Comic Shop Visits

Brother J · Post by **Brother J** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:24:28 pm

Heath wrote:I've got the business card handy now. It's "TDS Enterprises Presents Comics & Games." They're at 14 South Church Street in West Chester, PA. They were previously at 22 South Church Street, but just moved a few doors down from there. Their web site is http://www.tdscng.com/. As I was browsing the back issues, I overheard the guy say they had just shot a TV commercial the day before which would be running in the local area.

Thanks for the info, Heath.

I went to the shop today and I saw the guy had a stack of pre-Unity VALIANT books pulled, along with a Unity Red and some other rares. I asked him about them and he said he had them set aside for some guy who came into his shop this past weekend. I told him that I knew you and that you said it was ok for him to sell any VALIANT books he found to me. What a steal!

April Fools! in December no less...

He had all the books you mentioned. I was a little disappointed to see his .25 book section was only half a longbox of torn up books. He had several long boxes by the register, but he told me this was "a new collection" so I assumed that to mean hands off. I did buy a couple books. I picked up a real solid copy of Dr. Solar #1 for $25, very clean mid grade copy.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:40:44 pm

Brother J wrote: I picked up a real solid copy of Dr. Solar #1 for $25, very clean mid grade copy.

Nice deal, I would have bought that one in a heartbeat.

Draco · Post by **Draco** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:40:58 pm

Gah !!!
DR solar 1 for $25
i would have paid £25
lol

Chiclo · Post by **Chiclo** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:06:15 am

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0189901833

Grade doesn't look that great, but it's a Dr. Solar 2.

Draco · Post by **Draco** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:11:02 am

Cheers dude, I missed it but it didnt look bad for a #2 at 99c. I must start with #1 though as the only gold key stuff i have is a bunch of Turoks.

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 7:08:23 am

Brother J wrote:Thanks for the info, Heath.

I went to the shop today and I saw the guy had a stack of pre-Unity VALIANT books pulled, along with a Unity Red and some other rares. I asked him about them and he said he had them set aside for some guy who came into his shop this past weekend. I told him that I knew you and that you said it was ok for him to sell any VALIANT books he found to me. What a steal!

April Fools! in December no less...

You actually had me going until the "I told him that I knew you" sentence!

Brother J wrote:He had all the books you mentioned. I was a little disappointed to see his .25 book section was only half a longbox of torn up books. He had several long boxes by the register, but he told me this was "a new collection" so I assumed that to mean hands off. I did buy a couple books. I picked up a real solid copy of Dr. Solar #1 for $25, very clean mid grade copy.

Yeah, I was hoping for a better quarter bin too, but it's still better than most of the shops I've been to lately. And I'm kicking myself now for not picking up that Gold Key Doctor Solar. I just didn't want to spend that much at the time and I really wanted those GR books. But I'm glad it was a fellow board member who ended up getting it.

Brother J · Post by **Brother J** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:12:02 am

Heath wrote: Yeah, I was hoping for a better quarter bin too, but it's still better than most of the shops I've been to lately. And I'm kicking myself now for not picking up that Gold Key Doctor Solar. I just didn't want to spend that much at the time and I really wanted those GR books. But I'm glad it was a fellow board member who ended up getting it.

To be honest, I should have looked at the Dr. Solar a little closer. I missed a pretty nasty tape pull on the cover. It's very hard to see because the way the artwork is. I was thinking of trying to take it back, but the receipt says "All Sales Final". I'd like to kick my butt for missing it.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:54:19 pm

Brother J wrote:
Heath wrote: Yeah, I was hoping for a better quarter bin too, but it's still better than most of the shops I've been to lately. And I'm kicking myself now for not picking up that Gold Key Doctor Solar. I just didn't want to spend that much at the time and I really wanted those GR books. But I'm glad it was a fellow board member who ended up getting it.
To be honest, I should have looked at the Dr. Solar a little closer. I missed a pretty nasty tape pull on the cover. It's very hard to see because the way the artwork is. I was thinking of trying to take it back, but the receipt says "All Sales Final". I'd like to kick my butt for missing it.

Ouch, I've done the same thing before. Sometimes it's the bad lighting in some places other times it's the excitement of finding a gem. Either way it's aggravating.

myron · Post by **myron** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:16:47 pm

Daniel Jackson wrote:
Brother J wrote:
Heath wrote: Yeah, I was hoping for a better quarter bin too, but it's still better than most of the shops I've been to lately. And I'm kicking myself now for not picking up that Gold Key Doctor Solar. I just didn't want to spend that much at the time and I really wanted those GR books. But I'm glad it was a fellow board member who ended up getting it.
To be honest, I should have looked at the Dr. Solar a little closer. I missed a pretty nasty tape pull on the cover. It's very hard to see because the way the artwork is. I was thinking of trying to take it back, but the receipt says "All Sales Final". I'd like to kick my butt for missing it.
Ouch, I've done the same thing before. Sometimes it's the bad lighting in some places other times it's the excitement of finding a gem. Either way it's aggravating.

kinda begs the question "did he know it was there" when he priced it...

