I don't appreciate backhanded compliments. He literally calls it a dump. It's not my shop, but that pisses me off. This was recommended on my home screen and I don't subscribe. Disliked and asked not to recommend again. F this trash. Comic books are free online.
Truth. Like in Pagemaster books, in Front Royal, Virginia. Fantastic shop and reliable. All his books, Like STickygoose's , are in fantastic condition.
There is absolutely no hyperbole in that statement. There was a comic shop in Bethlehem PA called Dreamscape and it was a shit show. Piles and piles of arbitrarily placed books and collectibles. But if you asked the owner Nick if he had a copy of Avengers 291 he would pause and then reply “over to the left there’s a table with magic cards. Beneath the table there is an Eaglemoss hulk figure. It’s in the pile of comics underneath it.”
You have to have a cat in a place like that! A few mice could do thousands maybe hundreds of thousands in damage! Loved those old Action and Adventure books!
the problem is, you have to watch the cat too. Cats and comics don't mix...I learned the hard way...after they have their nap they love to stretch and sharpen them claws on nice comic book boxes, I had a cat years ago ruin quite a few of my books.
@@lifegood3322 I've had one piss all over my comic collection. Thankfully, they were in sealed comic covers, so I just had to replace the covers. Still it pissed me off, though.
Good Lord!! That back room is like the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the lost ark!! I loved the owners response. "If I had a plan I wouldn't have so many books" lol classic!
I'll be on my deathbed thinking, "What was the book he decided to get graded because he thought it was the only one in existence?" Damn you, Sticky for not asking!
@@StickygooseDid you pass the word around to other people 🤔 To get him some feet move meet in his shop with all the books he has? I would tell people if it was me.❤
@@Stickygoose I envy you,amigo,all the local comicshops in my area closed down eons ago,have to travel an hr away ( on my off days from work ) to another city to visit a good comic store.And of course weekend traffic is-CRAZY-feels like I'm racing in a Grand-Prix motor race. LOL.
The treasure that could be in that back room just sitting there will forever be on my mind. What a comic shop owner, Dave is the r sweetest guy. I hope this video sends people in his direction. I know to place is messy but this is part of the fun finding random stuff everywhere. Great video as usual buddy! 👏
Wow. The stacks of DC under the counter. The action comics collection just stacked there like nothing. THAT BACK ROOM! I got so much anxiety as soon as you panned to the left and right when you walked in there. What a shop. What an owner. I'm so jealous of you guys in the midwest/Eascoast. Your shops and owners are just such higher quality and have better/friendlier people running them. California shops are just sad in comparison. What a treat you got to experience.
Bro…I’m in California also (though originally from the Midwest). I get what you are saying. We had a comic bookstore out here called Bunky Brothers…best store around! Had a lot of old stuff. They ended up selling a lot of their inventory and downsizing…but I loved their store! Nice guys!
yes, absolutely. I am thinking of making trip down there and shopping. I got some big money to spend. Now I know where to go. I am a big time collector and like good places.
I was a customer of a store EXACTLY like this one when I lived in another state for six months. I walk in the alley side door where the owner was at the back door smoking a cigarette, pet the store cat and then wander around. Our relationship was so connected at one point , he let me go down to the basement. Boxes and more boxes! He said ," look around , if you find your DD #1 or anything you want , we can negotiate a price later."
I'm from Newport News and I go there a lot. Dave has always been super chill like that. I once asked him about pressing books and he said the only pressing that he does is putting comics between a couple of heavy books. He's definitely old school. Dave is a good guy.
it's shocking that an old school comic store owner doesn't attempt to fleece those that buy them fully knowing they can/will flip them for more? His heart is in the right place that's why! He's making a living doing what he loves whilst passing on to others with no ulterior motive
@@rap3208 i should imagine he's hit retirement, many folks retire yet choose to "work" as boredom can be a bad thing. Enjoys what he's done for years, nothing better than getting paid doing that
See, your flipping right past all that great 60s and 70s DC stuff that I would want and then pull aside that Watchmen, which I would have absolutely no interest in.
Same here and then he's got some golden age stuff like early super boys and action comics and Superman etc I was screaming wait wait pull that out pull that out LOL(umm the comics that is)
When I make someone pull out a bunch of stacks for me, I always buy a few books, even if I don't want em. The cheapest ones of course. Just to make it worth their time. That's why no one ever 'treats me like s*'. I know nobody thinks this way. People will dig through a whole shop, take books out the plastic, then just walk out. I was glad you took that Watchmen at least. If I were making money off filming people's stores, I would buy a stack everywhere I went. Instead of freeloading content from their place and leaving.
@@leodf1 I think the same way as you. If somebody bends over backwards with extraordinary service I definitely buy stuff I probably wouldn't have bought otherwise just to reward them for their effort. That's if there's a business owner. If it was a straight-up work or I probably would have slipped him a 10-dollar bill or something.
Wow, I could have spent days in that store digging through all those boxes! That back room though, it gave me a huge sense of wonder and anxiety at the same time. Glad you were able to have a great experience and Dave seems like an awesome guy that you could spend hours talking about comic books.
