A little Pika to be Chu(re)..

Since the cult of Pokemon has taken over Kaspar's school in the last couple of months I thought to surprise him with these finds also from Cambelltown trip yesterday..

Various Pokemon books - Scholastic - 2004

Pikachu - made for Mcdonalds -TGB China - 2012

Although they still don't have the appeal for me like my own Pokemon Stadium Action 3D cards that are the only example of those rare lifeforms I possess..

To the near end of the Line..

It's been awhile since I last traversed the main strip of Cambelltown (not within my living memory..), so as I had to make my way to the southwestern end of the city to recover Junior's bag that he'd left on the train last night in at St James (City Circle), it was an opportunity to op..

Some black vinyl courtesy of the Plaza book & Music Exchange (nicely old school in appearance) from $1 to $5, plus also a fine slab of superhero disco-shmaltz from Meco via The Salvos.

Superman and other Galactic Heroes - Meco - Casablanca records - 1979

Homer and Jethro at the Country Club - Homer & Jethro - RCA - date unknown

Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape - Bauhaus - Beggars Banquet - 1983

The Best of The Cowsills - The Cowsills - MGM Records - date unknown

Came across this Cristian curio at the Lifeline for $2..

The Music Machine - Candle/Sparrow/Birdwing - 1977

Some interior spread of 8 page songbook inside:

Also I much appreciated the effort that staff at the Lifeline went into displaying their treasures - here's a sample:

I got back home with one regret.. I really should have bought this rather than just take a photo:

A killer cover to be sure, what was I thinking...

Li'l Abner at his Best..

Been a little while since recent input into The Rack but am back this time with a weekend Newtown Market find that I'm greatly looking forward to reading..

The Best of Li'l Abner - Al Capp - Holt, Rinehart and Winston/New York - 1978

For an $8 purchase I may finally realise one of my longtime desires - to read a goodly amount of Li'l Abner by Al Capp..
Maybe it was growing up in Hobart, Tasmania (closer to Dogpatch than you think..) that I missed reading this as a newspaper strip in any local paper, unlike folk in big city Sydney, I've discovered, got the chance to. I also didn't know that the strip ran well into the late 60's.
It always looked like a quirky satire of ol' US of A and I always suspected that it was downright surreal whenever I encountered any reference to the Shmoos, but never realised how out there the strip was until recoiling from a quick flick thru this on the way home.. I started to salivate..
Beautiful line work from Mr Capp - surely the embellisher of the sexiest females in comicdom..

This sure beats Archie..

The edition also packs a fistful of colour pages that continue the gloryness.

..ya gotta luv the Shmoos..

Also discovered that Mr Capp had had a leg severed at the hip at age 9 by a trolley car and was well known for his wooden leg antics..

Here's to you, Al..

Just Could'nt Walk Away..

Still managing to tap the Elizabeth's vein as on recent visits in the last week have turned up a few prize gems at still good prices..

assorted Vertigo, Dark Horse, Renegade titles

Have never read this reinterpretation of the classic DC Creeper - looks interesting, and completed a couple of Hellboy series. Flaming Carrot still one of my faves from the lost time of 90's weirdness..

assorted Marvel, First, Fantagraphics and independent titles

Longtime inspiration Rick Geary was not to be passed up.. and have never read the Chaykin graphic novel or the Detectives Inc - both one of the first GN of their time. Fantastic Winsor McCay collection. Really looking forward to checking out Krazy Kat in 3D!

assorted Marvel, First, independent titles

Slowly building up that Grim Jack collection, and some beautifully produced Gilbert Hernandez Cocoino Press from Fantagraphics. And still some more 3D to ogle over..

assorted Marvel, DC, independent titles

.. including this Wally Wood 3D curio..

I'm still checking each week at both stores to see if anymore trickles thru....

The Well Dries Up..

I finally did make it back into Elizabeth's last week, only to discover that probably 90% of the cracker stuff I left behind last time was already gone.. I say La Vi.. and I hope they've all gone to good homes. Still, I managed to find these gems in the depleted new stock bin..

Wednesday Comics - Various one page stories - DC Comics - 2009

I've always wanted to read these for the fave Kamandi new stories and at $1 each it was too tempting - even when issue 1 (of 12) was not found..

Assorted Warren and independent releases

Can't understand why no-one had picked up the early Eerie's (# 2,3,4,& 100) at $5 a piece as they are fantastic, along with some curios..

Assorted Marvel and independent releases

Always wanted to read the Allred Red Rocket (#1 & 2) and nice to have a better copy of the classic Warlock for the files. Particularly like the Rich Buckler How to Become a Comic Book Artist from 1986.

One further trip in on last Fri pretty much showed the well to be dried up.. as always I await in the shadows (where Only The Shadow Knows)...

Exotic finds in Erotic Capital

A weekend down in Canberra without Kaspar, and while Madame B was occupied with a conference during the days, left me to some solo wandering around the city while making my way over to the National Portrait Gallery.
Managed to find these at Landspeed Records..

