[Bin Beat] Romper Room

I have heard that people who attend church every week get annoyed when the see the turn-out on Christmas Eve and Easter.  It's difficult to get a seat or a parking spot... they're cramped and uncomfortable... and they're stuck dealing with people that only show up once or twice a year.  This is just how I feel during coupon weekends at Half-Price Books.

All year long nobody cares about reading... toss'em a coupon?  It's Midnight Mass.  Suddenly everyone in town discovers the joy of shopping for books.  Nothing wrong with that... certainly makes good business sense... but, for me?  It's pretty annoying.

Now, I don't go into Public Service Announcement mode much.  Like, honestly... who am I to proclaim anything?  I'm just a jerk on the Internet... but... I think I've got something here.

The comic book section of Half-Price Books is NOT the store's daycare section.  Please do not leave your (under 5 year old) children climbing all over the shelves and bins, throwing product all over the floor, tearing covers off books... and just causing chaos.

First of all, if I'm the only adult present... I don't want to be the sole witness of your kid hurting themselves.

Secondly, I don't want the store to think these are my kids... and I'm letting them destroy their product.

Third, I don't want to feel responsible if one of your kids wanders off.  I've actually had parents ask ME where their kids went.  I have no idea lady... where did YOU go?

Very young children running around a store unattended, mixed in with a massive influx of new looky-loo couponers is a dangerous combination.  One I'd rather not have to deal with.  This is a freakishly common occurrence in HPB... at least the ones I frequent.

Parents patting their kids on the head, saying "Oh, go stand over by the ca-mecks.  Mommy will be over here." as they meander across the store toward the DVD section.  Jeez.

So, here's my weaksauce PSA: Do not leave your children unattended... and, not just because they're in my way... well maybe, partly because they're in my way.  I just don't want to be around if anything goes down.

--

This big coupon weekend was a bit of a letdown.  I had a few books on my peripheral radar, however they were either no longer available... or available and in cruddy condition... another unfortunate result of looky-loo butterfingers.  These books... torn covers, missing pages, and all will haunt (and irritate) me each time I return to the store.

The quarter-bin deities didn't so much smile upon me... though, they did smirk.

Decent, if not a tad underwhelming finds.  I was surprised to find "Superman Takes a Wife", which features the Golden-Age Superman's wedding to Lois Lane... a charming little tale, I'm super happy to have it.  Found the one issue of Grant Morrison's Happy! that has alluded me... can finally (eventually) give that a proper read.

Ran into some decent stretches of both early Azrael and Books of Magic.  Not sure I'll get around to them any time soon... still nice to have in the library.

The wacky find of the week was easily the King James Powerade promotional comic.  This kinda thing is why I'll always dig through the cheap-o bins.  You never know what offbeat oddity you're gonna come across.

In trades, the only thing that caught my eye was a import copy of Seth's George Sprott 1984-1975 from Random House.  I took an American Literature class some time ago, which focused on American comic books.  One of the books I had to read (and write a great deal about) was George Sprott.  I initially read a digital version provided by the University... I'm glad to now have a physical copy.  Used my coupon on this one, so I only paid about four-and-change for it.

In the manga clearance section, I came across the final five volumes of Video Girl Ai.  A few summers ago I read through Masakazu Katsura's I"s, and found myself enjoying it far more than I thought I would.  I've been grabbing Video Girl Ai volumes as I come across them in clearance, at a buck a'piece, I couldn't resist.  Ai's story comes across so charmingly 1980's, looking forward to completing my set.

So, all told... This coupon-weekend did not go as well as I would have hoped... though, I can't say I'm completely disappointed.  Hope all my fellow hunters had a fun time, and made some great finds!

Thanks for reading.

***DCBS Update***

Just received last week's Discount Comic Books Service order, so for completionist's sake...

[Bin Beat] Early Morning Hunts

No rest for the weary this weekend.  Early morning appointments hindered our ability to sleep in... inconvenient perhaps, yet a comic book hunter can see any untimely outing as an opportunity to hit the bins.