I’ve been in a few in different states.. Spaces like Benders are treasure troves! They’re loaded with history. Not just in books, but from the days before all this technology.. The days when we bought to complete our collections, before the movies, before the foolishness of spec. The grumpy owner that warmed up to us “annoying” kids once we returned a few times.. They knew everything, and I mean EVERYTHING!!! BEAUTIFUL POST!!!!
Reminds me of bookstores I frequented in and around Los Angeles in the late 1970’s. Most of the good stuff was upstairs or in the back. Great video and shop! Thanks for sharing!!!!
As a casual comic book fan who loved reading and collecting in the 90, I’ve found myself wondering into comic shops over the last 24 years and totally relate to the feeling of being treated like shit, and quite literally scoffed at. Has made me feel very wary about going into any, but recently I went to Top 5 Comics in Glenwood Springs CO and had a great time. The owner of that shop is younger, but reminds me so much of the owner in this video. The shop also has that quirky, unorganized, boxes stacked to the ceiling vibe, which is actually so absolutely endearing. Loved this video, and thank you for your time in putting it together.
@@williamlangeii4012 I think the only people doing this, on average, are stores and vendors. They will slab these and sell them for cheap but raise up the cost of an OK to good book a lot to make up for the loss on the others. sometimes I think they are just hoping the book gets big.
The most legendary comic store in the LA area was Gary's Corner Bookstore. It was even crazier than this as it was an old OG comic store that had been open decades so there were boxes on boxes on boxes. It was the famous store on San Gabriel Blvd. that had big superhero murals on the side of the building.
Cool looking old-school store. I think I could spend days there just taking it all in. However, I wonder how many sales shops like this miss due to the disorganization? Some people probably feel uncomfortable having to ask him to keep pulling stacks of books out of the case. Plus, the amount of time it takes to sort through it all.
You hit the nail on the head 17 minutes in about modern day comic shops being assholes. I stopped collecting because every corner I turned I ran into assholes.
These kind of comic/toy shops are the very best places for finds . We have one here in the middle of PA the owner at ours has been here since 1981 he’s such a sweet guy and knowable. The store is a gold mine this place here seems like a bit of heaven on earth
Those are 100% the BEST comic shops to stumble across. No telling what you might find! There is a guy in my hometown with a shop in the back of his costume store. No organization. Stacks of mixed comics just piled everywhere. I LOVE IT!
Owner probably feels very conflicted with this video title lol, I guess stock management became unmanageable years ago for the owner, but he seems like a good man and there's treasure to be found in places like this.
Benders, 10th Inning, Atomic, Heroes & Villians. Lived in this area since 77 and those are my 4 main shops. Dave the owner of Benders remembers me still to this day 40 years later. I took an entire decade off from collecting, and Dave said hi to me just like I hadn't taken a day off when I walked back in.
Great owner but I feel sad for however has to deal with that back room one day. Someone should make a comic shop rescue reality show. Would definitely watch that.
I spent 3 years getting My Action Comics and Superman collection back to January 1957, as in the issues from 1968 back. Going to that shop looks like I could of done it in a day, with the right money. Were most of those old Action's $24.95? I was paying £100 or more for the 1957 to 59 issues!
Wow, I’ve lived in VA almost my whole life and never heard of Benders, but I don’t go to Hampton much either. I grew up bothering the store owners in Trilogy though. That back room is amazing. My ocd tells me just to go organize all that stuff for free so I can see what’s in there.
guy gets all books for quite low prices ; owner lets him behind the shelves and in the storage room ; then this guy starts complaining about a silly coupon that was taken out of one book while in reality he will not even ever read / look at the book ; it is never enough with these customers ; exactly the reason why all shops stop existing ; these customers never have enough ; they demand all and everything and leave nothing on the plate for the shop owner .
Fr. The fact this dude went out of his way when he got home to contact the owner about a stupid lil coupon ripped out after the owner gave him the fuckin treatment and the fact he's made more money on this video than he spent in the store, really pissed me off. I can't believe the owner refunded his money for that.
Holy crap, what a collection of comics in that back room. I can only imagine what treasures are hidden in there. I wish I had a place like this anywhere near me. My one and only LCS is like 0.1% of this place.
1979 is about the year that I first started reading and collecting comics. I was 12 and, unfortunately, my mum threw out all my comics a few years later when my back was turned, so I had to begin all over again about a decade later with stuff like Hellblazer, Sandman and Swamp Thing. Now, almost 40 years later I have a reasonably massive collection but nothing ultra rare because I buy the stuff I like to read and what I like to read doesn't sell for thousands. I don't care because I just love comics and I love that kind of shop because it's like Ma Gump's box o' chocolates!
Shopped at this store since the late eighties. It is relatively organized now compared to what it used to be. Back in the day prices were 10 years behind the times.
Dude, ref. 1:36, I would be buying that whole stack!! Cool. I am SO GLAD i visited your channel. I am SORRY for not having visited your channel before. But this...this is good. I am NOW going to check out your past videos for fun, entertainment, and for learning more about comic book collecting! Captainstrangelife [Hans ] also has talked about you.
