One Dealer's memories....

oftimespast · Post by **oftimespast** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:16 pm

I've been selling comics since 1986 and doing it full time since 1992. I remember I mostly was dealing in back issue comics but I would dabble in new comics as well. I was buying from a mid-level distributor in my area and I will never forget seeing the solications from Magnus #1 and Solar #1, I ordered 10 each and bought them for 40% off cover. When they came in, I was handed them at a local covention and a few other dealers were laughing at me for buying them! They laughed and said no one is ever going to want those.(When they were going for $25 each I pulled them out and sold them all and rubbed those guy's noses in it.

About 2 months after Magnus 12 came out, I realized this was going to be a killer book, I called everywhere in the country trying to buy copies. A store in NJ agreed to sell me 15 comics at $6 each. I paid them with a credit card, a few days later, some price guide came out and the price had jumped and they refused to honor the sale. Those *SQUEE*!

My best Valiant sales in the hey day-

Harbinger #1 with coupon - $125
Rai #3 and $4 - $450
Magnus 12 - $100
Bottle of Armstrong Ale- $125
Eternal Warrior Gold Embossed- $225

These were just a few off the top of my head, I could tell Valiant stories for hours, I threw a Valiant birthday party at more old store- I gave out 7-8 gold books, had a special Valiant logo birthday cake made and one customer painted himself bright white from head to toe and looked like RAI. As soon as I can find the pictures I will post some. You'll all get a good laugh.

I remember going to a Diamond Fall Fling where they were giving out the Fall Fling copy of Armorines. Guys were wheeling and dealing them before they even walked out the door.

The one I will never forget is when alot of the Valiant staff came and made a presentation at the local sub-distributors warehouse and were giving out Eternal Warrior Gold Books to everone who attended. I must have bought 4 more copies from Baseball card dealers who came for the free meal!

-Rob

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:36 pm

Hey Of...nice to have you on the board....I've dealt with you before, as have other board members I'm sure, and was pleased. Great to have more folks join in the fun!

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:41 pm

Welcome to the boards...

It's always nice to hear from the guys who were there during
the heyday of Valiant... both the creators themselves and the dealers
who saw it as it all unfolded.

Whenever you've got the time... I'm sure the hours of stories you could tell
would be soaked up appreciatively by the guys (and gals!) around here.

dino · Post by **dino** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:57 pm

I could tell Valiant stories for hours

Please do!

Great post, I loved hearing about the deals that went on when talking about valiant didn't get you a laugh.

shaxper · Post by **shaxper** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 11:36 pm

This just reminds me of my best Valiant memory from back in the day. It was late 1992 and I had just bought my first Valiant issues at a local comic show. I went to check out a brand new LCS the next week, and they had literally devoted the entire front of the store to table filled with boxes of Valiant back issues...just Valiant. I went through it and they had EVERY post unity issue which, believe it or not, was hard to find in my area back then. Even dealers were hording them. I remember being ecstatic at having found the first appearance of H.A.R.D. Corpse there. Each issue was freshly bagged and boarded in brand new boxes and kept in perfect order. It was beautiful to behold.

But I couldn't find a single pre-Unity issue. I was very disappointed until I looked up and realized that they had a wall literally FILLED with every possible pre-Unity issue that everyone was looking for. I dropped either $120 or $180 right then (can't remember which) for my Pink Harbinger #0. I went back every week afterward.

Amazingly, they're the only one of four LCSes in my old neighborhood that's still around today, and under the same ownership. Of course, they don't have ANY Valiant anymore, and have drastically reduced their entire back issue inventory in favor of Hero Clicks, statues, and tpbs. I guess it pays the bills.

Memories...

Rai-fan · Post by **Rai-fan** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 10:32 am

So this brand new comic store opened up in Philly in late 1992 called "Amazing Comics." Small store, 2 guys. They made a big splash for their grand opening by having Brett Breeding in for a siging, right after his "Death of Superman" run.

Since they were so recently-capitalized, they had a whole comic rack full of the 50 or so pre-unity books. As in, Shadowman 1, Rai 1-5, Harbinger 4, etc. 10 each deep. 16 (!) copies of Solar 10 lining the wall.

For older back issues, they basically sunk it all into Ghost Rider, with the Marvel Spotlight books featuring prominently. As a kid, I was blown away!

Don't know when they closed, but they haven't been around for at least 5 years now. Thanks for the memories, guys.

ckb · Post by **ckb** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 11:30 am

I was associated with the individuals who ran this store. The owner (in 1992) was Vince Gulla, and his partner was Mike. I often did shows with them and helped them out.

Some of the pre-unity they had was purchased from me.

Rai-fan wrote:So this brand new comic store opened up in Philly in late 1992 called "Amazing Comics." Small store, 2 guys. They made a big splash for their grand opening by having Brett Breeding in for a siging, right after his "Death of Superman" run.

Since they were so recently-capitalized, they had a whole comic rack full of the 50 or so pre-unity books. As in, Shadowman 1, Rai 1-5, Harbinger 4, etc. 10 each deep. 16 (!) copies of Solar 10 lining the wall.

For older back issues, they basically sunk it all into Ghost Rider, with the Marvel Spotlight books featuring prominently. As a kid, I was blown away!

