2000AD collecting nostalgia

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Typical that I find out about Deadhead after I just get back from Edinburgh!
Mind you I did get a copy of the Dredd t-shirt from Fopp there which was a nice surprise

I never went anywhere when I was younger but I know Forbidden Planet was certainly a place that I would have loved to have visited back in the day. The one here in Cambridge was too new to have anything old, although it did have some 700odd progs at one point. I did get my signed copy of Khronicles of Khaos from Tony Skinner, Pat Mills and Kevin Walker which was one of the rare occasions I've ever done anything fan related.

My biggest regrests have actually been Ebay related funnily enough. The amount of original artwork that used to be on Ebay 'back in the day' for what is now a ridiculously cheap level of money was immense. I seem to remember the painted covers of the 2 Apocalypse War GN's going for about £250 which was an IMMENSE amount of money in my mind then (only going back maybe 10 years?) when I had no job but now they'd be worth several times that. I did manage to get some artwork myself in time but if I'd physically had money back them I'd have a massive collection now. These days I'm finding either the artworks not out there (probably all being sold at conventions I guess) or it's old and at stupid prices.
Mind you these days I have some money so if I see something I could actually get it.

[The Legendary Shark]

Growing up near the middle of nowhere, comics shops were mythical places to me, like El Dorado or Atlantis. My weekly Progs and Megs came from the local family newsagents (and still do) but I got most of the Titan reprints through mail order from Forbidden Planet in that fancy London (except, frustratingly enough, Zenith). One time I ordered the Strontuim Dog book but there'd been a problem with the printing or something and so they sent me a copy of Halo Jones Book 2 (the second part of my order, iirc) which had been signed by Gibson and Moore as compensation. I'm not one for getting stuff signed, but this is one of my most treasured books.

A comic shop opened in nearby Southport called Planet Eater, but the guy in there seemed to think that 2000AD just wasn't good enough to be in his shop and to stocked only American pap and hideously expensive statuettes of Spider-Man doing things to villains and plastic TARDIS pencil cases sans pencils. Can't tell you how disappointed I was with the place. Even after my obligatory lapse when I decided to replenish my collection of progs, I telephoned this shop to see if he could help me with my missing Twoothies and the guy just shrugged at me down the 'phone and vaguely mentioned something called Ebay on that interweb machine thing.

Ebay is, to me at least, fantastic and I still spend hours searching through it for 2000AD and GN bargains. Without Ebay, my collection (and therefore my life) would still be incomplete - and there are still some bargains to be had for the canny searcher (Judge Dread Complimentary Case Files, Vol 1, £2.50!). It seems like Ebay is to me now what comic shops were to you then. Er...

[judda fett]

In the late/mid 80's from about the age of ten/eleven I started to travel into Cardiff town centre and look for comic shops. I found the Jacobs antiques market after asking a random stranger who looked like he might be a comic fan (cant remember what I based that assumption on) 'where could I find comics'? The comic shop at Jacobs was great (haven't been there in a while), a small room, always rammed full of people, wedged between a punk paraphenalia stall and an army memrobilia stall (german helmets and de-commissioned machine guns)!
I heard whispers of another spot to try in Roath, just outside the town centre called 'Roath Bookstore', great little shop (especially when the owners daughter worked there) where I bought many a back prog.
Other places worth mentioning were the 'Emporium' in the Castle arcade which was a kind of hippy/counter culture indoor market (it sold jossticks) which had a good comics stall on occassion (I met and got a David Lloyd autograph there); Another antiques market I vaguely remember on St Marys street where at perhaps too young an age I first discovered 'Heavy Metal', and 'Oriental Arts' in the Highstreet arcade that sold T-Shirts (got my Dredd 'Crime', Fink Angel ones there), who as legend would have it,was so 'punk' that the owners, if they caught you 'nicking' would take you around the back and give you a kicking.
Happy days!