I think that's a bit much to call a comic shop owner a blank hole because they are concerned about their merchandise being damaged. Maybe they had previous experiences of people damaging their comics and that's why they are defensive.
Everything about this comic shop looks awesome. Old style comic book shop, focusing mainly just on the comics. Heaps of back issues. Plus, I would love seeing the cat, as long it does not pee on the comics. Would grab that Kamandi first issue just for starters.
I moved to Eugene, Oregon from a small MN town with no shop and went into the 1st one I found in the phone book. When I walked in with my dad the guy behind the counter had just laid a slice of pizza on a stack of comics he was working on while the pizza box balanced on some other piles. I looked at my dad and said No, we walked out and went to the 2nd shop in the phone book where I set up a pull box for my monthly comics. I had to cancel a few months later when I went to work for a new shop that opened a few blocks from my house. I worked there for 12yrs.
@ChesterNutter I knew all I had to....he treated the shop owners books like crap, how would he treat mine If I shopped there? Didn't have to find out cause I started a box at the shop I worked at. Where I got everything at cost
Awesome store. That's exactly the type of comic book store that I liked when I was collecting in the 80s. When a stores were immaculate, it made me uncomfortable to hunt and prices were usually higher.
I have to shout out to my hometown comic shop, Coys Comics. I have been shopping with Coys for the last five years, and during that time, they bought out the neighboring plaza to add more floor space. The store feels massive now compared to its old footprint. Great variety of back issues, current runs, trades, and omnis. The graded comics are well placed throughout the store walls, and there is a massive variety of new and used statues. I couldn't say enough about the staff and their attention to the organization. Thanks for the walkthrough video!
I just starting the video now. But the title I will comment on. I love dives, dumps and odd places. Card shop, comic shops and bars. The dumps are always the best!!!
love when a shop owner takes the time to treat ya like family... you got an awesome look at the entirety of his shop.... him being awesome made it easy for you to tell the story and to want other collectors to enjoy the same experience
Great Video! Went to this shop last year and had a great time hunting through the store. Definitely want to go back. Found some great deals but you need a lot of time going through everything!
Back in the day, in brooklyn, NY on grand street, there was a shop called, grand book center. It was a comic shop in the early to mid 70's. It looked so much like this here, and it had vomics everywhere including on the floor without bags !!! On one shelf i picked up Action Comics # 1, now it was on a glass cabinet,, but somebody left it open. Cannot be certain if it was the original or reprint But when i told the owner his case was open, he immediately asked his employee where is action # 1 He seemed desperate to find it. Sime of these types of places are the best at finding gems. Really enjoyed this video, and especially the cat 🐈 😊😊😊
That back room of shelves of comics going on what looks like forever reminds me of the Warehouse where they stored the Ark at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark
dude, awesome coverage of an old school store.................question, looking at your wall, how do you mount your comics for display? Just bought a house and now I have a room dedicated for my collection.....If you have a video on you tube point me to it, Thanks
Actually, it's places like this that have catapulted the price of comics so high. There are a lot of stores and dealers like this. Mile High Comics is sitting on 12 million comics and the owner keeps buying collections. He says no one in the family wants to run the business when he dies. Probably a group of dealers will buy out his collection to keep this goldmine from hitting the market.
Not really I mean sure half a million comics is a lot but do you realize how many older guys like Dave there is in the US alone . There was a study once and the average comic book collector owns a total of 3000 comics . And that's just an average collector .
When I 1st started collecting in "82" Just moved to Phoebus, when I met him, called him Mr. Weaver, now that I'm older it's Dave, he had the most amazing books back then. He had an amazing 4 for a buck section, a lot of my collection was from his store till I moved to Florida in my teens. Took a minute to make my way back to Bender's when I moved back to VA. He still remember my name. Great store
Pretty good find on that Watchmen #1, did the original 12 issues have a small print run because in my many years of collecting especially digging in the dollar bins I have never ever seen any issues of Watchmen even dog teared ones.
I agree with you. [ ref. 2:58 ]. What makes a great comic book shop is also including the owner and his personality and being friendly. Thats the kind of shop I want to visit.
Hey sticy stay out of my store my friend....lol.. Dave Weaver is a great person..I have stories for days about Dave and I been coming to that store for a long time..
I go to Benders ever so often. The place is really cool. Yes, there is a cat smell, but the amount of amazing stuff makes up for it. I like to hunt for vintage Star Wars and G1 Transformers toys there. The back room looks like the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark…RADICAL!!!
I don’t know how the rest of the country is but in the Lehigh Valley area of PA the best comic shops have always been dumps. Beachhead Comics, Dreamscape Comics, Comic Vault, Cap’s Comics. These shops all looked like an episode of hoarders and they usually had what you were looking for. Back issues, collectibles, stickers, buttons, second hand smoking. Whatever you want they had it.
