That time my LCS owner laughed at my pull list

Walked into my local shop in Portland last Saturday to pick up my pulls. Handed the guy my list and he just chuckles and says 'you still buy these floppies?' Turns out my list was all old 90s Image #1s I was trying to fill in. Made me feel like a total noob. Did I just get hazed or is this normal for newer collectors?

3 comments

3 Comments

lunah122mo ago

Honestly, that "you still buy these floppies" line is just classic gatekeeping. Sounds like he was trying to make you feel small for having a 90s Image run on your list. Ngl, that stuff is fun to collect and nobody should be laughing at you for it. Tbh, some shop owners act like they're too cool for the hobby when they're literally standing behind a counter selling comics. You didn't get hazed, you just met a dude with a bad attitude.

nguyen.morgan2mo ago

Yeah @lunah12 pretty much nailed it but I gotta push back a little on the gatekeeping thing. I mean, maybe it was just a bad joke that landed wrong? Some comic shop guys have that dry Portland sense of humor that reads kinda harsh if you're not used to it. Not saying he wasn't being a jerk, but like, if you had a list full of Spawn #1 variants or something, maybe he was just surprised anyone still tracks those down. I've had guys crack jokes about my "weird" pull lists before and it usually meant they were actually interested once I explained why I wanted the books. Still, if he kept being dismissive after you explained, yeah thats bad business for sure.

baker.holly2mo ago

Nodded along reading this cause I had almost the exact same thing happen at a shop in Chicago. Guy saw my pull list full of old Milestone books and literally said "whoa, digging deep huh?" with this smirk. Turned out he was genuinely curious about my Static collection once I mentioned why I grabbed them. But yeah, if he kept up the attitude after you explained your Spawn list, that's not dry humor, that's just being a jerk. Bad business too cause I dropped like $60 on back issues that day and he almost chased me off.