Comics for Collectors

kristoff pettaway

2024-04

I usually don't leave negative reviews, but I feel it's necessary to warn others about this comic book store. Despite its impressive collection, the owner's behavior is intolerable. He will constantly bother and harass you, making for an uncomfortable experience. If you can, it's best to avoid this store if the short older man is working.

Angela

2024-01

I was apprehensive about going into the store after seeing the other reviews about the owner, but I had a great experience. The owner wasn't there. A nice woman was very welcoming, enthusiastic about comics, and answered all of my questions. Would definitely go again.

Destini S

2023-10

My boyfriend & I stopped in today because he loves comics. The lady behind the counter was so nice and it was lovely talking to her! She gave us many recommendations and was very helpful with any questions we had. I could tell she was passionate about her job and very knowledgeable. She even threw in a free comic with our purchases! The store was very well organized, the prices were reasonable, and they had a large collection. Honestly, it was the best comic shop I've ever been in. Can't recommend this place enough! We will definitely be back!

Quackerkat

2023-11

Rude and aggressive owner that kept pressuring us to buy something and guilt tripping us, it was very uncomfortable.Went here with my boyfriend while on vacation. It was nice that the owner was talking to us, but quickly became overbearing. After multiple times of saying we wanted to look around and 20 mins of talking, he preceded by following us everywhere. When we were on our way to leave he got really aggressive and rudely said how we didn’t buy anything. We said how we were just looking around. The owner then followed us while we were going out the door, my boyfriend told the owner to have a nice night, and the owner made a scrunched up face, swung his arms back and forward, and said “it would’ve been if you’ve bought something”.

Ornwara Tritrakarn

2019-05

I like this shop! It's not a big one. So, you can't expect to find everything you are looking for. But they have nice collections. Finding these '60 snoopy comics was a great experience! A fantastic place for you to reminisce about your childhood or introduce your kids to those fond memories. Some reviews here comment on how rude the owner was. But I found that he treated me well. I guess humans just have both good and bad days. Anyway, it's a lovely little shop worth visiting if you have some free time after hanging out in the Commons.

Caleb

2024-04

Came in to browse with a specific comic in mind. After being spoken to about college kids and buisness, I decided to leave because they didn’t have what I was looking for. In the way out the guy asked “So you’re not buying anything” and when I said nope have a nice day he just scowled and shook his head at me.

chelsea stevens

2024-05

It's a good comic book store and I like to work for the company

caitlin spry

2023-07

Not a bad comic book store. The guy and his assistant are nice, they also have a nice fluffy dog. He doesn't really buy much but there is a wide selection of comic books.

McKayla Lane

2023-05

Had an awful experience with who Im assuming is the owner. My spouse and I stopped in during a trip to Ithaca. They arent huge into comic books but wanted to see if there was something they'd like; plus comic book shops tend to have pop culture collectors items, which they're into. There wasnt much of anything like that and my spouse didnt see any comics that caught they're eye so we go to leave and the clerk starts in on us for not buying anything.He asked me why I didnt get anything. I tell him that Im more into traditional books. He tries to hound me into buying one of theirs (a VERY limited selection). I explain that I already own the ones im interested in and i dont have enough space to just buy books I *might* read someday, and then he tells me that I should just buy more book shelves! Apparently he thinks i should spend money cramming more book shelves into my living space so i can buy books i dont even care about from him???The whole thing was truly bizarre and we were so caught off guard. There wasnt anything there for us but we do know several more enthusiastic comic collectors that we could have referred here if that guy wasnt so awful. He's definitely the worst salesperson we've ever come across. The mix of very low and very high reviews make me wonder if there's an untreated mental health issue at play, and I dont say that disparagingly. Whatever his problem is, I hope he's able to get help for his own sake, his business's sake, and the sake of all the customers who happen to cross his path on his bad days.

Justin Seto

2024-04

Friendly owner, spoke at length about magic the gathering cards one rainy afternoon

Eren N.

2023-05

I wish there was a sign outside telling you there is a shop dog. I almost tripped on him walking in BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW I NEEDED TO LOOK DOWN AND BE AWARE OF LYING DOGS and got yelled by the employee. Looking back, I know it was in concern for the dog, but in the moment I felt like I wasn't wanted in the shop and was uncomfortable for the rest of my first visit. I will say, my friends had a good time browsing (they're the only reason I stayed and went back). First visit was in the previous location and second was in the current location. I was hoping the environment would be better after the move, but alas, it wasn't.Also, a sign would be a benefical warning to those with allergies.

Jake Belamorte

2023-08

I assume it was the owner I dealt with today. So completely aggressive when I didn't want to buy anything. I ended up scooping up my 4 year old and running through the rain instead of dealing with him for a minute longer.