You should have informed us more in the video about pricing. You showed and talked about a few individual books, but I couldn’t see the price tags. Overall, were the books priced reasonably or overpriced in your opinion? It seems like a great shop to look for a hard-to-find book, but at what cost? That Superboy 2 (2011) with Poison Ivy is a sought after book. I would be curious as to how much for that one for instance.
I live I OHIO and I went on a hunt for comic shops back in the early 2000s and found a few many gems since then I go for collected soft cover editions but the comic hunter in me still misses the thrill and sheer joy of finding that one hidden shop of a main road that makes my heart jump
WOW. Awesome store. If this is your local shop buy what you can now. The clock is ticking on a shop like this unless the next owner is already in line...
you and I think alike, in "comic book culture". About respect, and having fun. dude, I could spend a whole afternoon with you, shopping and talking about comics. Be strong and prosper.
The more I think of it ... this place s/b on the list of National Historic Sites, again as I mentioned IF Chuck at MHC sees this video, this Man's getting a call, that back room alone WOW. Lol I would stay at an air b&b in town, and Organize for him WHILE I am looking .. buying. Maybe I would take a month to 6 weeks off of work for this. Lmbo.😂🤩👍
Ive never seen an action comics run like that in a shop. Youre lucky to see a few if you were there at the exact right time. Not just sitting there. Hopefully videos like yours helps Dave make some money
There is another great comic book shop also, in Front Royal, Virginia. Pagemaster books. It looks disorganized but its NOT sloppy. But...all the comic books are in excellent condition and in Mylar plastic. Some comics are pricey, some are a bit less. But all are worth it because they are gems. Owner and his "aides" are experts and "uh", interesting people. Great paper back books selection also. NOW, about your GREAT VIDEO and very interesting shop there, in Hampton , Virginia. I will have to check it out. Heard about you "stickygoose" comics, via Dr. Silverage on his [ usually, not always ] weekly Saturday live broadcast show where he and others show their comics from their collections and pick ups. I visited once a great comic shop in Georgia [ pronounced Jawja ], where a "shop cat" was overlooking shoppers buying the books. He had a cat road and track up near the ceiling but also came down and and walked on top of comic book boxes while fans shopped. Kind of cool. The cat was a black she cat and was called Catwoman2.
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Absolutely love him saying comics should be read. So refreshing to hear.
Thank you for showcasing my Grandaddy’s shop!! It is definitely a mess but it’s a beautiful mess.
The family appreciates this!
So, you can solve the mystery of the one book he got graded, because it was the only one he had ever seen?
I don't appreciate backhanded compliments. He literally calls it a dump. It's not my shop, but that pisses me off. This was recommended on my home screen and I don't subscribe. Disliked and asked not to recommend again. F this trash. Comic books are free online.
@@xerogenesis2003 I definitely can ask him! lol. Will update when I get the name of it. :)
@nickangelo16 That's fantastic, and then we no longer need to read any more of your little bitch comments.
@@nickangelo16 bye
The best shops are usually complete messes, but the owner knows we're everything is!!
Exactly LOL
Truth. Like in Pagemaster books, in Front Royal, Virginia. Fantastic shop and reliable. All his books, Like STickygoose's , are in fantastic condition.
There is absolutely no hyperbole in that statement. There was a comic shop in Bethlehem PA called Dreamscape and it was a shit show. Piles and piles of arbitrarily placed books and collectibles. But if you asked the owner Nick if he had a copy of Avengers 291 he would pause and then reply “over to the left there’s a table with magic cards. Beneath the table there is an Eaglemoss hulk figure. It’s in the pile of comics underneath it.”
Comic Vault, Radcliff, KY
You have to have a cat in a place like that! A few mice could do thousands maybe hundreds of thousands in damage! Loved those old Action and Adventure books!
You're right!
the problem is, you have to watch the cat too. Cats and comics don't mix...I learned the hard way...after they have their nap they love to stretch and sharpen them claws on nice comic book boxes, I had a cat years ago ruin quite a few of my books.
Cat piss can damage stuff just as bad though.
@@SniffHeinkel yes it can but most indoor cats I've ever had dealings with use a litter box!
@@lifegood3322 I've had one piss all over my comic collection. Thankfully, they were in sealed comic covers, so I just had to replace the covers. Still it pissed me off, though.
Good Lord!! That back room is like the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the lost ark!! I loved the owners response. "If I had a plan I wouldn't have so many books" lol classic!
O M G LOL!!
I literally said the same thing when he showed me the back years ago. It's even more insane in person
Awesome!!!
I'll be on my deathbed thinking, "What was the book he decided to get graded because he thought it was the only one in existence?" Damn you, Sticky for not asking!
Meant to address that in the video. I was so in the moment it didn’t even click until it was too late.
Amazing 😮
I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.
@@StickygooseDid you pass the word around to other people 🤔
To get him some feet move meet in his shop with all the books he has?
I would tell people if it was me.❤
@@Stickygoose I envy you,amigo,all the local comicshops in my area closed down eons ago,have to travel an hr away ( on my off days from work ) to another city to visit a good comic store.And of course weekend traffic is-CRAZY-feels like I'm racing in a Grand-Prix motor race. LOL.
