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About Us
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Howdy! After a slow start to our May revenues in our Jason St. Mega-Store, we ended up pulling out a net gain for the month. Under normal circumstances a minor net gain would surely be nothing to crow about, but these are far from "normal" circumstances. The ridiculous simultaneous melodramas of the wildly vacillating tariffs (TACO, anyone?) and the Diamond Comic Distributors bankruptcy, have left the entire comics and games industry reeling. Consumers are also beginning to feel impacts of all this economic weirdness, as some products have become completely unavailable, while others have quietly, but also inexorably, seen their prices rise. We certainly did not kick butters during May, but hey, a win is still a win!
Truth be told, it is during moments like this one, where economic unease afflicts pretty much our entire world, that I am especially thankful that I have guided Mile High Comics in an extremely conservative fiscal manner. Eight years ago, I was offered the opportunity to wipe out every bit of our bank debt by selling our legacy headquarters building on 56th Ave. (just ten blocks from our Mega-Store), and I jumped at that opportunity. Consummating that difficult real estate transaction required the very arduous task of shoehorning millions upon millions of our vast inventory of back issue comics into our Jason St. building, a process that cost us considerably in terms of future potential for expanding our retail displays in the Mega-Store. That having been said, our operating costs of keeping 56th open were well over $10,000 per month, and our (essentially) interest-only monthly payments of $12,000 on our bank debt were also keeping us from expanding our Mega-Store inventory.
Long story a bit shorter, thanks to our selling 56th we were able to totally pay off our bank. Within two years afterward, we also paid off Diamond Distributing, to whom we owed upwards of a million dollars during our tightest financial moments of the early oughts. Our obligations to our smaller vendors were also quickly wiped out, leaving us with zero debt beyond our day-to-day net-30 purchases from our new product vendors, and an occasional weekly (or monthly) payment plan for a larger private collection. In effect, we are today one of the very few American consumer products companies that is entirely debt-free. Yay! A key element of my admittedly quite conservative strategy is that we only buy what we can afford. Our two head buyers, Will Moulton and Pam Brandle, purchase multiple collections from private sellers in Jason St. each and every weekday, and Pam works out many large deals (that I drive to pick up..) with sellers living all across America. You can write to her at Pamb@milehighcomics.com.
The bigger collections ($5,000+) that we purchase we do try to spread out our payments over a couple of weeks (or months) so as to not overly impact our day-to-day cash flow, but in general we write a check on the spot for all of the smaller to mid-size collections that we buy. The same is true of our new product purchases, such as trade paperbacks and hardbacks from our multitude of vendors and/or my purchases of Manga and Anime products out at the LA Toy Market. As best that we can, we are a cash-and-carry enterprise. The net effect of my conservatism can be immediately seen by anyone who visits our Jason St. Mega-Store. The utter vastness of what is on display impresses the heck out of our visitors, but on those rare occasions when I give a few people a peek at our off-limits storage areas that are jam-packed with staggering amounts of unsorted backstock, their minds are truly blown. Simply put, we could stop purchasing comics and toys today, and still be sorting and shelving plenty of great items for (at the very least) a year afterward.
Our vast backlog of unsorted items may seem wasteful and/or inefficient until you remember back to the COVID shutdown, when (at least here in Colorado) all retail stores were forced to close, and everyone was required to stay home for quite a few weeks. While that shutdown wreaked financial havoc with a lot of businesses, no one here at Mile High Comics ever had to stay home due to a lack of work, as we simply switched everyone over to sorting through portions of our backstock, and funded our day-to-day operations by shipping out several hundred thousand of our extras in our famous "Bargain Boxes." Think of our unsorted backstock as a "strategic reserve," and my contentment at having millions of comics and pop culture toys sitting "idle" in our storage areas begins to make far more sense. To be clear, another key to my conservative strategy is outright ownership of everything in the building. We get occasional requests from people for us to handle their collections on consignment, but we universally pass on those opportunities. When you walk into our Mega-Store (or peruse our website) you can be assured that everything that you see up for sale is 100% ours to sell, without any limitations or implied obligations. Others may choose to go down the consignment path, but I suffered through the innumerable difficulties entailed with consignments in the distant past, and will never do so again. 'Nuff said.
Returning full circle to our minor sales gain that we achieved for May, I have to admit that I am a bit more optimistic for June. Despite innumerable missteps, our American economy is seemingly still reasonably stable for most people. Foot traffic in our Mega-Store is up considerably since the weather warmed, with our back issue comics, action figures/toys, and trade paperbacks/graphic novels categories all selling quite well. Manga/Anime received a real boost from my latest shipment that I picked up in LA, so things are looking really good for us heading into our all-important summer tourist season. There could always be some unexpected calamity to arise, but for right now life seems pretty darn good. OK, that’s it for today’s admittedly longish newsletter. I apologize for providing so much detail, but I wanted you to understand just how hard that I have worked to make certain that Mile High Comics will be here to serve you for many years to come. Life is unpredictable, and oftentimes capriciously cruel, but to be honest, that is precisely why I want our beautiful Mega-Store to be able to survive for you. Truthfully, I cannot begin to count the number of times that I hear each week "I can’t believe that you’re still in business! I remember ordering from you as a kid.." Without the slightest doubt, our successfully keeping our Mega-Store open in a strange twist fulfills a sacred trust that we have created with many thousands of people to safeguard a portion of their childhood memories.
