It Came From the Bargain Bins, or, Cool Finds for Cheap

[Bill Doughty]

I figured we needed a thread for people to share/brag about cool cheapie bin finds.  If there already is one, please feel free to merge this with that one, or ignore it altogether.  As you see fit.

Anyway, the local toy collector shop (which carries some comics on the side) had a quarter bin blowout sale this weekend, and despite being chock full of all the usual quarter bin suspects (though, surprisingly, not a single Warriors of Plasm, which was kind of impressive, actually), there was good stuff to be found.  I pulled:

• 1963 Books 2, 3, and 5 (Fury, Horus, Tales of the Uncanny)
• Claw the Unconquered #1
• Battle Classics #1
• Marvel Age Annual #3 (Purchased mostly for the Fred Hembeck Show framing sequence)
• Star Brand #1 (probably could've pulled together a complete pre-"the Pitt" New Universe run if I'd wanted)
• Love & Rockets (vol. 1) #s 29 & 30 (I couldn't not give these a good home for a quarter each)
• A Distant Soil (the original series from WaRP) #s 1-3 (signed and numbered by Colleen Doran, oddly.)
• E-Man (the series from First Comics) #s 4 and 5
• Some one-shot issue of Criminal Macabre, based on all the talk about it on the Horror Comics episode
• Marvel Adventures Super-Heroes #1

A pretty oddball assortment, but a good haul for $4, I thought!

[VinceB]

Ooooh, I like this thread! Thanks and karma for starting it, LB!

[jcrider4]

I bought a shrink wrapped bundle of about fifty comics labeled "DC assortment" yesterday for $5.  There was an issue of Flash on one side, and an issue of Justice League on the other.  I couldn't wait to get it home and see what else was inside.  I got home and opened it and found about forty issue of Star Trek - The Next Generation.  I was mislead!!  Oh well.  The dangers of buying shrink wrapped bundles I guess

[Bill Doughty]

I bought a shrink wrapped bundle of about fifty comics labeled "DC assortment" yesterday for $5.  There was an issue of Flash on one side, and an issue of Justice League on the other.  I couldn't wait to get it home and see what else was inside.  I got home and opened it and found about forty issue of Star Trek - The Next Generation.  I was mislead!!  Oh well.  The dangers of buying shrink wrapped bundles I guess

Ouch.  Yeah, the ol' grab bag approach kicks you square in the sack as often - well, probably more often, truth be told - as it rewards.  Sending needed karma your way.

[Matt Kramer]

Not too long ago I scored Sleeper #1-12, Maximortal #1-7 and Maximortal/Brat Pack #1 & 2 for $5.  That's the best deal I have gotten in a long time!

[clever_username]

There's one shop in town, All About Books and Comics, that has tons of back issues. I don't get there as often as I would like. They're big on bundles, too. But they are actually good deals. Last one I got was a Miracleman bundle with the first 5 issues and the 3D special. Can't remember the price, but it was pretty good. They have a couple random bundles, but most of them are solid 10-20 issue runds. And lately they've been half off. I would indulge, but my budget is almost zero and I'm trying to scale back the collecting (except for Valiant and Acclaim).

They also have a room with probably 50-75 longboxes full of back issues. All of them are going for cover price. It looks like they finally got around to organizing it better. Hopefully soon I'll have time and money to go in with a checklist and get some good deals.

[clever_username]

There's one shop in town, All About Books and Comics, that has tons of back issues. I don't get there as often as I would like. They're big on bundles, too. But they are actually good deals. Last one I got was a Miracleman bundle with the first 5 issues and the 3D special. Can't remember the price, but it was pretty good. They have a couple random bundles, but most of them are solid 10-20 issue runds. And lately they've been half off. I would indulge, but my budget is almost zero and I'm trying to scale back the collecting (except for Valiant and Acclaim).

They also have a room with probably 50-75 longboxes full of back issues. All of them are going for cover price. It looks like they finally got around to organizing it better. Hopefully soon I'll have time and money to go in with a checklist and get some good deals.

Went to this store today to pick up Action 871. I had been reading a few more issues of Quantum & Woody earlier in the day, so I decided to check the long boxes with the higher priced back issues. And sure enough, they had the last two issues I needed (21 and 22). And they were only $3.50 a piece. So now I have a complete run of Q&W.  I'm tempted to get it bound, but I might want to find another set before I do that. I'm not sure.

[whirlwindx]

I've been reading a lot of Birds of Prey lately (perfect timing  and some Blue Beetle) and got a Dixon Huntress 4 issue mini and X-Factor #98 for $1. How bad can it be?

[Fredpool]

Not exactly a bargain bin find, but definitely a cool find for cheap.