What an amazing store! You could go back every day for a month and still keep finding new books!
yeah. make more videos of you buying stuff at that store! And show more of the cat in the video!
The treasure that could be in that back room just sitting there will forever be on my mind. What a comic shop owner, Dave is the r sweetest guy. I hope this video sends people in his direction. I know to place is messy but this is part of the fun finding random stuff everywhere. Great video as usual buddy! 👏
I worked at Benders for many years post high school. I’m so happy to see it getting the attention that it deserves, it’s a one of a kind shop.
Wow. The stacks of DC under the counter. The action comics collection just stacked there like nothing. THAT BACK ROOM! I got so much anxiety as soon as you panned to the left and right when you walked in there. What a shop. What an owner. I'm so jealous of you guys in the midwest/Eascoast. Your shops and owners are just such higher quality and have better/friendlier people running them. California shops are just sad in comparison. What a treat you got to experience.
Bro…I’m in California also (though originally from the Midwest). I get what you are saying.
We had a comic bookstore out here called Bunky Brothers…best store around! Had a lot of old stuff. They ended up selling a lot of their inventory and downsizing…but I loved their store! Nice guys!
Depends where in California you are at. I'm in Fresno and there is a comic shop like this one that has been around since I was a kid.
I hope the guy gets lots of business out of this.
yes, absolutely. I am thinking of making trip down there and shopping. I got some big money to spend. Now I know where to go. I am a big time collector and like good places.
What is the name of the shop. Where
I'm going. This is where you go to spend an afternoon, if not a day, when you got some money to spend.
That shop is a gold mine! Definitely worth revisiting as much as possible.
I was a customer of a store EXACTLY like this one when I lived in another state for six months. I walk in the alley side door where the owner was at the back door smoking a cigarette, pet the store cat and then wander around. Our relationship was so connected at one point , he let me go down to the basement. Boxes and more boxes! He said ," look around , if you find your DD #1 or anything you want , we can negotiate a price later."
Great, i have known many shops like this, sadly today, relics of an earlier age.
I'm from Newport News and I go there a lot. Dave has always been super chill like that. I once asked him about pressing books and he said the only pressing that he does is putting comics between a couple of heavy books. He's definitely old school. Dave is a good guy.
it's shocking that an old school comic store owner doesn't attempt to fleece those that buy them fully knowing they can/will flip them for more? His heart is in the right place that's why! He's making a living doing what he loves whilst passing on to others with no ulterior motive
He's probably near retirement, he just wants to dispose the comics but not at a loss and still wants to make a little profit.
@@rap3208 i should imagine he's hit retirement, many folks retire yet choose to "work" as boredom can be a bad thing. Enjoys what he's done for years, nothing better than getting paid doing that
See, your flipping right past all that great 60s and 70s DC stuff that I would want and then pull aside that Watchmen, which I would have absolutely no interest in.
Same here and then he's got some golden age stuff like early super boys and action comics and Superman etc I was screaming wait wait pull that out pull that out LOL(umm the comics that is)
@michaelproulx5795 Maybe Goose already has all those issues, IDK 🤷♂️ Have you read any of the original Super Sons from The World's Finest? Fun stuff
When I make someone pull out a bunch of stacks for me, I always buy a few books, even if I don't want em. The cheapest ones of course. Just to make it worth their time. That's why no one ever 'treats me like s*'. I know nobody thinks this way. People will dig through a whole shop, take books out the plastic, then just walk out. I was glad you took that Watchmen at least.
If I were making money off filming people's stores, I would buy a stack everywhere I went. Instead of freeloading content from their place and leaving.
@@leodf1 I think the same way as you. If somebody bends over backwards with extraordinary service I definitely buy stuff I probably wouldn't have bought otherwise just to reward them for their effort. That's if there's a business owner. If it was a straight-up work or I probably would have slipped him a 10-dollar bill or something.
Exactly, all talk no buy. This guy is kind of a timewaster.
Comic books are meant to be read. ~ Dave
How many times can you read them?
Down the street from my house! For years it was pretty chaotic but they've really started to organize themselves more over the last few years.
So, you can solve the mystery of the one book he got graded, because it was the only one he had ever seen?
Wow, I could have spent days in that store digging through all those boxes! That back room though, it gave me a huge sense of wonder and anxiety at the same time. Glad you were able to have a great experience and Dave seems like an awesome guy that you could spend hours talking about comic books.
I'm 66 that shop brings back memories ❤
That back room looks like the end scene in Indiana jones where they stored the arch of the covenant
I’ve been in a few in different states.. Spaces like Benders are treasure troves!
They’re loaded with history. Not just in books, but from the days before all this technology..
The days when we bought to complete our collections, before the movies, before the foolishness of spec.
The grumpy owner that warmed up to us “annoying” kids once we returned a few times.. They knew everything, and I mean EVERYTHING!!!
BEAUTIFUL POST!!!!
Reminds me of bookstores I frequented in and around Los Angeles in the late 1970’s. Most of the good stuff was upstairs or in the back. Great video and shop! Thanks for sharing!!!!