Our appointment was on the other side of town, putting us not too far off from one of our normal used-book haunts (Bookman's).  This was something of a novelty, as our timing kind of messed with the dynamics of the visit.  The store is usually rather bustling throughout the weekend, however, at this early hour it was almost as though I had the comic section to myself.

Saturday, 3/5/16 Bookman's finds

I was very tempted to scoop up the run on All-Star Squadron they had... however, I was far too overwhelmed... didn't even know where to start, and didn't want to walk out spending too much.  I was content with my findings, I don't normally see Green Lantern Corps Quarterly in the wild.  Superman: American Alien #3 is one that I somehow neglected when filling out my DCBS order a few months back, so I was happy to grab that (at $1.60, no less).  The "big" find of the day was likely the goofy Superman Meets the Quik Bunny promotional issue.  I had never heard of it before, and once I saw it... I knew I had to have it.  At 40-cents, I couldn't resist.

Sunday morning saw us in the neighborhood of one of our local Half-Price Books.  I wasn't going to drop in, as HPB has coupons running all this coming week.  I figure I'll be popping in a couple of times throughout the sale.  I'm glad I stopped in, as they just tossed another bunch of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero's into the quarter-bin.  Again, at the early hour there weren't any lookie-loos (you know, the people who walk over to the comics... rustle through them like they know what they're looking for... and two seconds later, walk away).  I was glad to have this section to myself as well.

Sunday, 3/6/16 Half-Price Books finds

Along with the Joe's, I grabbed a couple old Image's, Secret Origins #1, and an issue from the Angel and the Ape mini-series.  I just can't resist the allure of a quarter-bin... I probably need help.

There was a fella who bellied up to the bins when I was on my way out... He actually went to the "collectibles" section of the store and grabbed an Overstreet Price Guide from around the turn of the century (it had an Alex Ross cover homage of Fantastic Four #1)... evidently, he was looking to make a big score.  Poor guy didn't even realize like half the books in those bins weren't even out when that guide was published... Sadly, this is not the first time I've experienced this phenomenon.  There are folks out there who think they're gonna get rich at the bins... still.  Oh well... no harm, no foul I guess.

Pretty decent weekend of finds.  Plenty more to squeeze into the to-read pile(s).  While I'm posting, here are the past two-weeks worth of DCBS orders... one huge week, one little one.

That's about all.  Good luck at the bins, and if your neck of the woods has a Half-Price Books... here are this week's coupons.  Hope they can be of help!

Thanks for reading.

[Bin Beat] Sickly Saturday

What could keep a back issue fiend like me away from his semi-regular hunting schedule?  Certainly not the flu, that's for sure!

Personal bit here... my wife is a school teacher, and from time to time she brings home something given to her from her students.  Sometimes it's candy and chocolates, sometimes it's stuffed toys, flowers, and coffee mugs... and sometimes it's bronchitis and conjunctivitis.  Last week our home turned into a tissue and cough drop wrapper infested mess.  She fell ill first and despite our best efforts, managed to pass it along to me.  Come the weekend, we were both feeling a bit better and she had some business to attend to across town.  So I figure... what the hell, we don't drive that far out too often, maybe I'll hit some bins while we're out.

After all, what better thing to do as you're recovering from illness than dredge through filthy used comic books?  Was it worth my while?  Well, let's see...

--

Our first stop was the Half Price Books that we did not visit during their Valentine's Day coupon sale.  This shop is probably 50 or so miles from home, and offers the most frustrating and convoluted comic book section of any store I'd ever visited.  I've been to garage sales with more organized comic book "sections".  While flipping through their quarter piles... yeah, piles... they have a few shelves with just piles of ragged and falling apart comics.  Anyways, while flipping through the piles, I got excited to find a decent cache of Gen13 issues from toward the end of their first ongoing series.  I snapped them up, and then realized they were all tagged at $8.00 each... in the quarter books area.  Lame.

There were a couple of "New Format" books from the 80's I would have grabbed, however... and here's a word to the wise... the yellow "Clearance" HPB price tags just love to take some of the cover art with them when you remove them from the book.  Never buy DC "New Format" books that have a price tag on their covers.  I'd been burned by that a time or two, and not like I am buying these for their pristine condition or re-sell-ability... I just really don't want any books in my collection to have chunks of art gouged off their covers.

