for about 9 months with no power.

 

Funnny thing is that he could have sold the collection to stop the foreclosure.

 

Man, if had only known.

[The Black Hand ®]

A friend of mine was doing some work on his house and found a Batman 9 and a Suspense 1(Schomburg classic cover) in a wall. Really. I sold them at a Boston Con around 1994. Sure wish I still had them.

I bought a Top Notch 7 and 9 from a dealer that were found in a wall but were slightly water soaked. Fortunately there was no ink bleeding, they were just warped and I had a restorer press them and they turned out perfect. This was in 97.