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REMEMBERING THAT FIRST LCS...
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361 posts in this topic

The legendary Passaic Book Center.

 

In the mid-90s, I was living in New Jersey and found a pile of "adult" paperbacks from the 60s (novels of the sexual nature) at a local garage sale. The person selling them was more than happy to sell about 50 of them for $5 just to get them out of their house.

 

I drove up to the Passaic Book Center and traded them for a pile of FFs from the early 20s.

 

Good times...

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How old were you when you first opened your doors, Gary ? GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

I was 24 when I started dealing comics in 1975 (though I was dealing back issues through fanzines in the mid-60s when I was in high school) and was 27 when I opened my first shop.

 

Web-Spinner-05-1966-Gary-Colabuono-ad_zpsf3652e9d.jpg

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Wish I could find someone from Manassas, Virginia. Mine was Bill's Books and Things, late 70s. Was brought by a guy named Joe and became Joe's Books and Things. I worked there as a kid bagging comics and got paid in store credit.

 

Joe moved to the Fairfax area. Opened a store there. He died of a heart attack many years ago.

 

Come to think of it there was a store in Fredericksburg, Virginia called Maria's Books .Used to stay with my grandmother and walk there as a kid.

 

I can't find a single thing on the internet about those comic shops. Maybe it was all a dream...

 

 

Edited by NoMan
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My first real comic book store experience was Mile High Comics in Ft Collins, CO back in the late 70s. Prior to that, it was good old Robert Bell via mail order. I was in awe of all the silver age Mile High had. Sadly that location closed and it wasn't until I could drive that I would make the 2 hour drive to Mile High Comics at 308 South Broadway Street in Denver, CO. I also went to their Boulder store once.

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How old were you when you first opened your doors, Gary ? GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

I was 24 when I started dealing comics in 1975 (though I was dealing back issues through fanzines in the mid-60s when I was in high school) and was 27 when I opened my first shop.

 

Web-Spinner-05-1966-Gary-Colabuono-ad_zpsf3652e9d.jpg

 

Thanks for sharing.

It always amazes me to look at the older ads and see this wide range of grades at one fixed price. I don't remember who I bought from, but years ago I recall ordering Sub_Mariner 1 with some wide range like that, and amazingly it arrived much closer to mint. Those were the days. :cloud9:

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How old were you when you first opened your doors, Gary ? GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

I was 24 when I started dealing comics in 1975 (though I was dealing back issues through fanzines in the mid-60s when I was in high school) and was 27 when I opened my first shop.

 

Web-Spinner-05-1966-Gary-Colabuono-ad_zpsf3652e9d.jpg

 

Thanks for sharing.

It always amazes me to look at the older ads and see this wide range of grades at one fixed price. I don't remember who I bought from, but years ago I recall ordering Sub_Mariner 1 with some wide range like that, and amazingly it arrived much closer to mint. Those were the days. :cloud9:

 

I love smelling of the old carbon copy machine and cc yellow papers.

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My first lcs was in Fort Bragg California (not north Carolina) call R&B comics in 1991,the owner was Bob foster who was super cool. I was 9 years old and I remember that place was my second home? at the time jurassic park movie just came out and it was Shaquilles rookie year and valiant was booming at the time? RAI 3 was the ultimate goal in collecting at that age, never got it until 4 years back.lol?

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Alpha Books in Fort Smith, Arkansas

 

They sold new and back issue comics as well as general books/magazines from the early 1900s on up. They rarely had "wall books" but he had an X-Men 94 in the glass counter by the cash register for months. I would drool at it every week when I got my box of comics. Looking back his prices were outrageously high for back issues but me and my friends happily bought them up because it was the only place in town. The owner died back in the mid-90s and the place closed up.

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Books and Buttons in Bowling Green Ky. which was an hour away from my house -- this would have been around 1981-or 82 -- James Miles was the owner and operator -- it was located in the "old" mall , since a new one was just coming up across town . It had the usual selection of current books along with some silver and bronze , I bought my 1`st silver age book there ( Strange Tales # 161 for .75 ) James also put on shows at the mall too and the 1`st show I ever set up at was in November of 1983 if my memory is correct . I split a table with a couple of high school friends and think it was about $10 a piece .... memories

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On 9/17/2016 at 8:02 PM, namisgr said:

For new issues, it was

 

7-eleven+67c.jpg

 

and

 

ca080102c.jpg

 

My first back issue shop was Fat Jack's at its original Walnut Street location in Philadelphia: Head shop up the steps, comic shop down the steps (it moved to Sansom Street, but the Head Shop, Wonderland, is still going strong).

 

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I remember a place located near there called Comics for Collecters that pre-dated Fat Jacks. It was upstairs above the Pleasure Chest If I recall correctly.  First Fat Jacks comic store I recall was the one around the corner on 20th Street. Before Mike moved the store right across 20th street to the corner shop that is now a pizza shop and then around the corner from Hoagie City now Shake Shack  to it’s current location.  There was also a little mom and pop record & comic store next to the Fat Jacks Sampson Street shop that always undersold Mike on new comics. Mike tried to get the Hoagie City/Shake shack corner spot but couldn’t for some reason. 

Edited by nld3
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On 9/18/2016 at 7:24 AM, NP_Gresham said:

The Million Year Picnic in Cambridge around 1980

I bought Hulk #181 for $1

Got a lot of flack from my sister for paying that much for a comic book

Just went there last Thursday, it has not moved.

My fondest memories are of the Norton flea market

That was the best place to get comics. I once passed on ASM

#1 for $20 because I only brought $20 and I wanted to leave with more than 1 comic book.

 

 I’ve visited a friend in Boston in 1981 and went to the Million Year Picnic .

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5 hours ago, nld3 said:

I remember a place located near there called Comics for Collecters that pre-dated Fat Jacks. It was upstairs above the Pleasure Chest If I recall correctly.  First Fat Jacks comic store I recall was the one around the corner on 20th Street. Before Mike moved the store right across 20th street to the corner shop that is now a pizza shop and then around the corner from Hoagie City now Shack Shack to it’s current location.  There was also a little mom and pop record & comic store next to the Fat Jacks Sampson Street shop that always undersold Mike on new comics. Mike tried to get the Hoagie City/Shake shack corner spot but couldn’t for some reason. 

That's the one, Comics for Collectors.  Thanks for setting the record straight on it.  When I came back to the city after moving away, I thought it had moved around the corner and changed its name to Fat Jack's.  I remember C for C with great fondness as being poorly lit and filled with that wonderful smell of old comics, and also a great place to buy posters.

My fuzzy recollection is that the head shop there was called Wonderland, with the sex shop The Pleasure Chest later replacing the comic shop.

 

Edited by namisgr
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