NOT-AT-COMICON Sale and Swap Meet at CNJComics

Marvel Comics A-I and X-Z are fully in order. The boxes between those letters contain some order but are really just J-W mixed up. DC has about 20 boxes in perfect order, 8 boxes of New 52 DC’s in perfect order, and a lot that is not in order, but has never been processed.

The Small Press boxes are in order by letter, meaning all the “A”‘s are together, all the “B”‘s are together, etc. This ends with some out of order boxes. The DC Vertigo boxes are completely in order. 

Here’s the best tip I can give. If you’re looking through a box in no order what-so-ever you’re more likely to find some great stuff because we’ve never gone through it. The boxes on the lower level will tend to have the crazier unprocessed stuff. 

Keep at it! The strong shall prevail!

I also get that’s there’s only so long you can look at discount bins before your head explodes. 

Other discounts are easy!

• 10% off Graphic Novels and Hardcovers
• 50% off all other back issues. (We’ve even separated out three boxes of Silver Age for easier browsing, meaning books with a cover price of 15 cents or lower.)
• 20% off all Action Figures, Statues and Pop Funs. We’ve actually just bought a bunch of stuff to restock for the sale and make the shop look good for people visiting for the swap meet. 

The Swap Meet

This is actually looking to be awesome and a touch overwhelming!

Watching the activity of everyone getting their toys and table together online has been a trip. This is going to be an awesome first time out for us. 

The Swap meet will be at 17430 Lorain Avenue in the plaza. (1,000 feet from the shop, the room we use for Free Comic Book Day.) It runs from 1pm to 4pm. 

Expect a very active marketplace that may be very busy! NEO-TACC conducts a lot of business online and these transactions play out at these meetups. If it’s too busy you have some other options in the plaza to take a breather and come back. 

17448 Loran Ave is Working Class Brewery, they will be open all day and will have a special beer on tap for this event. They will also host an after party from 4-6pm, so stop by if you want to regale us with stories of your deals.

17462 Lorain Ave is the comic shop, with the above sales going on. The foyer with the $1 comics is technically 17468 Lorain Ave but you access it from inside the comic shop. 

3764 Rocky River Drive, same place, other side, is the Kamm’s Corner Ice Cream Co, which is making their special Infinity Gauntlet Ice Cream just for the day!

Jeff Ritchie @fredpaints23 was kind enough to sign and number 105 prints for us, add we’ll be giving them out to the first people in the door at the swap meet. These feature our selected characters, Wheelie, Fisto and the Fridge. (We have plenty to give out beyond the 105 signed, not to worry.)

We just found out that Jeff did double duty and there will be another print available at this event! 

This was a big surprise and NEO-TACC will have 150 to give away. (They even made 50 that are kid friendly, ie no beer.) There will be another 50 available to buy in the back of the room for $5 each, so if you find you’re having a good time throw $5 down and buy one as all the money goes to the org and Jeff Ritchie to support their efforts and endeavors. 

Winston has another claim to fame this week, as his account was selected by Instagram’s official business account to show what life is like when you are not at Comicon. Check that out Here!

“It’s no wonder John Dudas, co-owner of Carol and John’s Comic Book Shop (@comiccatwinston) in Cleveland, Ohio, has had a lifelong love of comic books. His grandfather, a Polish immigrant, taught himself English through the genre, and left John his collection of comics when he passed away.

“I always thought it was cool that I opened a business at age 17, but looking back, it is pretty inspiring that my mother successfully reinvented herself at the age of 46,” says John, who co-owns the shop with, you guessed it, his mom. Today, the brand’s Instagram account features the day-to-day adventures of a shop cat, Winston, who observes the world of the comic book shop from a cat’s point of view. “Through this unique lens, people feel like they’re gaining insider information into the industry,” John says.
The shop occasionally throws an Instagram Story up, but John has found that his customers relate more with static images, largely because they are used to them from comic books. “We’re also big on seizing a hashtag and making it your own; we started using #cnjcomics early on,” he adds.

What advice would John offer other small businesses considering an Instagram account? “Have your objectives clear in your mind, as success can be measured in many different ways,” he says. “Don’t feel you need to give the hard sell; people will tune out if the message isn’t genuine. We’re always trying to find a way to bring people closer to our personal brand. When customers walk into the shop and say, ‘Where’s Winston?’, we know there’s a value to what we are doing.”
Check out our stories to see how Winston is taking part in the #ComicCon festivities without actually being at #ComicCon2018.”

Tag your photos with @comiccatwinston 
 #IGBusinessSpotlight
#SDCC

You can also check out Winston’s story this week at www.instagram.com/comiccatwinston !

Okay! Let’s just sit around and wait for that Aquaman trailer now I guess.