And by thrift stores I of course mean the local pawn shops.   Lets take a look at what I found.

One of the best things for a geek to find is the nearest pawn shop.  Once the item is on sale, its not your business how it got there.  Don’t feel bad for items that may have arrived there due to income, divorce, death or any other factors.  Think of it this way.  Someone else didn’t want and thus could not properly care for that box of vintage Star Wars figures.  But you can.

However, usually the person who cannot care for these items are the people running the shop.  Piled high in a corner of my local “consignment shop” were hundreds of old comic books.  Every possible company was represented.  But the highlight was a near complete run of Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu!  Two things stopped me from buying this pile, and both are deal breakers for all comic lovers.  One, the books were stacked up in piles, bent and creased.  On top of ALL of the piles was a giant power tool.  Dirt, grease, and rust were flaking off this tool and onto the comics.  Secondly, the comics were all individually priced.  With marker.  On the covers.  I could possibly justify a quarter each, just for the reading enjoyment.  However when I saw a 4 dollar price on Warriors of Plasm, I walked away.  There would be a picture of the stack but this item was right next to it:

It might be best to not take a picture next to the “for tobacco use only” products at a pawn shop.

However, not all was a loss at the Pawn shop.  Behold, the cheap purchases.

WWE Monday Night Raw Best of Seasons 1 and 2 and Futurama Volume 2.  Bought for $10 each, due to their ignorance and rudeness.  I wasn’t going to correct their stupidity, and for $20 added much love to my geeky DVD cases.

Stopping by an “antique” store we were surprised to discover a book room in the back.  The entire store was void of order and full of neglect.  However the owner seemed so nice we felt we had to buy something.  I dug through back issues of magazines and found 4 science fiction and fantasy magazines featuring the works of Harlan Ellison.

While purchasing these magazine, for a grand total of one dollar, I was offered every book in the store for $25.  Its tempting, very tempting.  But what the hell would I do with all those books?  Keep an eye on this site to see if “Thursdays at the side of the road with a wheelbarrow full of books” is posted.