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The Weekly Haul – Week of December 17th, 2014

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Walt

Last week, I was in Missouri and never made it to a comic shop. By the time I was getting home, traffic was such that I couldn’t make it before closing time. And knowing the shop’s closed a couple days, I held out for Wednesday this week.

This meant an extra helping of Valiant and Gold Key:

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And two TMNT books along with Astro City (which I have GOT to get caught up on one of these days…)

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There were also a bunch of $1 books, which due to the price I keep on my pull list as a general thing–all promo-priced/$1 books.

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I also hit the bargain bins for nearly 50 comics, knocking some more off a couple lists, and snagging some random stuff. These six are probably the “key” issues I got, including THE gem of the day, new and old.

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I’ve been holding off on the Exiles vs. X-Men issue for years, not wanting to pay the $10 or so when it was originally published, and then more recently just not finding it for a decent price. Snagging it in this bunch–and in quite good condition–is a real treat, and lands it in my stack of stuff to read ASAP. The Ultraforce/Avengers issue is in crummy condition such that I put it into a bag/board just to keep the cover in place. Despite the Half-Price Books clearance sticker on it, I still went ahead and bought it, attracted by the shiny foil logo and not remembering for sure if that’s the standard or other edition and wanting to err on the side of NOT regretting coming across it.

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Halloween 2014

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Walt

So much for a “holiday.” Longest day at work I’ve pulled in nearly 2 years, and totally, completely FORGOT it was Halloween before my day was done. So nothing fancy here, just closing out more than two months of (week)daily posting with the end of October here.

Lord Pumpkin: perfect villain for today, and one of my favorites in general, if often forgot amidst other favorites that are still in current/contemporary “new” comics.

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Bargain Bin Haul – Week of October 1st, 2014

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Walt

After taking some time off of rummaging through the bargain-bins, with not having a bunch of expensive 3-D DC books, I snagged a handful of quasi-random books so I can read ’em sooner than not without having to dig through my own boxes.

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DC One Million 1-4 was a nice find. Recent activity in an Ultraverse Facebook group has me itching to dive into some serious Ultraverse reading. The Warlock issue was shiny and I was going to snag some other shiny issues for the heckuvit, but put ’em back. The Batman issue’s extremely familiar as a cover image but I can’t place it, so figure that’ll be a good re-read. And it’s become my personal policy to never, ever leave a copy of Superman #75 when it’s 25 or 50 cents regardless of the printing; a first printing I’ll go about $1 if I’m not spending too much otherwise.

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And the newest Transformers movie came out on home media this week. I’d considered buying the first three several times this summer but kept talking myself out of it. Then I decided I’d see if there was any kind of franchise-set, and sure enough, there’s this set at Walmart. For the first-week “sale,” I got it for $29.99. Considering I’d been willing to pay around $20-23 for the first 3, another $7 for the 4th to be included was not bad at all. Especially for being Blu-Ray, having some digital stuff, and considering the new one by itself was about $18-$20 for the first-week sale in the major chains.

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$2 UltraForce Jackpot

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Walt

I think I went into the comic shop looking for a TMNT comic I missed. Found a newly-purchased collection, and some extremely well-priced UltraForce toys. $2 apiece!

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I’m usually NOT a fan of “variant” figures. Polar Prime? Nighstrike Prime? Yeah, kinda dumb. But then I realized that hey…the character can generate a different body every time he “Primes,” so this actually works! And that Night Man just looked cool.

Plus…given I’ve only really this year been coming across these, PERIOD…I’m not gonna pass one up for only $2!

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The “gem” tonight, though, was NM-E. Even the packaging is in better condition than the other figures (though eventually that won’t matter, as I’ve every intention to have these all outta the package once I find the proper display space!)

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I still think NM-E looks like an Alien,but hey…still one of my favorite (and more “iconic” Ultraverse villains. I just wish there was a Rune figure.

While I wouldn’t mind getting the whole set of these, having the “regular” Prime and Night Man already and now NM-E, I’m mainly going to be looking for Hardcase and Prototype.

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Scoring All-American Prime for $2

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Walt

After half-heartedly “keeping an eye out” for UltraForce toys, this year’s been pretty good actually finding them in-person. Typically I’m not a huge fan of variant figures (duh) but for $2 and it’s Prime? Yeah. Now, I still definitely want several of the other figures from the line–Hardcase, NM-E, and Prototype for sure.

I found this in a toy bin at JC’s in Cuyahoga Falls…a very pleasant surprise, which offsets a LITTLE bit of my frustration at the hassle of tracking down a NON-variant copy of Action Comics #34 this week.

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Though the packaging is worn, doesn’t particularly bother me–I’m not looking for “mint in package” or “mint on card” or whatever…I just want to have the figures themselves.

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I wouldn’t mind getting the whole line–Ghoul, Topaz, and Attalon–though I have no interest in the “vehicles”…it’s the characters that have meaning, not some random (pointless) vehicle(s).

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Bargain Bin Haul – Week of July 23rd, 2014

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Walt

Along with this week’s huge new issues haul, I also bought quite a few quarter-bin issues.

