Speaking of Yard Sales

Speaking of yard sales, I had one of those experiences that comics geeks dream of. One of the small cities in the eastern ‘burbs was having its annual citywide yard sale. We love to do those kind of sales, because they’re in the nicer (richer) part of town and you can generally get some pretty good stuff really cheap.

At one house, there were a couple dozen tables set up in the driveway. It looked like the remnants of a flea market booth or antique store. I was wondering if the two women running the sale were getting rid of the stuff after the proprietor died. Several things had two or three different price tags on them. I guess it could have also been the drabs of an estate sale.

Anyway, on one of the tables, there were about a dozen short boxes of comics, each with a sticker that said “$25 for whole box.” Nearly all of them were full of 90’s Marvel and Image stuff—including about 2 dozen copies of Venom #1. In other words, it was mostly crap. Except for one box.

Admittedly, none of it is any kind of great, unheralded find, but from my perspective, it was a treasure trove: obscure teen humor titles from the 50’s, Charlton romance books from the 50’s, SA Superboy, DC romance books, just a hodge podge of oddball stuff—which just happens to be the stuff I’m interested in reading and collecting these days.

I had to borrow the money from Keith to get it, but I walked off with that box, for $20 yet! (My motto for yard sales is “Don’t be afraid to negotiate.”)

It may not seem like discovering a trove of Golden Age stuff in someone’s attic, but I kind of felt that way. There were nearly 70 comics in that box!

Interestingly enough, the week before, we had our yard sale, and I got rid of the last of the comics and graphic novels I’ve been clearing out for over a year now. After several trips to the comic shop, Half-Price Books, and two previous yard sales, I was down to a half dozen or so gn’s and three short boxes, none of which were packed full. (They probably all could have been condensed into two boxes.) I sold a few things, but most folks were ignoring them. Then, a fireman (seriously) came along and offered 20 bucks for all of it, and I let him have it.

I probably could have haggled a bit or turned him down. Even though it was kind of the dregs of what I had to sell, he was getting a deal. If I had been able to sell everything at the prices I was asking, I would have made a lot more than that. I just wanted the stuff gone, though, so I took his twenty.

I’m kind of thinking my super 20 buck find was some kind of karmic payback for being easy to get along with that day.