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Post by brutalis on Dec 7, 2017 14:14:42 GMT -5
Remember When:
A place to tell of happy (vague or vibrant) memories and fond remembrances of your early adventures and time in comic book collecting. Whether it be in recollections of buying them or searching for them or favorite things about comic books: like a particular character(s) or individual moment(s) within a story,or a comic book that brings back a special time and place in your mind and heart, or anything about comic books that help make them so great for you. A place where you can turn back the hands of time and you can go back home or return to a simpler, innocent and joyous exciting time of youth...
I shall start us off upon our journey into the dim fog enshrouded past we vaguely remember now...
Remember When you could walk home from school and take your time stopping at any and all stores along your route and leisurely dig through the comic book rack? Hitting a Circle K, checking at 7-11, or browsing in the Korean convenience store (had 2 in my neighborhood with only a row of comics but boy was there gold to be found at times in those 2 stores) with a Slurpee in hand, candy bar melting in your pocket and loose change jingling and crying out to be used to buy the newest (or the older still on shelf) issues shining brightly and calling to you? The joy of finding the weeks newest shipment or the pain when you cannot find that issue that was there on the shelf last week(s) you were saving for but is now lost to your buying.
Trying to make that all important decision as to which comics to actually buy? Which was more important to get RIGHT NOW versus waiting until you could scrounge up more nickels and dimes and quarters? Finding 2 comic books and deliberating for what seems hours on which final/3rd comic book to choose for spending all of your single $1 bill (yes Virginia, there really was a time when you could buy 3 books for a dollar) or do you spend those few cents left over for candy or ice-cram? Not wanting to wait until you get home and reading those issues as you stumble home along the street with your face buried amidst the glorious 4 color adventures within making you oblivious to time and your surroundings as cars honk at you, neighbors holler at you and dogs/cats jump out at your passing.
Sneaking your precious new purchases into the house hoping your parents wouldn't notice them. Trying to find a place in your house for hiding your treasures away until you can read and re-read them over and over again in the days and weeks to come? How many times can you read the same story and yet still gleefully turn the pages finding new things with every reading to enjoy? Finding happiness with each reading taking you away from the real world and delivering you into the amazingly fantastic worlds? Oh the simple precious joys of those long ago times.
Much more to come...
Can you Remember When?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2017 15:08:18 GMT -5
I missed those days and it is sad to see kids these days didn't enjoy those walks to a local comic book store back then. In the 70's to the early 90's there were five comic book store and now there is one and that's pretty much a gaming site than a LCS these days and I don't go there anymore. I'm kind of sad about this and with Comixology and other online comic books companies are putting these on notice and you can get them by subscription service of where the books are mailed to your address and all that. I just yearned those days and these days you can't.
It's a bummer ...
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Post by brutalis on Dec 15, 2017 8:18:27 GMT -5
Remember When:
You were excited in finding something new. A new comic book series? A toy? A movie? A TV show? You had no clue or idea of this comic book being out and you find the issue there on the stand? It may be the very 1st issue or it may be issue 7 or whatever but suddenly your adrenaline spikes and you HAVE TO GET IT. This happened many times for me during my searches through the comic book racks or used comic boxes at thrift stores. This is where my love of DC's the Doom Patrol and Metamorpho and Hawkman and Superboy and the Legion of Super-heroes began when I found a few issues at the Salvation Army. How I became enamored of Charlton's Captain Atom and Blue Beetle Marvels finding a gift bag of these in a K-Mart. Found Marvel's Captain Marvel back issues in his green/white uniform at a shop called Charlie's House of Fun that was a magic store but he sold used comic books along the back wall. Finding the 1st issue of Marvel's Man from Atlantis on the new rack after having watched some episodes on TV and finding Marvel Star Wars in comic book, treasury and digest formats all over the place. Having a few Micronaut figures and then finding issue 2 of a Micronauts comic book. Collecting the new G. I. Joe figures when a friend found them 1st and dragged me out all over town in search of them. Another friend who saw Alien on it's Friday premiere and he drove over and picked me up and we went to the final show of it that same night. Going to the movies on a Friday night with some friends and what had gone to see was not showing as instead the were doing a sneak preview of something called Raiders of the Lost Ark and seeing it has Han Solo/Harrison Ford in it and taking a chance on watching it.
Simple unexpected delights and joy delivered from something new appearing as if by magic. No ads in the other comic books, no internet sites advertising their coming. No commercials to draw you in. No big push to getting you to buy it but finding GOLD all on your own. Do you remember such happiness?
