Tampa Con

[400yrs]

This was the first con that I attended where the cheapest bargain bins were $.50. I guess the days of quarter bins are done.

Valiant stuff was scarce at the show. There were 3 dealers that had pre-unities in with their regular back issues and the prices they wanted were insane. The more common pre-unities were all over $10 each and there were no #1 issues or significant books like Magnus 12 or Solar 10. Prices were *SQUEE*. Either these guys never re-priced their books since the 90s (doubtful) or these guys are putting way too much stock in that report that Greg does in Overstreet.

One guy had a long box full of A&A 0-8 (with a ton of 8s), EW 1 and 2s and a few bloodshots. I asked the guy how much for the long box, because I hate seeing those A&As and EWs in cheapo bins. He said $85. I pulled out the 15 A&A 0s that he had and a Rai 0 and bought those at $.50 each (I really hate seeing those 2 books in cheapo bins). He dropped the price on the long box to $30, but the most I'd pay for something like that is $20. What the hell would I do with all that stuff anyways?

Then I saw that he had another box with 7 shadowman #1s in it. I asked him "how much"? He said $1. So I pulled out all 7 of them to buy. He said he needed to keep some of the books, but I could have 3 or 4 for $1 each. Doesn't make much sense to me. If the books are for sale, then they are for sale. I guess he saw me grabbing all of them and figured that the books were worth a ton. So I grabbed 3 of them.

Then I saw that he had an X-O and Rai #1 in a box behind him. He wanted $30 and $20 for the X-O and Rai respectively. Nuts, I tell you.

I think the dealers are reading into Greg's report a little too much.

[ibreakhorses]

Thanks for the report! The dealer sounds like he was an a-hole.

[400yrs]

Thanks for the report! The dealer sounds like he was an a-hole.

Nah. He wasn't an a-hole. It was just weird that half of the stuff he brought was valiant commons. The rest was some Marvel dreck from the late 70s like Shogun Warriors and stuff like that. I don't understand how you make money at a con bringing stuff like that.

[Elveen]

Thanks for the report! The dealer sounds like he was an a-hole.

Nah. He wasn't an a-hole. It was just weird that half of the stuff he brought was VALIANT commons. The rest was some Marvel dreck from the late 70s like Shogun Warriors and stuff like that. I don't understand how you make money at a con bringing stuff like that.

... hey I like Shogun Warriors........ (truthfully I do)

[cinlach@aol.com]

as do i...nothing better then finding beat up bronze age books.

they're cheap, fun reads, and you don't have to be all concerned about keeping them in good shape.

throw them on the couch in a stack, if they get bent or creased then who cares!

[jedimarley]

I pulled out the 15 A&A 0s that bought those at $.50 each

Jumping up and down like a madman trying to get Fo's attention!

[superman-prime]

ive seen 2 different dealers raise prices on valiant this last month
rai 4 for 20 bones when i seen the same ish for 10 2 months ago
ugg dealers love Greg lol

[400yrs]

I attended another one of these Tampa cons today.

Valiant Related stuff:

Usually, there are 2 - 3 dealers that have pre-unities or a few golds up on their wall display. Today, there was only one dealer showing any Valiant on his wall. He wanted $10 for a Solar #1 and had a regular X-O 1/2 on his wall (didn't bother asking a price on that). I would've bought the Solar, but it wasn't purple.

Valiants, especially pre-unities, were sparse cpmpared to past cons. I found a guy with an X-O pre-unity run for $5 per book. I picked up the #1 because it was a pretty nice copy and that's one of my fav pre-unis. He also had a Unity Gold #1 for $10. I had to grab it just because that's the first time I've seen it at a con since the 90s.

The only other pre-unities that I found anywhere were another X-O #1, which I picked up and a Vintage Magnus #1 that was torn to shreds.

Bargain bin Valiants:

Not much Valiant was brought to the show. Each bargain bin dealer (5/$1 through $1/book) probably had a handful of typical stuff like early Bloodshots and Turoks. From one dealer, I found a handful of Acclaim Bloodshots and Darque Passages 3 and 4. I was pretty stoked to find those two DP books since I've never found them before. #1 and 2 I've found a few copies of in the past, but it seemed like the shops always stopped ordering after #2.

As always, none of the Acclaims were in top shape, but I'll still buy nearly any Acclaim I can find if it's in the $.50 ballpark.

This show, when I asked for Valiants, I got alot of the old "Are you smoking crack?" looks. In the past, the many dealers would actually start up conversations about Valiant and how great the books were. This time, I just got the "Get this *SQUEE* weirdo away from my table" looks.

Non-Valiant:

It didn't seem like dealers were moving books like they wanted to. I didn't see older/high end books moving much at all. There was alot more Silver Age than normal. This to be a result of the sluggish economy -people selling more of that stuff now than in the past.

The bargain bins were apparently the place to be. That's where I was too for the most part. There were more bargain bin dealers than normal.

A few pickups that I probably overpaid on, but I'm ok with:
ASM 400 - $3 - I rarely see this book in my area.
Uncanny 248 - $3 - A book I can rarely restrain myself from buying below $5.
Uncanny #137 - $3. A G/VG copy that presents very well. Another book that I have a hard time not buying cheaply.
USM #2 car cover - $10. Probably could've gotten this cheaper on ebay, but it should complete my USM collection.

A few of the bargain bin pick-ups:
Iron Man - about 20 books from 94 - 130 in about VF shape.
Groo (Marvel/Epic) #1 and #2. I can't stop buying Groo #1s.
Punisher #10
Nam 1 - 5, 9, 83 (last ish). Can't stop buying early Nams either. I was pretty excited when I saw the #83 because it's the first one I've found after a while of digging in bargain bins.
Green Lantern 181 - Last Ish.
Supes #75 bagged. Pretty surpised to find this in the 5/$1 boxes.

I was looking for both a reader copy and a 9.0 or better copy of Marvel Premiere 15. I found a few, but they wanted way too much on those so I'll be checking the 'bay for those, I guess.

I brought home about a short box worth of books. I found a few books I needed and found some to trade/sell and I didn't spend too much. So I guess it was a pretty good show.

Best part is that I found out that Bob Layton is going to be in a shop in New Port Richey for FCBD. Hoping I can make it out there. If there's anyone else in WC FL that plans to go (I think there are a few newer members from around here), drop me a line and maybe we can meet up.

Phil Hester is scheduled to be there too. I'm hoping I can get a quick Ant-Man sketch.

[Elveen]

Thanks for the report. I always love hearing con reports.

Nice pick up on the XO #1 and Untiy gold.

[Brother J]

Nam 1 - 5, 9, 83 (last ish). Can't stop buying early Nams either. I was pretty excited when I saw the #83 because it's the first one I've found after a while of digging in bargain bins.

Last issue of The 'Nam is #84, but #83 is still a nice pickup from a bargain bin.

[maraxusofkeld]

I might have the Marvel Premiere if you are interested, #15 is the 1st Iron Fist, right?

[400yrs]

Nam 1 - 5, 9, 83 (last ish). Can't stop buying early Nams either. I was pretty excited when I saw the #83 because it's the first one I've found after a while of digging in bargain bins.

Last issue of The 'Nam is #84, but #83 is still a nice pickup from a bargain bin.