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Purveyor of Vintage Books & Pop Culture Memorabilia for Over 24 Years!
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UPDATES
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Check back here periodically for news concerning new stock, changes to the website, new policies, concurrent eBay
auctions, problems, or anything else I may think is worth sharing with patrons or prattling on about. Previous
updates will continue to be archived on this page for as long as I feel they may be pertinent to first-time
visitors as well.
"Long Time, No Updates" (March 26, 2017) Although we have been tirelessly working on the website since the last update almost a year ago, I have been terribly remiss in keeping this page up to date. (I have been posting frequent updates on The Trash Collector on Facebook. Feel free to like and follow this page, and get semi-monthly updates about new postings as well as the occasional limited time special offer that is only available to Facebook followers.) Some of you may have noticed the extensive "streamlining" of the website over the last year. As promised, we have liquidated much of the stock we previously offered in order to focus more on books, as well as comics, magazines and records. (For the most part, anything that can still be shipped Media, as the cost of shipping non-Media items has gotten too expensive in recent years for most customers.) Although pulled from the website, we still have a fair amount of non-book stock to unload, including videos, toys, ephemera, and the like. Over the next few months, we'll be posting various lots of cool vintage collectibles at low starting bids on eBay. To check out my current auctions, click here: The Trash Collector on eBay. One last quick note. Although we still offer International Shipping, chances are that--if you live outside the United States--you probably wouldn't be willing to pay the current US postal rates. Most items will cost (minimum) $24.00 US to ship overseas (as well as Canada and Mexico), so if this is unfeasable, you may want to save yourself time and look elsewhere. Ten to fifteen years ago, about a third of our sales were made outside the United States; these days, only about two sales a year are shipped internationally because the rates have become unaffordable. Thanks to all of our regular customers for bearing with us over the last year as we've made all the necessary changes to the website; progress has been slow, and occasionally the site has been left in a distinct state of disarray, but I think it has all been worth it...
"E-Mail Problems, New Directions and the Like" (July 20, 2016) Firstly, yes the site is still very much active. Sales have been almost non-existent the last few months. I was having problems with my e-mail client, Thunderbird, and was forced to correspond directly through my server, but that should not have had anything to do with e-mails not reaching me. Unfortunately, I have just found out from a friend that some of the e-mails he was sending me had been "graylisted," meaning that the e-mail server thought that they were spam and thus returning them to him. I now wonder how many orders and other queries sent during this time were graylisted and returned to sender as well. If you have e-mailed me in recent months and not received a reply, please write back if you are still interested in purchasing something or need additional information. From what I gather, "graylisting" will only return the first e-mail deemed as spam from a particular address in order to deter them, but allow the second one through. If you still have difficulties, feel free to contact me through my Facebook page: Scott Aaron Stine. (I use this primarily to promote my fine art, but it's the only social media outlet I use regularly.) Secondly, I am currently in the process of liquidating much of my non-paper stock as non-media items (toys, games, dolls, model kits, novelties, ephemera, etc.) have become too costly to ship. I have been auctioning some of it as lots on eBay, as well as selling them directly from my home. If you are on Facebook, you can check out photos of the many cool items for sale: The Trash Collector on Facebook To check out my ebay auctions, click here: If you can't get a hold of me via e-mail, just drop me an Instand Message through Facebook. The stuff is cheap, but I want to unload it fast so I can make room for more book stock. Aside from that, Michael and I have posted thousands of new items (mostly vintage paperbacks, children's books, digests, magazines, comics, records, et al.) since the first of the year, and will continue to do so once I am able to liquidate the aforementioned stock. So, even if you're a repeat customer, check out the ever-growing selection as we have more vintage goodies than ever before..!
"Another New Year" (January 8, 2015) Due to holiday distractions, Michael and I didn't finish updating the site despite our determined attempts to do so. We're also still simultaneously posting new items (mostly paperback books), and are marking any pages that have been updated at the bottom of the page. More soon..!
