Adventures in Great Deals

I'm constantly mocked by my friends for my shopping habits. My one close friend refuse to go to the mall with me because, as he puts it, "YOU SHOP LIKE A FUCKING WOMAN". I wouldn't go as far as that, but I do take my time. I will tend to rummage through every DVD bin, every book shelf, and every rack with a fine tooth comb. I do this because I have a nagging sense in the back of my head when I shop, especially at specialty stores, that I'll miss something for a deal. Think of it like a itch that has to be scratch, or I have some Jew in me that needs to be stroked. Either way, I can count the numerous times that I've found something rare, or hard to find or was insanely cheap.

And last week, was one of those times.

I was dropping off a tshirt order for my brother at this collectors show I frequent. Its like a Mexican indoor mall, except its filled with comic books and hardly any Mexicans. I've dropped a lot of dime at this place, and with my recent Tax Return, I had money to burn, but I didn't want to.

I decided that I'd check my DVD guy to see if he got Ong Bak 2 in. Turns out he did. Not only that, but he pitched me about 15 other titles and I ended up buckling and buying a few extras that I really shouldn't have. I then had that moment were the little Devil and Angel pop on to my shoulders and give me the pros and cons of spending, and in the end, the Devil ended up kicking the Angel in the nuts and won out.

After that, it was like the Tasmanian Devil was on the loose. I hit ever single booth and dropped close to $80 bucks. After grabbing some back issues and a few figures, I stopped myself from going any further. Feeling that I should leave before I spend more, I headed for the exit.

Fortunately, I did so with impeccable timing.

There was one last booth I hadn't checked, and I was thinking about picking up the Trade PB of BUFFY, since I had to stop picking up the single issues when I moved out. Scanning the table, I see a white book.. I knew instantly what it was..




The Drew Struzan Oeuver.

A book that I have been hunting down for a while.

I've been a huge fan of Struzan for years. He defined Movie Posters, and managed to do in brush strokes what assholes on Photoshop only dream that they could do!

and for those of you who don't know who the fuck Drew Struzan is, hes done just about every movie poster for any movie that mattered.












Basically, if George Lucas or Spielberg put it out, he did it.

Now, normally, this book runs over $60 bucks. I spied the sticker, and it had a 20, just 20 written on it. It was a note pad sticky too, so I had to double check as that didn't sound right. I questioned the merchant and this is how the exchange of words went down:

ME: "hey, how much is the Struzan book?"
MERCHANT: "Oh, that's 20 bucks"
ME: (I crap myself)
MERCHANT: cont'"Yeah that book..."
ME: pulling cash out "Just stop right there, Don't need to finish your sentence"

I handed the man $20 bucks and he handed me the book. At that moment, I felt as I got away with murder.. This is what OJ must of felt that fate full night!

After I got home, I spent the following 5 hours pouring over page after page in this 208 page book. Every detail I absorbed with great glee. The topper, the fucker was only $20 bucks!

No amount of Heroin or E in the world could give me the same high I got off this thing.

When life goes right, its real nice...



By the way, later that night, I called my friend and told him to suck it.