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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.
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 $12.00 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 $12.00 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...
"The Gas Shortage Strikes Again!" (May 27, 2008) I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you are not aware, USPS has once again raised their shipping rates, obviously the by-product of the price of gas going through the roof this last year. Small Flat-Rate Priority Boxes now cost about $10.00 to ship, and the larger ones about $13.00. Regular Priority and Parcel Post will have slight increases as well. Media Mail and Priority Flat-Rate Mailers will remain about the same, which means any handling fees I might charge will be reduced. Global Priority Flat-Rate Mailers now run from $10.00 to $12.00, with other International rates higher as well. Additional services such as Insurance, Delivery Confirmation, Certified Mail, Registered Mail, Signature Confirmation, et al. have also gone up.
"Just the FAQs, Ma'am..." (February 5, 2008) Although I am still in the midst of posting new stock, I have just taken the time to update a few of the main pages ("About Me" and "Testimonials" among them), but mainly have complete rewritten and restructured the "How to Order" page. No longer a jumbled barrage of rules and procedure, I have now arranged it as a more traditional "FAQ" with all of the questions quickly reached via an index at the top of the page. In the past, people often had difficult finding the answer to their questions, so hopefully this will alleviate much of the hassle. Now back to work I go...
"Tis the Season" (December 4, 2007) Once again, everything has happened at once. I had just gotten over the flu and started to work on the site when I was hit with a number of deadlines from my publisher relating to my forthcoming Trashfiend book. (For more info on this stupendous volume, Click Here.) Due to numerous technical difficulties, this took much longer than I had anticipated, and so I am only now getting back on track with The Trash Collector. Furthermore, in the last few days we were hit with our first snow of the year (about five inches in our area) and two days later, we were deluged with record rainfall which caused some major flooding in the area, thus making it nigh impossible to get to the post office so far this week as planned.
"Guaranteed to Be More Popular Than a Stocking Full of Coal" (November 20, 2007) Just as a holiday reminder, gift certificates are available for The Trash Collector website. Can't think of anything to get that certain collector in your life who is a pain in the butt to buy for? Then look no further! For more information concerning gift certificates, Click Here.
"Where Has All My E-Mail Gone?" (November 6, 2007) I have just discovered that--for reasons still unknown--a great deal of e-mail correspondence sent to Your Truly is not making its way proper to my new e-mail account. Some customers--and even family and friends--have had their queries returned to them as "Undeliverable," whereas others don't even receive a stock error message for their troubles. Of the former I would like to ask a favor; if you do receive a pesky "return to sender" e-mail, if you would be so kind as to foward it to my ISP at "support@fidalgo.net" in the hopes they can figure out the problem and get it rectified as soon as possible; in the meantime, anyone who has not received a response within 48 hours (some of the mail that has made it my way has been postponed by a day or so), feel free to try my alternate e-mail addy ("hiddennoise@fidalgo.net") in the hopes it might squeeze through the cracks and reach its final destination. Once again, I apologize for such unforseen problems; it's enough to make one yearn for the old days of pony express.
"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.
"Expiration Date, Bad... Coupon, Good..." (October 21, 2007) To those customers who have received a flyer and coupon with their order, please note that--despite the expiration date listed--they are good until January 1, 2008. I was undoubtedly distracted when I updated them recently and forgot to update this before printing quite a few out (which probably confused some people since they were receiving offers that had long-sice expired). Sorry for any inconveniences this may have caused; if you received one and disposed of it having figured it was no longer valid, but want to take advantage of it, drop me a line and we'll get that rectified immediately.
"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.
"How to Make Your Website Invisible, and Other Stupid Online Tricks" (September 5, 2007) The website is currently experiencing some serious technical difficulties, and I am doing my best to resolve the issues. I've recently discovered that the current versions of my webpages (all HTML) haven't been coming in Internet searches; instead, web surfers have been routed to outdated CHTML versions. The curious thing is is that all of the CHTML pages were deleted from my directory in March after I converted them to HTML. Apparently, the old pages are still being stored (somewhere) on my host server, and even after updating the site with the search engines, only those pages were tagged. This has caused numerous problems: Not only have people been placing orders for products long since marked unavailable or deleted from the site altogether, the Home page is inaccessible from them. This also means that all of the items I have posted since March are not coming up in searches. Few people have been able to access the site proper, which would account for the slow sales as of late despite the fact that the site has grown considerably. Thanks for all of your patience and understanding in these matters, and I hope to hear from you soon.
"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 $12.00 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!
"Tis the Season" (December 13, 2006) First, I want to apologize for any current delays in shipping, as my day job has made it quite difficult to get to the post office on a regular schedule. Also, keep in mind that, due to the post office being overworked this time of year, packages--especially larger ones--will probably take more than the average ship time as quoted by USPS. Second, I have had to raise the minimum purchase up to $12.00 (prior to shipping costs) on all purchases made through The Trash Collector. Between the cumulative time it takes to process orders (which is at a premium right now, due to my day job), and additional costs for and related to shipping and handling, I cannot continue justifying processing orders for less than that, especially when many people are ordering a single three dollar book. I am losing a lot of money by fulfilling these smaller orders, and the larger orders do not make up for these losses, especially since my profit margin is so low on most items. The fact that I have had a poor turnaround as of late, with countless people not sending payments as promised and thus wasting valuable time and energies which could be better spent on maintaining and updating the site or responding to sincere queries, is not helping matters either. So, as of today, all orders must total ten dollars before shipping. Hopefully, you can understand my situation and respect this decision. Third, and once again I cannot stress this enough, please include your ZIP Code or country of origin when placing an order or even submitting a query. Thank you, and I hope your holidays go well.
"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. On a better note (for me, anyway), I have recently had a short story published in a new horror anthology called Cold Flesh, edited by Payl Fry and published by Hellbound Books. This anthology contains twenty-five short stories and novelettes, all of which are zombie-related and aimed at the splatterpunk crowd. (My story, "EasterAlways Falls on a Sunday," was like all of my fiction written under the nom de plume of Reginald Bloom.) Copies can be obtained from me for the list price of ten dollars, and--if you are so inclined--I can autograph it as well. More information and cover art can be found with its entry on The Trash Collector at:
"Will Work for Digital Camera" (May 21, 2004) I have just posted a batch of new Mexican lobby cards, mostly horror but with a few odds and ends of other genres as well. (I've broken them up into four sections now in order to make the downloads quicker.) A quick note on these and other scans: I have been using a new scanner for the last few months, but unfortunately it's not up to snuff with my old model. The newer scans are much softer, with generally less contrast. Also, it is more difficult to stitch together scans of larger objects; in particular with things like lobby cards and records, you may notice faint vertical lines bisecting the image. If there is any question as to whether this is the scan, or a flaw on the item itself, please e-mail me. I have also been forced to crop some of the images so as to keep scanning time within reason. Eventually, when I can afford to, I will upgrade, but for the time being I will have to make do with this. Thanks for your understanding.
"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. |