"Changes" (November 13, 2014) In recent months, Michael von Sacher-Masoch and I have been doing a complete overhaul on the website. First, I have decided to liquidated much of the site's non-book related stock, especially toys, games and other large or heavy items. With USPS raising the shipping costs in recent years, I have lost a great many sales when it comes to items that cannot be shipped via Media Mail, which is understandable; paying twenty dollars to ship a ten-dollar game is ludicrous. Second, to accomodate selling off much of this non-pulp stock, we are eliminating a great many unnecessary pages thus "streamlining" what had become a fairly bulky site (which peaked at about 450 pages). Third, we are currently going through the remaining stock, verifying availability and marking sold materials that had been overlooked throughout the years, and replacing corrupted or unavailable pics as we go. Although there is still work to be done in all regards, we have finished the bulk of it and hope to have everything finished by year's end. Most of the finished pages have now been uploaded, and for this occasion we are having a "Grand Re-Opening Sale," where all purchases will receive 25% off their total (prior to shipping charges, of course). This will only last until the end of the month, so now is the time to purchase Gift Certificates for your Christmas needs at a greatly reduced rate!
"A Few Things I Need to Point Out..." (April 4, 2013) First, I am not currently doing any buying whatsoever; even during the best of times, I limit my buying from individuals through the mail as bad experiences far outweigh the good. Sales have been far and few between as of late, and so even if I had the wherewithal to buy collections (let alone individual pieces), I certainly haven't had the funds. (The same goes for trading; I have an overwhelming amount of unposted stock, so space is just as much an issue as cash flow.) Second, please do not ask me to appraise your collectibles. The time I have with which to devote to this website is extremely limited, and--to be quite honest--I'll probably just delete your e-mail as maintaining this site and fulfilling orders takes priority over everything else, and I'm still lagging when it comes to updating The Trash Collector's online storefront. At one time, responding to such e-mails was no big deal, as time and money were not an issue, but in recent years, it is just not feasible for me to do this. Besides, you would undoubtedly get a faster response from Google, or even browsing online sites like eBay and Abe Books. Hopefully I don't come off as sounding rude; I simply wish to save everyone time with which would be better spent pursuing other avenues...
"Concerning International Orders" (March 7, 2013) At the first of the new year, USPS (United States Post Office) has raised their shipping rates, but hit hardest were costs for shipments posted outside of the United States. Not a small jump, most rates were--at the very least--doubled! Of course, this means that it is no longer cost efficient for most non-US residents to place orders. The minimum for shipping anything via Priority Mail (this includes flat-rate envelopes and small flat-rate boxes) is now around $20.00 or more; for the countries to which USPS still ships via regular Airmail, the minimum cost is only a few dollars less. Most of the international requests I've received in recent months have opted not to follow through once I've sent an invoice, so please keep this in mind before placing an order, as doing so costs both of us time. Thank you, and I apologize for this inconvenience.
"Down With the Sickness" (February 3, 2013) I'll keep this short as I have a lot to get caught up on in the weeks to come. I wanted to apologize for my absence over the last few months; due to numerous health problems, I was down for the count during the Holidays and for much of January as well. First, I am sorry I wasn't able to process Christmas-related orders, and hope the inconveniences were minimum. Second, my apologies for other orders being late. Alas, The Trash Collector did not kick off the New Year in fine form, nor did I, but things should be back on track in the next couple of days. More updates to come...
"Damn the Spam Filters!" (July 17, 2012) Important Notice! I just discovered that my Internet Service provider changed the defaults on their e-mail spam filters a few months back. Results? Hundreds of pieces of correspondence--including order requests directed towards The Trash Collector--have been languishing in folders at my ISP's end, thus never reaching my Firebird account. I will start chipping away at those sent in the last few weeks and send out invoices immediately. If you have sent a request in the last few months and never received a response, and are still interested in whatever items you asked about, please resend. I am sorry for this inconvenience, and will try to check my ISP spam filters more regularly so that this does not happen again. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
"A New Year" (January 3, 2012) Just a quick note to let everyone know that this site is still active, as I haven't updated all of the dates on the four hundred-plus pages that comprise my online storefront. (Admittedly, some haven't been updated in years, which has undoubtedly caused some concern and/or confusion.) With the Holidays thankfully behind, I am working hard to post new stock on the site, so keep an eye out for new additions in the weeks to come..!
