The (In)Famous School Trades

[The Wayner]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Okay, enough of the SW stuff. But, it does feel like a long time ago that school classrooms, playgrounds, and bus rides to-and-from educational prison, were great places to do some serious comic book trading.

We all remember that guy who wouldn't give up a certain book, no matter how many assorted comics you were willing to part with, and wouldn't give up that one issue you desperately needed to complete your collection. Or, what about that guy that brought in a fabulous #1 of a series you could really dig and just practically gave it away to you? And then, of course, there were the trades that later left you feeling like a dumbass for going through with them.

Anyway, what were the best and worst of your school trading days?

[Red Oak Kid]

And then, of course, there were the trades that later left you feeling like a dumbass for going through with them.

Anyway, what were the best and worst of your school trading days?

As a kid, I only knew one or two guys who read comic books.

There was a kid who had some early Marvels, but he just loaned them to me to read.

I only bought DC comics. Batman and Superboy, mainly.

I don't know how it happened, but one day my mom got the idea that it would be a good idea if me and a guy who lived across the street, traded comics. I had no interest in parting with any of the books in my collection, but I had to go thru with it. The guy only had some funny animal and Gold Key stuff. No superheroes. So I ended up trading some Superboy's for.......

The Gold Key version of Mary Poppins.

That was the first and last time I ever traded comics with anyone.

[MWGallaher]

Sad story, ROK...
I traded with a younger kid across the street...I don't remember what I gave him...must have been something vintage early 70's...and he gave me Silver Surfer #1, which, at the time, proved to be one of the best comics I'd ever read! In one of the only other trades we made, I got a copy of Harvey's Spyman. Looking back on it, I think I was getting some of his dad's comic books, not his.

[prince hal]

I had the only copy anyone had ever seen of the third issue of AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. and my spy-crazy friend across the street wanted it. I really didn't want to trade it since it was Steranko at his wildest. (Great title: "Full Moon Rise, Hell-Hound Kill" or words to that effect.)

Anyway, I finally cracked when the kid basically loaded up a box with about 40 comics, mostly early Marvels. One I remember was DAREDEVIL 16, in which Spidey co-starred. Great trade, especially b/c in the back of my mind I knew that marvel would one day issue a trade paperback of Steranko's SHIELD stories that I would buy in a large chain bookstore.

[Chris Thomas]

my best trade every? micronauts number 12 for x-men 100. I actually felt and still feel a little bad about it.

[The Wayner]

Though I can't remember the particular title, I do remember unloading a Marvel Monster mag for the OAAW issues where Sgt. Rock ended up in the Pacific. That was the first trade that immediately sprang to mind as being the best.

The one which followed was a trade for Star Wars #1. I had all SW books starting from #2 up, but that first issue had eluded me. I traded a SW puzzle (sandman on Batha) which I had double, and completed my quest. Mind you, SW was only on #7 or #8 at the time, but still...

[Prelude]

I never really had a best or worst trade during my elementary school days. I traded with a few classmates from 1990 to 1992. Nothing valuable ever exchanged hands since we were trading comics that just came out. I was the only one that owned back-issues, and everyone knew that wasn't leaving my short box.

There are two reasons why I'm fond of this time period. First, I was able to read titles I normally wouldn't purchase. Silver Surfer and Superman comes to mind. Second, comics weren't about money.

[Ryan K]

Most of my school-day trades were rather uneventful. I can't think of any particulars off the top of my head. Most of them involve me trading year old Spider-Man/X-Men/Batman/What If issues (What If was BIG in my school) for other Spider-Man/X-Men/Batman/What If issues. I was always trading just to get more reading material.

My internet trading in the last couple years has been much more eventful.

[The Wayner]

Something else I'd like to mention is that in the 2nd grade, a little girl who shared the same crush as myself, gave me an issue of the Incredible Hulk. I forget the issue number off the top of my head, but I remember it was when the Hulk first fought Nightcrawler.

She was a nice girl, indeed.

[matewan1990]

Most of my school-day trades were rather uneventful. I can't think of any particulars off the top of my head. Most of them involve me trading year old Spider-Man/X-Men/Batman/What If issues (What If was BIG in my school) for other Spider-Man/X-Men/Batman/What If issues. I was always trading just to get more reading material.

My internet trading in the last couple years has been much more eventful.

There were a lot of kids in my grade school who collected and traded comics. I became almost the Kingpin of Comics at my grade school, because, by the tender age of 10 I had 600 comics (a huge number at that time), which was way more than anyone else in the school.
I traded comics often with a guy named Brian Duty and another named Jason Stafford. My best grade school buddy, Dewayne Floyd, was also a big comic collector (and still is) and we used to trade a lot. I also used to trade with a guy who was a grade lower, named Greg Taylor, and Scott Hamilton. Of course, there was all those trades with John Starr, Donnie Stanley, Bryan McCoy, Brad Baize and Robbie Fields ... I could go on and on...
I had a teacher, Mrs. Patricia Clark, who knew that she had a classroom full of comic collectors and would buy comics as prizes for us. She took us on a trip to the local roller rink and, on the way back home, bought me the Smurfs three-pack at a local convenience store. She also gave me as a prize some of my most cherished comics. Sure, they're not in the best shape, but I wouldn't take hardly anything for them.
I traded a lot with my classmates, and even got some really cool comics. I traded my X-Men 119 and 112 for all four issues of Magik and traded with Brian Duty to get lengthy runs of Defenders (the JM Dematteis/Don Perlin 1980s run) and Ghost Rider (those last 13 or so issues of the original run). Brian also traded me a copy of Strange Tales 169 with the first Brother Voodoo.