I’ve said it a gazillion times here throughout the years, but it bears repeating for any first timers peeping out the drivel I spew here. Which, by the way, thank you immensely for taking a moment here with me. But back to the post at hand... as a comic & toy shop owner, I’m in the very fortunate position of having the shop be a natural magnet for folks looking to get rid of their collections with ease.
People move on from these comics, toys, or other collectibles for a variety of reasons: moving, having a baby, a death in the family, car broke down, bought a storage locker, addiction, or maybe they simply changed their focus. Fact is, you name it, and we’ve probably heard the reason, and I’m always happy to see if a deal can be made.
Now, I want to preface this by saying that we’ve been open for nearly 17 years at this point, and we have a MASSIVE inventory with over:
- 7000 action figures
- 1300 statues
- 8000 Funko Pops
- 300 long comic boxes
- 800 wall books
- 6000 graphic novels
...and, of course, a massive selection of new books and other miscellaneous items just on our sales floor. All unique SKUs. That’s not counting our back room overstock and 2 shipping containers full of inventory.
Mainly, I'm trying to paint the picture that we are stacked to the ceiling and don’t really need what most folks bring in to us. That does not stop us from wheeling & dealing though, which usually leads me to my disclaimer to all that they can always make more moolah if they were to take the time to move their horde online. The reality is most people are either too busy, too lazy, or too afraid to take that route. That area with those folks is where it’s my time to shine.
Which brings me to a collection I purchased 2 days back that I wanted to share with you all. This gentleman was a prime example of one of those fellas who would hunt out collectibles at discount stores like Big Lots, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Five Below, & Ollie’s, which occasionally get some really groovy merch that they simply blow out at delicious prices. This fine chap was one of their biggest fans as the entire lot he brought in was comprised of that ilk.
After my several-minute speech that I’ve now perfected, presenting him with his more lucrative but time-consuming options, he decided in about 3 seconds that he wasn’t willing to take that approach. He first threw out his request for $600 cash. That was definitely higher than I wanted to drop for this specific batch, especially during these very dreary and slow days of post-Christmas blues when people are generally broke & business is noticeably slower. That, along with the fact that I already had a large portion of this stuff multiple times over to begin with, made me not willing to “overpay”. In order for me to take this all on, I needed it to be at a rate that made sense for us.
Anyway, I was thinking I was willing to go to about $200 bucks, so I countered with $150 thinking he would counter me… except he didn’t. He just accepted immediately which took me by surprise. So I ended up adding a $20 Gift Certificate to it just so I didn’t feel too terrible for the beating I just administered to him. 🤷♂️
As for what’s in this collection?! Well, the thumbnail shows some of it, but I’ll break it all down in another post tomorrow as I feel this backstory has consumed enough of your time for today. But know that it consists of around 90 individually packaged pieces plus 2 longboxes of comics. Interested to see what’s what? Then check back tomorrow for the skinny on all of it!!!
Blewitt
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I'm wondering how the collectors' market for comic books will be in 20+ years, as comic books get hidden from the public eye.
As a kid we didn't have a have a comic book store in my town or county, all my comic books came off a spinner rack. Everyone had at least half a dozen comic books.
I was a bit perplexed the first time I saw comic books bagged and boarded as a late teenager. Comic books had always been for reading, and the idea of attempting to preserve them in a pristine state was alien.
Yeah. It’s funny as lots of books from the 90’s that were considered worthless for decades, have been bearing fruit to some degree in recent years. Books that were eternal bargain bin books now fetching 20-30 bucks. Not huge money by any means, but a noticeable improvement.
What does give me some concern about the comic industry going forward is the lack of interest from the younger generation. Definitely makes me question where things will be in the future. 🤷♂️
One of these days, I'm gonna get up there to your store and go home with enough stuff that the floor goes out of my basement. :)
Which shitty state do you call home currently?
Indiana, home of corn, meth, and products of incest.
Sounds about right.
I used to go visit my friends who lived in a town called Hobart. When I was like 17, I took a Greyhound bus from Newark, NJ to Gary, Indiana. That experience should be a post…lol
Bro... Hobart, are you fucking kidding me? I'm originally from Hobart! We moved when I was six, but I still have family in the area and get up to visit every year around Thanksgiving. The FLCS there back in the day was on Main Street, called "Friendly Frank's Comics". You can see 'em in this 1985 ad from ComicBookAdsBlog:
Robert DeJesus, who lived in Gary, was a frequent shopper there in the 80s and 90s. He did quite a bit of work for Antarctic Press back in the early and mid-90s.
Sadly they closed down a number of years ago. So did another store called Excalibur Comics out in Portage that I used to frequent. There was a used bookstore in Friendly Frank's old shop space for a few years, called "Green Door Books", but they moved down the road to a larger storefront a couple of years back, and I'm not sure what's in there now. I have a lot of great memories tied up in visiting that shop as a kid. Bought my first Ninja High School TPB from them in 1993 when I first was getting into manga.
Now the only comic book shop I'm aware of in the area is Galactic Greg's in Valparaiso, but I haven't been out there to visit yet. They have really weird hours (they don't open until like 3pm), and I've never been able to make it work.
And yes, that experience should definitely be a post.
Omg. Seriously?!? Do you still remember anyone from there? My friends are 3 girls (Sarah, aprille, & Raven) that I believe graduated in 99.
I remember a number of people who lived there back when I did. They would have graduated high school anywhere between 1994 and 1997. They were kids who lived in my grandparents' neighborhood (I moved away from Hobart when I was six, so I didn't go to school with anyone there), but we hung out for birthday parties and such.
No girls, alas, but it sounds like you had a great crew there!
Youre like a real life treasure hunter
Best part is I don’t leave my shop at all for any of it! Lol
I guess you need to be able to sell it on and if you already have lots of stock then it can take a while. Looks like you won't run out of stuff any time soon.
Yeah, absolutely. Sometimes I even take folks in the back room and show them the overstock. Especially on large Pop collections. It kinda hammers it home a bit more.
Funny as if it’s popular stuff that I don’t have, I’ll gladly pay higher we are just lucky enough to be able to be picky these days.
I was going to say... "that's a lot of beers", and then I figured! 😜
Lol
Lots of folks wander into the shop not knowing what they are, and assume they are drinkable. Always fun crushing their dreams. Lol
!BBH
thanks for sharing your business. It's a good vibes to wake up in the morning , reading your positive views in life. Have a great day:)
Sure thing! Thanks for spending your time with me for a few. Much appreciated.
I enjoy sharing some of these weird aspects of my daily life here as I’m sure it’s so foreign to most.