I figured now would be a good time to showcase my Iron Man action figure collection, as the movie has just arrived in theaters. I would have liked to also have had some scans of my vintage Iron Man comic book collection, but, unfortunately, that box of comics went missing a few years back. How you might ask? That, I have no answer to. I've got around thirty-five long boxes of comics now, not to mention about a dozen boxes of magazines, so I suppose with all that, one box might somehow go astray. I guess it just got up, sprouted legs and walked away one day, tired of being 'just another box' of comics. I guess, in a way, I did neglect my Iron Man books for some time and only realized, a couple of years after they disappeared that they had in fact done just that!
The story (what there is of one) goes back to when I moved into my then girlfriend's (now wife) apartment in Lodi, NJ in early 1996. It was a one bedroom apartment, so all my long boxes of comics stayed back at my parents house in Queens, NY. Over time, I'd bring a box or two back to the apartment, going through them, rebagging and cataloging them, bringing most of them back to my folks house when I was finished. I was too busy filling up new boxes with recent purchases to be able to store all my old stuff. I do distinctly remember, however looking through my box of Iron Man books. I still have my old list, dated Aug 26, 1996, which places it just about seven months after I had moved to Lodi. Each book in the collection is listed and graded. My earliest issues were #'s 5, 7, 10 and 15. Then it jumped to the mid 20's and continued up to #178, for a total of about 90 individual books (I also had doubles for about 10 issues). This would not have filled one long box, just a short one, with some room. I also remember selling or trading to a couple of dealers those few early issues at a con in the late 90's. So, still, I should have been left with the remainder of my Iron Man collection. In 1999, we bought a house in Hackensack. I remember the moving day well. Whatever comic boxes I had were moved in my own car, as I wasn't about to trust the movers with my comics. The apartment in Lodi was small and I was pretty thorough about checking every last nook and cranny before we left to make sure nothing was left behind. I can't see how I would have missed even a short comic box.
Fast forward to around 2003. For some reason, in the intervening four years I hadn't thought much about my Iron Man comics. By this time, most of the comic boxes that were back at my parent's house had been transferred to my new home. Still, about six or seven boxes remained back there. I was now regoing through my books and it suddenly hit me....'um..where are my Iron Man comics?'. I could not find them anywhere and was pretty perplexed. So, that's pretty much it. I hadn't thought about them for a few years and then I went to check them out they were gone. Nothing else (that I can recall) from my collection is missing, so I don't think they were in a long box with other books, as those would be gone, too. So, I can only think they were in their own short box. I don't have any memory of selling off the rest of the Iron Man books, so it's truly a mystery as to where they went. Every now and then I do get a bit upset about it, but what can I do. Luckily they weren't the most valuable books I had (I think I'd be a bit more pissed if my Spider-Man collection vanished) with most books only in the $2-$10 range. Still, it'd be nice to still have them, of course. Ah, well.
So, instead of any Iron Man comic scans, I bring you photos of my Iron Man toy and statue collection. Works, for me. Hope you like them.
I figured now would be a good time to showcase my Iron Man action figure collection, as the movie has just arrived in theaters. I would have liked to also have had some scans of my vintage Iron Man comic book collection, but, unfortunately, that box of comics went missing a few years back. How you might ask? That, I have no answer to. I've got around thirty-five long boxes of comics now, not to mention about a dozen boxes of magazines, so I suppose with all that, one box might somehow go astray. I guess it just got up, sprouted legs and walked away one day, tired of being 'just another box' of comics. I guess, in a way, I did neglect my Iron Man books for some time and only realized, a couple of years after they disappeared that they had in fact done just that!
The story (what there is of one) goes back to when I moved into my then girlfriend's (now wife) apartment in Lodi, NJ in early 1996. It was a one bedroom apartment, so all my long boxes of comics stayed back at my parents house in Queens, NY. Over time, I'd bring a box or two back to the apartment, going through them, rebagging and cataloging them, bringing most of them back to my folks house when I was finished. I was too busy filling up new boxes with recent purchases to be able to store all my old stuff. I do distinctly remember, however looking through my box of Iron Man books. I still have my old list, dated Aug 26, 1996, which places it just about seven months after I had moved to Lodi. Each book in the collection is listed and graded. My earliest issues were #'s 5, 7, 10 and 15. Then it jumped to the mid 20's and continued up to #178, for a total of about 90 individual books (I also had doubles for about 10 issues). This would not have filled one long box, just a short one, with some room. I also remember selling or trading to a couple of dealers those few early issues at a con in the late 90's. So, still, I should have been left with the remainder of my Iron Man collection. In 1999, we bought a house in Hackensack. I remember the moving day well. Whatever comic boxes I had were moved in my own car, as I wasn't about to trust the movers with my comics. The apartment in Lodi was small and I was pretty thorough about checking every last nook and cranny before we left to make sure nothing was left behind. I can't see how I would have missed even a short comic box.
Fast forward to around 2003. For some reason, in the intervening four years I hadn't thought much about my Iron Man comics. By this time, most of the comic boxes that were back at my parent's house had been transferred to my new home. Still, about six or seven boxes remained back there. I was now regoing through my books and it suddenly hit me....'um..where are my Iron Man comics?'. I could not find them anywhere and was pretty perplexed. So, that's pretty much it. I hadn't thought about them for a few years and then I went to check them out they were gone. Nothing else (that I can recall) from my collection is missing, so I don't think they were in a long box with other books, as those would be gone, too. So, I can only think they were in their own short box. I don't have any memory of selling off the rest of the Iron Man books, so it's truly a mystery as to where they went. Every now and then I do get a bit upset about it, but what can I do. Luckily they weren't the most valuable books I had (I think I'd be a bit more pissed if my Spider-Man collection vanished) with most books only in the $2-$10 range. Still, it'd be nice to still have them, of course. Ah, well.
So, instead of any Iron Man comic scans, I bring you photos of my Iron Man toy and statue collection. Works, for me. Hope you like them.
