Keskustelujen arkisto

Hello Friends,
As I have recently written in another post, I am Italian, I live in the US and I am a big fan of Disney Comics. I would love to subscribe to the Italian Topolino magazine but it may be too expensive to pay for the international shipment extra charge.
Let's say that I abandon this idea and that I start collecting Disney Comics in their US edition, where should I start? I know that no new issues are being published nowadays but there are tons of back issues that I could buy. I am looking for something with a fair price (I am not interested in Walt Disney Comics & Stories #1, eheheh). I am in love with Donald Duck and all his relatives. What would be the best title to start with and from which numbers should I start buying these comics?
Thanks in advance!

Botolo, the Gladstone album series of Carl Barks comics (Uncle Scrooge Adventures in Color, Donald Duck Adventures in Color, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories in Color) are no longer available in complete sets (except for C&S), but many can be bought individually from brucehamilton.com for $12, $15, $20 each:

http://www.brucehamilton.com/GLAD/AAA%20Steve%20Files/Series2Albums/Main%20Album%20Page.htm

If you buy individual comic books, you can always look in INDUCKS http://coa.inducks.org/index.php to find out which issues have stories by artists/authors you know you like. (That's what I do, rather than trying to collect a run of issues in order.) If you want to go by the ratings submitted by people who use INDUCKS, you can work from their "top 100" list (it actually goes past the top 100):

http://coa.inducks.org/recommend.php?top100=1

Click on the story you're interested in, and see what comics/albums it's been published in. Or, if the format and quality of paper makes a lot of difference to you, you can narrow your search on that basis; for instance, some people would prefer the Gladstone & Gemstone "prestige" square-bound comics (Uncle Scrooge 300's [more or less] and Walt Disney's Comics & Stories 600's) because of the high-quality paper and reproduction (*and* high-quality stories, in contrast to the schlock that was published in the USA in the 1970's).

Several comics stores have been recommended on other threads on this forum; I know several of us have had very good experience with

www.mycomicshop.com

They have lots of Disney stuff, fair prices, very reasonable shipping costs, prompt service, and a customer-friendly website.

Nostalgia Zone--

http://www.nostalgiazone.com/doc/collector_catalog/Disney.html

has a bunch of their Disney stuff on sale; this is older stuff, including some Gladstone but no Gemstone.
Or you can always try eBay! Often you get the best deals that way, but there's some risk that the seller won't describe the condition accurately.

I'm sure other forum members will have more helpful advice; I'm only a dilettante collector. I bought all the Gladstone and Gemstone duck comics, but I only save/collect those with stories I actually am going to re-read.

During the Gemstone run, some readers (not me!) complained that there were too many reprints of "classic" stories. One good side effect of Gladstone's & Gemstone's reprinting of great stories is that there are affordable copies available of many of Barks' and Rosa's stories in regular comic books with high production values. Gladstone/Gemstone also did first-American-printings of stories by authors/artists from other countries such as Scarpa, Marco Rota, Daan Jippes, Jan Kruse, Evert Geradts, Ben Verhagen, Daniel Branca, Gorm Transgaard, Wanda Gattino, Werner Wejp-Olsen. Not to mention first printings of stories by William Van Horn, John Lustig, etc.! Lots of quality stuff, in high-quality comics, that you can find pretty cheaply.

One thing to consider, Botolo, are the shipping costs. If you try to buy individual issues one at a time the mailing costs can really start adding up. I find it's best to buy, maybe not as often, but then buy a whole batch all at once from one seller.

On eBay look for groups of comics. There may be a few in the batch you already have or don't really want, but it's usually still way cheaper then just picking out one comic each from different sellers. Of course, on a certain issues that you can't find anywhere else, you can spluge and just buy that one individually.

I'm a nonsmoker and when I buy used, I always check ahead of time to make sure the comics I'm getting are from a nonsmoking environment. I personally can't stand reading a comic that smells like cigarette smoke.

On the cheaper comics I like to buy ones in near mint condition even though I plan on reading them. That way they don't come with any problems. I try to avoid sellers who use terms like "it's in good condition" and generally prefer a comic book grade so I know what I'm getting. Half of the fun in collecting is the hunt. Good luck in your search!

Patrick Hanifin
www.PatrickHanifin.com
www.SqueakyCleanComedy.com

Great, Botolo! Hope you're pleased with the results. Happy reading!
Another store I've had good luck with is "ducks-r-us", an eBay store located in Connecticut.
http://stores.ebay.com/DUCKS-R-US-DISNEY-COMICS-AND-MORE?_trksid=p4340.l2563
They have extensive Disney inventory. Their prices may be a little higher than mycomicshop's, but like mycomicshop, they can be trusted as to condition and they ship promptly. I'll check them when mycomicshop doesn't have something I want.

Friends, I just received the comics I ordered, thanks to your suggestions. Here they are!

Yep, I just picked some of the Top 100 stories from Inducks and bought the issues where these stories were printed.

Quote from user: botoloFriends, I just received the comics I ordered, thanks to your suggestions. Here they are
Nice! Have fun reading it!