I discovered an LCS today!

cobra_commander · Post by **cobra_commander** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 10:06 pm

tarheelmarine wrote: Yea, he is still overpriced. Check this out, he had his son or grandson in the store (10-12 range) and he is just lighting them up one after another.

So when exactly did Denis Leary open a comic shop?

tarheelmarine · Post by **tarheelmarine** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 10:11 pm

cobra_commander wrote:
tarheelmarine wrote: Yea, he is still overpriced. Check this out, he had his son or grandson in the store (10-12 range) and he is just lighting them up one after another.
So when exactly did Denis Leary open a comic shop?

CC can't even get the quote to work right. sigh.

cobra_commander · Post by **cobra_commander** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 10:33 pm

tarheelmarine wrote:
cobra_commander wrote:
tarheelmarine wrote: Yea, he is still overpriced. Check this out, he had his son or grandson in the store (10-12 range) and he is just lighting them up one after another.
So when exactly did Denis Leary open a comic shop?
CC can't even get the quote to work right. sigh.

You're not going to make my buddy list with talk like that THM

tarheelmarine · Post by **tarheelmarine** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 12:03 am

cobra_commander wrote:
tarheelmarine wrote:
cobra_commander wrote:
tarheelmarine wrote: Yea, he is still overpriced. Check this out, he had his son or grandson in the store (10-12 range) and he is just lighting them up one after another.
So when exactly did Denis Leary open a comic shop?
CC can't even get the quote to work right. sigh.
You're not going to make my buddy list with talk like that THM

LOL

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 2:08 pm

I had a little time today so I went by there again. They did have some new comics out, but not much. I browsed through their back issue selection and was very disappointed. It was 6 long boxes worth of quarter bin material at insance prices. Nothing was less than $2.00 There was a handful of Valiants - Rai & FF #9 for $3.00. An odd issue of Harbinger and Hard Corps, both $3.00. And A&A/EW #26 for $5.00. They did have some Impact issues I needed, but I'm not paying $2.00 for an issue of The Comet. They had a decent selection of Flash and Captain America which I'm trying to rebuild my collection of, but they were overpriced and in pretty rough shape. Very few of the books were bagged and boarded. The majority did have a bag, but the flap wasn't taped - it was tucked inside behind the comics. So nothing was anywhere near NM condition. Everything had spine creases, corner dings & faded colors. The bags were so old they were sticking together. I told the guy I thought the back issues prices were a little high and he said they just went by guide price. I pointed out that condition has to be taken into account and he just shrugged.

I do hope the store is able to make it and be successful, but those back issue prices have got to come down.

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 2:13 pm

Oh, and the name doesn't have anything to do with XO. It's a reference to the "Llanowar Elves" card from Magic: The Gathering.

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 2:22 pm

Heath wrote:Oh, and the name doesn't have anything to do with XO. It's a reference to the "Llanowar Elves" card from Magic: The Gathering.

As in XO Llanowar ?

greg · Post by **greg** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 2:55 pm

Knightt wrote:As in XO Llanowar ?

XO Llamawar? Sounds like a competitor to the Goat for <strike>coolest</strike> lamest animal in Valiant/Acclaim.

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 3:03 pm

GOAT GOAT GOAT MOTA GOAT GOAT GOAT GOAT GOAT GOAT

X-O HoboJoe · Post by **X-O HoboJoe** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 3:46 pm

greg wrote:
Knightt wrote:As in XO Llanowar ?
XO Llamawar? Sounds like a competitor to the Goat for <strike>coolest</strike> lamest animal in VALIANT/Acclaim.

X-O Lamewar?

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 3:48 pm

X-O HoboJoe wrote:
greg wrote:
Knightt wrote:As in XO Llanowar ?
XO Llamawar? Sounds like a competitor to the Goat for <strike>coolest</strike> lamest animal in VALIANT/Acclaim.
X-O Lamewar?

X-O Ijustwanttoboostmypostcountwar ?

X-O HoboJoe · Post by **X-O HoboJoe** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 3:51 pm

Knightt wrote:
X-O HoboJoe wrote:
greg wrote:
Knightt wrote:As in XO Llanowar ?
XO Llamawar? Sounds like a competitor to the Goat for <strike>coolest</strike> lamest animal in VALIANT/Acclaim.
X-O Lamewar?
X-O Ijustwanttoboostmypostcountwar ?

Like anyone needs an excuse?

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 3:53 pm

X-O HoboJoe wrote:
Knightt wrote:
X-O HoboJoe wrote:
greg wrote:
Knightt wrote:As in XO Llanowar ?
XO Llamawar? Sounds like a competitor to the Goat for <strike>coolest</strike> lamest animal in VALIANT/Acclaim.
X-O Lamewar?
X-O Ijustwanttoboostmypostcountwar ?
Like anyone needs an excuse?

X-O Likeanyoneneedsanexcusewar ?

cobra_commander · Post by **cobra_commander** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 9:59 pm

Knightt wrote:
X-O HoboJoe wrote:
Knightt wrote:
X-O HoboJoe wrote:
greg wrote:
Knightt wrote:As in XO Llanowar ?
XO Llamawar? Sounds like a competitor to the Goat for <strike>coolest</strike> lamest animal in VALIANT/Acclaim.
X-O Lamewar?
X-O Ijustwanttoboostmypostcountwar ?
Like anyone needs an excuse?
X-O Likeanyoneneedsanexcusewar ?

cobra_commander · Post by **cobra_commander** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:00 pm

cobra_commander · Post by **cobra_commander** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:00 pm

Funny

slym2none · Post by **slym2none** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 12:08 am

Oh, boy...

