FANDOM, then & Now:6643
 I award you no points…
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stanley_1883 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| So perhaps this is a silly question, but I'd like to ask the older folks how conventions were way back when. I'm in my mid 30's liked comics as a kid, really got back into them about 10 years ago, also started attending cons then. My point being I have a love/hate relationship with conventions at the moment, I love certain aspects like cosplay, talking with like minded people, finding cool stuff, etc. However what I hate is the seeming influx of people who are there just to snatch up exclusives and autographs to resell and make a buck. Here's to you guy with a short box in line to get (insert popular artists name) signature on all 200 books while some guys have one issue. Now dont get me wrong, you want to resell and all that stuff, thats fine, but i've seen people who really arent into the culture or are faking it just to jump on trends to make a buck all the while abusing artists kindness and snatching up all exclusives. Sorry, that was a rant, point being, were conventions of old similar and I'm just bitter or has there definitely been a change? I'm of the opinion that I would have enjoyed the culture of a con much more prior to the Iron Man movie in 2008 and all the madness and vultures that brought with it. |
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| Post 126 • IP flag post | ||
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X51 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| The entire hobby was more fun in the 70's. The focus was on owning the comics, not chasing the grade. There weren't long lines for signatures. Artists chatted with real fans, not people getting autographs so they could resell something. | ||
| Post 127 • IP flag post | ||
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doog private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by X51 Everything was more fun in the 70’s. Sneaking into bars, buying houses on part time income, not caring if you messed up a comic with green Kool-Aid. I amaze my kids with stories from then |
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| Post 128 • IP flag post | ||
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X51 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by doog Pretty much. Simpler times. You went home to talk on the phone rather than be interrupted every 5 minutes. |
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| Post 129 • IP flag post | ||
 It was a one trick pony show but always hilarious.
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GAC private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by X51 The music was better (except disco...that was worse), the movies were better, the cars were better, comics were better...the 70s were a magical time! |
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| Post 130 • IP flag post | ||
 Leftover Sundae Gnus
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CatmanAmerica private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by stanley_1883 The 70's were wilder in some ways, more fun in others, but isn't everything like that when it's "new" or everyone is experiencing it for the first time? The signature thing is much more of a business today. For better or worse, third party grading is partially responsible. Given the established values of autographed collectibles, third party grading helps to keep things honest. Back then, fans who wanted autographs for their collections could simply ask. Even those guests who had organized signings with lines knew that most of the folks bringing items to autograph weren't turning around and reselling them. Guest actors and artists usually didn't charge a lot for signatures, if at all. There was no eBay, and dealers who wanted autographs to sell through ads or in their shops usually made a separate arrangement with guests. Classic movies and serials were an important aspect of comic fandom back in the 1970's. 16mm & 35mm films were presented on screens in packed hotel auditoriums (before video recording & collector mediums such as LD, DVD, BD, UHD, etc., much less streaming). Cosplay was limited to costume contests, which usually had prizes awarded. Fans didn't dress as characters for an entire convention and pose for amateur pappirazi. "Selfie" may have been someone's name, but it wasn't a means of self-gratification because cell phone cameras didn't exist. Dealers rooms haven't changed much, but prices are another story. Everything is more expensive, ...in some cases aggressively more expensive... and that's for both fans on a budget and dealers trying to clear a profit. From the perspective of one of the dinosaurs, the Jurassic era of fandom was actually fun and more about shared experience. I still love conventions, but the prospect of an unexpected meteor event weighs heavily these days. . Quote: Originally Posted by GAC Some collectors have always enjoyed chasing grade. My first golden age books ...purchased from Howard Rogofsky's SASE catalog in the late '60s... were chosen with grade in mind even though HR rarely guaranteed high grade. The first Mile High/Church books I purchased were from Chuck Rozanski's tabloid newsprint catalog shipped with Alan L. Light's Buyer's Guide for Comic Fandom in the late 70's. Grade is important to some collectors, less so to others. Alas, I missed out on sneaking into bars until I was old enough to enter legally, but back then the legal drinking age was 18, not 21. Talking on the phone meant a land line, being available meant only when you were at home or at work and ...if you go back far enough... rotary dials! The music was better, or at least it seems that way if you're of a certain age and mind-set. Listening to music was as much a communal activity as collecting it, and collecting music meant LPs (vinyl), but of late there has been a growth in nostalgia for CDs. Today, music is much more of a personal/private affair ...even when shared. Headphones and earbuds have replaced full range home stereo systems, streaming has replaced music collections and audio fidelity has become less relevant to listeners than cheaper, wide-band access. In general, we've become a more minimalist society, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I suspect what is trending today only reflects a generational shift, not a quantum change. The pendulum will swing back over time because consumption is ingrained in our collective ...and collector... psyche. After all, it's human nature, we're all hunter/gatherers. . |
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I award you no points…
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stanley_1883 private msg quote post Address this user | |
That settles it, someone get me Plutonium, I'm building the flux capacitor. To the 70's we go, pit stops in the 30's for some issues first, whomever is bringing the sports almanac gets shotgun  |
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| Post 132 • IP flag post | ||
 COLLECTOR
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Foghorn_Sam private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I have to digress; cars, vehicles, are way better now than they were in the 70's. | ||
| Post 133 • IP flag post | ||
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It was a one trick pony show but always hilarious.
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GAC private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Foghorn_Sam From a mechanical point of view maybe, but cars from the 70s had serious personality! |
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COLLECTOR
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Foghorn_Sam private msg quote post Address this user | |
Yea, who can forget this vintage deathtrap? |
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COLLECTOR
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Foghorn_Sam private msg quote post Address this user | |
I had one these. It was in the shop more than it was on the road and I bought it brand new. After two years I gave up on it. I don't miss the days of carburetors. |
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| Post 136 • IP flag post | ||
 PEDIGREED... Again!
