Son of My 50 Year Junk Obsession 16 16

[Mmehdy]

3 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Summary, conclusion and thoughts...

This year seemed a little slim pickings and VERY pricey. Even on a lot of more “available” stuff like ECs. 

It didn’t help that the Chicago show was just a week or so ago. Most of what I got came from West Coast or smaller dealers. It also didn’t help that a lot of dealers either didn’t bring or didn’t have much decent GA stock. Seems like every dealer was aggressive in asking attendees what they had to sell. They can’t get the good stuff and when they do, don’t want to sell it very bad. I blame this on a VERY strong market and the rise of a whole lot of very aggressive younger “flippers”. Seems like especially out here, every body is scrambling to find good books for the quick flip at very tight margins. I am constantly being hit up to sell my books. I’ve seen quite a few lose money or make very little. I hope they stay around ‘till I decide to sell. eBay doesn’t help either. Every time I think I have some kind of a grip on the market, I see more and more astonishing high prices. GA market is on fire folks. I find myself just priced out. Good thing I’m a geezer and have been buying as long as I have.

As far as the show went, it was good but not great. Probably 85% was Funkos, T-Shirts, Toys and other fringe stuff. No decent artists or writer to see. Lots of long lines for paid autographs and witnesses. I started to try to walk the show but it was elbow to elbow with strollers and newly minted “geeks”. I quickly retreated back to the comfort of the SA/GA pavilion.

Still had a lot of fun. Saw a lot of boardies and caught up with friends. No matter how you see conventions, there is nothing like them. Always ready for the next one!

I felt this year that less "comic book" dealers were there. I think the 85% is low on the fringe, more like 90%. This could be a reaction to the new tread of real comic book one and two day shows. I agree too close to Chicago for dealers to restock coming from there. In some ways its more intimate than San Diego, but is like a smaller baby brother..its growing, each year row by row. Not a bad con but SD clearly is the leader. Friday and Sat( that is the day I went)  were sold out but it show be interesting to see how this show evolves in the next couple of years. Price wise I agree, strong prices and good material is getting harder to come by. The GA market looks very strong for now.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Mmehdy

[Robot Man]

18 minutes ago, Mmehdy said:

I felt this year that less "comic book" dealers were there. I think the 85% is low on the fringe, more like 90%. This could be a reaction to the new tread of real comic book one and two day shows. I agree too close to Chicago for dealers to restock coming from there. In some ways its more intimate than San Diego, but is like a smaller baby brother..its growing, each year row by row. Not a bad con but SD clearly is the leader. Friday and Sat( that is the day I went)  were sold out but it show be interesting to see how this show evolves in the next couple of years. Price wise I agree, strong prices and good material is getting harder to come by. The GA market looks very strong for now.

You are probably right about 90% on the “fringe”. It might be growing but it sure isn’t growing the way I wish it would. Several of my favorite out of town dealers wern’t there this year. Dale Roberts comes to mind first and a few others. Growing more on the “fringe” doesn’t help us comic collectors. I gave the rest of the show a try. After a row or two out of the SA/GA pavilion, I gave up. Terry O’Neil’s show probably had more quality dealers than this one. It’s better than nothing but a shell of it’s former glory. SDCC’s ship has sailed for me. 

[sacentaur]

I enjoyed WonderCon - for those willing to spend the time and effort to box dive, it was well worth it.

However, if I hadn’t found so many 50’s Romance comics (various publishers) then the show would have been a disappointment for me.

Oh, I bought one of those killer pulps (there were only 10). 

Thanks for the report Bob, and yes that HoF 15 (1) was the buy of the show! 

 

[Bumble Kitty]

RM, good report. What other show did you attend today?

A few of the dealers had depleted stock because the Seattle show was two weeks ago and C2E2 was last week.  They were also physically tired.  However, if you were looking for Romance, there was a lot of it in all grades and prices.  I took home a bunch on Friday and a bunch on Saturday.  I also bought some more on Sunday, as one dealer had some new stock come in today!  Yes today, Sunday!

I also tried to walk and peruse the whole exhibit hall on Saturday.  I gave up about half way through it, because I was a little sleep deprived and I was very tired.  I was afraid someone would think I was in costume as a tired, old dog, because my rear end was literally dragging.

I talked to a couple of dealers and they described the comic book hobby as "vibrant".  I agree.