Don't know when they closed, but they haven't been around for at least 5 years now. Thanks for the memories, guys.

Vault-Keeper · Post by **Vault-Keeper** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 1:16 pm

Knightt_333 wrote:Heh... it was the Death of Superman (issue #75) that got me BACK into comics. I heard about it on ET and thought, "hey, that could be worth some money" and it was for me as I sold two out of my four copies a couple of months later for some decent cash.

ANYONE looking for a Superman #75 Platinum?:)

oftimespast · Post by **oftimespast** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 1:42 am

Superman #75 platinum, my all time favorite sale. I was just a show dealer at the time and I heard that any comic retailer who sent a business card to DC would receive one of these. I sent mine in and a few weeks later got it in the mail. I was setting up at a show that weekend, I was dragging a new girlfriend to the show to help me out(Suprise- Having an attractive female at my table helped sell more books) and I sold that comic 1st thing in the morning for $400. After the customer walked away she asked me what that comic had cost me. I told her 24 cents, the price of a stamp. Needless to say she was impressed.

Here's a good Valiant one- Diamond used to have warehouse sales for their customers to come and buy all the stuff they had leftover that they couldnt sell or got stuck with when someone went out of business. At one of these sales, all the comics were 25 cents. People were pushing and shoving, fighting over some stuff so I walked over to any area where no one was and I started looking through long boxes and noticed something gold- It was a Deathmate Gold, I kept looking and found another, and another and after looking through alot of boxes, I found over 20 Deathmate golds, all colors except Red ones.

Best recent Valiant find- 6 months ago or so- walking around a convention, I noticed a dealer selling comics 7 for $1 and he was pretty cleaned out. But out of curiousity I looked around and found 2 Chaos Effect Reds! I picked out 5 more comics so not to attract attention to these 2 and paid the guy a buck. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't sell both copies to board members. Thanks fellas! -Rob

Brother J · Post by **Brother J** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 8:11 am

ANYONE looking for a Superman #75 Platinum?

I'm a variant collecting fool, so I have some interest in it. They usually go for more than I'm willing to pay on eBay, though. Variants are great as long as you don't have to pay the variant markup

Best recent Valiant find- 6 months ago or so- walking around a convention, I noticed a dealer selling comics 7 for $1 and he was pretty cleaned out. But out of curiousity I looked around and found 2 Chaos Effect Reds! I picked out 5 more comics so not to attract attention to these 2 and paid the guy a buck. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't sell both copies to board members. Thanks fellas! -Rob

That's a steal of a deal right there. I can't figure out why people sell stuff when they have no idea what they have. Why throw any type of sales incentive variant into a bargain box? I know as a dealer these guys are dealing in a large amount of books but they should know better. Well, this kind of stuff makes it fun for those of us who love to root in bargain bins!

ZephyrWasHOT!! · Post by **ZephyrWasHOT!!** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 11:55 am

Brother J wrote:
ANYONE looking for a Superman #75 Platinum?
I'm a variant collecting fool, so I have some interest in it. They usually go for more than I'm willing to pay on eBay, though. Variants are great as long as you don't have to pay the variant markup

Best recent Valiant find- 6 months ago or so- walking around a convention, I noticed a dealer selling comics 7 for $1 and he was pretty cleaned out. But out of curiousity I looked around and found 2 Chaos Effect Reds! I picked out 5 more comics so not to attract attention to these 2 and paid the guy a buck. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't sell both copies to board members. Thanks fellas! -Rob
That's a steal of a deal right there. I can't figure out why people sell stuff when they have no idea what they have. Why throw any type of sales incentive variant into a bargain box? I know as a dealer these guys are dealing in a large amount of books but they should know better. Well, this kind of stuff makes it fun for those of us who love to root in bargain bins!

I sold a Plat Supes #75 two years ago for $31 on eBay. RATS!

COMICKINGS · Post by **COMICKINGS** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 9:22 pm

I remember they both hit on the same day.Unfortunately for me I was ate up on Valiant and ordered 300 Bloodshots and only 50 Superman.I remember scrambling to some of the big dealers for more Supe's...Cosmic Dreams Unlimited (Lane!)...was telling me at the time another big dealer out in California was sitting on 18-19,000 copies of Superman #75...that were sitting for their mail order business....It was a few days old and goin for $20-$25!! Bloodshot got pretty hot but not like the Superman.I remember vaguely getting $5-$8 on the Bloodshot a few weeks after it hit....

The Diamond warehouse sales...(fall flings)...at the Baltimore location the books were all .10 or .12,and man thats was fun.The first one I went to I picked up 7 cases (200-250 copies in each case,I forget exactly) of the first month of the Unity storyline books.They were strong sellers at the shows back then $2-$3 each....Somebody smoked Diamond and got a near full case of Magnus 12's..but the best deal was on the Sportscards...the next year at the fling we got 30 or so boxes of 1992 Bowman baseball at $5 per box...a few days later we flipped the 30 boxes for $6k.......that was a nice hit,especialy since it was when me and my business partner at the time were first opening....

There were so many guys back then,and now I'd say 5% are left.....some good memories though!

ValiantFans.com Board - Since 2004

One Dealer's memories....

One Dealer's memories....

Superman #75 & Bloodshot #1