Comics for north west England

[peace355]

Hi , I've been asked where is best to bring old comics in the north west of England. Anyone in that area have any advice? (The comics are June, schoolgirl and Judy picture library books)

[DavidKW]

Well, If you've got some June picture Library Books I'd be a very interested buyer & I live in Bolton; so if we could arrange a meet up I'd be happy to view & buy (warning: I don't own a computer/internet & rely on libraries so communication could be patchy).

I could mention some good spots in North West & nearby to you then if you like.

[TwoHeadedBoy]

Jim's Emporium in Liverpool, or Empire Exchange in Manchester could be good places for them...

[DavidKW]

Another couple of possibilities:

Paramount Books near Manchester Shude Hill bus station has many of these books, but it''s only open Friday & Saturday and owner is very selective on what he buys.

Or near enough in the North West is Borders Bookshop in Todmorden (got a good train service from either Manchester or Rochdale). Their closed to public comic room recently got a load of these picture libraries in (I bought some too on recent visit).

Or alternatively & seriously I'd LOVE to buy them myself; could meet up in pub or cafe to do a deal. I live in north west & know way round most of the places (be it Manchester, Warrington, Manchester etc). Would save you some time legwork/strain & postage hassle.

[peace355]

Great thanks, I'll pass on those suggestions. @davidkw I'll mention as well that you may be interested in some of the books and the person can contact you on this forum.

[DavidKW]

Thanks peace355!

I will make & can negotiate & compromise a very good offer for those.

[Phoenix]

Or near enough in the North West is Borders Bookshop in Todmorden (got a good train service from either Manchester or Rochdale). Their closed to public comic room recently got a load of these picture libraries in (I bought some too on recent visit).

I'd better mention this now in case some members are planning a visit, but the sad news is that the owner of Border Bookshop, Victor Collinge, died suddenly at home on New Year's Day of an aortic aneurysm. There was a message on my landline from his wife, Carole, asking me to call her, but I didn't get it until I returned this evening from my Christmas/New Year break in Cornwall with Russell and his family. I have now spoken to her, and I will be going next Monday to a Methodist service near his Bacup home, the funeral at Burnley Crematorium, and then on to Bacup Cricket Club, all highly appropriate as he was a constant presence at Turf Moor in the winter and at Bacup C.C. in the summer. I find it so difficult to believe as I saw him at the shop only three weeks ago, and we had a lot of laughs as usual. He was a good friend and I shall miss him enormously. When I know what plans Carole has for the business, I will post the information for you, but obviously it might not be for a while.

[DavidKW]

Thanks for the info Phoenix - I'm still reeling from it from this morning.

I'd been planning to go this Saturday - not just as there were comics I wanted to buy but as I hadn't seen Victor for a while (my last visis were on Thursday when Carole was there).

I've only been collecting & thus visiting for 2 years but it felt oike I'd known Victor for years. We had some great chats.

Would it be a good idea to set up a blog as a memorium and for us comic collectors to share our memories & stories?

My thoughts are with Carole and the family at this difficult time.

[DavidKW]

This might not be a good time to ask this:

But Peace355:

Has your friend decided what she's doing yet?

If she wants to sell as job-lot I'd be happy to & with a generous money offer.

Without wanting to cause offence I should warn: A few months back I went to Empire Exchange with a big pile of 1980s Viz comics (about 40 issues), some had been on a rare print run & of limited availability: I was offered just £10 which I thought an insult as I thought they were worth more. So no sale. Somebody earlier warned me they give well below true value for things.

[Phoenix]

I went to Victor Collinge's funeral yesterday morning, and in the afternoon, at Bacup Cricket Club, Carole told me that she plans to keep Border Bookshop going for the time being. Victor would have wanted her to, I'm sure. She will be opening on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, starting this Thursday. Once we knew she was going to continue, several of us suggested that it would be good for her to get involved as soon as possible, but she told us that she had already planned this Thursday's reopening. I'm appending this photo as a reminder of how Victor often looked, sitting behind his counter in that cubbyhole, dealing with customers' enquiries, or taking payment for some treasure they'd found. What a loss he's going to be to comic collectors everywhere. Incidentally, the background picture was taken at Turf Moor in the early sixties. The cortege went by the ground on its way to the crematorium. The background inside the brochure was Burnley's First Division Championship winning side from the 1959/60 season.

[DavidKW]

Thanks for info Phoenix, will try & visit Borders soon as I've some time free when they're open.

A sad loss - he will be missed.