Went into the big city and the local flea market and discovered a box of comics marked 3 for a dollar. Lots of ragged issues and duplicate Richie Rich's...but I managed to cull a Spider-Man Chapter One #1 with JB's autograph, an autographed Jim Lee issue of Fantastic Four (heroes reborn issue with Wolverine on the cover...oddly Lee only plotted the issue, so why the sig?) and Detectice Comics #572 (featuring a Sherlock Holmes/Batman tale)...
All for one buck...
I need to get to the city more often...8^)

www.lionsdenstudios.com

Waaaaaay back when(early 80's), the flea market and a couple of used book stores were the only option to finding back issues in my neck of the woods. The guy I bought my comics from at the flea market was a great guy and he loved comics and sci fi and was always recommending some new things for me to try. He eventually moved his comic business to a store and then an even bigger store. Unfortunately, he sold his store and it is still going to this day under the same name and one of only 2 comic stores in my town.

Another good flea market story of my own starts just a couple of years ago. I found a guy that was selling back issues for their original cover price. I was lucky enough to get an almost complete run of Frank Miller's DD from #170 to #191 for cover price. I picked up a few others that would have set me back a few bucks if I had tried other routes. One of the last times I went to see if he had anything new, he had started selling everything for either $1 or on the really high dollar issues he would sell them for their price guide value. I went back a short while after that and he was gone.

Every hardcore comic fan / collector has their own tales of triumph, but I've got a few which stand out. Probably the biggest break I ever got was for Incredible Hulks 1, 2 and 3 (yes, the first three appearances of him by Stan and Jack) which I got, believe it or not, at a comic book convention in Los Angeles in 1992 or so for a total price of... $27.00. They were all ragged out mightily but the #1 had its cover intact and would probably translate to G---. The others were similarly in the low good range. The dealer absolutely knew what he had but apparently just wanted to sell 'em to a real fan because he made a point of saying just how crazily inflated the guides were.

Other amaazing deals that popped into my head when I read this thread: A Fine- copy of House of Secrets 92 (1st Swamp Thing) which I found in a DOLLAR BOX and a copy of Iron Man #1 (1968) in the same BOX! Okay, the Iron Man #1 was coverless, but come on! These were also at a convention in LA around the same time period.

On the other side of the ledger, I could have bought a Hulk 181 from a friend about 14 years ago for a couple bucks but didn't because...well, he's a friend and I felt a lot more sympathy for him than for pro dealers at a comic book convention who should have known what they had.

Rick Senger