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Post by profh0011 on May 28, 2019 9:57:10 GMT -5
I remember that brief period in the late 70s when I started going to conventions, and sometimes coming home with a shopping bag full of 1960s comics, all bought for a couple bucks apiece.
Then I got into the "independant" explosion in the early 80s, and by the time I thought about going after OLDER stuff again, the prices had gotten INSANE.
I buy very few comics these days, compared to 15 years ago, and it's mostly one or two at a time. (Although, in a few cases, if they're cheap enough, I've done maybe 10 at a shot with this one store in Texas, as they have a FLAT shipping rate.)
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Post by brutalis on May 28, 2019 10:25:11 GMT -5
It's not often I SPLURGE on such a large haul. The pickings are fairly slim anymore around Phoenix for cheap classic comics. Bronze age is valuable to most LCS here in town so I saved up knowing that the convention this year was my opportunity for indulging in the $1 bin syndrome. Anymore, all you find is 90's stuff around town in mark down prices here. Which is what a lot of the boxes at the con were as well. But if you took time and dug through the long boxes you would find some buried treasures. War and Westerns are such a rare commodity anymore that usually you can ask and the shops have a box dedicated with those (usually too expensive) together.
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Post by MatthewP on May 29, 2019 21:14:54 GMT -5
I didn't realize there was a fellow Phoenician on the boards. I also went to the Phoenix Fan Fusion (such an odd name, but somewhat fitting given how comics are no longer the main thing there). My haul just beat out yours at 80 comics and magazines, although 8 of them aren't classic. The biggest block of books was 32 issues of Uncle Scrooge, mostly those big square-bound issues they published from '03 to '08 with cover prices of $7 - $8, so I was happy to get them for $3 each.
The rest varies from $1 books to a small stack of Golden Age goodies, plus a few '70s horror mags. Throw in a bottle opener shaped like a little battle axe, and I was pretty happy. Definitely a fun show, but exhausting, especially with the big crowds Saturday.
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Post by brutalis on May 30, 2019 8:20:25 GMT -5
I didn't realize there was a fellow Phoenician on the boards. I also went to the Phoenix Fan Fusion (such an odd name, but somewhat fitting given how comics are no longer the main thing there). My haul just beat out yours at 80 comics and magazines, although 8 of them aren't classic. The biggest block of books was 32 issues of Uncle Scrooge, mostly those big square-bound issues they published from '03 to '08 with cover prices of $7 - $8, so I was happy to get them for $3 each. The rest varies from $1 books to a small stack of Golden Age goodies, plus a few '70s horror mags. Throw in a bottle opener shaped like a little battle axe, and I was pretty happy. Definitely a fun show, but exhausting, especially with the big crowds Saturday. Howdy to another denizen of the Valley of the Sun-Burn! Sounds like you scored some real goodies for yourself during the Con. Love me some Uncle Scrooge as well and any discounts is money well saved and spent. Saturday's are always a bit insane so most of that day I will hit the vendors at the very start while spending most of the day in panels. Friday morning and Sunday are my spending days while the crowd is at it's thinnest. This year was one of the smoother and easier to navigate crowds in awhile. Perhaps the Con attendance has plateaued from the wild increase of bodies in the last 4-5 years and the cost increase fiasco of last year may have pushed away the casual attendee's. I know that Friday was a very "soft" and quiet/slow" build until the mid-afternoon, which helped make the digging through comic boxes that much easier. Some folks can get down right "rude" in their eagerness to search for their own treasures.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2019 1:27:44 GMT -5
After 4 hours at one of the local cons today, my shopping bag was full and my wallet was empty, so it was time to go home (I had to work this evening, so I had to leave anyways). I am still putting together pics, but my back issue splurge/highlight was Brave & the Bold #42 (the 4th SA Hawkman; with art by Joe Kubert) and Showcase #76 (1st Bat Lash; thanks Slam_Bradley for convincing me to finally start picking up the Bat Lash stuff). A bunch of other stuff too (including a bunch of the prose Phantom novels). I should have the pics ready to post sometime tomorrow (i.e. later today for those on eastern time). -M
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2019 3:07:40 GMT -5
Alrighty, pics are ready so let's go...warning there's a lot of pics so I will break it up over a few posts... to start with a trio of $2 trades/GN of classic material... and a quartet of dollar bin books... the Elektra Assassin #6 completed the series for me. some 50 cent books... still trying to track down the Milestone stuff on the cheap. a quartet of Bronze Age beauties... the Astonishing Tales was 1 of 2 of the Ka-Zar issues I needed, leaving me 1 to go, I need 1 more of the Sandman series as well and am down to a handful of the PS issues (though I have the 2 Showcase volumes, I wanted the run for the color and the back ups). We'll wrap up with a local small press comic from a local cartoonist who is strongly influenced by classic animation... I just missed out winning a free comic form him in his name the obscure animated characters contest (he had 15 entries, you had to get 13 right, I got 10, I missed 2 British cartoon characters, an Adult Swim character I still don't know, and 2 I recognized but couldn't recall the name of at the time, 1 was Crumb's Mr. Natural and the other was Hardy Har Har the Hanna Barbera hyena). -M