Willie Colon

2023-05

Wow, talk about a store I will not be coming back to. This is my first-ever negative review, but I couldn't let my recent interaction at Comics for Collectors pass without writing something. I was in town and decided to check it out. I did a quick pass and didn't see anything that caught my eye. As I was about to go out, a man (the owner?) asked if I needed help with anything. I said I was just browsing. He looked at my Spider-Man t-shirt and said something about how I should support the industry. Excuse me?! I said maybe another time and as I walked out he said, "You didn't look around very much." Did he honestly think that trying to browbeat me into buying something was going to do anything but drive me out of the store? I should have paid attention to the other negative reviews I've seen online.

Stephen Trovei

2023-05

New issues and a healthy selection of TPBs is their strong point. One cheap bin and about six long boxes of back issues. A few key books on the wall, too. Friendly owner who you can definitely tell is in it for the love of comics.

David Hoffmann

2020-05

A favourite of mine since their old upstairs location on the Ithaca commons, I've been stopping by irregularly since 1992 (when I was 7). While Tim (the owner) can be a bit eccentric at times, he is super knowledgeable about comics and pop culture items, and works hard to provide a wide and thorough selection of comics, games, and other relevant items. They have a great mix of new and old, including some impressive gold and silver age back issues/material. Prices are generally very fair, and you can often find great deals as well. If there's something that they don't have, they'll work to order it for you. I look forward to my trips past Comics for Collectors when I'm passing through Ithaca and hope they stick around for another 30+ years.

Megan Young

2021-05

After looking at all of the other reviews for this comic shop, it appears I'm not alone in my experience. The girl that works behind the counter was incredibly overbearing and uncomfortably pushy from the moment we walked through the door. She gave us no room to browse anything in the store and told us to ask permission if we wanted to touch anything....? and then proceeded to randomly ask if we liked the Avengers movies? There is a fine line between accommodating customer service and not giving your potential customers room to breathe. This store appears to be the only comic shop in this area and it was very disappointing.

Abyssal Voyager

2021-05

I wish I could give it zero stars but I can't. Stopped in to look around and was asked if I was looking for anything by the girl that worked there. I mentioned that I was looking for the final graphic novel of a series I enjoyed. Instead of helping me or offering to look it up she recommended a series I had heard of but wasn't interested in. I told her no thanks but she insisted I look at the issues from that series that they had and wouldn't take no for an answer after I had repeatedly declined. It would be nice if they took the customers interests seriously instead of pushing series that they personally enjoy on them instead.

Devone Scala

2021-05

Based on many other people’s comments the owner is the problem with this store and has been for quite some time. I went in with a friend and found a couple things I was going to get. I went to cash out and the credit card machine declined the chip on my debit card. He immediately got passive aggressive saying how I didn’t have enough money in the account or I didn’t deposit something or it hadn’t cleared. All implying that my card was declined because there wasn’t enough money. (I’ve worked in customer service for years, millennial here, there are dozens of ways to tell someone their card was declined that is not one of them). Fine whatever, sometimes the chips are finicky. So I give him my credit card, same thing. I ask to use my partner’s card, same thing. We are 0 for 3 here. He started to get angry at us like it was our fault that the machine wasn’t working. He told us to go to the atm because he “didn’t know what to tell [us], it worked earlier”. He kept saying that he wasn’t a tech guy and didn’t know what was going on and trying to show us receipts, like that would clear everything up.We left for the atm, but as soon as we got outside I decided I didn’t want to go back and give him my money. Unfortunately, later that day, the charge was posted on all three cards. When we went to show him, he took my phone out of my hands to look at the charge. Like, ummm still a pandemic going on!! If we have to sanitize our hands walking in, (which you are aggressively told as entering) you shouldn’t be taking my phone and touching it.Thankfully the charges seem to be clearing up with the banks. But it was the condescending, disrespectful, and rude attitude from him that ruined it for us.

Becca C

2020-05

Went in with friends who haven’t been to this place in a while, my friend and another person were looking through boxes of comics. My friend happened to stay in the area longer than the other customer and the owner came over with attitude, saying she had no respect and left it a mess, she apologized on more then one occasion, because she wasn’t done looking. To which he continued to be rude. With an attitude like that, it’s a wonder people only come in to pet his dog.

Seth Simpson

2018-05

Decent little comic shop with a good selection of new issues and back issues. The prices are about what you expect, marked high but everything is on sale. I picked up some early bronze age comics in half decent condition for about $5 a piece. The male employee that seems to have some questionable reviews was nice to my girlfriend and I. He was certainly a big "odd", but overall seemed harmless.