[SuperSurfer]

Just popped into Oxfam over the road and they have quite a large comics section. I had a look at an issue of Battle (with Ezquerra Major Easy story) and it has a three page advert for a new comic, 2000AD. Quite amazing. They have a now depleted box of 2000AD back issues which has been plundered of its older issues. I could fill the gap in my collection while I worked abroad in the 90s but as I'm meant to be moving any day now, I won't be too popular with the Mrs. In fact, due to lack of space I might have to dump the last ten years of 2000AD at my mum's house.

[Mattofthespurs]

Some fantastic memories here. Kudos to all the posters.
My own memories are pretty similar. I started with 2000 AD from prog 1. The first time I was ever allowed to go to the shops on my own was nary a week later. Mum had returned home with my copy of prog 2 but sadly it missing the stickers. I badgered my mum so much she gave me another 8p and let me go to the local newsie on my own to get a second copy.

A couple of years later and I was making the regular trip to FP. This involved a 5p bus fare that took me on the number 29 bus from Enfield where I lived all the way to Tottenham Court Road. The journey took about 90 minutes all through Turnpike Lane, Wood Green, Camden and then onto the promised land. The first time I made the trip I spent a good hour searching for FP and not finding it. Eventually I saw a couple of chaps with FP bags and they sent me in the right direction. Thanks lads!

After that I was to make that journey on an almost regular basis. Those were the days when I would have no more than £2 to spend in the shop on each journey. Sometimes much less.

My favourite visit was to get my 1981 annuals signed by the droids of the nerve centre. They were to be a Christmas present because I could not afford them so my parents had stumped up the money and a friend and I travelled down to FP early and was in the queue three hours before the start of the signing. I still have both annuals I got signed from that day.

Later on in life and I was to make Comicana my comic shop when it was called something else and located in Barnet. I had a subscription from them. When they moved to Shaftsbury Avenue I continued with my sub by would often have comics I did not want put in with my sub and charged for them. Usually the were crappy DC comics the shop was trying to move like "Birds of Prey". I did once bring this to the attention of Alex, the black fella who worked there, and he just said, "Oh you really should have them, they are great." Not wanting to look a mug I did continue to have them for 6 months and then decided it would be easier never to return rather than pay for crap comics I didn't want. Alex was a decent chap and iirc the owner of the shop was Duncan McAlpine was authored the Uk comic price guide.

Good memories chaps.

[Woolly]

Just wanting to put in a good word for the Sheffield Space Centre (who used to advertise in early 2000ADs!) for being the only comic shop in Sheffield that has never changed! Just walking through the door is enough to make me feel like a kid again, and their range of 2000AD GNs is currently the best in the city! (as opposed to Forbidden bleedin' Planet, who are'nt bothered unless theres an accompanying action figure.)

The once fabulous 'Nostalgia & Comics' is now, ironically, only remembered when i'm feeling nostalgic.
And am near some comics.

[Colin YNWA]

Just wanting to put in a good word for the Sheffield Space Centre (who used to advertise in early 2000ADs!) for being the only comic shop in Sheffield that has never changed! Just walking through the door is enough to make me feel like a kid again, and their range of 2000AD GNs is currently the best in the city! (as opposed to Forbidden bleedin' Planet, who are'nt bothered unless theres an accompanying action figure.)

Sheffield Space Centre is my current comic shop of choice. Its a wonderfully old skool place. Staff are great, they apologised to customers personally as they told folk of the recent price raise that was forced on them by Diamond and the falling pound. As I explained to them I had no beef with them putting up prices as they'd reduced them when the pound was doing well. Unlike Forbidden Planet just up the road which didn't reduce them when they could have and raised them again a good 2 months before the Space Centre did.

If you're in Sheffield check out the Space Centre it really is like a glorious blast of nostaglia in itself. They keep saying they're looking to move to more modern accommadation in the centre of town to enable them to modernise. While I'll follow them and hope from a business point of view they do get the move I will be a little sad when it happens.

Wonderful place.