Like most conventions and shows large events like this among other things mean good shopping opportunities. With over 400 dealers and tables in artist Alley there were more than enough places to spend your hard earned money. I see the shopping breaking down into two major classes, collecting and bargains, though sometimes the two will combine.
If you are a collector and are trying to complete a set of a series or looking for an elusive hero clix character this is the place to look. Quite literally thousands of long boxes full comics goodness await. Dealers who have been building collections for years are here. And if you can’t find that elusive Superman #38 then chances are you’ll get a lead on where to go. At the very least if you are a true collector, the hunt is half the fun and this is a place with plenty of hunting ground to cover.
I no longer collect for value or to complete sets. I think of my comics as a reading library that is for reading, there fore I am not so concerned with mint copies any more. I also don’t mind incomplete runs. I want stories. Which leads to the second major group of shoppers.
Bargains.
There are an awful lot of trade collections on my shelves, actually over 1400 of them. There are always more that I want though. Wizard World Chicago really fed that need for me. I came home with two large boxes full. I found a lot of dealers with books for $5 a piece and even hard covers at under $10. I bought the first three hardcover collections of Walking Dead for $50 for all three. I got a couple really nice DC Archive editions for under $30 each. Titles I might not normally pick up were just to good a bargain to pass up. This also nice because it frees up spending money to try out new things.
I also tend to not buy too many toys any more just because they take away from book money, though I did buy some last weekend because the prices were just great. I got a Dalek, a Batgirl, a Batman and characters from the Year Without a Santa Claus. I know Timm bought a Tardis, which we should have used for packing on the way home…
I have reserves of reading material for months now and while I’ll still be buying more comics each week, it’s nice to know We could get locked in the house for six months and not need reading material!
Anybody want to share some great bargains?