On Saturday I got rid of a portion of my youth -- purging all of my comic books, collectible cards, and more.
I took three big crates and one smaller box of comix down to Wonder World Comics in Taylor, MI where the guy that runs the store and one of his employees sorted and rated everything in a matter of a half hour. I would occasionally sneak a peak at what books they were going through. Luckily, most of the time, I had no memory of the books or having even bought them. Only rarely would I feel the need to reminisce to Andrea about a particular item.
The comic book guys were nice -- not showing any of the attitude that makes The Simpsons's "Comic Book Guy" such a true stereotype. On the other hand, it was one of the customers that gave me the willies.
A man maybe five or six years older than me came in and his first question to the store's owner was, "What's the coolest Bat Man thing you sell?"
Without missing a beat the owner said, "That has to be our neon Bat symbol which retails for $500."
"What's the second coolest?"
"The smaller version for $100."
The customer didn't bat an eye (pun intended) and asked for one. Rather than paying and leaving, he had quite a few questions for the guys at the store. He started going on about a "rare" version of Death of Superman that was "signed and numbered by the artist." The owner shut him down pretty quickly on that one, "That was the most overproduced comic ever. Did you buy that off QVC?" Sure enough, he had. "Maybe you can get $20 for that on eBay but it's not rare by any means."
Rebuffed only slightly the customer then launched into a one-sided discussion about GI Joe figures and his collection.
He needed validation in the worst way.
I was sad to see him leave, wondering what other topics he might have broached had he stayed a little longer.
In all, I know I didn't get the "true worth" of my books and that I could have sold them for more on eBay or even Half.com but I got some cash and I got rid of a lot of stuff that I'd been carrying around for years (some since 7th Grade). It's strange, yes, but also liberating.
The purge continues...
