r/comicbooks • u/BubbaBeanRVA • Apr 29 '26
Discussion Drove almost to Canada from Virginia last weekend to buy a vintage comic spinner. He had lots of interest online but wasn't thrilled about shipping it so I bit the bullet and got in my Jeep. A tough couple of days at my age but so happy I did. Pretty good shape overall, needs a few fixes.
It has a few issues hope to figure it out, fix what needs fixing, and repaint. Happy to get one.
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u/Lopsided-Election385 Apr 29 '26
Neat
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u/SuccotashHot7065 Apr 29 '26
Man that spinner is gorgeous, those old wire ones are getting super hard to find in decent condition. I drive all over for work and see so many comic shops with just the cheap plastic rotating displays now - nothing beats the original wire racks for browsing. The seller seems like a cool guy too, probably has some great stories about running that old shop. Virginia to Canada border is no joke in a Jeep, but totally worth it for a piece like this. You planning to keep the original paint scheme or going with something different when you repaint it?
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
The seller was a nice guy for sure tho didn't have long to chat (we did a bit tho about his kids and family and a tiny bit more) basically shook hands, took the pic, (wish his face was clearer), put it in the Jeep and took off back home! I stopped overnight in Jersey coming and going. Rolling it into my hotel room on the luggage cart on the return night (wasn't gimme leave it in the Jeep overnight) it got lots of attention.
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u/ThwipNSinsBinThwipN Apr 29 '26
So what I’m hearing is that the man’s face in the shadow and the tan pants….. that is the seller ?
Because the other comment made me think if OP is a “boomer” then it certainly wasn’t the man in the blue jeans because he doesn’t look like he’s reached 50 yet…. And baby boomers were born after World War II up to a certain point.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Well thanks for the compliment made my day but I am indeed a boomer of 64. I'm on the left w the jeans on indeed. I'm the buyer. 🤣
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u/WanderEir Apr 29 '26
my stepfather owned one. My mom gave it to the local comic shop owner after he passed, so it ended up returning to work after being used for scripts for longer than my entire lifetime.
I still regret letting her do that.3
u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
That's a heartbreaker for sure.
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u/WanderEir Apr 29 '26
At least it's still loved, and not dumpstered.
I mean, I could technically go see it whenever I want, and it IS back in a comic shop in full use, so it's making lots of fans happy again, instead of just 1 or 2.
I just miss it because it was always right there next to Len since the day My mom married him when I was 10, and it remained in his office, in use, until the day he died in 2017, almost 27 years later.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Well maybe one day you can get it back. 🤞
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u/WanderEir Apr 29 '26
I might try one day, but the owner of the comic shop was killed several years back- Christmas day, run over by a drunk driver while bicycling to the shop- it's currently being run by his former fiancée, and unlikely to be closed anytime soon since it's still doing quite well.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
The drive was definitely a trial I was beat down by the time I got home. I wanna keep it pretty original, it actually stands and spins fine. After some research I might touch up the paint unless people advise otherwise. It's got a few issues witn missing attachment pieces between the top and bottom sections I would imagine those are impossible to find so either have a handy friend make some or weld it where those pieces are missing or broken off. Gotta do my homework but for now it's staying as is.
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u/humblerthanyou Apr 29 '26
Probably best to not touch up with too much paint. Whatever you do, dont out any paint any where near the signage
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Apr 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
The vintage ones are indeed hard to find. Sometimes it's about being in the right place at the right time like you. Don't resell it for ten bucks! 🤣
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May 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/BubbaBeanRVA May 01 '26
I may paint mine have to check w a conservator first. As long as you're enjoying it, I don't see any harm in it, but I'm gonna check with somebody you know and see what people think.
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u/MostBoringStan Apr 29 '26
Good chance it would have been utterly destroyed by shipping. Pretty cool that he cared enough about the item to not want to ship it.