I picked up a number of Vampire comics for a friend, as well as most of the Call of Duty minis from Marvel from 2002 or so (The Precinct, The Wagon, The Brotherhood) for another friend.

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I was pleasantly surprised to find copies of the Ultraverse Premiere issues of Hardcase and Night Man, as I want duplicates so I can file Ultraverse Premiere as its own thing in my Ultraverse collection rather than having the series only dispersed as the flipbooks to all the others. I also snagged Night Man 22, and since the Hardcase issue was part 1 of the 3-part NM-E rematch, I picked those issues up as well.

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I love the cover of Man of Tomorrow #1, and much prefer this “newsstand edition” cover to the Wedding Album. And for a mere 25 cents I wasn’t about to leave Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow there.

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I was rather surprised to find this first-print newsstand edition copy of Superman #75 still there, so snagged it, as I’ve made it a point to snag all first print copies of the issue I come across in 25-cent bins. Wasn’t til I got it out at home that I noticed the huge crease down the center like the issue was folded in half–perhaps this had been a subscription copy where the postal delivery person folded it around envelopes when sticking it into a box. I’m also a sucker for chromium covers, so snagged yet another copy of Superman 82; and since they were there, snagged #100 and Adventures of Superman #505 for the shiny cover.

All in all a very satisfying bargain bin haul!

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Ultraforce Action Figures…After All This Time

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Walt

While I’ve been aware of them for at least 15 years (and I’m pretty sure I was aware of them earlier than that), it’s taken until just this Spring for me to finally acquire any of the Ultraforce action figures.

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Several years ago I ordered a Prime and Hardcase figure on eBay, but that never quite worked out (and shame on me for never pursuing the issue). But then just a couple weeks ago, a friend led me to a vintage toy store, where I found the Night Man figure for $3. And then barely a week later at a local one-day show, I found Prime also for $3.

Certainly a couple of my coolest “finds” in a long while…and can’t beat the price (especially with them still being on the card!) Thing is, my apartment’s such a mess, while I don’t relish leaving them packaged, I probably will until I can do some major cleaning and rearranging to properly display the various figures–including these.

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Ultraverse CD Romix Revisited

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Walt

prime001.jpgSomehow, it never even occurred to me to check YouTube for these. But Prime artist Norm Breyfogle recently posted a link to the Prime video in the Ultraverse Facebook Group, and I noticed the other two–Hardcase and Freex–have also been put on there.

These are “CD Romix,” a combination of audiobook/motioncomic/quasi-cartoon. I remember first seeing these at a local convention/dealer room back in ’93 or ’94. As a kid, had no budget for ’em. But a few years later, I came across ’em at a dollar store…maybe ’97 or ’98.

The best part–to me–was that there was an actual audio track on the CDs, which I was able to rip to digital file, and I’ve tended to have these on my iPod to this day (I just listened to Prime #1 the other day, actually!).

Definitely a fun “blast from the past”!

Prime #1:

 

Hardcase #1:

 

Freex #1:

 

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Completing Two "Sets" in a Weekend Haul

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Walt

I snagged a few more bargain-bin issues last Thursday and Saturday, and finally completed not just one, but two “sets.”

Over the last several weeks I’ve been snagging the various Comics’ Greatest World issues:

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I’d “missed” Motorhead at JC‘s the last time, so went back to find that, and also came across a later Motorhead special. The CGW Motorhead issue completes my set of the Comics’ Greatest World issues this time around.

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Then, since I’d seen a number of these issues scattered throughout the bins, I decided to see what I could piece together of a second set. Found all 4 Arcadia issues.

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Also found all 4 Steel Harbor issues, including the 2nd copy of Motorhead.

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Found 3 of the 4 issues of Golden City…thankfully, I’d forgotten a duplicate I’d wound up with of Catalyst: Agents of Change, so this subset was completed as well.

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And I could only find 3 of the 4 issues of The Vortex…missing the final issue: Out of the Vortex itself.

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I was pretty sure I might have seen Out of the Vortex in the bargain bins at Comic Heaven–knew I’d seen several Comics’ Greatest World issues at the least. And sure enough…found Out of the Vortex there, completing a second set of the series.

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Snagged several randomish issues at JC’s, including a Thor issue I saw an ad for when I paged through the final issue of Thunderstrike a few days earlier, so grabbed that. The GI Joe issue I don’t have, though I might have #1. The others were just sort of “hey, 25-cents…can’t beat that for this!”

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I’d actually meant to put the Timewalker issue back, but (obviously) forgot. The Secrets of the Valiant Universe I didn’t want to pass up despite being pretty sure I have that already. And nothing like pulling “rare” issues like Unity #0 and Darque Passages from a quarter-bin.

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I believe Vanguard is the character I recognized from a random Eternity comic I picked up earlier; found issues 1-3 here, so snagged ’em.

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Grabbed several X-books from my list…

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Near as I can tell, Mercy is a short prestige-format/”original graphic novel,” and definitely not bad for only 25 cents! (and early-ish Vertigo, at that).