Anthony Spirito

2021-05

I've gone to Comics For Collectors three times over the past few months and had one decent experience and two bad ones. The main problem for me is the owner, who comes off as pretty condescending and really not a good people person. The first time I went was with a friend and we both asked whether they had an item in stock. My friend was looking for any Amalgam comics and the owner just said, "I don't know, but you can look for it" without offering any help or insight as to where it would be. I asked if they had Marvel's Inhumanity TPB which takes place after Infinity by Jonathan Hickman in stock and he scoffed, making it seem he thought I didn't know what I was talking about. He proceeded to look it up and then explain everything I already knew about it to me. The second time I went was decent. I had a nice conversation with the owner and thought maybe the first experience was an outlier and I became optimistic for my third time there. The third time was almost exactly like my first experience, with the addition of him spoiling a major character death in an ongoing crossover that I mentioned I was interested in. This is something every comic fan, let alone any comic store owner, should know you DO NOT DO. I don't think I'm ever going back.

Matt Woodhams

2022-05

Nice place, well organized and good displays with helpful info on post it notes on new issues, made by the owner. What they lack in quantity and variety, the make up for in really cool and refreshing content you don't see at most other comic stores.

Kiki Rhiannon

2022-05

Owner was extremely rude when I came in, I don’t know much about comics and was looking for a gift, the owner kept saying “you don’t even know anything about comics this is the problem” when I was just trying to see what kind of comics he had. After I told him I don’t know about comics he just kept asking me specific questions that made me feel like I didn’t know anything, when I asked him more questions he told me “this is the problem” referring to the fact I don’t know everything about comics. I told him he was being rude to me and then walked out. I definitely would never go here again and would recommend anyone else to spend your money somewhere else.

James Frichner

2018-05

Awesome, vibrant little shop, full of curiosities and more unique comics and board games then I've seen anywhere else. They have all the current best comic runs as well as a fine collection of graphic novels and cool figurines decorating the store. They recently expanded and added a huge new young adult and kid themed section, which brought back so many good memories from my childhood. The store owner Tim is very knowledgable about comic history, and he has the cutest dog I've ever seen helping him run the store.

Kenneth Fike

2023-05

They recently moved to a new location I remember their old location where it was smaller on space ,I guess, but, this seemed to be bigger to me, selection is very nice they've got some really old classic silver age possibly some golden age if I recall but it was a really nice experience and I plan on going back in the future

Tom Henderson

2019-05

Great little store, but the owner seemed annoyed that my family and I were even in the place. My kids have been collecting comics for years, and he talked down to them like they were newbies who'd never read a comic. Not impressed with the service, but the selection of comics was good.

1123JGilbert

2018-05

Good selection of new release comics, 50 percent off recent back issues. And a few bins of deeply discounted old issues. They also sell many different table top games and other collectibles and have a small space to play in.The person i think is the owner seems a little entitled, he was very insistent that i use a smaller bill than a $20 for my $6 dollar and change purchase, because it was the weekend and the banks weren't open. It kind of ticked me but i could see that being a major turn off for some.I've seen some people give a negative review because of low-ball prices on selling comics, but you should know that you aren't going to get retail prices from selling to any shop. Retail prices are for if you sell to someone who is going to keep the comic in their collection. Comic shops have to resell them at a profit.

Geoffrey Kilar

2019-05

I am in Ithaca for a couple days and I try to always visit comic book and gaming stores when I am in a new town so I looked up Comics for Collectors. Went in and was warmly welcomed by a young women who appeared to be stocking the shelves with some comic books. Owner immediately reprimanded her for talking to me and then followed me around mumbling at me in such a way that I did not know he was talking to me. When I noticed he stated that his employees "would give things away and he can't have that." Extremely unprofessional and I felt very bad for the young woman who greeted me. I get that some comic store owners are eccentric, I happen to work for one, but berating your employees in front of customers is a bad look. He did have an amenable conversation with me briefly afterwards but it was not enough to make me shake the bad feeling, I left with out purchasing anything.

Joe Fagan

2020-05

If I could give no stars that would be much more accurate. The old man posing as a business owner is a joke. Super rude, unprofessional, and unknowledgeable about his product. Went here to buy magic: the gathering cards, and price checked them before checkout. The 2 cards I wanted were both worth 50cents (as checked from star city games) and he wanted 4 times that for each. When I asked where those prices came from, and if he was serious he started yelling at me about how I was rude to tell him what they were worth, and how I was wrong to check online, because he needs to pay his rent. After all that when I said I didn’t want them because I didn’t want to over pay that much for the cards, he started whining and said he would just throw all his cards away or burn them because no one wants to buy them anyway.Seriously...don’t go here for mtg. Or if you do, go for the lulz and troll this clown.On a positive note, the young lady who works there is a sweetheart and super helpful, so there’s that.

Hayden Karlheim

2022-05

We visited from out of state for the weekend and similar to other reviewers had a bad experience with the owner/employee. It made us feel bad enough/uncomfortable enough to leave the Ithaca commons altogether. The owner is rude and unhelpful and unwelcoming.