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Saw a guy at the LCS flip through 3 back issues and put them back cause the staples were slightly off-center

Happened Saturday at Midtown Comics in NYC and I just stood there watching him for like 5 minutes, wondering if I'm the one who's not paying enough attention. Has anyone else caught themselves being way too picky about something small like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

derek_schmidt61mo ago

That guy was probably me at some point, not gonna lie. I once put back a Fantastic Four issue because the color on the cover was just slightly off register, like a millimeter of misprint. It's such a dumb thing to care about, but when you're dropping $20 on a back issue you want it to feel right in your hands. I've definitely stood in that same spot at Midtown Comics questioning my own sanity over staple placement.

jenny_coleman1mo ago

and honestly the thing that snapped me out of it was just buying the dang book and forcing myself to live with a minor flaw. I picked up a Silver Surfer with a tiny corner ding once and told myself it was a "reader copy" for the collection, and after a week I couldn't even remember where the ding was. now I try to just go for it if the price is right and the defect is something you can't see from three feet away. saves me the hour of pacing and the dirty looks from the clerk.

finleyw991mo ago

Drove two towns over once to grab an X-Men back issue from a shop I don't normally hit, and I spent a solid ten minutes staring at a tiny crease along the spine before deciding to pass on it. Felt like a total nutcase standing there weighing whether a millimeter of paper damage was worth the drive home empty-handed. The guy behind the counter gave me a look like I was scanning a rare diamond or something.