One last thing, the Torpedo Con will be held on Sunday, July 14 at the Hollywood Palladium.  That will be very interesting and I look forward to it.

[Robot Man]

Yeah, I saw a lot of romance books. One of the few genres that seemed to be in ample supply. I generally don’t collect many so it didn’t help me much. 

Yeah, the Torpedo show is on my radar. Last year was awsome. I heard there might not be an art portion this time. That sounds like a pretty big venue. I kind of liked where it was last time. Real easy for me to get to. But I heard a lot of dealers got shut out due to space. Either way, I will be there with bells on.

I went to the Long Beach Vets Antique Flea Market. Never know what might show up. Didn’t see any comics except for Moderns which so don’t care about. But I scored anyway. Got this nice Hank Aaron Hartland figure. A cool tin 1930’s Marx Travel Trailer and an exceedingly rare large 1920’s Indian Motorcycles patch. (I need to contact Mike Wolfe from American Pickers). Might not be comics but this stuff will sell very quick for me. A quick wallet stuff to buy more comics!

[n2wdw]

On 3/24/2019 at 8:07 PM, Robot Man said:

Fun stuff...

I MUST go to this show next year!

[n2wdw]

On 3/26/2019 at 11:45 AM, Robot Man said:

I obviously have no focus...

I will say, I have really purged my paperback and pulp collection in the past couple of years. Just kept a few boxes of the ones I want the most. I have to fight the urge but do occasionally pick up a few when I run across cool ones. I have really started to work on the comic collection too. A lot harder because they are my first passion. A lot of stuff is surprisingly easy though.

I get what you're saying.  When I was purging cause we were moving, it was fairly easy to trim a big part of my collection.  What I loved was easy for me to identify, same thing for what I didn't really care about.

[Robot Man]

43 minutes ago, n2wdw said:

I MUST go to this show next year!

It’s a pretty small one day show and very few comics. Some nice pulps but a whole lot of pb’s. Since it’s in my back yard I’d go back but wouldn’t travel for it. Good excuse for you to visit your daughter though.  

[n2wdw]

Bob - Great report! Some day I hope to make it to this con.  I was close last year and then life intervened.

What a great life you have!  Sun, paperback show, sun, Wonder Con, sun, outdoor flea markets, sun ... glad you had a good time.

[n2wdw]

11 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

It’s a pretty small one day show and very few comics. Some nice pulps but a whole lot of pb’s. Since it’s in my back yard I’d go back but wouldn’t travel for it. Good excuse for you to visit your daughter though.  

With my daughter living in LA now, it's alot easier for me to travel to LA.

[MrBedrock]

On 3/31/2019 at 3:09 PM, Robot Man said:

Bumped into boardie Cat-Man_America and his lovely wife. He was the lucky buyer of this beautiful Hangman from Mr Bedrock. Hard too see how beautiful the colors are on this beauty. Great purchase Cat and great to finally meet you!

I am very proud of this quality photo-bombing.

[Cobbledclam]

🙈 🐿💨

[alexgross.com]

great report as usual! i had a great time at this show, maybe because my buddy bought a TON of books friday. good to see bob storms among other great dealers there. my friend got this batman #2 from him, and the great tec from red hood comics. had to also share this incredible SA TOS39 with white pages too, that he got from phil at champion comics. i scored some MUCH cheaper books myself. great show, look forward to it every year. 

[Robot Man]

Yeah, always fun. If for nothing else to hang out with friends. Your buddy scored some beauties! Post what you got. Doesn’t have be high dollar or grade. Heck, probably everything I got cost less than those books but I love them anyway. Me and a couple of other guys went cheap box diving on Sat. Lot of fun, lower grade stuff can be had for very little money and it’s always fun to discover new stuff!

[Catwomancomics]

On 3/27/2019 at 9:10 AM, Robot Man said:

I had a couple of people ask me about this guy in PMs. His name is John Koukisaskis. He is a LONG time collector and former owner of Freedonia Funnyworks in Orange County. Closed his store a long time ago but still real active at shows around here. Very knowlegable in many fields and a heck of a nice guy. John was VERY good friends with Dave Stevens. So much so that Dave left most of his stuff (other than his art) to him when he passed away. I got to know Dave through John. Lots of good times...

OMG, I remember going to Freedonia Funnyworks in my teens.  Off of Tustin Ave near Chapman and the 55 right?

