GARAGE SALES OF THE LIVING LEGEND

I’m being called a “living legend” with alarming frequency and it
just sounds silly to me.  One of my standard responses is “Yes, I’m
the Sasquatch of the comics industry, rumored to exist but with no
actual evidence that I do.” 

Lately, however, as I prepare for this summer’s Vast Accumulation
of Stuff garage sales, I’ve been pondering if there might not be a
bit of advertising advantage to accepting the title.  I can throw
common sense out the window if it puts a few more bucks in my bank
account. 

On that basis, here is the schedule for this summer’s GARAGE SALES
OF THE LIVING LEGEND at Casa Isabella:


Thursday, May 9 (9 am to 2 pm)

Friday, May 10 (9 am to 2 pm)

Friday, May 24 (9 am to 2 pm)

Saturday, May 25 (9 am to 2 pm)

Friday, June 7 (9 am to 2 pm)

Saturday, June 8 (9 am to 2 pm)

Friday, June 21 (9 am to 2 pm)

Saturday, June 22 (9 am to 2 pm)

Friday, July 5 (9 am to 2 pm)

Saturday, July 6 (9 am to 2 pm)

Friday, July 12 (9 am to 2 pm)

Saturday, July 13 (9 am to 2 pm)

Friday, August 9 (9 am to 2 pm)

Saturday, August 10 (9 am to 2 pm)

TENTATIVE Friday, August 23 (9 am to 2 pm)

TENTATIVE Saturday, August 24 (9 am to 2 pm)

Friday, September 6 (9 am to 2 pm)

Saturday, September 7 (9 am to 2 pm)

Friday, September 27 (9 am to 2 pm)

Saturday, September 28 (9 am to 2 pm)

These garage sales are at my house.  The address is 840 Damon Drive
in Medina Ohio 44256.  I advertise the sales in the Medina Gazette
and on Craig’s List.  I also plug the heck out of them on Facebook,
Twitter and in this bloggy thing of mine.

I’m trying a couple of “Friday only” garage sales to accommodate a
couple of schedule conflicts.  It looks like I’ll be appearing at
a comics shop on Free Comic Book Day (May 4) and I’ll be attending
a family wedding on May 11. 

I’m starting the garage sales an hour earlier this summer because
there was almost always a line of people waiting to get into them
when they were 10 am to 3 pm.  The new times also factor in that
I generally spent most of the 2pm to 3pm hour sitting in an empty
garage, staring at my cell phone and thinking about closing early.

There will be no special showings this year.  The amount of sales
these brought in almost never justified the extra time I spent in
my garage when I could have been watching cheesy monster movies on
the TV.  Priorities, man, priorities.

I won’t start laying out the garage sales floor plan until I return
from Tri-Con next week.  I have to reclaim tables lent to beloved
family members and decide if I need to buy a couple more to replace
those I’m using inside my house.

There will be boxes of comic books priced at a quarter each or five
for a buck.  There will be suitable-for-all-ages comics and digests
priced at a quarter each or five for a buck.

There will be magazines, paperback novels and VCR tapes on sale at
a quarter apiece. 

There will be trade paperbacks at two bucks each and hardcovers at
five bucks each.  They may be ridiculously cheap mystery boxes of
trades and hardcovers.  I’m still thinking on that one.

While supplies last, there will be some rare Superman posters for
$20 each.  I will not be selling these posters through the mail on
account of they sell briskly at my garage sales with less effort.

I will be selling copies of 1000 Comic Books You Must Read at the
garage sale.  The price will be $25 apiece unless I get a deal from
the publisher, which does happen on occasion. I’ll also be selling
other Isabella-written items at cover price or higher. Signatures
are always free and I’m always happy to sign any Isabella-written
items you already own.

There will some additions to the garage sale this year, though I’m
not sure of all them will be available for the very first sale of
the summer.  Here is what’s coming:

I am putting together some boxes of higher priced books and comics.
These will be individually bagged and priced.  These items will not
be priced as ridiculously low as most of my stock, but they’ll be
cheaper than the going price.

I will be selling DVDs of cheesy monster movies that I figure I’ll
never watch again.  There might be some other different genres of
movies represented as well.  I’m figuring on pricing most of these
at three bucks a pop, cheap enough that you won’t hurt too bad when
you watch them. 

I’m going through my closet and pulling out comics or pop culture
t-shirts, shirts, sweatshirts and jackets I haven’t worn in years
and don’t expect to wear in the future.  Prices will vary on these.
There will be some limited edition jackets in the mix.  I’m trying
to decide if I need to require buyers to sign a form agreeing not
to try to clone their own Tony Isabella from DNA that might be on
these items of clothing.

I’ll be selling Beanie Babies, stuffed animals, games and toys at
the garage sales.  Some of them are pretty cool, some others not so
much.  Most will be really cheap.

I know my beloved customers will have fun at these garage sales and
add a lot of terrific comics and such to their own accumulations of
stuff.  Would a living legend lie to you?

This bloggy thing of mine is going on spring break, but will return
on Monday, April 15.  See you then. 

© 2013 Tony Isabella