Anyhoo, the rest of the world may be going to hell-in-the proverbial handbasket, but through everything that has transpired over the past 55 years, Mile High Comics is still here for you, and is today stronger than ever. Thank you ever so much for being a fellow traveler with us on this wonderful journey through life. We appreciate your past kindnesses, and your support of our beloved Mile High Comics, very much. Happy collecting!
Chuck Rozanski/Bettie Pages, P.S. I almost forgot to mention that our 50% off SUMMER! codeword remains in effect for you on all of our back issue comics and magazines, excepting only new issues, a few variants and restored comics, and our professionally-graded items. So you know, back issues oftentimes were our highest-grossing daily product category in our Mega-Store during May, so comics collecting is clearly still very much alive, and actually seems to be thriving. Good news for everyone!
MARVEL
ACTION FORCE (GI JOE) (UK MAG) (1986) #3 (Marvel United Kingdom Publishings) Good
ASTONISHING TALES (MARVEL) (1970) #2 Good
AVENGERS (2017) (#672-690) (MARVEL LEGACY) #684 CGC 7.0 Fine
BLACK WIDOW: PALE LITTLE SPIDER (2002) #1 CGC 8.5 Very Fine
CONAN SAGA (1987) #8 Good
CREATURES ON THE LOOSE (1971) #14 Good
DARTH VADER (2015) (#1-25) (STAR WARS) (MARVEL) #3 2ND CGC9.4 Near Mint/Mint
DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU (1974) #12 Very Good
EPIC ILLUSTRATED (1980) #31 Good
ETERNALS (1976) (#1-19) (MARVEL) (JACK KIRBY) #8 WHITMAN Fair
FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) (#1-416) (MARVEL) #73 Fair
FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL (1963) #7 Fair
FANTASTIC FOUR GIANT-SIZE (GIANT-SIZE SUPER-STARS) (1974) #6 Fair
GHOST RIDER (1973) (#1-81) (MARVEL) #30 Good
HOWARD THE DUCK (1979) (#1-9) (MAGAZINE) #6 Very Fine
HOWARD THE DUCK (2016)(#1-11) #1 CGC 9.6 Near Mint/Mint
HULK (1962) (#1-6, #102-474, #600-635)(INCREDIBLE)(MV) #119 Good
INFINITY GAUNTLET (1991) #1 Very Fine
INVADERS (1975) (#1-41) (MARVEL) #1 Good
IRON FIST (1975) (#1-15) (MARVEL) #14 CGC 7.5 Very Fine
KANAN: LAST PADAWAN (STAR WARS) (2015) #1 CBCS 9.6 Near Mint/Mint
MAN-THING (1974) (#1-22) (MARVEL) #20 Good
MAN-THING GIANT-SIZE (1974) #1 Fair
MARVEL FEATURE (1975) (#1-7) (RED SONJA) #2 Good
MARVEL ILLUSTRATED SWIMSUIT SPECIAL #1992 NEWSSTAND Very Good
MARVEL SUPER SPECIAL (1977) #6 Good
MARVEL TEAM-UP (2004) (#1-25) (MARVEL) #14 FOIL COVER Near Mint/Mint
MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION (1972) #6 Good
MARVEL UNIVERSE (1983) #8 NEWSSTAND Very Good
MS. MARVEL (1977) (#1-23) (MARVEL) (CAROL DANVERS) #1 Good
NEW MUTANTS (1983) (#1-100) (MARVEL) #98 CGC 9.8 Near Mint/Mint
NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET MAGAZINE (1989) #1 Fine
PIZZAZZ MAGAZINE (1977) #11 Very Good
POWER MAN/IRON FIST (LUKE CAGE, POWER MAN #1-49) (1972) #57 Very Good
PUNISHER (1987) (#1-104) (MARVEL) #1 NEWSSTAND Good
RED SONJA (1977) (#1-15) (MARVEL) #1 Fair
RED SONJA (1977) (#1-15) (MARVEL) #15 Very Fine
ROBOCOP (MAGAZINE) #1 Very Good
SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN (MAGAZINE) (1974) #214 NEWSSTAND Good
SAVAGE TALES (1971) (#1-13) (MARVEL/CURTIS) (CONAN) #3 Good
