So you've decided to fill in those gaps in your collection finally? Now the trick is where do you get the issues you need! There are a lot of different places to look when you are searching out those elusive last pieces of a storyline or that rare first appearance, but you may not know or hink of all of them off the top of your head. So here is a list of places you can go to look, I can't promise it will find you EVERYTHING you want (don't go looking at a garage sale and get mad at me that you didn't find Avengers #1) but it will definitely give you some great ideas of places to check out in your search
- Comic Stores – Your local comic store is still the best place around to find back issues. Whether you are looking in the regular back issue boxes, the cheap 50 cent bins, or the crazy expensive back wall of old issues you are bound to find all kinds of stuff in your LCS. Now I can’t make any guarantees on prices of course but if money is no object then this is your best chance
- Books Stores – Now I don’t mean Barnes & Noble or Border Books here. I mean your run of the mill local privately owned books store. A lot of these old book stores with their equally old books will often have a box or two of comic books lurking around their store somewhere, and usually they are grossly underpriced but not necessarily in tip top condition.
- Collectables Stores – Here’s probably the least reliable retail outlet but still worth mentioning. If you check out other types of collectables stores (i.e. coin, stamp or baseball card stores) they also will often have a small bin or rack of comic book. Since these people know the value of collectables, these issues will often be in better condition but also more expensive then whatever gems you find in the books stores you check.
- eBay – This should really be #1! EBay is the single most amazing resource you will find for comic book collecting. You often find great issues for $1 or less if you know the right sellers to search through, and careful scouring of the comic books section will often yield fantastic results!
- Online retailers – It’s also worth it to check out other online retail outlets to complete your collection. There are lots of sites out there such as milehighcomics.com, mycomicshop.com, or tfaw.com that offer great back issues selection without ever leaving your home! Now you have to be careful to not get gouged on the shipping or over pay for your individual issue but again, if money is not an option and you are willing to pay for convenience then this is a solid way to go.
- Garage Sales – When you think of garage sales you think of people selling their old junk probably, but one man’s junk is another man’s treasure! Often someone in the house (either the current generation or maybe a parent back when they were growing up) USED to collect comic books and no longer does so they are looking to sell them off for a meager profit. So why shouldn’t you be the one to benefit from their inexperience!
- Fleamarket – Similar to garage sales, flea markets are a wealth of other people’s junk, but that doesn’t mean it junk to everyone! Take a stroll through the booths at the market, taking special care to stop at people selling books. And it never hurts to ask! If you don’t see comics, why not ask if they have any? They may have just run out of room on their table and kept them underneath, so ask!
- Old family members – Most of our parents or grandparents probably picked up some issues when they were kids and when they got over the “fad” just packed them away into boxes and forgot. So why not ask about it? I’ve seen people acquire copies of Amazing Fantasy #15 and Giant-Size X-men #1 from their older family members who didn’t have ANY idea of what they had locked up in storage.
- Friends/Neighbors – Talk with some friends or whoever you know about comics. Often if you start talking about your collection, you’ll be surprised how many people say, “Oh yeah I have a few issues lying around! Nothing special just something I picked up because it looked cool”. First of all, I can guarantee that if they collected that one issue that one time then they have absolutely no idea if it’s “anything special” or not. Second of all, many times a good friend won’t care about holding on to that one issue, especially once you’ve explained how desperately you need it!!
- Other collectors – When you are out in the comic stores, or any of the places I’ve mentioned, keep an eye out for other collectors! These people are probably searching out some elusive issue also and (just like you I’m sure) probably have piles of doubles or extras or whatever just laying around taking up space. So get to know these people, for one thing it’s always nice to have other collector’s to talk to, but also you never know how you might be able to help each other out.
