Soloist

Wow. That sounds like a great way to make friends.

I believe there is a place for both type of cons - the *real* comic cons and the "fan-cons". Personally, if I'm taking my kid, he's going to have a better time at the "fan-con", than sitting around while his dad rummages through yet another long box. I don't mind the cosplayers too much at the big shows, as it's what one expects now. However, it's gotten steadily worse over time. Personally, I think it could be limited, if done correctly. Perhaps, if you want inside as a cosplayer, you have to register as such and a panel of judges gets to decide who is the best - just like a costume contest. Only a certain amount are allowed through at any time (which would prevent 62 Batmen and/or Harleys) with alternates who could rotate out during. Give the winners a discount/free admission, BUT they must follow certain rules, no blocking tables/aisles, or heck... even helping promote some of the dealers/artists. If the other freaks want to L.A.R.P., let them do it in the lobby and not in the hall. Cut out the carp not related to the industry, (was anyone at WWChicago when they brought in the Governor at the time to sign autographs for like $50? ) this could be easily fixed by pre-screening applicants and rejecting those that want to sell fake weapons, or hippie-stuff. I personally prefer the old-school "gentleman/lady" conventions. There are several reasons, but the two that stand out the most are mutual respect among attendees and the lack of noise. Too much noise is distracting and makes it hard for me to focus and I end up getting in a hurry rifling through stuff. Also, not having someone try to shove you when you're digging is nice. Actually being able to talk to dealers without having to shout, what a concept. Not having dealers distracted that someone is going to snatch something if they don't have 16 eyes watching everything is nice too. There should be no issue telling someone they cannot bring their cosplay gear to a "gentleman/lady" con. They have their place elsewhere. I see it like this, one can go to a whiskey or wine tasting, or to a strip club, they both revolve around alcohol, but I don't wanna hear about "Coming to the main stage - Harley!" at the wine tasting.

Thanks, I was stoked for sure! It looks like the Weird Tales is Vol. 44 #4, from May, 1952.

I really wish my account merge would go through, but in the meantime -- In short, my wife runs an E-bay store and is always at auctions and estate sales to find cool stuff to resell. We shy away from the collectible market, it's just too finicky. However, she makes a killing selling parts, be it appliances, electronics, and all kinds of things that break. Linens, cross-stitch kits, and all kinds of odds and ends. She loves buying carloads of box lots, which while I may raise an eyebrow at quite a few things, she's never wrong and makes 300%+ profit on many many things. So, combine that with the fact that she has never ever given me any grief over my comic collecting and guitar addiction, I won't ever say a word to her about it. So, last weekend she texts me from the auction with one pic of an early Vampirella mag, and says they have a whole paper box of them, should she get them.... well, duh. So this was most of what was in the box she bid up and won for a whopping $47 -- There was also a box of Mad magazines.. at first she said late 70's....turned out later they were mostly late 60's. That box went for $68, and she stopped bidding because she could just tell the other guy wanted them more and would have kept bidding them up. We don't come across stuff like this out here in the country too often, so it was a nice surprise!

Dave got some love in a market report in the new Overstreet. Nice to see him mentioned again, maybe that'll spark some more interest.

Reported. And I will continue to do so, no matter how many times this butt-monkey relists.

Reported.

Good stuff!

Val rocks, excellent deal and shipped so fast my head is still spinning!

Hmm, he's "The Silent" but he does talk, and here uses sign language. What a complicated dude

Since everyone seemed to get such a big kick our of Vidarr, I looked through the book tonight... I thought about saving some of this for the blog, but since I'm having problems finding enough time to manage it right now I figure I'll go ahead and post some awesome Vidarr action shots