I had heard so much about The Walking Dead, but I'm wimpy when it comes to buying a trade when I know that there is much catching up to do.  I came across the first SIX Walking Dead trades at a Half Price Books store.  They were, oddly enough, half cover price, so $4.98 for the first one (God love ya, Image!) and $6.49 each for the rest.  Still unsure if I would like it enough to warrant buying six books, I bought the first three and HID 4-6 in the astronomy section, as to ensure that no one else would buy them in case I wanted to return and pick them up.  So, I read the first 3 trades and loved them!  I return to the Half Price Books the following weekend to find that it is their annual Labor Day sale, 20% off EVERYTHING!!!  I sneak back to the astronomy section and dig up my Walking Dead, and buy them for the sale price of $5.20 each.  Sooooo, for around 30 bucks, I picked up the first six trades of a wonderful series.  Not bad, eh?

[Derek Coward]

In the dollar bin of a LCS that I am not that fond of I picked up a copy of Mighty Avengers 16 (A Secret Invasion tie-in) for $1.  I think that's funny.

[BobBretall]

Torpedo Comics is currently running a sales in their 99 cent "Monolith" section so that all those books are 79 cents:
https://www.torpedocomics.com/category.php?Category=MONOLITH and shipping is free in the US if you spend $15.

I have bought from these guys a number of times, and they give pretty good service.  I availed myself of the 79 cent sale last week, and came away with the following books at 79 cents each:

•   Citizen V & V-Battalion #1,2. 3 (Marvel)–2002
•   Dart #1-3 (Image) – 1996  (COMPLETE SERIES)
•   Daring Escapes #1,2 (Image)– 1996  (w/Houdini)
•   Family Guy #2 (DDP)– 2006  ($6.95 cover price)
•   Marvel Tales (12 issues 273^) – 1993/1994
•   Micronauts #1-4 , 10, 11 (Image) –2002-2003
•   Micronauts #1 (DDP) –2004
•   Micronauts: Karza #1, 3, 4 (Image) –2003
•   Star Trek: Klingons – Blood Will Tell #1, 3, 4 (IDW) –2007
•   Star Trek: Year Four #2 (IDW) –2007
•   Zombies: Eclipse of the Undead #1-4 (IDW) – 2006  (COMPLETE SERIES)

  Most of it is not "Comics Gold", but I already had most of the stuff on the 221 pages I browsed through, there was some really good stuff there that I already had.

[whirlwindx]

Bought some stuff out of town on Saturday at a used bookstore and on sale at a comic shop.

• B Krigstein Vol.1 HC by Fantagraphics for $9.99 regular being 49.95. Probably my deal of the day.
• New Mutants Classic Vol.2 $9
• Marvel Comics Presents: Wolverine Vol.1 (Claremont's prelude to Wolverine's ongoing series) $1.99
• Wolverine First Class: The Rookie $8
• Exiles: World Tours 2 $10

[MarcusQ]

Best deal I got recently was the first 13 issues of Wasteland for £5.50 which i was quite pleased about!

[Bill Doughty]

B Krigstein Vol.1 HC by Fantagraphics for $9.99 regular being 49.95. Probably my deal of the day.[/li][/list]

Holy crap, that's awesome!  That calls for Metal Smiley, I think! 

[whirlwindx]

More bargain bin diving for me.

Batman #512-514, Shadow of the Bat #32-34, Detective Comics #689-681, Robin #11-13 (The whole Prodigal storyline)
Marvel Age #34 (Scarlet Witch and Vision limited series featured)
Mister X #9
Hercules: Prince of Power #1
Excalibur #91
Cloak and Dagger Vol.2 #3
Night Thrasher #8
Falcon Limited Series #2
Marvel Comics Presents #11

[Bill Doughty]

A week or two back I got the Demo TPB (AiT/Planet Lar version) for $5.  I was quite happy about that.

[VinceB]

We should pin this thread. I'm guessing it will see a lot more traffic soon. 

[clever_username]

There's one LCS in Phoenix that has a ton of back issues, most of them are cover price. They are also big on bundling runs at really good prices, and the books are around NM condition.

I picked up a couple good-sized Valiant runs of Bloodshot and Eternal Warrior. It was mostly stuff between Unity and Chaos Effect. Paid $26 for 57 issues (so about .45 an issue), and only 20 ended up being stuff I already had. Not bad. And I was actually on the way to a used bookstore that has a bunch of comics. They charge .50 cents an issue and are in much worse condition. So it ended up saving me some money. 

[Bill Doughty]

I picked up the first of the new Gotham Central hardcovers at the local semi-regular comic & toy show last weekend for $10.  Woohoo!

[JeffGNA]

...at the local semi-regular comic & toy show...

I like to hit the Pittsburgh Toys and Collectibles show a few times a year.  Now called the Steel City Con.  Always some great deals to be found there.  Picked up a bunch of $5 Essentials, lots of $2 trades, $10 hardcovers.  Love it.

'Course, I always check out CheapAssTrades.com for deals too. 

Jeff