That having been said, I did not leave empty handed.  I grabbed the last issue of New-52 Superman that I needed... so there's one monkey off my back.  Also found New Titans #92, which I discovered I didn't actually have during my last Titans read through.  They were not priced, so they were half-cover price.  Glad to have plugged that hole.

On our way home, we stopped at the same used bookstore we went to a few weeks earlier.  I wasn't expecting much, as I'd cleaned them out during our last visit.  Much to my surprise, in the 40-cent area they added a whole bunch of Green Lantern.  I was able to complete my Green Lantern volume 4 (pre-Flashpoint) run, which was one of the casualties of my mid-2000's mortgage-fueled comics purge, so I'm glad to have finally wrapped that one up.

DCBS Delivery!

Was surprised to find an issue of Green Lantern: Mosaic that I didn't have (#18)... Now I just need issue #12 to have the set.  Had a couple of finds from Titans vol.1... down to just 2 more issues of that run for the set.

Upon returning home I was surprised to find that this week's DCBS order delivered a few days earlier than expected.  I've been using Discount Comic Book Service since around the time of the New-52, and think they are fantastic.  There's no way I'd be able to keep up with these books otherwise...



--

That's about it.  Fairly productive outing, as I continue to gear up for that mythical time in the future where I will have all the time in the world to read through my collection.  Knowing me, if that time ever came... I wouldn't even know where to start!

Thanks for reading.

[Bin Beat] Half-Price Books - Valentine's Day Weekend

Another weekend, another visit to the cheap-o bins.  This week I'm going to share some neat finds and discuss a few issues you may run into "in the wild".  This weekend featured a 20% off coupon from Half-Price Books.  This marks all of the books in the quarter bin down to 20 cents, and makes even terrible looking books seem enticing.

We have three HPB locations within driving distance, and we visited two.  Fairly decent finds, though nothing earth-shattering.  Things I would normally pass up if I came across it in a 50 cent or dollar bin.  Five for a buck was too good to refuse.

The regular (read: non-clearance) comic bins at Half-Price Books seem to be going through something of an evolution.  It used to be that their bins were quite similar to any back-issue assortment in a comic book store.  Of late, however, two of the three local HPBs have taken to not bagging, pricing, or even sorting their non-clearance offerings.  It is supposed to be understood that the books will be half of cover price, although it sometimes creates a hassle at the register.

A few months ago I was able to find several early 80s Batman issues in those bins.  Cover prices ranged from 50 to 60 cents.  When I got to the register, they alluded like they may have simply forgotten to mark them.  The poor girl at the register was confused as to whether or not she should let these books go for 25-30 cents a pop.  She didn't want to make a mistake and cost the store... she also didn't want to upset a customer who just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  She ultimately sold me the books for 25-30 cents each after conferring with her manager.

The entire exchange was incredibly uncomfortable, I felt like a goofball standing there, and I really wish they would go back to their old way of stocking their non-clearance books.  The bins are now a complete mess.  Some books, as stated are not priced, and are just thrown in slipshod, and yet there are others... bagged, boarded, and priced ridiculously high.  I can find a 40 year old issue of Batman for a quarter next to an issue of New-52 era Stormwatch tagged at $10.00.

The comics are clearly not the priority of a used bookstore, however, I think it should be at least an inviting area of the shop.  Their trade paperback section has also changed of late.  Many of these books are no longer half-price.  I've seen this mentioned on some of the blogs I follow, including Comic Reviews By Walt... "Out of Print" books are rapidly taking over the trade/graphic novel sections in Half-Price Books.

It used to be that you may run into a couple of OOP books, those ones you'd get excited to see... thinking you were about to snag a trade you'd missed out on a decade earlier for half of cover price, only to face severe sticker-shock when you remove the book from the shelf.  On this visit, however... I'm no mathemagician, but it felt as though most every book that caught my eye was marked OOP and priced at at the very least $10 above cover-price.  This is at one HPB in particular.  The other local store, while having the same OOP infestation, never marks them above cover price.