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Dec 15, 2017 18:14:54 GMT -5
Remember Saturday morning cartoons? Is that still even a thing? It is where I first got into superheroes by way of the 90s Spider-Man cartoon, along with other classics like Scooby Doo, Animaniacs, Looney Tunes, etc. I know there are syndicated channels devoted to these shows and you can stream whatever whenever you want...but unless I am wrong because I am not a father, there is no longer the joy of waking up Saturday morning, rushing downstairs at 7am and watching 2 solid hours of great cartoons with your brother and dad!
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Post by batusi on Dec 15, 2017 18:39:26 GMT -5
Back in the early 1980's I used to ride my bicycle 5 miles to the "Huck's" gas station/convenience store twice each month to buy the new comic books. I lived in a very, very small hick town that had no stores, but yet had 2 Taverns!, so if I wanted comics I had to travel to the nearest civilized city that actually had stores! One day as I was peddling home I hit a rock and flew over my handlebars...in that instant I was more worried about my comic books than I was for my own safety so I clutched the bag of comics tightly to my chest as I flew in the air and then hit the ground! Ha, my Mom still teases me about this to this day...I could have broke my neck but was more worried about damaging my comics in that moment.
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Post by batusi on Dec 15, 2017 18:42:31 GMT -5
Remember Saturday morning cartoons? Is that still even a thing? It is where I first got into superheroes by way of the 90s Spider-Man cartoon, along with other classics like Scooby Doo, Animaniacs, Looney Tunes, etc. I know there are syndicated channels devoted to these shows and you can stream whatever whenever you want...but unless I am wrong because I am not a father, there is no longer the joy of waking up Saturday morning, rushing downstairs at 7am and watching 2 solid hours of great cartoons with your brother and dad! I literally could not sleep the night before because I was so excited for cartoons the next morning!
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Dec 15, 2017 19:44:46 GMT -5
^Me too! Loved Saturday mornings.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2017 22:41:59 GMT -5
I wished I had a time machine and go back in the 60's and be a kid again watching Saturday Mornings Cartoons!
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Post by brutalis on Dec 18, 2017 8:40:24 GMT -5
I was a night owl in my teen-age years, staying up late Friday nights to watch old TV movies and series as the only time I had the set for myself. But no matter how tired I was damn if I still didn't wake up early on Saturday and Sunday morning for those corny cartoon shows. A very basic part of my childhood which I didn't want to let go of no matter how silly they may have been or seemed to be to others. If was Hanna-Barbera I was watching it. Sat through all of the Archie and Scooby Doo and Superfriends variations over the years and now thanks to my DVD's can watch them whenever I wish.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 19, 2017 4:09:19 GMT -5
I literally could not sleep the night before because I was so excited for cartoons the next morning! Yes, this, although it sort of worked in reverse for me: I often woke up all excited really early on Saturday morning, like at 6 or 6:30. Luckily, where I lived, I remember at least one of the network affiliates showed syndicated cartoons early in the morning before the network cartoons started at 8 a.m.
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Post by brutalis on Dec 22, 2017 8:31:31 GMT -5
Remember When:
You first discovered an LCS (Local Comic shop) to buy comics from? All of my teen life was spent either walking or driving around town to grocery stores, convenience stores and used book stores in search of old comic books I had missed out on or missed due to terrible distribution. Suddenly I am off to college and lo and behold there is a neon sign you can view from the college parking lot in the building across the street. Blinking neon green and red simply stating Comics! Of course that was the longest day of school ever to be experienced and i remember nothing about that 1st day except for the ending where I spent nearly 3 hours perusing aisles of long boxes and a small rack of current comics in a 1 room small office space converted into a comic book store.
Te place didn't even have a name at the time of opening just a few months before. Mostly he sold used comics he bought cheaply or traded for with a small sampling of mostly DC and Marvel new issues. Slowly the place built up into a true LCS but the guy running the shop (shall remain un-named) was a jerk who was only interested in the fast buck, ripping off kids and adults alike in glee of the almighty dollar. But wow what a joy to find a place where you could actually peruse through alphabetized and numerically boxed series, Not brown grocery bags unmarked containing unknown surprises, but actually inventoried and cataloged comic book series from various publishers. Sheer Heaven had been found.
Suddenly all my extra cash (like that was a lot, ha!) was going into filling in back issues of my Avengers and Fantastic Four and X-Men. Tracking down missing issues of Warlock, Captain Marvel and Deathlok. It was a place to hang where others actually knew what you were talking about and at times help or guide or turn you on to other comics, artists and writers. Yowzah! Cerebus, Nexus, Elfgquest, Love and Rockets and other comics outside the standard boundaries of super heroes was opening up to me. Life was so very good then before the LCS became something other than a comic book hop.