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At Comic Heaven, I came across 3 Sliders comics. I only bought two of them as the other was a 2nd issue of two, and I didn’t want the temptation/frustration of trying to track down the first…and these two will be plenty (if not more than enough) to see if I even enjoy the property in comics. Six appeared to be another small “original graphic novel” and so well worth its bargain-bin pricing.

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It was quite cool to come across these Ultraverse issues. Two copies of the “newsstand edition” of Rune/Silver Surfer (a flip-book) and another copy of the Rune/Venom issue…signed by Chris Ulm and including a certificate of authenticity!

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I know I already have Turtle Soup in its entirety, but do recall at least one issue being in less than wonderful condition. Finding all 4 covers the bases, so to speak, on a replacement copy…and no sense leaving only 3 of 4 issues to frustrate someone else, anyway.

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I have no idea what Hypersonic’s about, but it’s a 4-issue mini series of which all 4 were present…and I saw “Abnett” on the cover, so figure this oughtta be well worth a read.

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The polybag on Divine Right caught my attention…but moreso is the “preview” issue for Stormwatch. Doom’s caught my attention as a mail-away. Overstreet looked interesting–rather than a price guide it’s got short creator profiles. And the Sojourn issue is Sojourn; an apparent one-shot or such. Originally $3.95 cover price…not a bad buy from the bargain bin.

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Snagged the 2099 Unlimited issue to add to my growing 2099 collection. The Doom 2099 is the final issue, and I’m pretty sure these later issues are going to prove MUCH harder to track down than any of the early issues, so this was quite a welcome find. I grabbed the Iron Man issue as I’m filling out that run apparently; the Heroes issue is random Milestone.

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I grabbed the Justice League issues as randomish ’90s stuff to read. Darkstars adds to my growing Zero Hour set. And Zen…well, I’m pretty sure this is a better-condition copy of one I already have…and hey, it’s Archie Zen for under 50 cents…can’t beat that!

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A Haul Worthy of Comic Con

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Walt

Hand in hand with “panels,” comic conventions–to me–mean cheap comics and from sources outside my usual stomping grounds. Yet, more and more lately I find that what dealers bring to local cons just can’t hold up to “everyday bargains” I find at local comic shops: whether it’s 75% of HCs/TPBs when Marvel blows stuff out, the plethora of cheap “sets” and “runs,” or just (what I consider to be) high-quality quarter-bin stuff.

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Right now, aside from wanting to fill out my TMNT collection, I’ve been working on my Ultraverse, Classic Valiant, ’90s Bat-books, and ’90s X-books collections. However, along with stuff for those “main” target areas, I’m a sucker for random single issues–especially with a shiny cover that would’ve cost $3+ 20 years ago but is now just 25 cents–as well as the random “run” of pretty much anything. (Say, 25 of 26 issues of Doom 2099 or 21 of 24 issues of Thunderstrike).

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I’ve loaded up on some great bargain-bin fare the last few weeks from three local comic shops: Kenmore Komics in Akron, JC’s in Cuyahoga Falls, and Comic Heaven in Willoughby (local when I visit my parents).

Above I show some Valiant stuff, including my $1/ea copies of Rai #6 (Leaves me with only one chapter of Unity to track down) and Rai #0.

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I’m missing one single issue from having a (new) complete set of the Comics’ Greatest World original saga, and may research how long each of the spin-off ongoings went; though those series aren’t nearly as plentiful in bargain bins that I’ve seen.

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I grabbed Ultraverse Premiere #0 because…well, it was a mail-away, so not nearly AS common as other early Ultraverse books from this time. Hawkman and Universal Soldier I grabbed for shiny-ness.

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I grabbed the Freex issue as a cover I didn’t recognize off the top of my head. The Green Lantern issue I recall being a “hard to find” issue back in the day, so am quite amused at being able to get (yet another) copy for only a quarter. And Darkwing Duck? Darkwing is just awesome!

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I know I’d had at least one copy of Rune vs. Venom years back, but since officially beginning my Ultraverse quest, for the life of me I have NOT been able to locate it. Stumbling across it–a lone, random Ultraverse issue in a collection of primarily Marvel and some DC was quite a welcome bit of serendipity!

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X-O, Superman, and Doom just for the sake of shiny-ness. Especially X-O…I’m a sucker for these “chromium” covers!

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Detective Comics is going to be one of the harder series for me to fill in due to sheer longevity. Other series have come and gone, but Detective and Batman have 2-3 times as many issues to track down from the 1990s-2000s as any other single related title.

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…Of course, snagging 135 issues plus several annuals for Robin in one go is absolutely FANTASTIC, if only for convenience alone!

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The week after I’d bought the Robin 1-135 stack, I was given these: they’d been destined for that stack, but just hadn’t made it out. I would have gladly paid the $4ish for these, but welcome the “bonus” to what was already a great price for such a tremendous run in one go.

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A couple years ago I assembled a set of Eclipso: The Darkness Within. I’m presently intending to also build a set of Zero Hour, Armageddon 2001, and Bloodlines.

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…and thanks to this set, DC One Million, as I believe this is probably 2/3 of the entire ‘event’.

Wednesday, I’ll plan on showing off the more plentiful Marvel and X-Books bargain bin finds of late.

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