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2019 3:12:12 GMT -5
More of the haul... a couple of recent D&D comics from IDW out of the 50 cent bins... and a pair of DC special issues, one form DC Special and one from DC Super-Stars... a trio of DHP issues from the 50 cent bins... and a pair of Doctor Who issues from Marvel PRemiere from the $2 Bronze Age bins... more 50 cent goodness, a trio of the Elric Stormbringer issues by PCR, the lone Elric series I don;t have completed yet. and we'll wrap up this post with a plethora of Ghost Rider issues out of the dollar bins... -M
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2019 3:17:19 GMT -5
Onward... Hardy Boys #1 for a fiver, love the groovy psychedelic cover... trying to accumulate the Hawkman back up features that migrated around DC, here are 4 of them, 3 form 'Tec and one form World's Finest... and then a quartet of indy goodness form the 50 cent bins... the Mister X issue completes the Caliber series for me. and let's wrap up this post with a pair of books I didn't know existed until earlier this morning when I stumbled upon them looking for a copter cover for the cover association game and was fascinated by them, then ran across them in the $2 Silver Age box from a dealer at the show, so they are now mine... -M
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2019 3:27:21 GMT -5
More 50 cent goodness, Justice #1 and 2... There were a bunch of dealers with vintage paperbacks at the show this time, but most were charging ridiculous prices. I did find a few in my comfort zone of price range though, including this trio of Lone Ranger novels, done int he late 70s when a LR movie was in the works. I have had the first book in the series for about 5 years now, but never saw any more of them until today-snagged books 3, 4 and 5 of the series. spent a little on a couple hardcovers...the Thanos volume was $10 (MSRP $24.99) and the Warren Ellis Hellstorm omnibus was $20 (msrp $75). all these were $1-$3... the Creatures on the Loose issue completed the Gulliver of Mars issues for me. and lastly for this post a trio of Our Fighting Forces issues from the dollar bins... -M
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2019 3:33:31 GMT -5
How about some of the Ghost Who Walks, first a trio of issues of the Charlton Phantom series... and a quintet of the Phantom novels from one of the paperback dealers... he had some marked at $20 a pop, and some at $5 a pop. These were all of the latter price point. The first Blackthorne volume of PRince Valiant reprints, plucked from a 50 cent bin... and also from those 50 cent bins, all 4 issues of the Steve Englehart penned Scorpio Rose cross over with Warrior Nun Areala... I knew I needed 2 of the issues, but wasn't sure which two, so I just grabbed all 4 as they were 50 cents each. and then some glorious Kubert covers on these Our Army at War and Sgt. Rock issues form the dollar bins... and a handful of Unknown Soldier/Star Spangled War Stories issues also from those dollar bins... more to come... -M
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2019 3:39:01 GMT -5
Ok those two splurge books I mentioned in the initial post before the pics were ready... and little bit of Wally Wood goodness added to the mix... and now for something more modern but looking at the classic era of X-Men, @dizzydhas been doing wonderful annotations of Ed Piskor's X-MEn Grand Design over in the modern comics section, and I finally got around to reading the first mini on Marvel Unlimited last week and really liked it, and then found out the trades were oversized Treasury editions, and decided I would keep an eye out for them as it was the perfect format for them. Well today, the same dealer who had the Hellstorm omnibus and Thanos HC has the 2 Grand Design Volumes for $10 each or $15 for the pair, so I picked up both treasury sized trades... and last but not least, some Charlton martial arts goodness, a handful of issues of Yang and House of Yang from the dollar bins... and that wraps up what I got. Now to get reading some of it (and cataloging it, updating lists, and putting it all away). -M
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 3, 2019 5:24:42 GMT -5
Nice to look at all those books. I've only gone to one show this year as my funds are tight, but it's so nice to see those covers.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,706
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Post by shaxper on Jun 3, 2019 20:21:38 GMT -5
I've often been fascinated by Treasure Chest, a series that regularly floods Ebay with downright weird covers, often (but not always) of a religious nature. Well I found this one in an antique shop over the weekend and just couldn't pass it up. The inside is surprisingly normal, containing regular features starring relatively grounded characters. The cover depicts a bible passage that, I guess, thematically connects to all the stories in this issue? Weird, man. Weird.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 3, 2019 20:34:51 GMT -5
That cover depicts when Jesus was tempted by Satan after he fasted for 40 day and nights. So the inside didn't have this story ?
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Post by beccabear67 on Jun 3, 2019 23:08:13 GMT -5
Ok those two splurge books I mentioned in the initial post before the pics were ready... That Brave & Bold is a stone classic! If I had the funds I'd have all of those Hawkman Kubert issues. Dragonfly Riders.... who doesn't want to read that?
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