"Very Much Still Woefully Behind" (February 7, 2011) Since I finished a two-year college stint last June, I have been dealing with a number of health issues that have left me unable to keep up on my Trash Collector duties. Barring any further complications, I should be able to start making some headway in the weeks to come. I have started to make a dent in both marking sold materials "unavailable" and belatedly responding to site-related correspondence, and will wait until the bulk of this is done before posting new items to the site, of which there is still a great deal, especially in the way of vintage paperbacks. If it has been well over a month since you wrote me requesting the availablity of an item or items, feel free to drop me another line if you are still interested, and will hopefully get back to you in the weeks following this update. Due to the build up of correspondence in recent months, orders will take priority over questions concerning appraisals, items not listed on the website, items you are looking to sell, or orders which do not reach the $10.00 minimum (prior to shipping costs, as stated liberally on this site), as I still only have a limited amount of time which I can devote to the site. If all goes well and as planned, I'll have posted another update before month's end...
"The Cost of Higher Education" (October 18, 2009) Unfortunately, the demands of school--in addition to a part time job--has once again left me with little or no time to keep up on this site and order requests in a timely manner. Because of my full schedule, the only opportunity I have to play catch up is on the weekends, and even then I have to juggle e-mails and updates with whatever voluminous amounts of homework has piled up over the week. If you place an order during the week, be aware that you may not receive any response until Saturday or Sunday. As for shipping orders, please allow me a full business week as getting to the post office has become a challenge unto itself. I apologize for any and all delays, but please realize that I am doing the best I can under the current circumstances.
"Coming Soon to a City Near You!" (June 11, 2009) Okay, so I'm only going as far as Seattle, as I'll be selling at the ComCardCon Convention on Sunday, June 14. The show will be in the Seattle Center situated in the Rainier Room, and will be open to the public from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. This local show has been a local staple for decades now, and usually has a fair amount of collectibles besides comics, including magazines, books, toys, games, trading cards, and whatever else the local dealers can scrape up in time. I of course will have a variety of coolness, including a good selection of new items that I have yet to post on this website, so this may be your only chance to have a shot at whatever goodies that I've had in storage for god-knows-how-many years. Also, I finally found some back-up html files from this website, and have been able to re-construct most of those that were lost last week. If you happen to stumble across any others that may have been overwritten with the wrong pages, let me know and I'll get them fixed ASAP. Thanks. P.S. Did I mention that my new Trashfiend book is out? It's a steal at the price, if trashy vintage horror fare is your bag.
"Finally..." (June 9, 2009) I'm proud to announce that my third book, Trashfiend: Disposable Horror Fare of the 1960s & 1970s, has finally seen print from Headpress/Critical Vision Publishing. If this sort of fare is to your liking, it can be purchased directly from Headpress, or at a discount from such "local" distributors such as Amazon.com. It's a hell of a lot better than my two Gorehound Guides released by McFarland Publishing, as this is picks up where my Trashfiend magazine left off, which was a true labor of love. Also, spring break from college begins as of today, so expect a fair amount of new additions to the website in the next few weeks!
"There Is No Cure for the Summertime Blues" (May 25, 2009) Having made the decision late in life to attend college full time, it's no surprise that updates to The Trash Collector have been far and few between. As of today, though, I have freed up some time to start posting new stuff to the site, namely books and miscellania. Books, mostly. Finals are almost through, so I'll be able to continue chipping away at the formidable walls of stuff that has been accumulating around me over the last few years. Also, I just posted a handful of rare, out-of-print serial killer/mass murderer/general true crime trading card sets on eBay, all high grade, all with a starting bid of $9.98, and all current auctions covered by a $5.00 flat rate shipping fee. If this kind of thing catches your fancy, hop on over to eBay and check them out. (To view the items I have for auction on eBay, Click Here. More updates to come soon. I promise.
