Hey All,
I wanted to survey you fine people on this topic. I’m looking to get the F out of dodge for a few days later this week. Anywhere in the continental US. Do any of you have a particular area in the states you enjoy visiting? Right now, I’m thinking of Palm Beach FL, not because of comic books, but because of a friend who lives down there. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
JB
I’ll be in Fort Myers soon. Also curious what people might recommend.
Did any shops survive the hurricane last season?
I live in Saint Louis and it’s fun. We have many comic shops, and a unique style of pizza people either love or despise. The weather is decent this time of year too. Plus, we’ve got an incredible zoo and there is always the Arch to go visit. If you’re thinking of visiting Florida, however, now is a good time of year before it gets too hot. I have relatives who live down there and it is unbearable in the Summer.
Toasted raviolis!
I loved Florida when I lived there…in the 70’s. I was four or five years old and many times there was an old guy down the street shooting squirrels out of trees with his 22. He would cut the tails off and offer them to the neighborhood kids. Then my next-door neighbor would grab or shoot (depending on the size) any gator brave enough to walk down our street, take it inside and make boots and belts out of it. Probably ate it too. Don’t even get me started with the giant snapping turtles and wild bores. Oh 1970’s Florida, good times. Some very odd but good folk there. I still have my squirrel tail.
I will be down in July. When you going? You can rent multi bedroom houses with pools for $175 a night.
We’ll be visiting family later this month. We’ve visited a few times, but first since Covid. They have a pool, so kids are excited.
The was a local comic shop I visited last time…I think it was Hero Traders on McGreggor Blvd which is not too far…right down the blvd. Might have the wife drop me off while she’s exploring something else.
Gotta do some research on these other places.
I went to the Scout Store while I was own last year. Its cool, but is all Scout books. Lots of pricey variants. Basically their Whatnot show in store form.
Any recommendations for shops in the Tampa Bay Area?
If you’re looking for the ultimate Wednesday Warrior shop, with occasional back issues, go check out Comics & Stuff…tell Peter and Sarah DocComix sent you!
DocComix, eh…
I was in Bradenton over Christmas, not quite Tampa Bay and every shop was closed for the holidays, so the only thing I can suggest for the area (if you call Bradenton the Tampa area) is avoid the one shop that was open.
Mez Comics and Games - The store may have better named Mez Comic and Games there was almost no comics (less than 10) and several where Free Comic Book Day books. It was all Pokeman, Magic, etc. If your looking for comics try somewhere else, or perhaps I caught them in a low time for comics.
There are few levels of disappointment like visiting a supposed comic shop for the first time and seeing it’s basically just a gaming store.
Don’t hate the playa, hate the game.
Not hating, playa
Took a trip to DC this week with the family. Hit some shops along the way. Thought I’d report in on the experience.
First shop was Fantom Comics.
Pretty small shop within the DC limits. They had a decent selection of new books, but their back issues were few, and mostly limited to recent months.
They had gaming going on when I visited (Wednesday evening) and it was tight. Which made it really tough to look through even the little stock they had…I accidentally bumped some people’s card and tokens.
Those that use ComicHub likely recognize the name. I actually ordered a few books ahead online for $1 each (see below). I’ve ordered from them before (one of the few online shops on comichron that will ship reasonably).
Concerning their online website, I will say most of their back issues did not have boards…so they were pretty man handled. So if you’re ordering online, stick to new issues from the last week or two. Staff was pleasant. It’s on the 2nd floor, so be warned.
Here’s what I picked up.
On the way back home, stayed in York, PA.
On the drive there noticed a shop that was also on ComicHub, although I was not familiar with it.
Ordered a few books I noticed they had in stock. Was not expecting much, but when I got there they had a pretty decent selection of back issues and wall books. I only had a few minutes, so had a very short list to look.
Person behind the counter said they are new to Comic Hub and will ship. Very friendly and helpful/chatty. So that’s a good option to keep in mind. Had a pretty good selection of new books too.
Here’s what I grabbed…pretty much for cover. I had B
Covers for Geiger Ground Zero already, but these go for a decent price online. Grabbed the New Mutants for my Middleton collection…only missing issue 1 now.
After visiting the Turkey Hill Experience, we headed over to Lancaster, PA to Beilers Donuts as my wife heard it was in the top 10 donuts shops in the country (it was good…not sure it beats the one that is down the street from me, though.
But right around the corner was the last comic stop for my trip, The Comic Store in Lancaster, PA.
Looking online I did not expect much…but what it was actually pretty big. A lot of boxes were below the counters. I could have spent hours there digging but we needed to get back on the road. At least they were organized quite well. Had a fair amount of newer releases…Most recent releases were on shelves in the back. Bit books from this past Wednesday were on a wall behind the counter…and they didn’t have any hot books…very few books overall.
It’s always good to have a short list of books to hunt when in a hurry. So in about 10 minutes was able to grab the books below for cover price.
Probably the best find of the trip…
When I lived in DC my regular shop was Fantom, I would walk across town to Georgetown and pick up comics. I still order from their website.
There was another shop within 10 minutes walk…Big Planet Comics…I was hoping to make it there but couldn’t fit it in. They looked like they had a lot more back issues.
