Supersnipe Comic Art Gallery 2 2

[Marvel Team-Up #18]

My brothers and I used to go in the late 70s and early 80s to Supersnipe!  We loved the store.  I was 8 years old when I first started going and can still remember how the store smells.  The most beautiful aroma of a mixture of old and new comic books.  We would go just about every other Saturday morning, journeying down from Riverdale in The Bronx either by express bus (which left you 2 blocks away on 86 street) or, if one of our parents would drive us down, in our Buick Regal.  We lined up in front of the store as the store could only hold about 8 people (can't remember) at a time.  The anticipation can be compared to waiting on line for a ride at the amusement park!  There wasn't always a line, but even if there was you would gaze through the window and marvel (pun intended) at the different comics and pictures on display which he would change every so often.  I have 3 brothers, so we would wait for all of us to go in together.  When you got in, that wonderful aroma would hit your nose, and your eyes would scan the walls for newly placed comics for sale.  The new releases were in arack by the small counter and Ed.  When the store was crowded,he could be a little short on patience with 8 and 9 year old kids, but my brothers and I knew our stuff and he recognized us as repeat customers.  Ed would have the boxes of cheap comic books out to peruse, knowing that hands would rifle through them and possibly damage the comics.  He would have "grab bags."  These were about 5 or so comics in a sealed manila envelope and you could get that for about 50 cents or a buck.

The real magic was at the counter with Ed.  At home we had the Supersnipe Comic Book Guide, which had pictures of old issues of Iron Man, Amazing Spider-Man, Journey Into Mystery, Fantastic Four etc.  We would comprise a list of comics we wanted.  At the counter, that magic counter for an 8 year old, you gave Ed the list, comprising of about 10 comics, which was his limit I think.  Then he would disappear behind the little wall adjacent to the counter (I vaguely remember him having a teenager assistant that would play security while he was behind the counter).  He would return with the issues in his stock, which seemed inexhaustible! Marvel Team-Up # 5 with the Vision and Spidey!!  WOW!  Fantastic Four #63 with Blastaar!!!  Who seemed to always be on the TV cartoon in '79.  Iron Man 6 with Crusher!  Yup, pure magic.  Now, you couldn't waste Ed's time by having him go back and not purchase items.  I had an allowance of $2.50 a week, which was pretty good for a kid in 79.  I would save up for certain issues.  I remember paying $4 for the Iron Man #6.  And Amazing Spider-Man #102 with Morbius (a giant sizedd issue) was a cool $3.  Ed would place the comics down on the counter and he would do all the handling.  He would open them up from their bag and flip through them, allowing for you to see if pages are clean and spine is tight.  

  If he did not have a specific issue at the store, he would take our phone number and give a call during the week if he had that issue.  I collected Marvel Team-Up religiously and remember waiting about 8 months for him to dig up #22 with Hawkeye, which would complete my run from #1-25,  

 

Supersnipe was a part of our childhood and that little store was a gem!  We still bring up Ed and the store during a barbecue or at a Christmas.  This was the era before the internet and eBay and comic book collecting was like archaeology and you were looking for historical treasure!

[JadeGiant]

Love the sound of this place - anyone have pics? 

The counter resonates with me as my LCS had a similar approach when I was a kid. All of the back issues were behind the counter on shelves. I don't know if this was before the white long boxes (when did those come out anyway?) or if the owner was cheap, but all the back issues were in brown boxes (whatever would work) and the owner would drop the Iron Man, Hulk, or whatever box I was looking to buy from on the counter. I was too short for the counter so they had a step up and I was barely able to peer over the top of the box and flip through the selections. I filled a lot of my Iron Man run through this method and filling a hole was priority over condition so a decent number of the issues weren't great. The best issue condition wise was the first Thanos so I was lucky there. 

 

[christosgage]

On 6/10/2020 at 7:21 AM, JadeGiant said:

Love the sound of this place - anyone have pics? 

The counter resonates with me as my LCS had a similar approach when I was a kid. All of the back issues were behind the counter on shelves. I don't know if this was before the white long boxes (when did those come out anyway?) or if the owner was cheap, but all the back issues were in brown boxes (whatever would work) and the owner would drop the Iron Man, Hulk, or whatever box I was looking to buy from on the counter. I was too short for the counter so they had a step up and I was barely able to peer over the top of the box and flip through the selections. I filled a lot of my Iron Man run through this method and filling a hole was priority over condition so a decent number of the issues weren't great. The best issue condition wise was the first Thanos so I was lucky there. 

 

I never went to Supersnipe but the method you describe is one I recall being not uncommon in the Eighties, especially in smaller stores where it was often a one-person operation and they couldn't easily work the register and also keep an eye out to prevent shoplifting at the same time. This was before security cameras - or rather before it was common for a small business operating on thin margins to have them. I also think a factor was reducing the amount of handling of the vintage books, especially when comics were more "for kids" who would sometimes get excited and not be careful with them. This sort of thing went away in the 90s from what I remember, as backing boards and cheaper security cameras became more common.

[JadeGiant]

This was my experience in the latter 70s and maybe early 80s but I clearly recall long boxes by the mid 80s or earlier. 

 

[R00ster]

Hi all - new member here - I have an interesting item I'd like some help with.

I appreciate this is an old thread (last post June 2020) but perhaps Exile on Main Street is still around? Or Marvel Team-Up #18?

I've attached a photo of my item. It's a hand colored Supersnipe gallery Star Wars exhibition poster.

The story I have is that this was hand-colored to be displayed at the Supersnipe store or gallery. The original purchaser bought this directly from the store back in the day, along with a regular Star Wars exhibition poster. A few years ago he sold them both - I picked this up from that buyer, so in theory I'm the third owner.

If anyone has any more information I would love to hear it. I haven't seen another copy of this poster colored in this way, or with this back story, so I'd love to chase down more of the history if I can.

Thanks!

Edited September 8, 2022 by R00ster
Date error (last post)

[pemart1966]

On 1/25/2013 at 3:38 PM, AtlasFan said:

I would hop on the express bus from the Bronx and visit the Supersnipe Comic Store in Yorkville in the 70s at least once a month. Very small shop, but it was one of only a few comic shops in the area that had decent back issues. I remember buying a near complete set of Peanuts first edition books there.

 

The other shop I visited (when my parents would take me) would be the ComicCove in Yonkers - I got most of my SA books there. My dad could not believe it when I paid $20 for a HULK #6!

 - yup - sounds exactly like my dad at exactly the same point in time  

Edited September 19, 2022 by pemart1966

[pemart1966]

https://file770.com/edward-summer-1946-2014/

[stad]

Ressurrecting an old thread here, but I just discovered not only this store, but also this site/thread.  Not Star Wars related - although I'm now going to explore that facet - I just saw this Conan print that was apparently OA done for this print, and now I have to keep an eye out for this print, lol.