That one guy at the shop who showed me how to read a back issue bin

Back in October I was at a small show in Albany, just flipping through a dollar bin, and this older dude next to me asked what I was hunting for. I said I was trying to find some early X-Men runs but I kept getting lost in the mess. He told me to look at the cover date and the ad on the back page, said it tells you more about the print run than any grading sticker. He pulled out a beat-up copy of Uncanny #175 and showed me how the ad changed between printings. I found two books I'd been passing over for months that way. Ever had a random stranger drop knowledge that made you rethink how you shop for back issues?

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joseph_green1315d ago

Damn, that back page ad trick is genuinely solid advice. I've been digging through bins for years and never once thought to check printings that way. That guy probably saved you from a ton of wasted time and cash. Makes me wonder how many gems I've skipped over just because I was too focused on the front cover. I'm gonna start flipping every book over now, even the ones that look beat to hell.