Old School Detroit Collectors - Classic Movie & Comic Center 1 1

[Boswell]

I was wondering whatever happened to David "C.C." Moffet who ran the Classic Movie & Comic Center from its beginnings in a basement space in Farmington in the 1970s, and then in Livonia until it closed in the 2000s.  Turns out that C.C., sadly, died in January 2012 at age 64.  When I was growing up in the 1970s heading over to the Comic Center on Wednesdays to pick up the new issues was a ritual.  C.C. was a funny guy and had names for a number of his customers.  I was the "animal" and another guy who only bought books in mint was the "moose."  He was a good guy who had a lot of patience with his teenaged clientele.  He will be missed.

I did some research and found a few news articles about him and the Comic Center, ranging from 1979 (with a photo taken in the old Farmington location) to 2003.  Here's a link.  https://goo.gl/photos/Htr4wtWc6apXE5PX9

I can't remember, but did "C.C." stand for "Comic Center"?

[Sqeggs]

@catrick339 would likely have frequented that shop. 

[tomo]

This wasn't my LCS of choice, but I'd always swing by a couple of times a month.  I vividly remember walking into their adult section to buy Preacher #1 when it came out.

[electricprune]

A great store, especially when it was is downtown Farmington. I've posted about it before and there are a few collectors on here that visited both locations.

i didn't realize CC didn't own it until '79. Thanks for posting those links. I guess he had some health issues later in his life and passed too young.

[Boswell]

I headed off to college in 1978 and didn't visit the Livonia location until around 20 years later when I was back in Detroit on business.  I walked into the store and C.C. was behind the counter - he looked up, saw me, and said "The Animal."

I remember when Howard the Duck #1 came out in the mid-1970s, C.C. had a 3-copy per customer limit, but put aside an additional 7 copies for his "regular" customers - I still have those.

Edited February 19, 2017 by Boswell

[electricprune]

CC was a great guy. He was decades older than me, but we went to the same high school.

Now Bill on the other hand. Could be very cantankerous. He was funny to deal with.

[Boswell]

I think C.C. went to North Farmington, if I recall correctly.  He then got a degree in Psychology from Oakland University.

[electricprune]

He did. Class of '65 I'm pretty sure.

[vacliff1]

Classic Movie and Comic Center is correct.   Man, this brings back memories.  Started collecting comics in 1972 as a 12 year old.   Discovered CMCC in 1973 and would regularly ride my bike the 4 miles from Livonia.   CC was a great guy.

There was also an old used book store in the building next door that sold used comic books for a nickel each.

[piper]

I used to visit this store. As a young teenager, I would have my dad drive me from Windsor to buy some SA ASMA etc. It was the first store I remember going to that had older books worth buying.

I'll be back home to visit my folks soon. Are there any shops worth visiting in Detroit these days?

[tomo]

33 minutes ago, piper said:

I used to visit this store. As a young teenager, I would have my dad drive me from Windsor to buy some SA ASMA etc. It was the first store I remember going to that had older books worth buying.

I'll be back home to visit my folks soon. Are there any shops worth visiting in Detroit these days?

Back To The Past is one to keep an eye on, as they hold 3-4 auctions a month that usually have some good stuff.  Definitely worth hitting their website or proxibid listings to see if they have anything scheduled during your visit.  

They had a barn-burner of an auction that was chock full of golden and silver age Batman books at the end of the year, but I haven't seen what's on tap for March yet.

www.gobacktothepast.com

https://www.proxibid.com/aspr/Back-To-The-Past-Collectibles/4531/AuctionsByCompany.asp?ahid=4531

[Bills Comics]

Hey guys I have started a comic book group for Michigan comic collectors . Its not the biggest group ,  but you can chat , buy , sell or trade . Learn about upcoming comic shows or find comic shops in Michigan .

Please consider joining . Thanks

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/249391505210346/

Edited February 22, 2017 by Bills Comics

[Boswell]

I was looking through some old Detroit-area convention programs (1974-1976) and I see from some ads that in 1974 and 1975 the store was called the "Farmington Comic Center" - I think that is before it "merged" with the classic movie center that was upstairs.  I scanned some of the old ads and posted them with the other memorabilia from the store:  https://goo.gl/photos/Htr4wtWc6apXE5PX9

I have one more C.C. story.  In around 1976 I walked into the store and saw C.C. going through piles of books.  He mentioned to me that he had bought a large collection of 1960s and 1970s Marvels from a guy, but that he passed on the rest of the material since he couldn't move DCs (except for the Wrightson Swamp Things) and some of the Marvel stuff was lower grade.  He gave me the guy's phone number and I called him then headed over to look at his stuff.  There were around 2,000 books and I ended up buying them all for 4 cents each (after calling my mom for permission - she was not happy).   I still have those books and while there are no huge gems in there, there are things like Batman 227, 251 and 25 copies of Shazam #1!  Thanks, C.C.!