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martymann private msg quote post Address this user | |
| In the 70's I realized that the comics I bought off the newsstand and carted around in cardboard boxes where of interest to others... I wasn't just a hoarder. Marty |
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Leftover Sundae Gnus
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CatmanAmerica private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Foghorn_Sam I say, ...uh I say, ...now pay attention son, they aren't that much better. The last car I bought ...I say the last... was a lime-green lemon! I say green... confound it! That's where it was found, ...at a con! Cost me plenty of green too, son! My car, ...I say my car, was sold as a premium model. Folks lined up for it ...lined up, I say ...but then it was wrecked by a guy in blue underwear!    So, the moral, ...are you still listening son?... I say the moral is don't buy a lime-green lemon in San Diego, boy. If you're buying a vintage car, make sure, ...I say make sure it isn't wrecked by a man in blue underwear, and if it is, don't stand in line for it! Got that, son?  . |
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Leftover Sundae Gnus
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CatmanAmerica private msg quote post Address this user | |
Star Studded Comics was a 60's fanzine that published fully illustrated (B&W) comics by up and coming amateur writers & artists. The style of the zine emulates GA comics with letters to the editor, previews, etc., including occasional text stories (Star Studded Comics #7) by a young aspiring writer who'd become a very famous author...  . |
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Leftover Sundae Gnus
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CatmanAmerica private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Having been involved in both the comic fandom and SF fandom I can vouch for the fact that fan culture has changed a lot over the years. Without getting too deeply into the specifics, let's just say some aspects of convention behavior and fan interaction have a more liberated history than others. In order to demonstrate how much things have changed, here is a 21 year old magazine I came across in a box of otherwise unremarkable magazines and fanzines of that era that I'd acquired from another collector. To me, this material seems a little out of touch with the way most folks in fandom view the convention scene these days, but that's what makes it discussion-worthy.  At any rate, if this doesn't arouse some kind of fan interest and conversation, ...I give up. . |
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| Post 140 • IP flag post | ||
 I live in RI and Rhode Islanders eat chili with beans.
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esaravo private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @CatmanAmerica - Can't say that I am familiar with that Fanzine. I guess there was an audience for a glossy, adults-only, Science Fiction/Fantasy, with a kinky-twist for $5.95 back in 1997. But regarding it's material, simply dress the woman on the cover in a barely-there Cosplay outfit and I guess it could pass for a newer fanzine. If you didn't change her outfit, you could just rename it CON-Troversy. What do you think? | ||
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Leftover Sundae Gnus
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CatmanAmerica private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by esaravo I'm pretty sure this was a legit magazine that was distributed to shops. Without an obvious universal price code though, I have to wonder if it was sold specifically through comic shops or arrived on newsstands in some sort of plastic bag with the UPC stamped on it. Given the inclusion of researched articles and interviews with professional actors working on popular SF movies and TV series at the time it looks like a legitimate magazine more than a fanzine, but right now it's anyone's guess. I'm curious about it's origins though. . |
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| Post 142 • IP flag post | ||
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RareComics private msg quote post Address this user | |
I liked seeing your GA #2, Cat. Here's my #1. |
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Leftover Sundae Gnus
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CatmanAmerica private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @RareComics I have GA #1 too, but acquired it second hand. Alas, my copy is in ratty condition. Apparently a fairly young kid decided the cover needed some color. Needless to say, the kid was out of line, ...coloring too. Your copy looks pristine! It's great seeing these fanzines from G.B. Love, one of the pioneers of early comic fanzine publishing. |
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X51 private msg quote post Address this user | |
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X51 private msg quote post Address this user | |
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X51 private msg quote post Address this user | |
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X51 private msg quote post Address this user | |
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X51 private msg quote post Address this user | |
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X51 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Above are some various publications I either have or had at one time. | ||
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Leftover Sundae Gnus
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CatmanAmerica private msg quote post Address this user | |
Here's another great fanzine from G.B. Love's publishing group (SFCA), an extension of the phenomenal success of his ad-zine Rocket's Blast Comic Collector (RBCC). Rocket's Blast Special #8 provides a brief history of Fawcett's Captain Marvel and C.C. Beck's brilliant contributions to the history of comics...  [FC]  [BC] The zine's full color wrap-around cover was contributed by then-fan artist Don Newton, a huge fan of Captain Marvel known for entering convention costume contests in the early 70's in full costume as the character. He'd go on to a successful career as a respected comic illustrator for D.C. in the mid-70's. Sadly, a tragic health issue brought Don Newton's career to an abrupt end in the mid-80's at the height of the artist's popularity. . |
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Leftover Sundae Gnus
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CatmanAmerica private msg quote post Address this user | |
David Spurlock's slickly produced offset fanzine Badge from the early 80's...  . |
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Leftover Sundae Gnus
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CatmanAmerica private msg quote post Address this user | |
HoustonCon '79 Program Book Guests included Chuck Jones, Walter Koenig, Mort Drucker, Frank Thorne, Kerry Gammill and Frank Brunner...  . |
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Leftover Sundae Gnus
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CatmanAmerica private msg quote post Address this user | |
Captain George's Comic World #28 the VIRGIL FINLAY issue ...  . |
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Leftover Sundae Gnus
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CatmanAmerica private msg quote post Address this user | |
My copy of The Steranko History of The Comics Vol. 1 (front cover of wraparound), 84 pages, published by Supergraphics in 1970...  This oversized 11x14 edition covers the origins of the golden age focusing on the most popular superheroes from pulps & comics along with their creators. This should be in every serious comic fan's library. Here's the back cover wrap...  . |
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