"The Nine to Five Grind" (October 11, 2008) Due to the current economic state, I've been keeping busy with my current day job trying to make ends meet, and unfortunately this means I have little or no time most weeks to keep up on the website as I should. This site is woefully in need of updates, and I'm currently about a week behind on my correspondence. (Also, I am only able to make it to the post office about once a week, so please keep that in mind when placing an order.) Hopefully, with Columbus Day only a few days away, as well as some overdue vacation time to be used, I'll have an opportunity to catch up. Also, please keep in mind that there is a $10.00 minimum on all orders prior to shipping costs. I have been getting bogged down with orders under this requirement, which eats up much of what little time I have to process orders. I also ask that you not place an order if you do not intend to follow through, as this costs me even more time and energy that I don't have. If you place an order and do not pay, I kindly ask that you refrain from placing any future orders as I will not honor them. I know money is tight right now, but please make sure you have the funds in hand before e-mailing me a request. I hate to be so rigid, but it is difficult enough at present to offer paying customers the proper service. Thank you.
"My Server's Down, and So Am I" (September 12, 2008) Sorry for the lack of updates to the site as of late. My host was down for a while, then switched servers without telling some of the customers, which resulted in me unable to access my site via FTP. After numerous e-mails to their tech services that resulted in no answers, I tried calling. After several attempts to then contact them by phone, I finally got someone who could help me out. As of now, I have the new Ip address, so am letting everyone know that I'm still alive and kicking. My day job is still kicking my butt something fierce, so continue to expect much in the way of new postings in the immediate future. Additionally, expect continued delays in correspondence and shipping, especially since I only get to the post office about once a week now, twice if I work it right. I've added a few new sales, as I desperately need to consolidate stock before I wind up being pushed out of house and home. Right now, customers can receive 10% off of all purchasess of $100.00 or more, or 15% off of all purchases of $200.00 or more. This special offer is only good until September 30, 2008, and cannot be combined with any promotional coupons. I will try to post some new stuff as soon as I am able, and will let you know when I do. Until then...
"Oh, How I Miss Thee, Let Me Count the Ways..." (October 31, 2007) I am currently stealing some time away from my pre-planned all-day monster movie marathon having been reminded of why I partake in this blissfully mind-numbing tradition in the first place. Many people--especially those who grew up in the 1970s or earlier like myself--probably have fond memories of staying up late Friday or Saturday nights to catch their local horror host on the tube, trying to sell the viewer on whatever paltry monster movies their station could exhume from their dusty vaults. For me, it was a show called Nightmare Theatre, which ran from 1964 to 1978, and its master of ceremony, The Count. If one person could be blamed for my obsession with all things horror, it would be this man and the weekly double-billings featuring the best-of-the-best alongside the worst-of-the-worst, and for both he has my eternal gratitude. In honor of the show and the man behind it, Joe Towey, I created a fan website a few years back--a virtual shrine to all things Nightmare Theatre. I have recently moved and rebuilt the site (now dubbed "Nightmare Theatre NW," in order to differentiate it from all of the other unrelated, but similarly-titled sites), which can be found at www.nightmaretheatrenw.net. If you grew up in the Pacific Northwest where it aired (particularly Seattle and the outlying regions), come visit the site and relive the Friday nights you spent trying to stay awake until 11:30 in order to catch our resident bloodsucker and his little slices of B-movie heaven. Even if you weren't weaned on the antics of this particular horror host, you are still welcome to come take a look-see as to the show responsible for schooling Yours Truly and inspiring me to become a horror writer and film historian in the first place.
"If You Can't Trust My Customers, Who Can You Trust?" (October 18, 2007) If you are interested in reading some testimonials from recently satisfied customers, Click Here.
"On Matters of Trash Collector Etiquette: The Sequel" (February 22, 2007) A few quick reminders. Please include your ZIP Code or country of origin when making any inquiries so that--if an item is available--I can e-mail you an invoice with payment instructions immediately. Also, remember that there is a minimum of $10.00 before shipping on all orders. This will also benefit buyers, as I will be able to post many lower priced items, as well as lower the prices on some existing stock, as I won't have to worry about time and energy spent on $3.00 orders as I did previously. With the upcoming selection that will be made available to public (I'm predicting that the size of the site will double within a couple of months), buyers should have no problem finding a plethora on interesting items to strike their fancy. Finally, if you are not planning on following through on an order of an size (barring the availability of some or all of your order), please save us both the time and wait until you are sure. I still spend a great deal of valuable time checking stock, packaging orders, calculating shipping costs, and writing numerous e-mails on orders for which the buyer decides not to honor, which only makes it harder on me and the valued customers who follow through on their transactions. Thanks. Happy New Year!
