Free Comic Book Day: A Roundabout Review

Where will you go May 4th 2014? Comic book stores across the country will be giving out free comic books. No gimmicks at all with the word free. Some comic book shops have sales to accommodate the throngs of customers coming into get their free stuff but what about all the juicy back stock, trades, and or special blow out sales. 

I work nights, but I plan on after leaning work at seven am Saturday morning to go home and change before going to my LCS Fat Jack's ComicCrypt on Sansom street in Center City Philadelphia. I've been shopping there for over three years, on a regular basis, of course this is every Wednesday. The kicker is it is one of the farthest comic book shops from where I live. So What makes the travel worth it. Other than having coffee with my dad.

Occasionally I make banter with the staff and the clientele. This makes it an ideal spot to go. I can find out about new books and tally the back issue bins for old ones. I tend to always attribute the seriousness of a comic shop by the back issues, in other words, no back issues means not a seriously good comic book shop.

I first found out about Fat Jack's over twenty-Five years ago when they were next store from their current location. My father worked around the corner and for thirty minutes I was allowed to peruse through the store. It was never enough. I still go and my father goes with. He's bored and for me there is still not enough time. 

I invite you all to go the first Saturday of May, but besides picking up the free comic books they'll have but maybe a back issue or two.

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Running Late

I tend to be very punctual; actually I cannot even remember the last time I was late. In the past forty eight hours my sleep has been minimal. This morning instead of writing I opted to sleep for a few hours before helping my friend move some things. It became “a waste of time” as he puts it. I guess I was a bit more optimistic about it because I just chalked it up as time with my best friend. The situation changed and I came back home for a nap. I woke up, not to the phone ringing “The Devil came down to Georgia”, which is the tune I opted to choose when ring tones first came available but I woke from a dream that I was late for work and rushing to get there.

Although I wasn’t late for work I realized I didn’t get a phone call to come back over to his house to help him out. I went to my phone thinking that I slept through his call when I realized he didn’t call at all. He opted to let me sleep knowing my schedule….well sucks. I should be back in bed now, which I will do after I write this but I checked my e-mail and found out someone else was late. I don’t hold this against him, but tomorrow is a Philadelphia Comic-Con. It is a small one day event that lasts for about six hours. I had planned for someone to drop off some books to someone else who would be there. This is because of my distrust of the USPS.

   

I was looking forward to getting those on Sunday and even though I am upset that I have not, I am not worrying about it. They are mine and they aren’t lost so that is a positive. And I wonder, how do I stay so positive in spite of things going wrong? Is it because I work in a negatively charged environment, is it because I have a supportive father, friends, and cat? I do want these books and even though I cannot get them tomorrow I do want them soon, I guess I will have them shipped to my father’s and have the invoice sent to me at my house this way I don’t hear my Father; “How much did you pay?”

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It always seems that when I am hurt I try to do more. Waiting tables with a broken toe is no exception. I did this for a couple hours with horrendous results. If I succeeded I would finally be where I was hoping to be with paying off what I owe my Father. All in all I will at least be able to pay off half of it. I was hoping to get the whole lump sum completed so this way I could borrow yet more money to get some books graded, about fifty of them.

September 18^th is the next comic convention in Philadelphia. It is a small con which happens about ten times a year but I get to find some good deals. I will also buy some bags there so I can bag and board the books I plan to send into get graded. If I am lucky I will be able to sell off what I don’t want and keep the ones I do. The funds from this mini venture should pay off what I borrowed from my father and give me an amount to use for a second grouping of fifty. Not to mention being able to add to my Daredevil collection starting with issue #180.

I don’t want to make a living off this but I do want to be able to purchase larger ticketed items, like a Daredevil #168 in a 9.8, this book averages around $700. I won’t pay above five. But the other numbers surrounding that will cost an average of $100 a piece. I can’t afford that at $2.83 an hour no matter how many extra hours I work, of course I just have to make sure I have no more broken toes.

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Trimming my collection

Working nights hinders the ability to enjoy the day, but every once in a while I escape from my humble abode and walk out into the sky to go pay my rent. This slight escape allows me to bask in the sun and try to darken my pale skin. I make this trek every month and I follow this by creating a budget on how the next month is going to be. This pre-planning helps me collect the comic books I enjoy so much. I am at the end of my New Mutants run that I have diligently pursuing for about over the last two years. I am happy with my collection and what I have accomplished in that time.

The second part I have decided to do was send in fifty books for grading and encapsulation. This has been a hindrance for me because I do not have the cash to accomplish this in one lump sum. Of course this is where my Father comes in. I owe him a little bit more for the computer I have since he put it on his charge card and they put out the money for me to get the insurance on my comic books. If all goes according to my budget I should have that paid off and then I can send in fifty more books to get graded. Twenty are for me. I hope this amount will be mixed between my New Mutants that I purchased off the shelf and copies of my Sandman series.

The other thirty is the tricky part. I have decided to send these in for a minimum grade of 9.6. Sure I might not be able to get a premium price but I can most likely recoup what I spent. For instance I have a copy of WildCats Gold #1 that will probably get a 9.6. Should I send it in with a pre-screen of 9.8 and be denied the grade I was hoping for. A 9.6 would sell for a minimal price and I am OK with that because then it will be in someone’s collection that will cherish it. My collection is growing, although I do not believe it will be at the three hundred I was hoping for by the end of the year it has come a long way from the 166 I had about this time last year.

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Blog by Phone

I worked once again through the night. At the moment I am using my phone to enter another blog entry. Even though it is so much easier to use my computer to do my writing I am glad I am able to blog by phone. I only wish it was easier to add my journal entries on the CGC registry.

I could do it with the same difficulty I am having right now but with all the journals being added my mindset is to stay on the path. I do know once my computer is fixed then I should be back writing with a vengeance. I will also be looking for more CGC graded comic books. The short amount of time that I have been working a bit more than I have been is helping immensely in a financial capacity.

Every Wednesday I make this trek to my Father's for Coffee. A journey I cherish week in and week out. It isn't just the coffee, it is also because he joins me at the comic shop. Sure, he stays outside most of the times but occasionally he does come inside. If I am lucky maybe I can get him to go to the comic convention in New York. The New York part is easy, it's the comic convention that will be the challenge.

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Coffee with My Dad Part II

Every Wednesday without fail a package is due to be delivered. Let me explain further because that sounds like I get a package once a week. Whenever I order something, it seems without fail I will have this package delivered to me on a Wednesday. I don’t trust the USPS, they have proven themselves to be unreliable and sneaky even with a signature required. These days I ask for the package to be delivered to my father’s or through Fed Ex. My latest package was ordered over a week ago and somehow I knew it was to be delivered on a Wednesday.

After getting my confirmation that the package was picked up on a Saturday from Ohio I was overjoyed that I would be getting it Tuesday, my weekly Wednesday curse was broken, until I read closer. It stated that the package would be picked up the next business day due to the time. I was foiled again. Don’t these people know that I get my new comic books on Wednesday? Not only do I get my comic books on this day but I also see my father for coffee. I just never had an order this large come in before, or one that I want so bad.

I tend to be ritualistic. Every Wednesday morning the comic books shop, Wednesday night and I hang out with my best friend, Tuesdays and Thursday evenings I play pool, and so on. This package gives me pause. Two reasons both I hinted at, one I been wanting these comic books for so long and two I am afraid I won’t get them…..so what am I going to do Wednesday morning? I am going to go get coffee with my Dad.

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