[pnzergodai]

Classic was one of the best stores I ever knew.  Loved the one in Farmington, with the mural on the wall going into the basement.  Got to know CC pretty well, along with some of the other guys (only remember the names of Bill and Andy, but remember the faces of all the rest).  When I started working for The Readers Exchange, CC called me wanting to know if I would work for him.  Since I had just started working at the RE, I turned him down (D'OH).  A year later, I ended up working at Comics Archives for Rob, alongside Bill (formerly of Classic).  I loved the comic scene during those years.  They are long gone.  Sorry to hear that CC passed away.  He was one of the best.

Oh, and here I leave a scan of the ad Classic had for the 1980 Overstreet Price Guide, done by Terry Austin.

[1950's war comics]

what a great  place to have as an LCS !!

those were the days !!  

[kaculler]

I just ran across this thread, but I can answer a question from the first post.  C.C. stood for Captain Comic.  I think C.C. had a partial ownership in the store dating back  to around 1976, even if he didn't gain sole ownership until 1979.

I started going to Classic in 1977 when it was in Farmington.  Bill would call me and my brother whenever they got a Richie Rich collection and we would go up there and buy whichever issues we still needed.  When they moved to Livonia in 1981, the new location was only three miles from my house so I could ride my bike up there.  I started working at Classic in 1986 when I was in high school and continued working there on a part time basis until the store closed in 2005.  My main interest was comics, but I ran the card section for many of those years.

I enjoyed working there a lot and had a lot of good times.  C.C. was a really good guy and so were many of my coworkers in their own ways.

 

By the way, C.C. was in one panel of the Alice Cooper comic (Marvel Premiere #50) that came out in 1979 in a cameo by Terry Austin.

Edited April 3, 2019 by kaculler

[thehumantorch]

22 minutes ago, kaculler said:

I just ran across this thread, but I can answer a question from the first post.  C.C. stood for Captain Comic.  I think C.C. had a partial ownership in the store dating back  to around 1976, even if he didn't gain sole ownership until 1979.

I started going to Classic in 1977 when it was in Farmington.  Bill would call me and my brother whenever they got a Richie Rich collection and we would go up there and buy whichever issues we still needed.  When they moved to Livonia in 1981, the new location was only three miles from my house so I could ride my bike up there.  I started working at Classic in 1986 when I was in high school and continued working there on a part time basis until the store closed in 2005.  My main interest was comics, but I ran the card section for many of those years.

I enjoyed working there a lot and had a lot of good times.  C.C. was a really good guy and so were many of my coworkers in there own ways.

 

By the way, C.C. was in one panel of the Alice Cooper comic (Marvel Premiere #50) that came out in 1979 in a cameo by Terry Austin.

Thanks for the post, I love reading about the history of the hobby

[Smitty91_09]

This was an awesome place, my mom would take me out to the Farmington location a few times a month in the 1975 to 1979 timeframe.  If memory serves, most of their back stock was somehow kept in amazing condition despite not being bagged or boarded.  You would ask for a box, C.C. or one of the other guys would bring it down and you would be flipping through "raw" comics, so to speak.  And, I've since had many graded that have come back in the 7.5 to 8 range.  This place was a huge part of my childhood, love reading these recollections.

[Suncoast1911]

Wow...just ran across this post while doing a little reminiscing.  Although I haven't been there in a lot of years, I worked at the store in Farmington during my teen years from 1974 to 1980.  My best friend at the time and I got hired at age 13 as part time comic and card sorters / counter help on the weekends.  I ended up doing most of the buying in the comic book area by the end of my time there and my buddy Brad ended up as manager .  I moved to Florida in 1981 but still stopped in to visit whenever I was in town.  No matter how much time went by, CC always treated me as part of the staff.  On one visit, after I had been gone for close to 15 years, I stopped in to say hi and pick up a poster for my Niece's Birthday.  When they rang me up it was for less than the price.  I asked and the manager (John Curtis)  pointed to a handwritten list on the side of the register that was titled "Employee Discount"    I laughed and asked why that had not been updated in the last 15 years and was told it had been updated a couple of months ago and he was told to leave my name on it.  That's the kind of guy CC was funnier than Hell and very loyal to his friends.  I have nothing but great memories of my time there.

 

I am very sad to hear of his passing.  Sadder still that it has been so long since I was in touch with him.  

 

 

[Suncoast1911]

On 2/21/2017 at 9:51 AM, vacliff1 said:

Classic Movie and Comic Center is correct.   Man, this brings back memories.  Started collecting comics in 1972 as a 12 year old.   Discovered CMCC in 1973 and would regularly ride my bike the 4 miles from Livonia.   CC was a great guy.

There was also an old used book store in the building next door that sold used comic books for a nickel each.

Jerry's Used Books was next door.  They had one big bookshelf of old comics. That's how I found CMCC in the first place.