"On Matters of Trash Collector Etiquette" (November 26, 2005) A couple of lengthy reminders. First, I have been getting a slew of people placing orders, then not following through. If you are not seriously intending to purchase at this time, please wait until you are ready to order. It is time consuming for me to gather materials, obtain shipping quotes, and send out invoices and reminders, and doing so chips away at the little time I usually have to devote to the site (remember, this is a one man operation), especially when I have to refile items after the buyers have changed their minds. It is even more difficult right now in light of the aforementioned book deadlines, which are demanding and--at this point in time--do not pay the bills. Additionally, I want to remind everyone that my prices are firm, so please do not ask for a discount, even if purchased in quantity. My profit margin is extremely low--especially when compared to other dealers--as I tend to undercut everyone else while paying more in order to obtain quality items. (Many of the items on the site are also from my own collection, and it is not uncommon for me to be asking as much or even less than what I paid for them in the first place.) I know things are tough for a lot of people, but I sympathize more than you know as when the market does poorly--especially in light of such disasters as Katrina and unpredictable oil prices--I do poorly, and paying the bills has been a tremendous struggle for me in the last few months. (And since much of these items--especially the higher grade, vintage pieces--are getting harder to come by, it is getting more difficult for me to obtain materials I know I can turn over faster--hence my branching out as of late.) Hopefully, you can understand my situation. Also, as I've mentioned before, when inquiring about an intended purchase, please include either your ZIP Code or country of origin in the initial e-Mail so I can send you an invoice with shipping costs right away; this saves us both time having to write additional e-mails and wait for the responses. (I try to save all correspondence for at least three months, so this will also slow down the expanding girth of my e-mail filing system; to say it is overwhelming would be a gross understatement.) I want to continue offering a good variety of great products at competitive prices, so respecting these requests will help me immensely, as well as expedite the service I offer and our communication. Thanks in advance!
"Media Mail Packages Violated by USPS... News at Eleven" (August 9, 2005) I have some news which should be a concern to most buyers, as it was to me. The United States Post Office has been cracking down on individuals shipping non-media items via Media Mail, and have recently started stamping them "Subject to Inspection." Not an idle threat, I have discovered that a large number of the items I have shipped via Media Mail in the last few weeks were indeed opened and their contents rifled through to ensure that I had adhered to their stipulations (which I always do). Unfortunately, postal workers have no concept of collectibles and condition, so because of their inability to handle them with care and repackage them in a way so that the books will not be damaged in shipping, I have had reports that some items are not being received by the buyer in the same condition in which they were sent. Since I can't be responsible for damages accrued when I have taken great pains to ensure they are packaged securely, I suggest that if you decide to go with Media Mail in the future, you may want to pay for Postal Insurance so that if some numbskull does manhandle your purchases, you can at least be compensated by USPS. I do not want to discontinue offering Media Mail, because shipping more than a few books via First Class or Priority has become costly in the last few years with USPS' excessive increases since the rise of online marketing. If you have received something recently that has been damaged, I suggest that you go to your local post office and complain about the treatment of your goods; maybe if they realize that there is a problem on their end, they will at least take greater pains in the future.
"Steal This Book... and You'll Secure a Place for Yourself in Hell" (July 23, 2003)
Just to let interested parties know, my book The Gorehound's Guide to Splatter Films of the 1980s is finally out. I can
honestly say that it is far better than its predecessor, in girth, quality of content, layout and editing. Also, it retails for the
same as the first book ($32.50), but runs a hundred pages longer (for a total of 398 pages), giving the reader much more for their
money. To order it directly from the publisher, or for more information,
Click Here. If you are interested in checking out my
first book from McFarland, which instead focuses on splatter films from the 1960s & 1970s,
Click Here. |