As a casual comic book fan who loved reading and collecting in the 90, I’ve found myself wondering into comic shops over the last 24 years and totally relate to the feeling of being treated like shit, and quite literally scoffed at. Has made me feel very wary about going into any, but recently I went to Top 5 Comics in Glenwood Springs CO and had a great time. The owner of that shop is younger, but reminds me so much of the owner in this video. The shop also has that quirky, unorganized, boxes stacked to the ceiling vibe, which is actually so absolutely endearing. Loved this video, and thank you for your time in putting it together.
the only time I will slab a book these days is if its signed tbh. You're 100% correct, people will slab anything; its obnoxious.
@@williamlangeii4012 I think the only people doing this, on average, are stores and vendors. They will slab these and sell them for cheap but raise up the cost of an OK to good book a lot to make up for the loss on the others. sometimes I think they are just hoping the book gets big.
The most legendary comic store in the LA area was Gary's Corner Bookstore. It was even crazier than this as it was an old OG comic store that had been open decades so there were boxes on boxes on boxes. It was the famous store on San Gabriel Blvd. that had big superhero murals on the side of the building.
Cool looking old-school store. I think I could spend days there just taking it all in. However, I wonder how many sales shops like this miss due to the disorganization? Some people probably feel uncomfortable having to ask him to keep pulling stacks of books out of the case. Plus, the amount of time it takes to sort through it all.
You hit the nail on the head 17 minutes in about modern day comic shops being assholes. I stopped collecting because every corner I turned I ran into assholes.
Man those were some great books.. I had a blast playing the “ I’d grab that one !” Game n this video there was so many
I just wanted to see the shop and how it was unkempt, but I didn't expect the liminal space Indiana jones warehouse of comics in the back
These kind of comic/toy shops are the very best places for finds . We have one here in the middle of PA the owner at ours has been here since 1981 he’s such a sweet guy and knowable. The store is a gold mine this place here seems like a bit of heaven on earth
Those are 100% the BEST comic shops to stumble across. No telling what you might find! There is a guy in my hometown with a shop in the back of his costume store. No organization. Stacks of mixed comics just piled everywhere. I LOVE IT!
Owner probably feels very conflicted with this video title lol, I guess stock management became unmanageable years ago for the owner, but he seems like a good man and there's treasure to be found in places like this.
I'm not sure, he seems like an honest straight shooter, and the title is honest - that place is a dump!
Benders, 10th Inning, Atomic, Heroes & Villians. Lived in this area since 77 and those are my 4 main shops. Dave the owner of Benders remembers me still to this day 40 years later. I took an entire decade off from collecting, and Dave said hi to me just like I hadn't taken a day off when I walked back in.
Great owner but I feel sad for however has to deal with that back room one day. Someone should make a comic shop rescue reality show. Would definitely watch that.
I spent 3 years getting My Action Comics and Superman collection back to January 1957, as in the issues from 1968 back. Going to that shop looks like I could of done it in a day, with the right money. Were most of those old Action's $24.95? I was paying £100 or more for the 1957 to 59 issues!
Love that the store is chaotic and oldschool. Thanks for highlighting this. Left you a sub 👍
I personally like when comic book shops are cluttered haha I don’t know why I just love knowing there’s stuff I love everywhere and looking through it
DAVE KNOWS HIS STUFF ABOUT COMICS. SO GLAD TO SEE HIM STILL AROUND. ANNIE AND RUSSELL BURCH. ALWAYS LOVE TO TALK COMICS WITH HIM.
walking through the backroom is straight out of the beginning of Ghostbusters!
I remember a few shops like this in NY back in the day. GLORIOUS.
Wow, I’ve lived in VA almost my whole life and never heard of Benders, but I don’t go to Hampton much either. I grew up bothering the store owners in Trilogy though. That back room is amazing. My ocd tells me just to go organize all that stuff for free so I can see what’s in there.
Wood panel walls make it automatically NOT a dump. That's class.
guy gets all books for quite low prices ; owner lets him behind the shelves and in the storage room ; then this guy starts complaining about a silly coupon that was taken out of one book while in reality he will not even ever read / look at the book ; it is never enough with these customers ; exactly the reason why all shops stop existing ; these customers never have enough ; they demand all and everything and leave nothing on the plate for the shop owner .
Fr. The fact this dude went out of his way when he got home to contact the owner about a stupid lil coupon ripped out after the owner gave him the fuckin treatment and the fact he's made more money on this video than he spent in the store, really pissed me off. I can't believe the owner refunded his money for that.
@@KevinNelson87 Is you mad?
Holy crap, what a collection of comics in that back room. I can only imagine what treasures are hidden in there. I wish I had a place like this anywhere near me. My one and only LCS is like 0.1% of this place.
1979 is about the year that I first started reading and collecting comics. I was 12 and, unfortunately, my mum threw out all my comics a few years later when my back was turned, so I had to begin all over again about a decade later with stuff like Hellblazer, Sandman and Swamp Thing. Now, almost 40 years later I have a reasonably massive collection but nothing ultra rare because I buy the stuff I like to read and what I like to read doesn't sell for thousands. I don't care because I just love comics and I love that kind of shop because it's like Ma Gump's box o' chocolates!