Right Place-Right Time

After the surprising Ghost Rider find at Elizabeth's Newtown in last post I ventured into the city to check if the fates were with me. Sometimes in this game of Acquiring it's all about Right Place-Right Time.. and last Friday was that time..
After securing a handful of new bin finds, including some neat underground items and a Man-Thing appearance in an early Master of KungFu, I headed to the counter just in time to find a pile of comix being priced and bagged. At a casual glance I could see it would be worth looking thru and asked if I could. The lady behind the counter was a bit perplexed at what she should be setting the prices at and thought that $3 was too high for these old items. I could only agree. She then pointed to a large tub filled with even more 'old items' and asked me if I'd like to go thru them and give her an idea of what to price them.
After pulling aside the tub and settling on the ground these are what I came out with to purchase...

Assorted Marvel, DC, Tower, Star Reach

PC, Kitchen Sink, Eclipse, Atlas & Burleyman.

1960's to 2005.

After reassuring the lady that she would have no trouble selling most of the stock I was more than happy when she offered to sell me my selected for $2 each and more than happy when she said $90 for the lot!

What I didn't pull out, including many 60 and 70's Avengers & Daredevils (already had) plus other Marvel 70's and many assorted Kirby 70's DC and earlier DC space adventure titles, I couldn't really afford to buy duplicates of what I already had (but regret not getting those pre-100 Neal Adam Avengers..), and left them for some other fortunate to stumble across.. anyway I plan to be back next week after  a trip to Canberra, to see what has been put out into the bins and what is still left...

With a Ghost of a chance...

Delving into the Elizabeth Books comix bins on a regular basis can be a thankless task.. weeks, months can go by with only a rare pick up of some character's numbers/appearance to add to my already burgeoning comix pile.. then, with a casual Newtown 'Let's just sees if there's anything come in while I'm passing by' attitude, I come across these beauties...

Marvel Spotlight (7,8,9,10,11) & Ghost Rider (4,6,7,8)

Marvel Comics - 1972-74

While not such a Ghost Rider collector, these early Spotlight and GR issues feature many references to one of my fav Marvel 70's horror creations - The Son of Satan - while also leading up to the introduction of SS in his own series in Spotlight #12. This haul fills in a few missing issues and, hell these are Marvel issues from the early seventies and for $3 each is well worth the delight taken in Ploog, Sutton and Mooney artwork. 

I better check the city store quick to see if any other gems are surfacing....

Way Out West but still on the City line

After the completion of our annual Ironfest involvement I stayed overnight at Lithgow to make a check of the local produce and although the opshops were of no avail the secondhand and bookshop amalgamation at the beginning of Main St brought these to the surface..
This is actually a cojoin with the last post as the first book was obtained the week before in Surry Hills Salvos for $5, but they look too good together... (Kaspar claims these)

Star Wars & Star Wars Episode 1 Incredible Cross-Sections

Reynolds/Jenssen/Chasemore - DK Publishing - 1998 & 1999

The Panic in Needle Park - Magnetic Video - VHS - 1971

Jabberwocky - No details - VHS - date unknown

The Shining - Warner home Video - VHS - 1988

20 Minutes To Go! - Aurora Productions - VHS - 1990

With a copy of Panic in Needle Park also under my wing I trained it back towards home territory, stopping at Penrith to assess the state of play on their opshops - which over 20 years ago had been a fine source of treasurefinds, but on any recent visit had proved to be lame..

Nevertheless, the Salvos did unearth a few precious loops of VHS tape worth hauling back.. (see above and below)

Battlestar Galactica (for Kaspar) - Universal - VHS -1979

The Princess Bride (for Madame B) - CEL - VHS - 1987

In Search of Dr. Seuss (for me) - CEL - VHS - date unknown

The one I'm most looking forward to viewing is 20 minutes To Go!, an apocalyptic Christian musical production (American I assume) with a lyric sheet filled with fantastic outpourings of the heart as follows...

On the black slab agenda these 2 items added both to my Scheherazade and Children's Record piles..

Scheherazade - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - His Master's Voice - date unknown

One Hour of Nursery Rhymes and Stories - Uncle Mac the Story Teller

Plymouth Records - date unknown

Can't wait to hear Uncle Mac...

Absence makes no sense, but nonsense...

Big apologies to anyone who has checked these pages lately and it's inaction.. medical dilemmas and holidays have hindered the Hordeing - but here's a taste of a few recent pickups..
Firstly a trip to Surry Hills Salvo's brought these gems forth.. proving that oddball can still be found at a decent price..

C'mon Aussie C'mon... - The Aussie Battlers - KGC Records - 1979

(only 50c!!)

Uri Geller - Uri Geller - Fork Bender Records - 1999

(I'm sure I didn't pay the marked $4..)

This collection of 70's Marvel monster comics reprints (covers only - ask no questions.. and receive all for $1) also proves that it's always worth digging into boxes of books that haven't made it to the shelf yet. Of note is WMD #6 where Groot makes his historic first appearance before becoming a major film star.. would like to read the story tho...

Also pulled out this Batman classic from 1966 for a buck, with a great TV show style story based around the alphabet - no better way to learn your ABCs..

Batman and Robin from Alfred to Zowie - Golden Press - 1966

I suspect that this came with a record, long gone, telling the story also.

While delving into the TShirt racks I took a small bated breath and hoped this would fit, which it did unlike most great tshirts that I find, and was only $4..

Thrasher - Itsus International - Canada - date unknown

Once again, please bear with me as I attempt to be more reliable in updating this blog.. it encourages me to see that it has now pushed over the 2500 views mark, and if anyone would like to leave a message via the post comments or the messagebook at the bottom of the page then it helps me realise that The Rack finds it's way into other peoples homes (and hearts)...