no 50 cent bins!?

[deathmedal]

i went to regina and therwas 40 comic shops there and only one hade a doller bin and it sucked. they were selling a solar #9 for 10.00$ at one place and an other place was selling a solar #1 for 5 bucks ( i bought it)
and i finally got a copy of wizard #17!!!!!!!!!
but heres what i got
solar 1,2
x-o blue TPB 5.00
wizard 17

[DawgPhan]

you went to 40 shops!!! that is a lot...I do not think that I have ever been in 40 comic shops in my whole life....also where is regina?

[deathmedal]

opps i mean 4

[skiw]

Which stores did you hitin Regina?

I was in Saskatoon last summer and Tramps' had a nice selection of Valiants and VH2 Acclaims for sale, but now they have migrated to Edmonton.

Cheers,
Skiw

[magnus20009]

You might not have had much luck in Regina as I was back from NYC for Christmas and I hit all four shops and cleaned them out of their good stuff. Readers Book shop actually has some pretty good VH2 stuff but I bought it all - they had a number of gold issues in their $1 box. I'm guess you got the Solar #1 at Phoenix bookshops as I had the owner dig through all his boxes in the back and we found like 10 copies of Solar #1 that I told him he should put them out. Tramps had a few issues to the end of various VH1 titles but everything else there was overpriced. At Tramps in Saskatoon I could find nothing of interest.

It sucks that Comic Corner (Regina Book Exchange) closed down as that was where I picked up all my Valiant issues when they were originally coming out. I wonder what happened to his stuff? Last time I was through town when it was still open (a few years ago) he still had his 2 diamond Unity Trade paperbacks. I am kicking myself I did not buy them. Heck he even offered them to me back when they were first released as I was one of his few customers that had valiant titles on my order from the get go.

[dellamorte]

I took a trip up to cheese country last weekend and managed to stop into 6 shops on the way and was totally disappointed. No quarter boxes in any of the shops.

One of the stores you had to tell the guy at the counter what you wanted and he would go in the back and check to see if they had it.

Another one you had to go into the basement (after waiting your turn) with an employee and he would pull out boxes for you to look at) they had over twenty valiant boxes and I dug through most of them. No gold’s or VVSS's but a decent amount of pre unity that sadly weren’t bagged and had heavy damage and ink transfer (4 magnus 12's and two solar 10's I wasn’t even willing to pay cover for). And to top it off none of the books were priced so you had to pick them out and take them upstairs to have them priced by the _ickhead behind the counter who after telling me all the Valiants were .25 over cover changed his mind after I came back with a Solar #1-3. I left without buying anything.

Overall a very disappointing trip with out any gems to bring home.

[x-omatic]

That really *SQUEE* me off when shops change the price on you. I searched through 15 Valiant boxes at a store one day. The guy said ALL of the Valiant in the boxes was 1.00 each.

I pulled out the following books.
X-O #1, 2, 3,4,5
Magnus 1, 2, 3, 12
Harbinger 2, 3, 4
Rai 1, 2,3,4,5
Solar 2,10
A few last issues
A few Acclaim B&W reviews.

At $1.00 each they would have been @30.00 total

He rings me up and says. $125.00.
I said what happened to the $1.00 each?

"I didn't know there was anything good in there. Most of these are pre-unity and are more money"

I left the books on the counter and walked out.

[Christopher Martin]

That is too bad he adjusted the prices on you. He wasn't willing to wheel and deal? I wouldn't have been able to leave those comics on the counter like that without at least buying some of them! That is the kind of thing that can eat away at the back of my mind for awhile...

[x-omatic]

That is too bad he adjusted the prices on you. He wasn't willing to wheel and deal? I wouldn't have been able to leave those comics on the counter like that without at least buying some of them! That is the kind of thing that can eat away at the back of my mind for awhile...

They were not all NM. VF/NM maybe. I have extras of all of the books already. I wasnt willing to try and find out his prices on each issue. I spent over 1 hour going through the boxes based on what he says. Then he changes the prices. He gets zero business from me.

[comicguy]

Hey X-Omatic, I am with you just leaving them on the counter. I rectly did the same thing with some Incredible Hulk issues.