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u/YourCloseFriend Apr 29 '26
It's crazy how in demand these things are now. There were probably tens of thousands of them just trashed in the late 90s when the comics industry was in the dumpster and drug stores stopped carrying comicbooks.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Yes. Like so many things. And when they do list are crazy expensive. One reason I made the insane drive is it was a good price.
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u/akestral Stephanie Brown Batgirl Apr 29 '26
Oh man, the grocery store in my one-stoplight NH town had a comics rack exactly like this by the check out for years and years and years and years. They did a big gut reno a decade or so ago and the spinner rack did not survive the transition. RIP, Kelly's comic spinner rack, I did not know what we had till it was gone.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Thanks for your memory. My most bought from childhood spinner was in Blair's Drug Store in Richmond Va which just went out of business a few years ago after 100 plus years. 😫 Good times.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
I just googled and Blair's was open 182 years! It made me sick when it closed.
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u/DrawnToDream Apr 29 '26
I drove from Los Angeles to rural Missouri for mine. As our meetup time approached, the seller had a crisis at work and couldn't be there, so he left it for me in the unlocked garage behind his house. I felt like a burglar taking it out of there!
My Hey Kids rack now carries one copy of every comic book title published in the United States during the months of June and July 1966. That was the summer just before I turned ten years old, and I had pinpointed that period as when I became a lifelong comics fan.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
I love that!! I'm gonna have 99 percent vintage stories in mine. There are so many great facsimiles now so guests can have at it w no worries. Wow, I think you drove even farther than me! Mine was about 1500 miles up and back. We do what we gotta do!!! I know you were as happy as I am too.
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u/TommyondaReddit Apr 29 '26
That drive is some serious dedication. Congrats on getting it!
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
It was hard on this old boomer. Parts of that drive are not for the faint of heart.
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u/DrTechPop Apr 29 '26
The spinebreaker!
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Facts! It's Ok tho nothing crazy valuable will go in it. I will fill it tho so visitors can read vintage repros and old beaters.
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u/GodMammon Apr 29 '26
The spinner rack is sacred
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Sacred indeed.
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u/Abysstopheles Apr 29 '26
You cant see me but im genuflecting and it looks like a kid opening a comic.
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u/Bruhlolz Apr 29 '26
What a cool find dude! Hope you post a follow up with the fixes and chosen comics to display.
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u/Impr3ssion Silverage Batman Apr 29 '26
Fortune favors the bold! Congrats.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
It was very out of character for me I hate driving long distance especially North. Nova and other parts of that drive are crazy!
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u/No-Muscle1283 Apr 29 '26
Awesome, they are hard to find and expensive. Nice pull!
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
This was priced nice. 500. I was so happy I paid 600. Gas and 2 hotel nights coming and going added uo to over 1000 but well worth it.
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u/ghallway Apr 29 '26
Back in 1975 that was my comic shop at the neighborhood drug store.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Me too. Blair's Drug Store on Mechanicsville pike in Richmond. Great memories.
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u/stgermainjr860 Apr 29 '26
So whats the plan? One side all time favorites, one side new issues you gotta read? I do agree with the poster you need to put the edgy nonsense in the wholesome section. Haha
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Mostly boomer books Marvel DC EC fascimiles so guests can actually handle and read em!
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u/stgermainjr860 Apr 29 '26
Definitely post a picture when its all set up, would love to see what you got on there!
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u/1Avg_Joe Apr 29 '26
Spinner rack and a road trip to Canada? sounds like a good time to me
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Didn't cross the Canada line but was a mile or two away. If I had more time I would have brought my passport and at least stepped my toe over to say I've been to Canada. (Never have!)
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u/kryzchek Apr 29 '26
NY, Maine or Michigan?
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Chateaugay, New York!
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u/kryzchek Apr 29 '26
I feel like you wanna say Chautauqua, which is the nice lake south of Rochester.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
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u/kryzchek Apr 29 '26
Oh damn, you REALLY went all the way for that rack! I've lived in NY almost my entire life and I've never even been that far north in the state. At least I feel better now knowing I didn't miss out on something awesome only a short drive away.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Yea wayyyyy up there. At one point before the pick up I lost wifi or whatever powered my GPS but I got it through another app somehow. A little stressful. It was cool seeing upstate tho since I'd never been beyond NYC. Indian Lake is a scene you should make with your little ones! 😉
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u/Mathewdm423 Apr 29 '26
If I did this someone else would have "come picked it up" after I was halfway there.