Brother J · Post by **Brother J** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:49:14 pm

myron wrote:
Daniel Jackson wrote:
Brother J wrote:
Heath wrote: Yeah, I was hoping for a better quarter bin too, but it's still better than most of the shops I've been to lately. And I'm kicking myself now for not picking up that Gold Key Doctor Solar. I just didn't want to spend that much at the time and I really wanted those GR books. But I'm glad it was a fellow board member who ended up getting it.
To be honest, I should have looked at the Dr. Solar a little closer. I missed a pretty nasty tape pull on the cover. It's very hard to see because the way the artwork is. I was thinking of trying to take it back, but the receipt says "All Sales Final". I'd like to kick my butt for missing it.
Ouch, I've done the same thing before. Sometimes it's the bad lighting in some places other times it's the excitement of finding a gem. Either way it's aggravating.
kinda begs the question "did he know it was there" when he priced it...

Well, he probably did catch it, might be the reason it wasn't priced higher. He had it graded as a 4.0, which I thought was a little low. With the tape pull, I guess his grade is a little more accurate. It was tough to see with the way the background of the cover is on the book. It's my bad, I may see if he'll take it back for store credit, problem is the shop is is about 25-30 miles away, so I don't get down that way too often.

childres · Post by **childres** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 6:37:04 pm

I would love to have a comic store that close!

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:04:41 pm

I went to a shop that was new to me today. I saw a Batman 227 on the wall in roughly Good condition and asked how much it was. The guy there said $200. I knew that was a bad sign.

They had 2 Acclaims on the wall. A Vol 2 Shadowman #1 for $20 and a Vol 2 #2 for $45.

I have no idea where that got those prices from.

wallywest · Post by **wallywest** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:11:10 pm

Guys who price their back issues like that don't really want to ever sell anything. What is the point of putting a price on it at all? Why not just put a sign up that says "These are here just to show you what I've got."

wallywest · Post by **wallywest** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:18:04 pm

Speaking of trips to comic shops...

I left work a little early today (which for me is about 5:00) just to hit a LCS that used to have several long boxes of $1 books. I distinctly remember a small run of high numbered 1st series Swamp Things in there that I would like to transfer from his long box to one of mine

. Anyway, rolled up at about 5:25 just to find a sign on the door that says they close at 5:00...everyday. How is a normal working Joe supposed to visit his establishment?

So, I decide I will salvage my trip by going a little out of my way to hit a different LCS that I haven't hit in a while. No $1 boxes, but they always seem to have some Valiants and Acclaims at $0.50 over cover, which works for some issues (like Unity 0 Red that I picked up a while back

). I pulled up at 6:02 (traffic was a mess tonight) to find they guy locking the door for the night. They close at 6:00 on Mondays

.

Going to a LCS and flipping through a bunch of overpriced low grade books is way better than not getting in at all.

JustCallMeAric · Post by **JustCallMeAric** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:59:29 am

I was lucky to find a comic book store that had a whole long box of early valiant. Its the only way I was able to get a lot of the pre-unity issues. However, they sold them at cover price.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:19:17 am

JustCallMeAric wrote:I was lucky to find a comic book store that had a whole long box of early valiant. Its the only way I was able to get a lot of the pre-unity issues. However, they sold them at cover price.

Welcome to the board. How many did you end up getting out the box?

Dr. Solar · Post by **Dr. Solar** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:26:17 pm

JustCallMeAric wrote:I was lucky to find a comic book store that had a whole long box of early valiant. Its the only way I was able to get a lot of the pre-unity issues. However, they sold them at cover price.

hey hey, cover price for any pre-unity Valiants is a good deal.

Welcome to the bored.

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:27:52 pm

Dr. Solar wrote:
JustCallMeAric wrote:I was lucky to find a comic book store that had a whole long box of early valiant. Its the only way I was able to get a lot of the pre-unity issues. However, they sold them at cover price.
hey hey, cover price for any pre-unity Valiants is a good deal.

Welcome to the bored.