I go into a comic store and ask for the "discount comic boxes" Owner then shows me where they are and says all comics in these boxes are .50 each. I am going through them for about an hour, when the wife comes and finds me and sees the stack that I have and what issues I have procurred from the "discount bins" and even gives her blessing I had Hulh 200-300 VF condition, Iron Man 100-150 F-VF. I go to counter expect to pay approx 75.00 and he tells me fouind some good stuff did you? Rings up 175.00, so I say I think they should be 75.00. He tells me know because he did not know those comics were in there, but he will give ma a discount anyways and the price reflects the discount. I tell him see you latter and start to leave and he threatens to call the cops for wasting"his time" I said go ahead I wait outside for them, of course they never showed up. I was so p...ed off by the time I got home that I even wrote a letter to the owner and told him that I will never be going to his store again because of his bait and switch. I never herd from him again except when his store closed I received a flyer(about a year latter) saying everything was now discounted.

[Brother J]

One of the stores you had to tell the guy at the counter what you wanted and he would go in the back and check to see if they had it.

Another one you had to go into the basement (after waiting your turn) with an employee and he would pull out boxes for you to look at) they had over twenty valiant boxes and I dug through most of them. No gold’s or VVSS's but a decent amount of pre unity that sadly weren’t bagged and had heavy damage and ink transfer (4 magnus 12's and two solar 10's I wasn’t even willing to pay cover for). And to top it off none of the books were priced so you had to pick them out and take them upstairs to have them priced by the _ickhead behind the counter who after telling me all the Valiants were .25 over cover changed his mind after I came back with a Solar #1-3. I left without buying anything.

Sounds like you were in my neck of the woods, Dellamorte. I'm guessing both of the shops you went to were Collector's Edge locations here in Milwaukee. The first store sounds like their location at 68th and Lincoln. It's always a hassle to get back issues in there because they are kept in the back. I did manage to clear most of the good Valiants out of there, including a Harbinger 0 Pink, a nice run of early Harbinger and Rai and just about every last issue.

The other store you went to sounds like their main location, which is where the majority of their back issues are. The problem is like you mentioned is they don't keep the back issues downstairs bagged, so most of the books aren't in NM condition. I found a copy of GI Joe #155 there which was probably VG/F at best and they wanted to charge me full guide NM price. Needless to say, I didn't buy it or those pre-Unity issues that you found that were in poor shape. All of the Magnus #12 I left had the crease down the middle of the book which seems to be common for that issue.

The first time I went there I did get a great deal because at one time, he had copies of many of the Gold books, Pre-Unity and last issues, and I pretty much cleared him out on that stuff, at least the stuff that was in decent condition.

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I didn't fare any better on any of my trips to the shops in Northern Illinois than you did on your trip up here. I've pretty much covered every comic shop in a 50 mile radius of the Milwaukee area, so I don't think anyone's going to find much unless someone around here sells off their personal Valiant collection to one of the local dealers.

[deathmedal]

tramps in regina had almost every valiant comic ever made but they were pretty high priced and yeah i got my solar #1 at phoenix, when i saw the old guy that worked ther i thought that i could ripp him off but when i asked him how much it was he broke out his price guide and i amost *SQUEE* myself. readers had a some blue TPB's

[myron]

One of the stores you had to tell the guy at the counter what you wanted and he would go in the back and check to see if they had it.

Another one you had to go into the basement (after waiting your turn) with an employee and he would pull out boxes for you to look at) they had over twenty valiant boxes and I dug through most of them. No gold’s or VVSS's but a decent amount of pre unity that sadly weren’t bagged and had heavy damage and ink transfer (4 magnus 12's and two solar 10's I wasn’t even willing to pay cover for). And to top it off none of the books were priced so you had to pick them out and take them upstairs to have them priced by the _ickhead behind the counter who after telling me all the Valiants were .25 over cover changed his mind after I came back with a Solar #1-3. I left without buying anything.

Sounds like you were in my neck of the woods, Dellamorte. I'm guessing both of the shops you went to were Collector's Edge locations here in Milwaukee. The first store sounds like their location at 68th and Lincoln. It's always a hassle to get back issues in there because they are kept in the back. I did manage to clear most of the good Valiants out of there, including a Harbinger 0 Pink, a nice run of early Harbinger and Rai and just about every last issue.

The other store you went to sounds like their main location, which is where the majority of their back issues are. The problem is like you mentioned is they don't keep the back issues downstairs bagged, so most of the books aren't in NM condition. I found a copy of GI Joe #155 there which was probably VG/F at best and they wanted to charge me full guide NM price. Needless to say, I didn't buy it or those pre-Unity issues that you found that were in poor shape. All of the Magnus #12 I left had the crease down the middle of the book which seems to be common for that issue.

