Month: May 2023

Hey, Folks!

 

It’s ALREADY Memorial Day weekend!?! This year has been such a whirlwind of changes and incidents for me that it feels like time is just whizzing by while I stand in the maelstrom. I’m actually relieved that Brian decided to take some time off this week as it means that I can get back in the store and get some serious work done. We have a couple of collections that we are dealing with right now (and by “we”, I mean, “Brian”), but we also have a ton of new back issue material that we had bought in the months leading up to FCBD that still needs to be sorted, bagged, priced, and filed in the back issue boxes. It is mostly just “run filler” material, but it has been put off long enough and I would really like to have some more space in the back room. So that is my big project this weekend.

 

Also, today is the deadline for Diamond May initial orders. Normally I would be super panicked that the job isn’t further along than it is, but I’m not too concerned because there is no Lunar FOC this week because of the upcoming holiday so I have a couple of hours to spare today. It’s MOSTLY done, you understand, but I was totally exhausted and aching by yesterday by the time I finished my second chiropractor’s appointment and the sub form/shipping list and I couldn’t sit still long enough to finish my spread sheet work. It’ll get done just fine!

 

Because of the sheer amount of comics that Hill and I humped back from New Jersey we will briefly be adding a second table full of new Dollar Boxes soon. “Soon” as in “Maybe By The End Of The Weekend Soon”. We will see how long it takes me to get to the storage unit for the extra display table so I have somewhere to actually set the new dollar boxes. Make sure you check them out…I assure you they will be juicy!

 

There is a very small shipment next week because of the Memorial Day holiday as well as it being a fifth week month. That is good because I think we ALL need a break after a pretty crushing load of comics over the last couple of weeks. Brian and I did get stocked on supplies in case you’d like to take this time to get your bags and boards and we still have plenty of relatively new dollar box material from FCBD. Oh, and while I’m thinking about it…the remaining FCBD titles will be going back into storage next week so if you would like to pick any of the freebies up make sure you swing by the store sometime this weekend.

 

Okily dokily…that’s it for me. Time to get everything posted and get back to work. Please remember that I am closing the store on Monday, May 29^th, for Memorial Day. I considered staying open to see what would happen, but the last holiday I did that I only saw 2 customers all day. Also, because everything else is closed (like the banks) it make sit impossible tog et some of my usual Monday stuff done. So I hope that everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend and if I don’t see you this weekend, we look forward to welcoming you back next week!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

My goodness has it been a weird week for me. The trip that Hill and I took to New Jersey to pick up a comic collection went incredibly smoothly. I mean, I was more than a little impressed that we made a 1,000 mile round trip in 48 hours with no delays or problems getting nearly twice as many comics than I was expecting. I thought the drive from here to New Jersey would have been a bit more exciting…I was picturing scenes from Smokey and the Bandit with Hill and I fleeing from and out-running Smokeys on the highway, but, sadly, it was nothing but miles and miles AND MILES of pleasant hills and forests. OMG…I was SO bored. But New Jersey itself was quite lovely and it was really good to see the friend that offered his comics up to me. I hadn’t seen Michael in years and he was a gracious host who took us to a great Indian restaurant as well as an amazing breakfast place AND a wonderful French patisserie. We also got to see the amazing spectacle at night of the Manhattan/Staten Island skyline.

 

Brian and I are just starting to get into the more than 60 long boxes of material we picked up over the weekend. It is a 50 year mix of D.C., Marvel, and small press comics and while it looks like a lot of what I would call “run filler” (low price comics that fill in runs of long series) or “dollar box” material. I randomly pulled out a couple of interesting keys, including Giant Size X-Men #1 and New Teen Titans #1 & 2, so there is some good stuff in there…somewhere…lol. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled on our Facebook page for any news regarding new key back issues as well as when we put out new dollar boxes!

 

I’m kind of burying the lead here, but I was involved in a car accident on Monday morning. Yes, it’s true…Hill and I did a mad 1000 mile round trip dash over the weekend with absolutely NO problems only to come back to Toledo and get involved in a hit and run. I was at a stop light on Airport Highway Monday morning and right after the light changed I started to move forward. I checked my rearview mirror as I prepared to change lanes and I noticed this car driving up behind me. I thought, “Huh…that car seems to going really…” SMASH! She careened into me at 50MPH, shoved my vehicle over, ran up the side of my car, nearly took off the passenger side mirror, and then went rocketing down the road leaving me stunned and sitting in the middle of the road. Somehow I managed to hit the brakes and turn off the engine, although I don’t remember doing it at all. I did see a sheriff’s car going in the opposite direction flip on his lights and go chasing after her. My phone was plugged into my car and had ended up somewhere on the floor. Luckily it was right side up and I was able to call out to Siri to phone 911 for me. They sent and ambulance and then I called Hillman and basically just waited. I learned later that she drove down the road, beached her vehicle at a gas station just in time for it to burst into flames. All very exciting stuff, I suppose, but I missed the those events and merely heard about It through others. At the end of the day I am dealing with a lot of aches and pains and I can’t wait to see how long it takes for me to feel 100% again.

 

That’s it for me this week. I literally can’t handle any more “fun”. Hopefully I will have all of this insurance and lawyer stuff straightened out by the end of the week, but I apologize in advance if you come into the store and I am rundown or in a bad mood…😊

 

At least now you’ll know why…

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

I’d like to start this week’s EDitorial by thanking everyone who helped to make FCBD 2023 such a roaring success! I must admit that I have been disappointed by the attendance level for the event since we emerged from the 2020 Apocalypse and, less significantly, since I took over ownership of the store from Steve. 2021 & 2022 attendance were barley half of what Steve and I had achieved together during FCBD 2019, but this year the attendance went back through the roof and I couldn’t have been more thrilled! So thanks to Teresa and Card Advertising, the Monarch Avengers, Shivers Ice Cream, Kurt Nielson Photography, my employee Brian McMillin, my former sassy employee and door guard, Jake Teelander, and my beloved husband, Hillman Crawford for all of their hard work. I know you all know it already, but I would not have been able to get 6 people to show up without you!

