You CAN Teach an Old Dog New Tricks! Bazinga!*

*Am I going to be sued by Warner Brothers? I heard they trademarked that word.

Yes, I watch the Big Bang Theory and I’m proud of it! I deliberately stayed away from it for about two seasons, because I incorrectly assumed that they were just going to portray comic loving nerds like the socially awkward, out of shape member of Mensa that owns the comic shop on The Simpsons. Whenever my boys were home and an episode with that character came on, I was subjected to the slow turns of their heads and then the stares. Now, I watch every episode and rerun I can catch. It’s a fun show! I actually watch more B.B.T. now than Law and Order!

It’s been a while since I reported on my adventures out in the field. There haven’t been any blockbuster finds, but a few interesting ones as I expand my scope of items I wish to “try and make a buck on.”

At an auction being held at a home northeast of Wilmington this past June, there were 6 lots of Olympic pins. I was thinking, “These had to have cost 4 -5 bucks each when purchased and if I can grab some cheap with the Olympics coming up…” Well, I scored two of the lots for a combined $65. There were over 300 of them and they went as a group for $150 on eBay. Score!!

Right around the same time, at an auction house I frequent, there was a box of comics and another box that contained 7 hemostats and 6 boxes of vintage sutures. The sutures and their packaging appeared old and from what I found on the internet, they were made in the 20′s and 30′s. Each box originally contained 12 liquid filled glass tubes with the sutures and sometimes an attached needle. A couple only had about seven left and one was still in its original outer wrapper- never opened. What really attracted my attention to these was the one that said the sutures within were for an operation only performed on men, usually at a very early age (you can fill in the rest). The auctioneer put both the comic box and this one up for sale at the same time, with the high bidder having “privilege” (take all or just one). It went higher than I was willing to go, and to my surprise, the high bidder took the comics. I doubt anyone reading this would have paid what they went for – there was nothing of value in there! So, up went the box of old medical stuff and I took it home. They have been up on eBay for over a month with no bites, yet, but they take up little room and are interesting.

Last week, I went to a home where I knew there was going to be lots of Japanese product according to what I was told on the phone. I know next to nothing about this area, but what the heck, I had some time, it was nearby, so I made arrangements to stop by the house. There was a long box full of manga comics – not the booklet/digest form, but actual comic form. In other words, something that had already lost its popularity and was dropped. In addition, there were a number of related, unopened action figures and statues and over 180 DVDs (many sets)! I was told that they had belonged to a relative who passed away quite some time ago and were just taking up space (many of the toys were dusty from just being in storage) and it was time to get rid of them. I made an offer that I figured was fair and the young lady said she would have taken considerably less to just get them out of the house. After my sixth, and final, trip to the car, as the door closed, I heard her shout out “Woo Hoo!” to her friend. Sometime in late August, she plans on calling me again when the rest of the collection, currently being stored in another home in NJ is brought back to DE. If anyone has any true interest in this kind of stuff, let me know and I can tell you what I have. I’ll be posting 6 groups of about 30 DVDs each on eBay. Search for “coastalcandc” under sellers. I’ll put “anime” in the titles for you to find these listings. I put the comics up with “manga” in the title for search purposes. I haven’t decided what to do with the action figures, yet, but some of the statues are now in the shop.

Saturday, I trekked to Pottstown to check out an auction at a fire hall that advertised “1,000s of comics.” True to their word, there were 1,000s, and in groups of 50; but nothing that I was going to spend hours waiting for. I did stay for about two hours as there were some other items that caught my eye. I passed up on trying to get any of the items in a huge Beatles collection, but did win two 1950′s tin boxes with Disney characters and some old 8 MM and super 8 movies – mostly monster material, but there was a Captain Marvel! There were also quite a few cut-outs from Post cereal in the mid 30′s. The backs of the Post Toasties cereal boxes had these cut-outs of Disney characters as a premium. The auction had a number of lots with 4 – 5 cut-outs each. Mickey Mouse had already been out for some years and was very popular and well known, so there were many of him in different roles. There were other characters such as Minnie and Clara Belle; however, I spied a long-billed Donald Duck! I knew that this version of Donald was not around very long, so I took a chance, and won the lot that had this piece. When I got home, I checked and found a number of the Mickey Mouse versions on eBay, but NO Donalds! None for sale or auction, none having been listed before! Research tells me that Donald was introduced in 1935 and when first shown, he did not have hands, but wings and feathers that made up his 3 fingers. In 1936, they gave him a 4 fingered “hand”. Mine had only 3! I haven’t decided what to ask for it, but I believe it might be scarce, that Post probably made few of these, and most people threw away this unfamiliar character.

Sunday, I set up at the C.H.U.D. show in Cherry Hill, NJ. At this show nothing may be sold for more than a buck. I was not terribly excited about doing it – It’s CHUD after all. But, I hossed 44 long boxes up there. Anticipating the heat and humidity, I took along an extra shirt. I called that right, as when finished unloading, I was drenched! As is usually the case, before the doors open to the public, dealers swoop in on others’ “fresh to the market” inventory. The dealer set up next to me had just purchased a collection which he brought along and thought he had already pulled out the key issues. Nope, I saw Secret Wars #8 and Amazing Spider-Man #252 discovered and sold for one dollar each! I messed up, also, as among the mini sets that I brought, a dealer discovered a full set of the Punisher mini series and the run of Batman #404-407 (the “Year One” story arc!) and got them for a buck a piece. Still, I had a great day, having made more than I would have taken for the entire group at the beginning! I came with 44 boxes and left with 38 – not too shabby. I will accept any reasonable offer for 33 of those. I want to keep the five that contain the mini sets that I took the time to create, but would consider selling if the offer is right. Without those five, that still leaves around 10,000 issues since each contains probably 300+ as they are not bagged and boarded. Tell ya what – $600 takes all 33 boxes – less than $20 each! Only one offer available (for now).

It’s official (for now) – there will NOT be a Labor Day Flea Market! With the highly successful Memorial Day and 4th of July events, we have received many requests, by vendors and customers alike, to do it again; but the boss has decided that we are actually going to observe the intent of the day and rest.

A Bit of Trivia – as some of you know, an early DC comic had a map that revealed that Metropolis was actually in Delaware (a little north of Lewes) and Gotham City was across the Delaware River in South Jersey. But, did you know that the Batcave is somewhere near Newark, Delaware? Hmmm? Yes, it is! One of our customers inadvertently left evidence behind and a video is available on YouTube. check it out at: “BATCAVE HT TOUR” on YouTube. You will be amazed and jealous, at the same time.