SECRET WARS (2015) (#1-9) (MARVEL) #1 CGC 9.6 Near Mint/Mint
SPIDER-MAN (1963) (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) (#1-441) #36 CGC 7.0 Fine
SPIDER-MAN (HI-C PROMO COMIC SERIES) (1987) #1 Fine
STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA (2016) (#1-40) (MARVEL) #1 FRANKVI9.6 Near Mint/Mint
SUB-MARINER (1968) (#1-72) (PRINCE NAMOR SUB-MARINER) #20 Very Good
THUNDERCATS (U.K.) MAGAZINE (1987) #51 (Marvel United Kingdom Publishings) Very Good
TOR (1993) (#1-4) (MARVEL/EPIC) (JOE KUBERT) #2 Near Mint/Mint
TRANSFORMERS (1984) (#1-270) (UK MAGAZINE) #97 Very Good
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN (2024) (#1-UP) #1 MANHANI9.8 Near Mint/Mint
VENOM (2018) (#1-35) (MARVEL) #1 Very Good
VENOM: LETHAL PROTECTOR (1993) (#1-6) (MARVEL) #1 CGC 9.8 Near Mint/Mint
VENOMIZED (2018) #4 BAGLEY Near Mint/Mint
X-MAN (1995) #1 Good
X-MEN (1963) (#1-113, UNCANNY X-MEN #114-544) (MARVEL) #124 NEWSCGC5.0 Very Good
DC
ATARI FORCE (1984) #4 ASHCAN Very Fine
BATMAN (1940) (#0-713) (DC) #165 Good
FUTURE STATE WONDER WOMAN (2021) #1 HUGHES Very Fine
FUTURE STATE: BATMAN/SUPERMAN (2021) #1 ADAMS Fine
FUTURE STATE: CATWOMAN (2021) #1 Near Mint/Mint
FUTURE STATE: DARK DETECTIVE (2021) #1 Fine
FUTURE STATE: GREEN LANTERN (2021) #2 VARIANT Fine
FUTURE STATE: HARLEY QUINN (2021) #1 FRISON Near Mint/Mint
FUTURE STATE: IMMORTAL WONDER WOMAN (2021) #1 MOMOKO Near Mint/Mint
FUTURE STATE: IMMORTAL WONDER WOMAN (2021) #2 Near Mint/Mint
FUTURE STATE: JUSTICE LEAGUE (2021) #1 NGU Very Fine
FUTURE STATE: KARA ZOR-EL, SUPERWOMAN (2021) #1 Near Mint/Mint
FUTURE STATE: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES (2021) #1 Very Fine
FUTURE STATE: NIGHTWING (2021) #1 Near Mint/Mint
FUTURE STATE: ROBIN ETERNAL (2021) #1 JOHNSON Very Fine
FUTURE STATE: SUPERMAN - WORLDS OF WAR (2021) #1 Fine
FUTURE STATE: SUPERMAN OF METROPOLIS (2021) #1 BLANK CVR Very Fine
FUTURE STATE: SUPERMAN VS. IMPERIOUS REX (2021) #1 Very Fine
FUTURE STATE: SWAMP THING (2021) #1 VARIANT Near Mint/Mint
FUTURE STATE: TEEN TITANS (2021) #1 Near Mint/Mint
FUTURE STATE: THE FLASH (2021) #1 Near Mint/Mint
FUTURE STATE: THE NEXT BATMAN (2021) #1 COIPEL Very Fine
MAD (MAGAZINE) #239 Good
MAD (MAGAZINE) #250 Good
MAD SPECIAL (MAG) #43 Good
SIDEWAYS (2018) #1 Fine
DARK HORSE COMICS
HARD BOILED (MAGAZINE)(FRANK MILLER/GEOF DARROW) (1990) #2 Good
SAN DIEGO COMICS CON COMICS #2 CGC 9.4 Near Mint/Mint
STAR WARS: UNION (1999) #1 Very Good
USAGI YOJIMBO (1996) (#1-165) (DARK HORSE) #31 Very Good
IMAGE COMICS
DEADLY CLASS (2013) #32 B ALEXANDE Near Mint/Mint
INVINCIBLE (2003) #19 FOIL COVER Very Fine
INVINCIBLE UNIVERSE: BATTLE BEAST (2025) #1 E NGU Near Mint/Mint
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1996) (#1-23) (IMAGE) #23 Very Good
INDEPENDENTS
BRZRKR (BERZERKER) (MATT KINDT) (KEANU REEVES) (2021) #1 L CGC 9.8 (Boom Studios Publishing) Near Mint/Mint
CRACKED (MAG) #63 (Major Magazines) Good
EERIE MAGAZINE (1965) (#1-139) (WARREN) #15 (Warren Publishing Company) Fair
ELFQUEST (MAG) #11 (WaRP Graphics) Very Good
FREDDY'S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE (1991) #3 (Innovation Publishing) Good
FREDDY'S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE 3-D (1992) #1 (Innovation Publishing) Fine
