Ebay and Comics

[Phoenix]

For Peter, Sid, babington and anybody else who might be interested, here is Norman's advert, this one taken from the Old Boys' Books section of Exchange and Mart (North and Midland) for August 14 1975, but it was the same every week. The second scan is of Norman in the upstairs room that Peter remembers so well. It doubled up as his office, and I also remember it well because, although I wasn't interested in his issues of Magnet or Gem, not even the Howard Baker reprints, this is where I drooled over all his pre-war Thomson story papers.

[Lew Stringer]

I got a huge collection of Pow! and Smash! (about 3 years worth in all) from a dealer in Manchester in 1984- I won't give his name but many people will remember him- and it cost me £15. I'd answered his ad in Book and Magazine Collector.

Coincidentally I obtained a huge stack of Odhams comics around 1984 too, from a dealer at one of the Westminster comic marts. He had them under his table in a couple of boxes, thinking they wouldn't be popular. I bought the lot, (about 30p each IIRC) carrying as many as I could that day (two plastic bags stuffed full of Smashes) and the rest were posted on to me later that week, as I wallowed in a nostalgia-fest. All in great condition. Still my favourite comics.

It's been a few years since I went to a comic mart (except for the one Nigel and I were guests at last December, - and then I didn't have chance to browse tables). In recent years I've found eBay a boon for buying old UK comics, from Funny Folks to Radio Fun, - the sort of thing you don't really see at most comic cons etc.

I've given up collecting old comics now, as I have all the ones I wanted. I still buy some new stuff though, mainly to keep up with what fellow comic folk are up to.

[starscape]

And I got most of Smash and Terrific (pre- and post-merger) from Arthur's in Glasgow for about a tenner, maybe 10 years ago. That was another great shop.

[babington]

Thanks for the photos Phil and Phoenix. Very interesting to know more about comic collecting in the past. My first back issues came from Forbidden Planet in the early eighties. I'd travel an hour or so to get to the one rack of 2000AD back issues they had in the shop. The only way I got old Beano books was swapping them with friends or getting them as hand-me-downs from older kids. I treasured a bashed-up 1969 Beano Book as my oldest for many years!

I'd say eBay also challenges some ideas about rarity. I've often heard that Beanos from the early sixties are harder to get than other years but they seem to be quite abundant on eBay. On the other hand issues from 1965 seem to be relatively rare... I've been trying to get Beano no. 1178 for years, but never see it!

[Peter Gray]

Told you he was Father Christmas...what great memories..

I went there when we visited Grandma and Granddad in London. Bought Christmas Beano's old annuals...cheeky comic etc..lots of different comics which were new to me..

[stevezodiac]

I was reading the Norman Shaw ad and as the words Crystal Palace came into view they were read out for me by the commentator on bbc London as I'm listening to Millwall v Palace praying we get the three points to ensure safety. I used to buy comics from a dealer over the phone - he published an A4 list. Forget his name but he and his wife used their names together and he appeared at the ABC shows a couple of years ago. I ordered a lot of 30s comics and he sent me a bundle free of charge as they were very tatty. They are still in the polythene bag he sent them in and i've never taken them out for fear of a shower of confetti. They are from around 1905.

[DavidKW]

From someone who's not yet got a computer & credit card, I see a double-edged sword:

If I did get stuff off computer, I'd be like a kid in a sweet shop & snap up & spend too much without thinking spaces & finance. And then there's the phone bills if you have to chase said comics if they fail to arrive.

I'm more disciplined when physically buying - and my comic hunts form part of days out; part of the fun is having conversation with vendors when buying then going for well-earned beers at pub. An anti-depressant change of scenery, gets me out of house & a break from staring at a screen, which I do for a living.

Plus some good memories when you see comics later.

Paying and instantly having it in your hands a good feeling.

[DavidKW]

On the other hand, I'm hoping to sort a credit card and get a computer hopefully this year - though I may need to pay for a mentor to help this technophobe with no knowledge of the pitfalls of computer buying. (I don't understand computer manual jargon & I'll be on my owngoing to bits if it all goes wrong).