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

OK Bob, you inspired me to get up early and go prowl the aisles of the Pasadena City Flea Market this morning. I walked in and scored the Better Little Book for $5. right away which I thought was a nice start. And I don't think Mickey totes a machine gun these days to boot! Not too many comics, but still lots of fun things to look at and the variety of posters and Japanese prints really intrigued me. I don't know much about those so I was just a looky-loo today but it seems like some nice material to research. They even had a small vintage car section outside with a hot rod club and some vendors with old vehicle parts. Prices actually seemed pretty good overall and it was not super crowded. The last few times I went I thought the prices were off the wall.

 

One vendor was dumping piles of magazines and I picked up a nice mini-run of Warren Spirts from the mid-seventies, an era right before I started buying them off the stands. I recall always loving the splashes on his features and I popped open issue 15 and saw the great example below. The back cover had an equally fun ad for Comix International. It wasn't long before Warren would start including color pages on one of the stories in the magazine. Great stuff and only $2 a book! Beat that price!

 

So thanks for the inspiration Robot Man; I had so much fun I think I will head back next month!

Edited April 7, 2019 by 50YrsCollctngCmcs

[Robot Man]

5 hours ago, Catwomancomics said:

OMG, I remember going to Freedonia Funnyworks in my teens.  Off of Tustin Ave near Chapman and the 55 right?

Yep!

[Robot Man]

1 hour ago, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

OK Bob, you inspired me to get up early and go prowl the aisles of the Pasadena City Flea Market this morning. I walked in and scored the Better Little Book for $5. right away which I thought was a nice start. And I don't think Mickey totes a machine gun these days to boot! Not too many comics, but still lots of fun things to look at and the variety of posters and Japanese prints really intrigued me. I don't know much about those so I was just a looky-loo today but it seems like some nice material to research. They even had a small vintage car section outside with a hot rod club and some vendors with old vehicle parts. Prices actually seemed pretty good overall and it was not super crowded. The last few times I went I thought the prices were off the wall.

 

One vendor was dumping piles of magazines and I picked up a nice mini-run of Warren Spirts from the mid-seventies, an era right before I started buying them off the stands. I recall always loving the splashes on his features and I popped open issue 15 and saw the great example below. The back cover had an equally fun ad for Comix International. It wasn't long before Warren would start including color pages on one of the stories in the magazine. Great stuff and only $2 a book! Beat that price!

 

So thanks for the inspiration Robot Man; I had so much fun I think I will head back next month!

Glad you had fun. I was there too and saw those mags. Not for me though. Not any older comics but then there rarely is there. I got a couple ok pulps and a cool Weirdo’s model kit. The Mickey BLB was a good buy. I probably should have stayed in bed. The Rose Bowl (next week) has been a lot better for comics for me. 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

19 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Glad you had fun. I was there too and saw those mags. Not for me though. Not any older comics but then there rarely is there. I got a couple ok pulps and a cool Weirdo’s model kit. The Mickey BLB was a good buy. I probably should have stayed in bed. The Rose Bowl (next week) has been a lot better for comics for me. 

Yes the times I have been to PCC it doesn't seem like a comic thing. But they do seem to have models which I like to look at; although yesterday I did not see anything of interest.

Braving the Rose Bowl and having to pay admission (and extra for early admission) is always irksome to me. Flea markets should be free!

Maybe I will try again one day though. Lots and lots of dealers there.

 

[Robot Man]

PCC is real hit and miss. The fact that it is a free show brings in a lot of cheap buyers. Thus, cheaper merchandise. My odds are better because I look for lots of different stuff. I have several times left with nothing. But I have also scored. I never know. 

The Long Beach show is better but still pretty junky. A lot bigger so your odds are better. Like all of them, quality has gone down hill. I sell there and usually do pretty well because I have better stuff. Still a lot of cheaper, un-educated buyers. But the higher end buyers make up for it.

Rose Bowl is probably the best one. I have found the buyers to be more savvy, educated and willing to spend more when I sell there. I have had the best luck with comics there over the years. Yeah, it costs to get in (especially early) but when you score that great piece, that is soon forgotten. 

There are several smaller shows on the 4th Sunday. I have been lucky at the Santa Monica Airport and Torrance but not as much. That is usually my weekend off unless, I’m just worked up to buy junk...

I have a network of most of the best dealers at these shows who save me stuff. So, suffice to say, a lot of the best stuff rarely makes it to the tables...