The silliest part about this is that many of the comic book stores in the area carry tons of old and out of print books in their ever-growing TPB sections... and almost never mark them up.  Actually, I often see the out of print books in the clearance section because their trade-dress/spines are different than contemporary releases, which affects the aesthetic of the shelves.

Anyhoo, those are just a few observations and annoyances from this weeks outing.

These visits were fairly productive, filling holes-wise.

I was glad to stumble upon a cache of Hex comics.  It is a series that had fascinated me ever since I'd heard of it.  I have a few of the issues in the library already, though have not read them yet.

Early New-52 Green Arrow comics are one's that HPB had priced at $5.00 apiece.  I am glad I waited them out.  These are more books I missed during my post-Flashpoint tantrum.

As for the rest, just some stuff that caught my eye.  Hawkman (vol.2) #1, Day of Judgment Secret Files & Origins (ANYtime I see a Secret Files & Origins in the cheap-o bin I grab it), Fate #1, Damage #1, and Darkseid #1 (from New Year's Evil) are curiosities... looking forward to checking them out.

For some non-DC finds.  I lucked across some old Marvel G.I. Joe: ARAH comics.  These were previously in their non-clearance section, and were priced (in my opinion) quite unreasonably.  Savage Dragon is another series I try to fill holes for on the cheap.

Huck #1 came out only a few months back, and was one I was curious about... for 20 cents, I really had no excuse not to grab it.  This kind of thing happens all the time, by the way... books that are only a month or few old WILL wind up in the quarter-bin.  Sometimes its an oversight, sometimes the HPB store just gets a pile of the same issue (likely from a local comic shop who inflated their orders to snag a super-ultra-rare variant cover).  That having been said, even if you are not into older books, have a sit-down and flip through your cheap-o bins at Half-Price Books... you may find something you passed on a week earlier because of its $3.99 or $4.99 cover price for under a buck!


To close, here's a pop quiz:

Half-Price Books comic book sections are pretty small.  Too small for several comics enthusiasts to browse at one time.  If you approach the comic section and find another comics enthusiast has gotten there first, what do you do?

a. Decide to browse other parts of the store while s/he continues to flip through the comics.
b. Stand directly behind the other comics enthusiast, and breathe heavily through your mouth.
c. Walk by several times, making sure to sigh and stomp louder each time you pass.
d. Try and squeeze in anyway, ruining the experience for both parties.

(answer: a., you wait until your fellow comics enthusiast is done with their hunt before you start your own.  You wouldn't want somebody to try to ruin your time at the bins, so you shouldn't try to ruin it for them.)


Now, I know I've dogged on HPB a bit here, but honestly, warts and all it's still a great place to hunt for comics.  It's one of my favorite haunts, and I rarely leave (completely) disappointed.

Thanks for reading.

[Bin Beat] Used Bookstore 2/6/2016

When I decided to finally stop thinking about doing a DC Comics blog, and actually put digital pen to digital paper, I wanted to not only share stories that I had read... I wanted to share my collection stories.  These stories are somewhat unique to comics enthusiasts, and I feel that comics fans have an uncanny ability to place themselves into the gestalt of when and where they were when they bought and/or read such-and-such story... though, perhaps I am projecting... just a bit.

I am an admitted back-issue bin junkie.  I am aware of my addiction, and I have no intention to stop.  I won't go to any meetings, and I don't want a support group.  This blog can be my support group.  Now my skin doesn't itch when it's been a few days since my last "hunt", though I must admit I always get the butterflies when I start flipping through a cheap-o bin.

These days the bins... while lonelier, are also so much more fun!  Growing up, and getting into collecting in the late 80's/early 90's... the back-issue bins were something of a forbidden fruit.  Books that were just weeks (sometimes merely days) old were bagged, boarded and were stickered with a price usually at least double that of cover (don't get me started on the prices of supposed "key" issues).  Don't get me wrong, that was a fun and exciting time to be a comics fan... however, I must admit I get tickled when I come across multiple copies of Image Comics #1's in the dime-bins.