-slym

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 9:28 am

So I haven't been back to "Lan-O-War" since my last post in this thread. I went by there yesterday and there was a sign on the door saying they had moved. So I tracked down their new location, and man was it a downgrade! They went from a HUGE place with tons of open floorspace, to and upstairs apartment. I'm not kidding. It really is an upstairs apartment. The "living room" is where the counter and very small display rack of new-ish comics is. One of the bedroom has the 5 long boxes of back issues and a couple of racks with Warhammer figures on it. The other bedroom has a Warhammer gaming table set up (but nobody was there playing). It was very claustraphobic. Their back issues were still lacking boards and overpriced. The move seems like a last grasp at becoming profitable.

That saddens me because I think this town could support a good comic book store. It would just take too much money setting up in a good location with a decent and wide-ranging inventory, and adequate advertisement. It would probably take a year or more to show a profit.

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Thu May 10, 2007 11:15 pm

I discovered another LCS today. I had gone by a local bike shop to have the rear tire changed on my Harley. He stopped accepting credit cards, so I had to run to an ATM to get some cash. On the way there, on a street I've been down a million times, I saw a storefront with a bunch of comic and game banners hanging above the entrance. My first thought was that "Lan-O-War" moved again. So I stopped by on my way back to the bike shop.

It's not Lan-O-War, but a place called "Anime 4 Ever." I walked in and there were a few new comics, some guys playing Magic on one of the tables in the gaming room. A a guy who really thought he was Naruto and was in full costume was shopping there. What a freak.

Anyway, he's got about 20 long boxes or so of back issues. But I couldn't dig through them because I was very short on time, and they were stacked on top of one another about 4 boxes high. But what I could get to was mostly old independent stuff. And in GREAT condition, and multiples of each book. There was a stack of Fish Police Special, Mini Mates (looked like an X-Men parody), Adolescent Radioactive Blackbelt Hamsters, other various books from Eclipse, Comico, etc.

I asked the owner how long he's been there and he said two years. TWO YEARS?? How did I not know about that place before? I told him I never knew he was there until I saw the banners as I was driving by. He said he's been getting a LOT of people coming in saying the same thing since he hung the banners. I wish he would have done that a long time ago.

He said he'd make me a killer deal on the back issues. I'm going to try my hardest to go by there tomorrow (Friday) and dig through them. That will be my one and only chance before we move across the country, so I hope I have the time (ie, I hope my wife lets me).

Chiclo · Post by **Chiclo** » Fri May 11, 2007 1:37 am

Heath wrote:A a guy who really thought he was Naruto and was in full costume was shopping there. What a freak.

I think I know that guy!

whovianone · Post by **whovianone** » Fri May 11, 2007 6:26 am

Knightt wrote:
X-O HoboJoe wrote:
greg wrote:
Knightt wrote:As in XO Llanowar ?
XO Llamawar? Sounds like a competitor to the Goat for <strike>coolest</strike> lamest animal in VALIANT/Acclaim.
X-O Lamewar?
X-O Ijustwanttoboostmypostcountwar ?

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Mon May 14, 2007 7:55 pm

I wasn't able to go by Friday, so I went by today. My time was limited (I squeezed the visit in on my way to pick up the moving truck) so I only got to dig through about 7 long boxes. I wish I had found this place a long time ago and/or had more time and money today! For collectors of dead universes and independent comics, this was a dream find. Everything is in REALLY great condition. You can tell some of the books have never been opened and read. The big negative is that nothing was bagged and boarded so the pages are no longer bright white. Other than that, they all have sharp corners, glossy covers, no spine creases, no wear down the spine edge from the cover being opened and closed, etc. And there were multiple copies of everything. Between 5 and 10 copies of full runs of books from Eclipse and Comico and First and every other independent publisher ever.

I picked out a couple hundred books for $25 but could have easily picked out a few more long boxes. He offered the whole collection of 30 or so boxes to me for a pretty good price, but with the moving expenses I'm pretty strapped for cash right now. $25 was more than enough to get me in trouble with my wife! The saddest part is that I'm leaving the state in 2 days and may never have a chance to shop there again.

slym2none · Post by **slym2none** » Mon May 14, 2007 11:46 pm

Was "Naruto" there again?

-slym

Chiclo · Post by **Chiclo** » Tue May 15, 2007 2:09 am

slym2none wrote:Was "Naruto" there again?

-slym

No, I had to work today.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Tue May 15, 2007 6:59 pm

Man, I can't imagine going that long without a decent LCS. From what I've ben reading since just before I joined the board, it sounds like some of you guys have had rotten luck when it comes to this. My area is actually pretty blessed, in this regard. There are about 120k people in my city and within ten miles or less, there are currently three shops open, all of which go back at least 14 years. One goes back 22, the other about 30, although the current location only about 20. I remember back in the early to mid 90's, when I was deep into comics, there were three other stores here. But, one store got shut down because the guy was supposedly running kiddy porn out of the back, one closed because the owner was too nice and had zero buisness sense. The third is the saddest. The guy that owned it got shot by a former employee over a copy of Xmen, then his brother tried to run it, but mananged only to run it into the ground. That took about 18 months. We went from 6 stores that specialized in comics as of summer of 93, to 3 by the fall of 95. There are other stores in my area that sell comics, but these are places like Borders, Barnes and Noble, as well as some used book stores. I have recently raided the used place so much, I'll need to take a few weeks off and let them replenish the stock. I truly feel for anyone that is without these stores. They are great to have. By the sounds of it, one thing has not changed, and that is that people are more interested in a qick buck than good buisness sense and longevity. The boom/bust mentality never dies, huh?