The first time I went there I did get a great deal because at one time, he had copies of many of the Gold books, Pre-Unity and last issues, and I pretty much cleared him out on that stuff, at least the stuff that was in decent condition.

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I didn't fare any better on any of my trips to the shops in Northern Illinois than you did on your trip up here. I've pretty much covered every comic shop in a 50 mile radius of the Milwaukee area, so I don't think anyone's going to find much unless someone around here sells off their personal Valiant collection to one of the local dealers.

collectors edge is a pain...and the one on Kinnickinick is the only one with decent back issue stock...but there are still some decent finds there...if you are willing to hunt and peck(mainly later issues...I filled out my Magnus run there for about $2.00 a book)...sounds like the guy is raising his prices though.

There is a shop on Oklahoma that has later Valiants in the back...last I checked they were a buck a throw...Lost worlds of wonders. cleaned out their bloodshot but they have some other runs

[Brother J]

The problem I found in the local comic shops is many of the dealers couldn't be bothered to even check if they had Valiants, even after I assured them I would be willing to spend a good bit of money if they had books that I wanted. The first time I went to Lost Worlds of Wonder, they claimed they had no Valiants. I later bought a bunch of harder to find Valiants from them at Wizard World last year in Chicago in their bargain boxes.

[myron]

The problem I found in the local comic shops is many of the dealers couldn't be bothered to even check if they had Valiants, even after I assured them I would be willing to spend a good bit of money if they had books that I wanted. The first time I went to Lost Worlds of Wonder, they claimed they had no Valiants. I later bought a bunch of harder to find Valiants from them at Wizard World last year in Chicago in their bargain boxes.

agreed...they all make you feel like you're interrupting them when you ask them to do their job. the last time I was at LWoW I think the only reason they even bothered to say they had any valiant was because of the volume I was looking for ...

[DawgPhan]

Yeah this is probably true....I left a list of the books that I was looking for with my LCS and my card...He said that he was doing inventory the next week and if he found anything he would pull it for me....I even told him that I would buy nearly every copy he had of certain books...Bloodshot 51...magnus 12....solar 10....harbinger 1-6....stuff like that....you would think that they would jump at the chance to sell a bunce of books that have been just sitting around to someone....I have been in there several times looking for valiants and I usually spend a little time going through some boxes and drop a little coin....maybe he really is doing inventory and it is taking him a while to find my treasure...I want to offer that I would do his inventory for him and he could let me keep some of his valiants....though I think that i would hate going through that many comics....I think that it is similar to a little kid wanting to work as a chocolate taster....yeah it sounds good now, but do you really want to eat chocolate 8 hours a day....or my personal favorite...gyneocologist(sp?) remember when you found out what this was.....was I the only one that thought that this was the greatest job ever....maybe...

[dellamorte]

Sounds like you were in my neck of the woods, Dellamorte. I'm guessing both of the shops you went to were Collector's Edge locations here in Milwaukee.

Yeah, I was up for a wedding and managed to sneak away for a quick few hours. I've never seen a bigger stock of back issues, to bad they are all slowly being destroyed. At least in Chicago the dealers will price the books so you know what your in for.

[myron]

Sounds like you were in my neck of the woods, Dellamorte. I'm guessing both of the shops you went to were Collector's Edge locations here in Milwaukee.

Yeah, I was up for a wedding and managed to sneak away for a quick few hours. I've never seen a bigger stock of back issues, to bad they are all slowly being destroyed. At least in Chicago the dealers will price the books so you know what your in for.

the no price thing definitely bites but he does have a huge back stock...like you said though, being destroyed

[ZephyrWasHOT!!]

That really *SQUEE* me off when shops change the price on you. I searched through 15 Valiant boxes at a store one day. The guy said ALL of the Valiant in the boxes was 1.00 each.

I pulled out the following books.
X-O #1, 2, 3,4,5
Magnus 1, 2, 3, 12
Harbinger 2, 3, 4
Rai 1, 2,3,4,5
Solar 2,10
A few last issues
A few Acclaim B&W reviews.

At $1.00 each they would have been @30.00 total

He rings me up and says. $125.00.
I said what happened to the $1.00 each?

"I didn't know there was anything good in there. Most of these are pre-unity and are more money"

I left the books on the counter and walked out.