Wow why would your mom throw your comics out? Did you leave home and keft them behind? You should have taken them with you.
Shopped at this store since the late eighties. It is relatively organized now compared to what it used to be. Back in the day prices were 10 years behind the times.
Dude, ref. 1:36, I would be buying that whole stack!! Cool. I am SO GLAD i visited your channel. I am SORRY for not having visited your channel before. But this...this is good. I am NOW going to check out your past videos for fun, entertainment, and for learning more about comic book collecting! Captainstrangelife [Hans ] also has talked about you.
Yes! "...this is the kind of place....treasures..." and a cat! Rowwkuh! What was the cat's name at that shop, sir?
i live in Norfolk, now you have me wanting to go over and check him out. thanks for show casing his store
It's been my decades of personal experience that the best comic book shops are the ones considered dumps by others.
I think that's a bit much to call a comic shop owner a blank hole because they are concerned about their merchandise being damaged. Maybe they had previous experiences of people damaging their comics and that's why they are defensive.
Nothing better then an amazing LCS!! Freedom Comics in toledo is my favorite by a mile!!
Everything about this comic shop looks awesome. Old style comic book shop, focusing mainly just on the comics. Heaps of back issues. Plus, I would love seeing the cat, as long it does not pee on the comics. Would grab that Kamandi first issue just for starters.
I have mystery in space 54. Omg I would love 53. It’s 3 hours from me.
I love Bender's. Im about an hour from them and haven't been lately, but Dave is a good man to deal with.
Wow! Only been into comics for a couple years and wasn't aware of this shop thats less than an hour away from me. Know where I'll be this weekend!
I love how every comic book cover art is so interesting and unique
17:01....I hear ya! It's crazy how poorly some shops treat their customers. Appreciate your sincerity and honesty!
maybe they've had really bad customers and it's a defensive reaction?
I moved to Eugene, Oregon from a small MN town with no shop and went into the 1st one I found in the phone book. When I walked in with my dad the guy behind the counter had just laid a slice of pizza on a stack of comics he was working on while the pizza box balanced on some other piles. I looked at my dad and said No, we walked out and went to the 2nd shop in the phone book where I set up a pull box for my monthly comics. I had to cancel a few months later when I went to work for a new shop that opened a few blocks from my house. I worked there for 12yrs.
@ChesterNutter I knew all I had to....he treated the shop owners books like crap, how would he treat mine If I shopped there? Didn't have to find out cause I started a box at the shop I worked at. Where I got everything at cost
My favorite comic book store i love going there on Saturdays
Batman who laughs has faded a lot. I have that teen titans issue about a 7 grade but it's way down now
I really miss comic shops like this. Comic Kingdom on Gratiot and 6 Mile in Detroit was like my second home.
Awesome store. That's exactly the type of comic book store that I liked when I was collecting in the 80s. When a stores were immaculate, it made me uncomfortable to hunt and prices were usually higher.
Oh. My. God. I need to know what’s in that back room.
I have to shout out to my hometown comic shop, Coys Comics.
I have been shopping with Coys for the last five years, and during that time, they bought out the neighboring plaza to add more floor space. The store feels massive now compared to its old footprint.
Great variety of back issues, current runs, trades, and omnis.
The graded comics are well placed throughout the store walls, and there is a massive variety of new and used statues.
I couldn't say enough about the staff and their attention to the organization.
Thanks for the walkthrough video!
OMG, he's got so much cool stuff! I think I would have a panic attack from all the comic sensory overload.
You should try A and M comics. This place looks like a palace compared to A and m
I’m lucky enough to live in that town and have that as my local shop. It’s a great place.
I just starting the video now. But the title I will comment on. I love dives, dumps and odd places. Card shop, comic shops and bars. The dumps are always the best!!!
Man I want to go there NOW !!!
love when a shop owner takes the time to treat ya like family... you got an awesome look at the entirety of his shop.... him being awesome made it easy for you to tell the story and to want other collectors to enjoy the same experience
Great Video!
Went to this shop last year and had a great time hunting through the store.
Definitely want to go back.
Found some great deals but you need a lot of time going through everything!
Back in the day, in brooklyn, NY on grand street, there was a shop called, grand book center. It was a comic shop in the early to mid 70's.
It looked so much like this here, and it had vomics everywhere including on the floor without bags !!!
On one shelf i picked up Action Comics # 1, now it was on a glass cabinet,, but somebody left it open. Cannot be certain if it was the original or reprint
But when i told the owner his case was open, he immediately asked his employee where is action # 1
He seemed desperate to find it.
Sime of these types of places are the best at finding gems.
Really enjoyed this video, and especially the cat 🐈 😊😊😊
That back room of shelves of comics going on what looks like forever reminds me of the Warehouse where they stored the Ark at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark
That's worth moving across the country to be near that shop. I'm blown away.
