Okay, I know the original plan was to eBay a lot of my books this month. There were only two transactions that I managed to felt was worthy of the Quest, these hadn't even touched burning my self-imposed spending cap. To be honest, I got withdrawal symptoms, I needed to buy... I needed more Batman. Like, now. I needed a comic mart.
I'd been to the London Collectors Marketplace earlier this year for the first time and absolutely loved the experience. Thousands upon thousands of cheap and cheerful comics. The big boys of the southern UK were present, Incognito, Orbital, and Krypton, as were a whole load of smaller traders. If I wanted a 25p Robin book, I got one. If I wanted Hulk 181 at £575, I could have got one. Truth be told, it was after this event that I got really serious about having a proper go at this collection.
Months later, I attended last weekends Golden Orbit event held at The Thistle Hotel in central Manchester. While there were significantly fewer traders than the London event and a £2 entry fee, there were a hell of a lot more bargains to be had. The average price I paid for a book was 50p, which is a bargain any way you look at it (I'm sure going to miss the 50p Batman comic, when I have to get the older/expensive titles). The other cool thing I noted about this event, that differed from the London, was because the event was a lot smaller, there was definately more of a friendly, more welcoming atmosphere.
I'd love to list the stuff I got there, but I'm still suffering from Buyer's Guilt, so like a really shady one night stand, I just accept that it happened and try not to talk about it! Yes, it's true, I got very carried away in the two and half hours I spent rifling through traders long boxes, and I wasn't the only one.
The point of this blog, is this nugget of advice: If you have decided to start, or build upon a comic book collection cheaply, and are fed up of eBay and your LCS, and live in the UK, then get yourself to one of these events. They are so awesome, I'm already saving up for the next one.