That's for sure.

slym2none · Post by **slym2none** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:57:27 pm

Brother J wrote:
myron wrote:
Daniel Jackson wrote:
Brother J wrote:
Heath wrote: Yeah, I was hoping for a better quarter bin too, but it's still better than most of the shops I've been to lately. And I'm kicking myself now for not picking up that Gold Key Doctor Solar. I just didn't want to spend that much at the time and I really wanted those GR books. But I'm glad it was a fellow board member who ended up getting it.
To be honest, I should have looked at the Dr. Solar a little closer. I missed a pretty nasty tape pull on the cover. It's very hard to see because the way the artwork is. I was thinking of trying to take it back, but the receipt says "All Sales Final". I'd like to kick my butt for missing it.
Ouch, I've done the same thing before. Sometimes it's the bad lighting in some places other times it's the excitement of finding a gem. Either way it's aggravating.
kinda begs the question "did he know it was there" when he priced it...
Well, he probably did catch it, might be the reason it wasn't priced higher. He had it graded as a 4.0, which I thought was a little low. With the tape pull, I guess his grade is a little more accurate. It was tough to see with the way the background of the cover is on the book. It's my bad, I may see if he'll take it back for store credit, problem is the shop is is about 25-30 miles away, so I don't get down that way too often.

This shows one of my pet-peeves in LCS' - I hate a comic shop that is darkly decorated and/or poorly lit. DO YOU HEAR ME, "SECOND FOUNDATION" ON HILLSBOROUGH STREET IN RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA???

/rant

-slym (panting)

tarheelmarine · Post by **tarheelmarine** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:32:30 pm

So I am visiting my wife's family for the holidays, and yesterday me and my father-in-law went to two shops. The first one was a bust for valiant as it only had commons (but they were only a buck), but I was able to get Villains United 1-4 (for a buck a piece) and OMAC 1-3 ($1 as well).

The second shop was good though as it had lots of VH2( I dont collect), and some Valiants I needed. I was able to get Ninjak 23, Magnus 58, and XO 41. I also was able to get Villains 5-6 and OMAC 4-6 as well. I was very pleased as I was sifting thru the indies to find the Ninjak and Magnus as those completed my run of both of those titles, and I am looking forward to OMAC and VU as well.

I also picked up the Superman Omnibus in a used bookshop for $25. I highly recommend it. It collects Death all the way to his return and it is fantastic. This is the story that got me into comics and rereading it was a blast. Fun times to say the least.

To top it all off I then went to see I AM LEGEND, and it was great.

Merry Christmas fellow Valiant fans.

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:39:06 am

Since I'm back in Louisiana, I looked up "Anime 4 Ever." They weren't listed in the phone book so I was afraid they had closed. I drove by there just to see and they were still there but under a different name. Something generic like "Cards, Comics & Games" now.

The vast majority of the dead universe & independent comics he had a year ago is gone now. He said he sold them. Seems like he might have a pretty decent turnover on back issue stock. He still has about 15 or so long boxes of back issues, but they're different than the back issues he had last year. And he said he would be getting in a few more boxes soon.

There were 3 major problems with his back issue inventory. First, there was no organization at all. Titles are not in any kind of order, just randomly scattered around. Half of the comics aren't even in long boxes, but sitting on shelves (while empty long boxes are stacked up for purchasing). Secondly, although almost everything was bagged, nothing was boarded. Lastly, and probably a result of the previous two points, condition is really bad. Everything has spine creases, corner dings, etc.

I only dug through the stacks of books on the shelves and quickly flipped through one box. It was all mostly Marvel books from the early 90s, around the time of the boom. A ton of Avengers. A good amount of common Valiants but no pre-Unity. It looked like whoever he bought these books from had speculated on Defiant and Valiant about the same time. There were multiple copies of a few early Defiant books and Valiant books from the same era. There was a smattering of Ultraverse, but they were in really crappy shape.

I pulled out about 6 books - 3 Captain America (the only 3 I could find) a random adjectiveless Spider-Man, and a couple Darkhawk. Yeah, I said Darkhawk. Two of the books had OLD 90's era price tags on them - Darkhawk #1 for $8.50, the Spider-Man for $10.50. One of the Captain Americas (#325) was in really poor shape. Everything had spine creases and bent corners and nothing was of any real value even if they had been NM.

I put the books on the counter asking what kind of deal he can make for me and he looks at them and says, "How about $15?"

I say, "I was thinking more like $2 or $3 if that."

He goes into this speech about how he's got to make something off of them, but he seems willing to negotiate on everything but the Spider-Man. So I put it back. Eventually, I talk him down to $2 for the remaining books still feeling like I paid too much for them. He mentions he has a whole long box of Captain Americas, but I didn't have time to look and promised I'd be back.

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 1:46:00 am

I hate the Speeches you get from owners