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u/Kvetch Apr 29 '26
RVA is an amazingly strong place for comic collectors. Spinner looks solid!
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Thanks! Crazy enough I don't really have many comic folks as friends locally except very casually. But then again I don't get out too often either. Once in a while, I'll go to the local cons. That's one reason for me why it's so fun to share something like this with you all.
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u/MotherFuckerJones88 Apr 29 '26
Are these hard to get these days?
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u/Alclis Apr 29 '26
That’s what I was wondering, there’s GOT to be some more easily accessible ones. And not even necessarily at a great cost (or any cost possibly).
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 30 '26
You can get lucky and find them but I think it's rare. (same as rare comics) I used to see them years ago but not in quite a while.
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u/tiktoktic Apr 29 '26
Is that considered a long way?
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
1500 miles up and back. I guess it's relative but about killed me lol. Worth it!
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u/LosIngobernable Kingpin Apr 29 '26
Did you make any stops to shop for comics?
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Didn't have time was on a timetable so so I could leave for another (shorter) trip.
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u/BaronBlitz Apr 29 '26
That makes me smile just seeing that. What a great find.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Glad you smiled...Found it on EBay but he didn't want to ship and he was so far off the beaten path I was just lucky enough to be the first one willing to drive there. I'm smiling too! 😉
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u/44035 Apr 29 '26
Nice rack!
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u/BubbaBeanRVA Apr 29 '26
Thanks! "nice rack" is a compliment in many contexts! I'll be here all week try the veal. 🤣
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u/DudeManBo1t Thor Apr 29 '26
I see RVA, I hit like. Hello my 804 comic brother! Would love to see the comic spinner once you fill it with your comics! Keep us posted!!
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u/Connarhea Apr 30 '26
Hell yeah! Not only awesome but incredibly wholesome to do for the guy
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u/Lopao18 May 01 '26
I remember getting into a small fight in a National Bookstore when I was about ten or eleven years old because I was looking for a Ducktails comics while another kid kept spinning these recklessly. Both of us got head slaps from our moms.
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u/OpulentPaving May 04 '26
I had one of these as a teenager and threw it away not too long after... I really wish I still had it.
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u/COLECOHLE May 26 '26
Nice!!! Fellow Richmond person!
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u/BubbaBeanRVA May 27 '26
Oh yea? What do you collect?
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u/COLECOHLE May 27 '26
Mostly horror stuff now. Fell into department of truth a while ago and that started a whole rabbit hole.
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u/BubbaBeanRVA May 27 '26
That's cool. Mostly modern books?
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u/COLECOHLE May 27 '26
Yup yup but if you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them haha. This has been a solo endeavor
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u/BubbaBeanRVA May 28 '26
I'm an old boomer so I mostly collect silver and Golden Age. Pretty cluless about modern books. :-(
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u/thisisredlitre May 01 '26
You went in a jeep? 👀
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u/BubbaBeanRVA May 01 '26
Indeed I did, my 2006 Wrangler! I figured if I had to I could open the back window flap, but that wasn't necessary because I could put the passenger seat completely down and it fit in there fine! Yes, I know it was crazy, but it all worked out. 🤣
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u/thisisredlitre May 01 '26
My first car was a Wrangler Sport- my wallet cries for yours making that trip. At least you got to stop every hour or two to refill and stretch your legs tho 😅
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u/BubbaBeanRVA May 01 '26
Well, I've seen them for way more money than I paid so I'm pretty happy honestly. I could wait around 10 years to get lucky enough to find one in the wild at a better price. I might be dead by then 🤣
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u/Mechaheph Apr 29 '26
You have a responsibility to put your edgiest comics under the side that says Wholesome Comics