Some of those Comic Book Covers are absolutely Amazing! ❤
dude, awesome coverage of an old school store.................question, looking at your wall, how do you mount your comics for display? Just bought a house and now I have a room dedicated for my collection.....If you have a video on you tube point me to it, Thanks
He could easily crash the comic book market.
😂
Actually, it's places like this that have catapulted the price of comics so high. There are a lot of stores and dealers like this. Mile High Comics is sitting on 12 million comics and the owner keeps buying collections. He says no one in the family wants to run the business when he dies. Probably a group of dealers will buy out his collection to keep this goldmine from hitting the market.
Not really I mean sure half a million comics is a lot but do you realize how many older guys like Dave there is in the US alone . There was a study once and the average comic book collector owns a total of 3000 comics . And that's just an average collector .
When I 1st started collecting in "82" Just moved to Phoebus, when I met him, called him Mr. Weaver, now that I'm older it's Dave, he had the most amazing books back then. He had an amazing 4 for a buck section, a lot of my collection was from his store till I moved to Florida in my teens. Took a minute to make my way back to Bender's when I moved back to VA. He still remember my name. Great store
The back room is wild. I almost wish you could help him. The treats back there must be mindblowing. 🤯
“Are you kidding me?” as soon as you saw the back room lol
Looks like fun!
Thanks for these videos. There aren't much or any shops around my neck of the woods.
Pretty good find on that Watchmen #1, did the original 12 issues have a small print run because in my many years of collecting especially digging in the dollar bins I have never ever seen any issues of Watchmen even dog teared ones.
I agree with you. [ ref. 2:58 ]. What makes a great comic book shop is also including the owner and his personality and being friendly. Thats the kind of shop I want to visit.
Dude that Power Girl #6 was the March variant. That goes for good money!!
Dave seemed like such a nice guy. What a shop! Seeing all those books and no real order gives me anxiety though LOL glad you found some good books!
That place looks amazing! And that back room - who knows what lurks in those boxes?!?
Plot twist: they ate EMPTY :D
Hey sticy stay out of my store my friend....lol.. Dave Weaver is a great person..I have stories for days about Dave and I been coming to that store for a long time..
I go to Benders ever so often. The place is really cool. Yes, there is a cat smell, but the amount of amazing stuff makes up for it. I like to hunt for vintage Star Wars and G1 Transformers toys there. The back room looks like the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark…RADICAL!!!
Thanks for sharing and will definitely visit when i go to the US.
I don’t know how the rest of the country is but in the Lehigh Valley area of PA the best comic shops have always been dumps. Beachhead Comics, Dreamscape Comics, Comic Vault, Cap’s Comics. These shops all looked like an episode of hoarders and they usually had what you were looking for. Back issues, collectibles, stickers, buttons, second hand smoking. Whatever you want they had it.
You should have informed us more in the video about pricing. You showed and talked about a few individual books, but I couldn’t see the price tags. Overall, were the books priced reasonably or overpriced in your opinion? It seems like a great shop to look for a hard-to-find book, but at what cost? That Superboy 2 (2011) with Poison Ivy is a sought after book. I would be curious as to how much for that one for instance.
I live I OHIO and I went on a hunt for comic shops back in the early 2000s and found a few many gems since then I go for collected soft cover editions but the comic hunter in me still misses the thrill and sheer joy of finding that one hidden shop of a main road that makes my heart jump
WOW. Awesome store. If this is your local shop buy what you can now. The clock is ticking on a shop like this unless the next owner is already in line...
you and I think alike, in "comic book culture". About respect, and having fun. dude, I could spend a whole afternoon with you, shopping and talking about comics. Be strong and prosper.
WOW!! That place looked like comic nirvana! Great video Sticky!
The more I think of it ... this place s/b on the list of National Historic Sites, again as I mentioned IF Chuck at MHC sees this video, this Man's getting a call, that back room alone WOW. Lol I would stay at an air b&b in town, and Organize for him WHILE I am looking .. buying. Maybe I would take a month to 6 weeks off of work for this. Lmbo.😂🤩👍
Ive never seen an action comics run like that in a shop. Youre lucky to see a few if you were there at the exact right time. Not just sitting there. Hopefully videos like yours helps Dave make some money
There is another great comic book shop also, in Front Royal, Virginia. Pagemaster books. It looks disorganized but its NOT sloppy. But...all the comic books are in excellent condition and in Mylar plastic. Some comics are pricey, some are a bit less. But all are worth it because they are gems. Owner and his "aides" are experts and "uh", interesting people. Great paper back books selection also. NOW, about your GREAT VIDEO and very interesting shop there, in Hampton , Virginia. I will have to check it out. Heard about you "stickygoose" comics, via Dr. Silverage on his [ usually, not always ] weekly Saturday live broadcast show where he and others show their comics from their collections and pick ups. I visited once a great comic shop in Georgia [ pronounced Jawja ], where a "shop cat" was overlooking shoppers buying the books. He had a cat road and track up near the ceiling but also came down and and walked on top of comic book boxes while fans shopped. Kind of cool. The cat was a black she cat and was called Catwoman2.