A few of the used book store owners jumped on and changed from being about old paperback clutter and capitalized upon the new venture of the LCS and prospered. Amazingly at that time upon the early 80's there were stores within a few blocks of each other and every city had 1 or 2 or more LCS to explore. It was easier than ever and there was a gluttony of options for shopping. Every weekend you could make a 20 minute drive to another neighboring city her in Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Scottsdale or Chandler and come home with a car full of 4 color goodness to enjoy for cheap.
Of course there was the dreaded wall comics of high cost behind the counter you looked at with dreams of one day owning but never coming up with that kind of money. The holy grail of expensive comic book dreams like the early New X-Men books, Silver Surfer by Buscema, Conan by Smith or those issue of the most before my time hallowed Lee/Kirby FF's, Lee/Heck Avengers and DC Justice Leagues and Doom Patrol and Metamorpho that I would gaze upon endlessly knowing they would one day if my luck was good be found in cheaper prices. Which I spent all of my time and effort hunting for. These were glorious days of wonder and astounding amazement. I had seen listings inside the comics for mail ordering for back issues but never took the plunge. Now there was no need in doing so for the LCS had arrived and there was no going back...
The LCS was new and vastly superior to convenience stores until the LCS became the ONLY source for monthly comic books. But that is a tragic tale of death and agony left for another day and time...
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Post by String on Dec 22, 2017 11:58:08 GMT -5
Remember Saturday morning cartoons? Is that still even a thing? It is where I first got into superheroes by way of the 90s Spider-Man cartoon, along with other classics like Scooby Doo, Animaniacs, Looney Tunes, etc. I know there are syndicated channels devoted to these shows and you can stream whatever whenever you want...but unless I am wrong because I am not a father, there is no longer the joy of waking up Saturday morning, rushing downstairs at 7am and watching 2 solid hours of great cartoons with your brother and dad! I remember seeing the Saturday morning fall TV adverts in comics which was a big help in planning my viewing schedule for those mornings. For example, watch ABC from 7am to 8:30am then switch to CBS till 9:30am then over to NBC at 10:00am and finally back to ABC at 11am for Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner. Then it was a solid fun hour with Dick Clark on American Bandstand and end up the afternoon with a good two hours worth of Doctor Who on PBS. Saturdays back then were great.
Let's not forget the weekly afternoon cartoon blocks either. G.I Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, Silverhawks, MASK, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, The Real Ghostbusters, with an odd assortment of other shows mixed in occasionally. How I got any homework finished is amazing.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2017 15:09:58 GMT -5
Remember Saturday morning cartoons? Is that still even a thing? It is where I first got into superheroes by way of the 90s Spider-Man cartoon, along with other classics like Scooby Doo, Animaniacs, Looney Tunes, etc. I know there are syndicated channels devoted to these shows and you can stream whatever whenever you want...but unless I am wrong because I am not a father, there is no longer the joy of waking up Saturday morning, rushing downstairs at 7am and watching 2 solid hours of great cartoons with your brother and dad! I remember seeing the Saturday morning fall TV adverts in comics which was a big help in planning my viewing schedule for those mornings. For example, watch ABC from 7am to 8:30am then switch to CBS till 9:30am then over to NBC at 10:00am and finally back to ABC at 11am for Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner. Thanks for the recap of the routine of starting ABC, then go to CBS, and onto NBC, and the full Circle at 11am for the Bugs Bunny & Road Runner. I did exactly that ... thanks for jarring my memory String!
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 22, 2017 15:53:16 GMT -5
Remember When:You first discovered an LCS (Local Comic shop) to buy comics from? (...) Oh, yeah. I was about 12 going on 13 when I discovered an LCS in Salem, OR. The place also sold old paperbacks - I couldn't believe there was a store that specialized in selling all of my favorite type of stuff...
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Post by batusi on Dec 22, 2017 17:19:51 GMT -5
As I grew older, into my teenage years (early/mid 80's) , my mother would take me into the city once a month where the ONLY comic book shop locally was run by a middle aged woman. I started a subscription service for new issues and kept this up for a couple of years. This woman really ripped me off when I would trade in back issues, would give me store credit way below guide and then resale the same issues for well above guide! I remember trading in New Teen Titans #1-6 and she gave me 50 cents each in credit (at the time I was unaware of their value) and when I came back the following month she had #1 marked up to $10!! I also came across some Golden Age DC comics at a local flea market and traded in one of them to her and she gave me $10 in credit and then marked the book up to $80!!! A few years later some younger guys opened up a comic book shop and eventually put this woman out of business! Ha, they were her EX customers who got screwed themselves on trade in deals!
I really miss the LCS stores that were run by young guys back in the day...they were decent to their customers/fair for the most part and loved what they did.
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