In my town, we have about a half-dozen decent sized comic book stores.  Most of them realize that the back-issue market only appeals to a certain type of clientele, and price their wares accordingly.  Given the ubiquitous nature of digital versions of these books... legally or otherwise, if a person wants to read a given back issue... they can... quickly, and perhaps even without paying for it.  There are, however, a couple of shops that maintain the 90's era pricing... That issue of Action Comics that came out last month?  Yeah, that's in the bins... for $6.00.  Dial H #1?  $10.00 sounds about right... it is, after all a number one.  There's also the shop that leaves all of their books un-priced, and then checks the going eBay rate on their phone before "quoting" you a price... yeah, we don't talk about those guys here.  I'm buying Robin #0, not a used car.

Now, digital books?  That's not my scene... Overpriced back-issues?  Yeah, I don't dig that much either.  I have taken to broadening the horizons of my hunt.  Used bookstores... used record stores... anywhere offbeat enough to perhaps carry comics... anywhere that the folks working there will care so little about the comics that they don't check eBay or the Overstreet guide, and usually just tag them all at 25 cents, 50 cents, or a buck.  These are the places I've made some of my best finds over the past few years.

Uncanny X-Men #141 & 142 (Days of Future Past) $1.00/each
Uncanny X-Men #266 (First Gambit) 10 CENTS
Avengers Annual #10 (First Rogue) $1.00
Amazing Spider-Man #238 (First Hobgoblin) $1.00
Omega Men #3 (First Lobo) $1.00
Superman #423 (Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow) 50 cents
Batman #575-578 (Year Two) 30 cents/each
Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (First Nightwing) 33 cents

I don't list these to brag, I do so to encourage people to look in places they ordinarily wouldn't to find comics... to fill in collection holes... to grab some key issues you could never afford if they were priced "properly".  I also list them to keep myself motivated... there are still some key issues that I seek, most notably New Teen Titans #1 and #2... I hold out hope that I will one-day come across them at a reasonable (or better yet, a steal of a) price.

--

This past weekend, the wife and I visited a semi-local used bookstore, and I made had a rather modest find.  This store in particular is an odd one, some days I can walk out without buying a thing... and there have been days where I'd snagged up in excess of 50 books.  On this day, I found ten.

The eight pre-Flashpoint books were 35 cents each, while the New-52 era books were $1.50 each.

Superman and Green Lantern are among my collection "priorities" (if that is such a thing) at the moment.  I have been listening to a few great podcasts, most notably From Crisis to Crisis and Just One of the Guys.  From Crisis to Crisis discusses, reviews, and analyzes (all of) the Superman books from the immediate post-crisis all the way up to Infinite Crisis.  It is a hell of an endeavor, and is always a fun listen.  They do so on a month to month basis, and have given me an excuse to read, or reread my post-crisis Superman... and fill in whatever holes my collection may have.  Just One of the Guys covers the 1990 volume of Green Lantern (along with the Guy Gardner series).  This is a completed podcast, and is always a great listen as well.  It has "forced" me to fill in some of my GL related collection gaps.  The New-52 books I snagged were just ones I had missed out on during my great "screw DC Comics" temper tantrum post-Flashpoint.

While at this bookstore I did come across one of my "white whales"... New Teen Titans #2 (first appearance of Deathstroke the Terminator) was there... behind glass... for $100.00.  I can't go for that (no can do)... it was neat actually seeing it in person, however.  I am confident that one day I will nab it.

I don't plan on doing these types of posts too often.  I know that they can come off as braggy or just plain annoying (I have unsubscribed to many a blog or Youtube channel that became all about the "hauls").  I just want folks (who are interested) to know that there are always good old comics within reach, and you often don't need to pay an arm and a leg to get them.

I know snagging things up digitally or in collected format is easier, takes up less space, and can sometimes be acquired without paying... but single issues (please don't call them "floppies") are special.  They are products of their time... from the paper quality, to the smell, to the ads; these books afford the reader a very unique opportunity to actually "travel" back to when these books were current.  You can see what else is going on in culture, music, video games, movies... hell, what else is going on in your respective comics universe(s) too!

I can honestly say I've never walked away from a cheap-o comic bin disappointed... and if you dig the old and offbeat books too, I'd wager you wouldn't either.  Even a cruddy read can be fun when you don't feel like you overpaid for it.  Though, I suppose I might just be projecting again...

Thanks for reading.