Besides day trips though fulfilling can be physically tiring & I'm not getting any younger & good to buy now when healthy & alive.

[Phoenix]

good to buy now when healthy & alive.

Good advice, as I suspect that the alternative will prove quite difficult.

[stevezodiac]

I bought my first laptop with absolutely no knowledge of computers. The first thing to do is get an anti virus software loaded. I've alwayd bought Nortons but would be interested to know if the free ones like adaware are just as good. Luckily I have a friend who is a computer wizard and remember phoning him in frustration when things I couldn't understand were happening. Nowadays, of course, you can look at tutorials on youtube for just about anything.

[Marionette]

There are some free ones that are equally as good as those that cost money. Couldn't tell you which off the top of my head as my internet provider (Virgin) give me one free with my account, but you might also want to invest in Spybot Search & Destroy and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, since they are both free.

To be honest, the danger of viruses is greatly exaggerated. The majority of computer "hacks" are down to someone else who shares your computer doing something stupid/malicious or downloading and running a file from a dodgy website. Antivirus software can't prevent you installing a virus-ridden program and infecting your computer that way.

[karl]

i travelled all the way from ireland to norman shaws house in the 1980's.
it was a magical place from top to bottom.
karl

[Dunder Ed]

I had been after some of the IPC books of gags recently. I was not really prepared to pay the prices of the ones online. The other day I was in a junk shop and found a Buster book of gags from 1971 for £2.50 he let me have it for 2 quid after I had bought a Beezer 1969 annual for about the same price. It shows that there are bargains to be had out there.


Peter do you ever get anything good from your job at Oxfam?

[Peter Gray]

Theres a lot of waiting for customers in the morning the shift I do...so I read a lot of humour books and old annuals at the till when its quiet...
got a nice early 60's Beezer..so pleased with that..
I should have bought the late 1950's Beano book when I had the chance...though did read it all over a few weeks keeping it under the till in a bag..and other two 60's Beano books..once I've read them you don't need them so much..though I was broke at the time and couldn't afford to buy them...I could now..doh! the 50's one when it was put on the shelf sold in half hour...so kicking myself there..

so lots of reading not so much buying..

Wow going all the way over from Ireland...and I love the term it was a magical place!! Hopefully Heaven will have a room like this for me

[stevezodiac]

I saw this story in the Sun on Saturday. He's not selling it on ebay but whoever he is selling it with is taking half the sale price. Other reports say he found it in the garage wall and there is a photo of the back cover tear - it has now been slabbed:

It is considered the Holy Grail of comic books - Action Comics No 1 from 1938, featuring the debut of Superman.

And David Gonzales has found one mixed in with old newspapers insulating a house he was renovating in a small town in Minnesota.

Mr Gonzales did some research that confirmed the comic with a cover showing the Man of Steel holding a car over his head was valuable, though it is not worth as much as it could have been.

The book sat undisturbed in the ceiling of the house in Hoffman for more than 70 years. But a few days after he found it, Mr Gonzales said, he got into a heated discussion with his wife's aunt about its value and she wanted a share of the money.

He said he also grew irritated because every time she would turn a page, crumbs of paper would fall out. Finally he said, he grabbed it and tossed it aside, accidentally tearing the back cover. "I don't care about the money," he recalled telling her. "I don't care. It's my comic book. I can burn it if I want to."

Mr Gonzales said his wife's aunt backed down when his wife warned her he was serious.

Partly because of the damage and partly because the book shows the effects of its long service as insulation, New York-based online auctioneer ComicConnect.com said it was graded 1.5 on a 10-point scale. By comparison, an Action Comics No. 1 that was graded a nine recently fetched 2.16 million dollars (£1.4 million).

Bidding on Mr Gonzales' find was up to 137,000 dollars (£91,000) as of Friday and will close on June 11.

Mr Gonzales believes he will get about half the sale price after the auction site and the Florida comic dealer he originally took the book to get their share.

He understands the ripped cover and other damage might have shaved 75,000 dollars off the potential price. But he said "I'm not a hungry person about money", adding that he would rather work for it.