Which shop?

[ZephyrWasHOT!!]

Hey X-Omatic, I am with you just leaving them on the counter. I rectly did the same thing with some Incredible Hulk issues.

I go into a comic store and ask for the "discount comic boxes" Owner then shows me where they are and says all comics in these boxes are .50 each. I am going through them for about an hour, when the wife comes and finds me and sees the stack that I have and what issues I have procurred from the "discount bins" and even gives her blessing I had Hulh 200-300 VF condition, Iron Man 100-150 F-VF. I go to counter expect to pay approx 75.00 and he tells me fouind some good stuff did you? Rings up 175.00, so I say I think they should be 75.00. He tells me know because he did not know those comics were in there, but he will give ma a discount anyways and the price reflects the discount. I tell him see you latter and start to leave and he threatens to call the cops for wasting"his time" I said go ahead I wait outside for them, of course they never showed up. I was so p...ed off by the time I got home that I even wrote a letter to the owner and told him that I will never be going to his store again because of his bait and switch. I never herd from him again except when his store closed I received a flyer(about a year latter) saying everything was now discounted.

This, by the way, is illegal. Most store owners are such small potatoes no one really bothers to do anything about it. I suffered through this for years with store owners, hoping they wouldn't notice the 'decent' stuff I bought, worried that they might think I was trying to scam them, when, in reality, all I was doing was their sorting work for them.

God bless the comic shop that goes out of business.

[ZephyrWasHOT!!]

And finally..... It's very, very difficult to buy things you want in comic stores, because 93.476% (I did the research ) of all store owners think that if one person is interested in something enough to ask for it by name, it must be 'worth' something, and therefore respond with greed and contempt.

I've been buying Valiants since almost day 1, and everywhere it's always the same, even in the worst of the worst years (1996-1998.) You can't ASK anyone if they have it because you're afraid they're going to jack up the price, and you spend hours and hours and hours going through back issues, and find one gem.....and hope to god the dealer's not an *SQUEE* about it.

Ah well. There's a reason why Comic Book Guy exists. Make that several thousand reasons.

[R Daneel]

I pulled a Bloodshot Last Stand from a $1 box recently and when the cashier noticed the cover price, she said "that book shouldn't have been in that box." That is bogus because all the books in the $1 had green circle stickers, and all the $.25 books had purple circle stickers. It was obvious it came from that box, but she tried to squeeze cover price out of me. I hated doing it, but I left all 10 books or so. I probably could have got the others for the advertised price, but her dishonesty *SQUEE* me off too much to give her any $$$.

[CLA]

It's a real painful and embarrassing when you're ready to pay for stuff and the store owner gives the comics a big price-up. They make you feel like you're too cheap to buy the comic at their price. My local comic-store owner sometimes gets greedy on some popular books, but he won't pull any "sudden" mark-up crap like that with the discounted comics.

[x-omatic]

That really *SQUEE* me off when shops change the price on you. I searched through 15 Valiant boxes at a store one day. The guy said ALL of the Valiant in the boxes was 1.00 each.

I pulled out the following books.
X-O #1, 2, 3,4,5
Magnus 1, 2, 3, 12
Harbinger 2, 3, 4
Rai 1, 2,3,4,5
Solar 2,10
A few last issues
A few Acclaim B&W reviews.

At $1.00 each they would have been @30.00 total

He rings me up and says. $125.00.
I said what happened to the $1.00 each?

"I didn't know there was anything good in there. Most of these are pre-unity and are more money"

I left the books on the counter and walked out.

Which shop?

It was a collectables shop in mesa. This was the only time I ever was there. Don't worry, it wasn't Gregs or Cavemans

[Steve Topper]

Whenever I experience anything like this examples, I leave the books on the counter as well. And I have no problems naming names of the stores I do it in as well.

My reason is those stores would have no problem with me telling about what a wonderful experience I had in their shops if they treat me properly, so I've determined they should have no complaint when I air an blatant grievance. Also, I've had the "good fortune" of having to do business travel for over 20 years and get to see many different cities within the U.S. When I travel, I always hit the local comic shops and knowing which shops to avoid is just as important to me as knowing the good shops. So please ppost the names of the offending stores.

And whetteon, I'll be in Wichita mid-April, where are the decent shops there. I'll try to stay away from the Valiant golds and VVSS! (yeah, right!)
Thanks
Steve