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Harper Convention: October 2021 & CNJ Consolation Haul

Posted on December 26, 2021 by Walt

While I’d made it to the Cleveland Comic Book & Nostalgia Show last October (2020), I missed out on the February 2021 edition due to it being far too crowded. This year’s October edition–October 3, 2021–I had no trouble getting in…was actually there and part of a small crowd there for when the doors opened.

Unfortunately, it was a rather "disappointing" show for me, in terms of finding stuff I was looking for.

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I ended up buying several Marvel Milestone Editions of some X-stuff. But no luck on other stuff I was actively looking for.

Perhaps the most notable thing for ME was while I was fishing the MMEs out of a box, someone right next to me dropped about $2k cash on an actual Giant-Size X-Men #1! The seller sold 2 copies in as many minutes, albeit one for $2k, one for about $5.

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I also stumbled across this display pack of vintage ’90s X-Men figures from Toy Biz. I was shocked at the low price! ONLY $20, for 10 figures! So….$2/figure! And this was still intact as a box unit.

Well….the figures are basically screwed into the plastic bases. However…given I’d want to display them anyway, and for the price, I’m plenty-ok with that!

What I was less "ok" with was going to the trouble of going to a show and not really finding anything else of interest, just frivolous-ish stuff that didn’t really MATTER long-term/overall.

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So with time on my hands and money in my pocket, I decided to visit Carol & John’s since I was relatively close by, and snagged a big chunk of missing Generation X issues that I needed.

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They also had a bunch of random $1 comics including some Alpha Flights; I ended up grabbing these two issues, figuring their condition’s rough enough I can have patience and find better condition copies OR a larger "run" some other time.

Plus I had my eye on another issue I spotted…

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They had this issue of the original Mirage run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Considering I am STILL kicking myself mentally for passing up a 3rd print of #1 several years back that they had for something like $125, I jumped on this. With their everyday 25%-off-marked-prices discount, this was significantly less than marked…but STILL well above what I’ve paid for ANY OTHER SINGLE ISSUE in my 33-some years of buying comics! (surely pocket change, though, for someone that drops $2k cash on a single issue some Sunday morning..!)

While I forget the exact phrasing, I remember years ago hearing on a podcast someone talking about how essentially, 90% of one’s collection costs 10% of what they pay for the collection. That’s certainly looking valid to me for TMNT stuff. All the more as I’ve also snagged the Raphael and Michelangelo covers of IDW‘s #1 from 2011 this year and am now looking for the Donatello cover. I’d intended to try to get the wraparound cover (a la X-Men (1991) #1) but as a retailer-incentive cover or such, figured if the REGULAR covers are so hard to find these days, I’d better snag those when I CAN. I’d bought the Leonardo cover when it came out, and (in retrospect) SHOULD have sucked it up and bought the other 3 at the time just to have them. Deffffffinitely paying for it now.

But that’s another story for another time!

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Filed under: 2021 Non-Review Posts, 2021 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Comic Con "Haul" from 4/11

Posted on April 13, 2021 by Walt

Over the weekend, I wound up going to the Canton Comic Book, Toy & Nostalgia Convention in Canton, OH putt on by Harper Comics.

It was a little over an hour’s drive for me, and a $4 admission price. I’d given up on a similar event in Cleveland a few weeks ago so this one was a sort of "consolation prize" or such. Further from Cleveland so presumably less crowded, AND I didn’t leave to get there til about 2pm rather than around 10:30 (show hours were 10-4) so had NO trouble getting IN this time around.

But it seemed a lot smaller than I expected, while not exactly being tiny or anything. And it was basically exactly what I expect from a Harper show: a "dealer room." And that’s a huge part of why I go: no frills. I go for comics.

This one was a bit disappointing to me; didn’t have nearly the experience I had at the Cleveland one back in October with "finds," and for the most part merely checked off several "missing issues" from my pre-Hickman X-books.

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Found $12.50 in issues at one booth, though I believe she ended up asking $10 for the 3 issues…either way, better price than modern comics. Snagged the Marvel Legends edition/reprint of Uncanny X-Men #141 just because it’s bugged me seeing that it exists but for MUCH higher pricing online. $2.50 asking price was a virtual "given" for me! But I’m still after the actual original edition, albeit aiming for the $50ish or under range. Uncanny X-Men #143 I’d SWEAR I already had, but I’m pretty sure that’d be why I didn’t already have it before: I thought I did so passed on it and then discovered I was still missing it. For $6, even in less than pristine condition, I’m happy with it: it’s the issue. I have the actual issue in my collection. Doesn’t have to be "Near Mint" or whatever; the important factor to me is merely having the issue. Where condition and what I’m willing to spend on it intersect. ANd then $5 for Wolverine #27 that I suspect may simply be such a "key"-ish issue or otherwise hard to find and typically "expensive" solely for being a Jim Lee cover. [insert eyeroll-emoji]

Then at another booth, found $12 in issues that I believe the guy also ended up only asking $10 from me for the three. Uncanny X-Men #s 455 and 481 are simply "two issues I was missing still." This leaves me with Uncanny X-Men #s 142-459 as a solid run. I’m (now) presently missing #s 460, 464, 467, and 489 from having #142-507. My aim is to go back to #141, but may slowly go backward from there. And with Wolverine #32 paired to the aforementioned #27, I’m left with only Wolverine #s 10, 30, and 37 missing from having the original 4-issue mini-series and complete 189-ish issue first ongoing series.

So I suppose when it comes down to it…it was as a convention should be. No real hassles getting there or getting in; a number of dealers with good prices and deals to be had; found some comics that I didn’t already have and haven’t found at local shops (or for prices I’m willing to pay when I’m there and notice the issue(s)).

But it wasn’t exciting. I didn’t get an issue that I went in specifically wanting in and of itself. No "keys," as the 141 is a reprint and not the original. No spectacular, memorable, singular purchase. No "completion" of a series.

As I type this, it occurs to me that I probably should’ve looked through some of the cheapo stuff for X-Man #39, or Quicksilver 4/7/8/9, some Maverick or Ka-Zar or Generation X issues or District X #2 or such. But my heart’s just not really "in" "The Hunt" lately for stuff. I just want to trade money I have for comics I want and then kick back and read and enjoy having the things. I know my price points that I’m willing to pay with certain conditions (conditions on price and/or conditions OF the issues).

I know darned well that 4 hours into a 6 hour show of people who know comics themselves I’m obviously NOT going to "luck into" finding DC Comics Presents #26 in a $1 bin, or Incredible Hulk #181 for $5, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 for under $100 or such. So I"m at a point where I feel like screw getting a deal and just give me a fair market price that leaves both me and the seller happy.

Y’know?

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Filed under: 2021 Non-Review Posts, 2021 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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