GENUS (1993) #38 (Radio Comix) Near Mint/Mint
GOLD DIGGER ANNUAL (1995) #5 (Antarctic Press) Near Mint/Mint
GOLD DIGGER VOL. 2 (1999) #4 (Antarctic Press) Near Mint/Mint
HIGHEST HOUSE (2018) #6 A SHIMIZU (IDW Publishing) Very Fine
HITOMI & HER GIRL COMMANDOES 2 (1993) #10 (Antarctic Press) Near Mint/Mint
HOUSEWIVES AT PLAY (1999) #3 (Eros Comix (Fantagraphics)) Very Fine
LADY DEATH VS. VAMPIRELLA II (2000) #1 PREVIEW (Chaos Comics) Very Fine
LADY DEATH: JUDGEMENT WAR (1999) #1 (Chaos Comics) Near Mint/Mint
LOVE TOUCH #2 (Ironcat) Near Mint/Mint
MILK (1997) #13 (Radio Comix) Near Mint/Mint
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 0079 (1999) #1 (Viz Comics) Fine
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 0079 (1999) #7 (Viz Comics) Very Fine
MONSTER WORLD MAGAZINE (1964) #5 (Warren Publishing Company) Near Mint/Mint
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION BOOK 3 COLLECTOR'S ED #6 (Viz Comics) Fine
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION BOOK 4 COLLECTOR'S ED #1 (Viz Comics) Very Fine
NIGHTMARES ON ELM STREET (1991) #4 (Innovation Publishing) Very Fine
NINJA HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK (ANNUAL) (ANTARCTIC) (1989) #11 (Antarctic Press) Fine
NOT NINJA HIGH SCHOOL 1998 ED #1 (White Lightning) Very Fine
OGENKI CLINIC VOL. 4 (1999) #6 (Ironcat) Near Mint/Mint
OGENKI CLINIC VOL. 5 #1 (Ironcat) Fine
ORIGINAL BONDAGE FAIRIES (1998) #7 (Eros Comix (Fantagraphics)) Fine
PORNOTOPIA #2 (Radio Comix) Very Fine
RAW MEDIA QUARTERLY #5 SHAW NUDE (Avatar Comics) Very Fine
RAZOR THE RAVENING #1 NUDE (Avatar Comics) Near Mint/Mint
RAZOR'S EDGE (1999) #3 DORIAN (London Night Studios) Fine
RICK & MORTY (2015) #35 (Oni Press Inc.) Near Mint/Mint
RICK & MORTY (2015) #42 VARIANT (Oni Press Inc.) Very Good
RICK & MORTY PRESENTS JERRY (2019) #1 B GRACE (Oni Press Inc.) Near Mint/Mint
RICK & MORTY PRESENTS THE VINDICATORS (2018) #1 (Oni Press Inc.) Very Fine
RICK & MORTY VS. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (2018) #3 B LITTLE (IDW Publishing) Very Fine
ROOK (MAGAZINE) (1979) #2 (Warren Publishing Company) Very Fine
SEX PHILES (Eros Comix (Fantagraphics)) (1998) #5 (Eros Comix (Fantagraphics)) Fine
SILKY WHIP EXTREME #2 (Eros Comix (Fantagraphics)) Fine
SKIN TIGHT #1 (Eros Comix (Fantagraphics)) Fine
SLAYERS (1998) #4 (CPM Comics) Fine
STABBITY BUNNY (2017) (#1-UP) (SCOUT COMICS) #1 (Scout Comics) Very Fine
STARLOG (MAGAZINE) #1 (Starlog) Fair
STARLOG (MAGAZINE) #9 (Starlog) Fair
STARLOG (MAGAZINE) #95 (Starlog) Fine
STARLOG SCRAPBOOK MAGAZINE (1982) #1 (Starlog) Very Good
STARLOG YEARBOOK MAGAZINE (1987) #3 (Starlog) Good
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: LAST RONIN (2020) #2 INCENTIVE (IDW Publishing) Near Mint/Mint
THRESHOLD (1998) (#1-54) (AVATAR) #19 FURIESNUDE (Avatar Comics) Fine
TREASURE CHESTS (Eros Comix (Fantagraphics)) (1999) #2 (Eros Comix (Fantagraphics)) Fine
VAMPIRELLA (MAGAZINE) (1969) #20 (Warren Publishing Company) Fair
WARREN PRESENTS MAGAZINE (1979) #6 (Warren Publishing Company) Fine
WIDOW X #6 (Avatar Comics) Near Mint/Mint
WIZARD SPECIAL: AVENGERS SPECIAL #1 (Wizard Press) Very Good
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