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Trip to LA (from Canada) advice
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66 posts in this topic

14 minutes ago, Shawnismaximus said:

I just read through all 3 pages this morning and it sounds like a heroin addict is gonna stab me to death with a needle while I'm stuck on the parking lot that is the 405.

Haha. But I appreciate everyone's advice!  

The call it the 405 because it takes 4 or 5 hours to get anywhere.

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On 8/15/2019 at 11:28 PM, ComicsAndCode said:

House of Secrets - LCS in Burbank. The best in L.A.

House of Secrets is a known "dumping ground" for restored and problem books, because Paul (the owner) doesn't care about restoration, and doesn't check. It is my opinion, after seeing and buying multiple books that had undisclosed restoration, over several years, that the unscrupulous buy restored slabs, crack them out, then sell them to HOS at a profit. When a book came back as restored from CGC, it was a fight to get a refund. Be very, very, very careful when buying anything of value.

I would skip House of Secrets altogether and head to Golden Apple. 

 

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As for what to see in LA...there's a ton of stuff, but my recommendations are:

The Getty Museum - it's free. You pay $15 to park, and you can see one of the most incredible collections in the world, including paintings by many of the greatest masters. You want to see a Rembrandt? Van Gogh? Monet? All there, and much, much more. Plus, there's a restaurant and a couple of cafes on the premises, and you can make a day of it. And the view is amazing.

The Griffith Observatory - See the entire Los Angeles basin, spread out before you, from the top of the Santa Monica mountains. It's got a planetarium, and plenty of other exhibits. Entry is free here, too. Parking's a pain, so DO NOT go on the weekends if you can avoid it. Also another fun place to spend a day.

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6 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

House of Secrets is a known "dumping ground" for restored and problem books, because Paul (the owner) doesn't care about restoration, and doesn't check. It is my opinion, after seeing and buying multiple books that had undisclosed restoration, over several years, that the unscrupulous buy restored slabs, crack them out, then sell them to HOS at a profit. When a book came back as restored from CGC, it was a fight to get a refund. Be very, very, very careful when buying anything of value.

I would skip House of Secrets altogether and head to Golden Apple. 

 

I was not aware of this type of activity. Not cool. I used to buy back issues and talk to the folks at the shop between 2006-2011. Was an enjoyable experience. Have not heard anything negative from others. If things have changed for the worse, then it's unbeknownst to me. What a shame.

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13 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

As for what to see in LA...there's a ton of stuff, but my recommendations are:

The Getty Museum - it's free. You pay $15 to park, and you can see one of the most incredible collections in the world, including paintings by many of the greatest masters. You want to see a Rembrandt? Van Gogh? Monet? All there, and much, much more. Plus, there's a restaurant and a couple of cafes on the premises, and you can make a day of it. And the view is amazing.

The Griffith Observatory - See the entire Los Angeles basin, spread out before you, from the top of the Santa Monica mountains. It's got a planetarium, and plenty of other exhibits. Entry is free here, too. Parking's a pain, so DO NOT go on the weekends if you can avoid it. Also another fun place to spend a day.

Recommend both. Me and my brother were in LA in the spring and we did not rent a car but both of those places you can also go with public transport. Some walking to Griffith thou.
As far of the problems in LA mentioned in this thread I will agree to some of it. Did not see people using drugs (Btw. It is not normal if you see someone doing hard drugs in public places. Something is wrong in that city/area.) but
I found that even trying to avoid bad reputation places like Compton still there were places that seemed kinda iffy. We went to this video games store called Game Dude which I recommend if you want to buy video games
but the area near that store looked rough. So I would stay in the main roads. Anyways it was too long to walk from subway station anyways so we should have taken the bus. Which we did in our way back from the store.

Golden Apple Comics was pretty good. I traded some comics with them and I feel they gave me a fair deal. Also the people in that store were fun to talk to.

Overall LA was okay but we liked San Francisco much more.

Edited by godzilla43
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On 8/15/2019 at 9:52 PM, sacentaur said:

Nope, he’s right Bob.

Just this year I have had multiple unsettling experiences at Downtown L.A,, Hollywood Blvd., Staples Center, and North Hollywood. When I have friends come to L.A., I advise them to avoid L.A. (junkies, homeless, crazies, traffic, etc.) like the plague.

As mentioned, outlying areas are OK - Pasadena, Burbank, Malibu, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, etc.  Just avoid the shi*thole that is Los Angeles.

I get the junkies and homeless and crazies but none of the food and beaches and car culture and economic opportunity LA has. An actual shi*hole, which is why people don’t pay millions to live in my neighborhood. Those guys buying property in Venice can live anywhere in the world. There’s a reason they live there and not Prescott, AZ.

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