Comic Shop Review - Dreamscape Comics, Bethlehem

When you first enter Dreamscape it is a bit overwhelming, there are stacks and stacks of comics and magazines. Everywhere you look there are boxes upon boxes of comics and they are on top of other boxes. Hopefully you are getting the picture, a little bit of a mess. I spoke with the woman working and the shop is going out of business soon, so they have begun to clear out inventory. Everything was 40% off.

So what did I think of this place? If you can get past the cluttered mess, there is a organization to the madness and if you have some time to look through everything it is worth the trip there. I am assuming that the store has been around a very long time because some of the inventory goes way back.

Dreamscape reminded me of the comic shop, County Coin, that I frequented when I was younger. Same smell, same organization. I  have always enjoyed the old style comic shops, they are like mom and pop stores.


Comics- Dreamscape had a very large selection of back issues dating back to the 1970's. If you have time to go through all the boxes and piles of comics on the floor I am pretty sure your hunt will yield some comic book gold.

Toys- Plenty of old toys throughout the store, I found a box of the DC Who's Who mini scenes. Also had a very interesting Funko Aquaman Bobblehead, along with a punch of  pieces from other action figure lines of the last ten years or so. Picked up some older toys while we were there. Older toys are not that easy to find, most comic shops have not been around long enough to have any.

Other Stuff- Dreamscape had a lot of old magazines, finding these comic book and collecting based magazines are really hard to get these days as many of them have gone out of business over the years. We still by them for research purposes and they are fun to read. So while we were there bought a couple of old Lee's Action Figure News and Toy Review dating back from 2000. Another sign o how long the store has been around.

Comic Shop Grade - B   

If you have the time and some cash to spend it is worth a visit but do it before end of the summer as they are closing their doors. Hopefully someone will come along and take over the shop as we no longer have enough of these types of Comic Shops around anymore.
Overall a good place to hunt for buried treasure, I really mean buried. Plus there are deals to be found.

Good luck on your hunt! And don't forget support your local comic shops.
#jointhehunt

Comic Shop Review - Coliseum of Comics, Orlando

When most of us think of a comic book store located in a large retail mall, we think of a shop that is there to appeal to the masses, not specifically comic book hunter/gatherers. There is nothing wrong with this at all, the more people that get involved in comics the better it is for all of us.

With that being said, Coliseum of Comics is not your typical mall comic shop.
 

Located in the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, FL the shop has a large selection of high end statues, toys, comics, new and old and other comic merchandise. 

High-End Merchandise- there were a number of cases located throughout the 6,000 square foot store that contained bust and full statues of many Marvel and DC heroes. These statues look great no matter where you see them, Coliseum presents them in a much better manner then most shops. I actually wanted to buy the entire Iron Man shelf.
 

Comics- Like every other comic shop we have visited recently, Coliseum has all the latest issues and trade paperbacks. They stand above the others with their back issue selection. They had back issues that go back to the Silver Age along with issues from the 80's and mores recent. Bins are set up in alphabetical order, prices are marked on each issue. More valuable issues, the ones we all must hunt for with a full wallet, are hung on a wall above the regular bins. If we had more time I would have went trough all the bins.

Toys - Had a large selection of recent toys from all the major toy lines. Lots of Funko stuff, big fans of the Pop! vinyl figures. This was also the first shop we saw the Joker Sofubi figure, love the mego like packaging Medicom used. If the shop lacked anything it would be older toys. We personally enjoy buying older toys, not everyone does.

Other Stuff - T-Shirts, Posters and other goodies from your favorite comic related characters. Want light saber chop sticks, they got 'em. Need a bottle opener, take your pick. Ice cube trays that look like hero emblems, yeah that to. I always enjoy finding things I never knew existed. We also liked the  comic book presentation outside the store, there are three plant jars painted with superhero. They look like Ancient Greek pottery.

Comic Shop Grade - A

What we gathered on the Coliseum of Comics hunt? Bought a couple of Pop! Vinyl figures and light saber chop sticks, oh yes we did. Would have bought some comics we need to gathere but didn't have our hunting list. Damn you list!

Overall we are very glad we visited Coliseum of Comics, a very nice suprise in Orlando and the last shop we visited in Florida. We will be back again.

Next time your on a hunt in Florida or need a break from Disney take a quick trip to the Fashion Square Mall and spend some cash at the coliseum. Until then check them out on-line Coliseum of Comics web page

Final note, when you take a vacation find some time to visit the areas comic shops, most of time you will not be disappointed you did. After you finish send us your opinion in them.

Good luck on your hunt!

Comc Shop Review - Sci-Fi City, Orlando

If you were ever planning on opening up a comic book shop at anytime take trip down to Sci-Fi city to see how to do it right.

Loaded with reasonable priced back issues from as far back as the Silver Age. Loaded with not only current issues but also the hard to find variant covers, which most comic shops do,not carry. And added with a good mix of old and new toys.

We spent about an hour and a half looking through the back issues, which were arranged in alphabetical order down an entire huge aisle. The cost per issue was, wait for it....... original cover price. We bought about 30 issues of mostly 1980's comics for $1 or $1.25. We did have a hidden gem  find, Jack Kirby's New Gods issue #7 and #8 for $1 each. Original cover price was .25 but they round  any cover price less then $1 up, I will still very happy with the deal. Yet another treasure we dug to find, you have to love the spoils of hunting. A future post will detail all issues we picked up.

 

We were shocked to see not just the regular new releases but also the variant covers of many titles. We picked up the two of the DC comics bombshells covers, Earth 2 and Batman/Superman. We like these covers because of the strong role models they present to young female fans, I have two hunters in training who need to see more these.

We also found a hard to find Justice League of America Flash paper weight. I have been looking for this item for sometime now, to get it for $12  was awesome. I also think I might start collecting the new DC Comics movie line of figures. The Zod looks great.

Things gathered on this hunt = 33

Comic Shop Grade = A

This is worth some travel time if you are ever near Orlando Florida. All the pieces you want from a good comic shop. Friendly staff, large selection of items and lots of space. The shop has 10,000 square feet of space.

Brief history of Sci-Fi City
Originally open in 1978 as Enterprise 1701, Sci-Fi City changed its name in 1998 and moved to its current larger location. They have hosted events including guest appearances with  many industry big shots.
When a store has the longevity like Sci-Fi it just proves they are doing something right and have been for four decades.

The simplest way to say it is, GO TO SCI-FI CITY as soon as you can, it is a true comic hunters paradise.

Good luck on your hunt!
#jointhehunt