 

I’ve been getting a lot of calls lately about people looking to sell their comics and believe me, we are interested, but I need to explain a bit about our current situation. Brian and I currently have a rather large collection that we are contending with as well as at least two smaller collections that are currently in waiting. Hillman and I are on the cusp of an exciting road trip to New Jersey of all places to pick another large collection of around 40 long boxes. Because of this I need to let everyone know that there is a line and it may be a couple of weeks until we have the time to sort through your collection. I mean, please remember that there are only two of us here and Brian is waaaaay better at doing it then I am, although I will be digging into the work now that FCBD is past and I have a little more time. As a result, if you are interested in putting your stuff in front of us then there is one of two ways we can go about it. If you have fewer than 50 comics then we can arrange a date and time for you to come in and we can take a quick look at your wares and let you know if we are interested or not at that time. If you have more than 50 comics then you may either drop your comics off where they will go into the queue and we can give you a call when we finish going through them or you could simply hold on to them and arrange to bring them back in when we are through the queue. Either way works for us and always remember that there are several other stores in the area to check with as well.

 

I’m not quite sure what I am going to do with all of these new back issues…lol. I mean, with a little rearranging I could possibly fit a few more boxes into the back issue area, but soon we are looking at a point of over saturation. Brian has already begun to weed out material from the current back issue boxes to go into he dollar boxes to start making room for possibly better selling back issue stock, but that is only going to get us so far. The 40 boxes we are procuring from the Jersey shore I suspect are going to be mostly dollar books, but who knows? I might be looking at expanding the amount of retail space we have set aside for the Dollar Boxes soon. In any case, keep your eyes focused on the Facebook page where Brian and I will be listing all of the new key back issues we put out for sale in the next month or two and we will also begin letting you know if large runs of back issue “filler” become available as well. Keep you eyes on the box or two (or three) that occasionally pops up on the showcase counters and generally represents new acquisitions that we haven’t quite gotten around to filing out on the back issue boxes. This summer is going to be a “Summer of Back Issues” for Monarch and I can’t wait to see how it goes!

 

I’m sorry I didn’t have the time to broadcast this week’s episode of Afternoon Delight! Brian and I had mostly gotten everything out back together after Saturday, but we were wholly surprised and delighted by the amount of foot traffic we got through the store on Tuesday and the customers that I hadn’t seen for a minute that I got to have engage in conversations. I’m also dealing with a schedule change in my life that is taking me a little longer to adjust to. Everything should be back on schedule next week!

 

I hope that everyone has a great weekend and wish Hill and I luck as we start our journey Saturday morning!

 

Eddie

Hey, Folks!

 

Well, here we are on the cusp on yet another exciting Free Comic Book Day! All preparations are nearly done and even if I wanted to change something I just couldn’t…lol. Brian and I are very muchly looking forward to welcoming everyone into the store on Saturday.

 

This year’s FCBD will not be noticeably different from last year’s event. Once again, we will be carrying ALL of this year’s FCBD selections, including a few other freebies that I am throwing into the selection. The Monarch Avengers are looking forward to reprising their various roles for pictures. The talents of Kurt Nielson’s Photo Studio will once again be here in force with their awesome mobile photo booth which will allow you to get pics with the members of the Monarch Avengers and have the picture immediately texted or e-mailed to you complete with a custom frame. We will also be handing out coupons for free ice cream from our FCBD partners Shivers across the street. It’s kind of a big deal and I simply can’t wait for the day to arrive!

 

As per usual, everything is set to get started around 11AM. This will mostly depend on how quickly the cosplayers get here and are ready to go. The line usually starts forming up around 10-ish and I like to get things started ASAP. Once again I will be limiting patrons to 5 comics per person and that is mostly to make sure I have enough comics to go around. As the day progresses and the crowds die down I tend to relax those limits once I am sure that I have enough free comics to go around. Additionally, any comics left over after Saturday will stay on the counter for at least a week and will be available for anyone who stops by the store.

 

We will also have the brand new Dollar Boxes set up out on the sidewalk for your perusal. Brian and I have been working very hard for the last two weeks carefully building and preparing around a dozen new dollar boxes and I have a feeling those of you who enjoy going through dollar boxes are going to love them! Just an FYI, but if you are entering the store either to pay for dollar comics selections ro if you simply want to shop without worrying about the free books, please let the doorman (Jake) know and he will let you in without bothering about the line for the free comics.

 

Those of you who have been enjoying Monarch’s recent acquisition of more back issue material can take heart in knowing that Hill and I are going on a trip to the wilds of New Jersey next weekend to pickup a HUGE lot of nee back issues. How big is “HUGE”? Around 40 long boxes of comics which is around 1,200 comics, most of which will consist of DC comics from the 70’s to the 00’s. It’s gonna take Brian and I a few weeks to sort through them, but keep your eyes peeled for another big box of new back issues on the counter as well as a bunch of new dollar boxes!

 

Okily dokily, I’m done for the day. It’s been pretty busy in the store today and I am hopelessly behind on FOC as well as a few other things. Crap…looks like I will be taking work home again tonight and NOT unboxing and playing my new board game with Hillman. Oh, well, I guess ownership has its liabilities as well as pleasures…:P

 

Hope to see everyone on Saturday!

 

Eddie