Car Magazine Flea Market Jackpot

Some of you will know that I am a car magazine collector. I first subscribed to Rod & Custom in 1963 when I was ten. I still have all those issues (pretty dog-eared, now) and many, many more from before and since. I especially dig those pocket-size mags from the fifties.

Last week, I decided to pull out my collection of antique motorcycle magazines to sell to a good home, and make more room for car stuff - always my first love. Cosmic Karma at work, apparently...

Last Saturday, I dropped my daughter off at the high school for her tennis match. There in the school parking lot was a one-day, town flea market, maybe 200 vendors. I decided to have a look and saw the usual kid stuff, but a few nice items, too. But nothing I especially needed - until I went around the last corner.

There was a table covered in old car magazines - mostly HOT ROD from the sixties at $15.00 a pop. I usually limit my self to $3.00 a mag, unless it's a must-have.

As I got closer, I spied a pile of little titles. Then a few more piles of the pocket-size ones. I started flipping through trying to decide what to get.
The stall owner, obviously a car-guy, told me 4 for ten bucks. Not bad, I thought, and started trying to see what was there. Then he said,
"You want 'em all, don't you? How about $50.00 for the whole lot of little ones!"

We counted out 45 in total. I opened my wallet and discoved exactly $49.00, which he accepted as payment in full. We carefully put them in a plastic bag and I went back to my car to see what I had.

When I opened the bag and looked through the lot, I almost choked. There in the middle of the pile was the Holy Grail of car-magazine collecting:
Rods And Customs Vol 1, No 1 (the first issue of R&C and the only one with that title) in almost perfect shape - WoooHooo!

When I got home and sorted things out, I also discovered most of the first years of R&C. Also most issues of Honk, the precurser of Car Craft. And the first issue of Car Craft, too!

Remarkably, of the 45 magazines in that pile, only two were duplicates of issues I already had. I am now trying to limit myself to ingesting only one issue each night to make the euphoria last - not an easy task!

I'll post some pics in a few days.

 

I'll double your money AND pay the shipping!


Did I say you suck? j/k



jerry

 

I have a story like that as well. I was at the Englishtown swap meet five years ago, and came upon a guy selling magazines. I saw a box labled "10.00" I knew he meant each, but I joked "I'll give ya 10 bucks for that box of mags!" surprisingly the guy said "OK.." I went into my pocket and pulled out a ten, all the while expecting him to start laughing at the obvious joke I made. he didn't. I grabbed the box and ran back to my car. after putting the mags safely in my trunk, I returned to find the guy getting bitched out by his friend..the one that asked him to watch his spot. I avoided the spot the rest of the day. Once at home I counted out 65 "little" mags. Most were East Coast publications like "Rodding and re-Styling" and "Custom cars".

Spike

 

i found some in an attic....including #1 of hop-up...all of honk...#1 car craft #1 rods and customs...offered him $50 for them all and got them

zach

 

Okay-

I got about same thing here. About 40 of the little books, including #1 vol 1 of of Rod and Custom - only ish called Rod(s) and Custom(s). If anyone want's 'em for the same price ($50 plus shipping) gimme a PM or an email.

Also...

Got about 300 Hot Rods and Motor Trends from 1950 - 1964. $2 a pop plus shipping. I can't hoard 'em all...

 

I did the life time find aswell but living up in Ont Canada its a little rarer to find the old stuff. One day I got a call from an older guy who heard that I was lookin for the old stuff it turned out he was 75 and started buying mags in 1951 and still had them. He asked me if I was interested he lived 3 hrs away north of Montreal Que. The first time I talked to him he told me he had some old 50s hot rods and I already had 53 up so I declined the drive. He called me back two years later and told me the rest of the story and I took off at 5 am the next day. When I got there he takes me into his garage and all the mags are layed out in title and by date there was a shit load the first thing he says is there is someone else who wants them if I dont. (DAMN) So I asked do I have to take all of them he said no just what you want. I look around for a bit and say Il take everything before 1957 o.k. he says yeap. It was a little much but I handed him 400.00 cdn for 600 mags. Got all of honk hop-up the rods and customs and rod & custom up to 57 same as car craft 10 hot rod annuals and just about every other rod mag made up to 57. And just think I said no to this two years earlier man it just had to be. p.s. I call him still to see how he is and to say thank you its been three years since.

 

Holy crap, batman!

the little books sold in about five minutes.

Still got about 300 of the hot rods and Motor Trends...

 

what year hot rod I need anything before july 51

 

i didnt know we were talking about "hot rod" too
someone gave me these....49-2003

so if you have any 48's let me know
thanks
zach

 

NICE DEAL!

I'm a freak about mags too. I have thousands! Every Hot Rod (but the first six) from '48 to '69 etc. Pretty much every car mag from day one to 1969.

I was jealous at first but I remembered that a few months ago I got every Hot Rod from '50 to '75 in MINT condition for $20...SCORE!!!

 

GREAT SCORES!

i had the same deal a year or so ago. i went & pinstriped a snowmobile for a guy & on my way home with a fresh 100.00 bill in pocket i stopped by a 'swapmeet' guys place & he showed me 126 little mags in a box & he said he sat down & paged through everyone. he bought them at a farm auction & they are perfect!
HONK & CAR CRAFT.

i said how much? he said a hundred firm so i threw him my hundred & cruised off happy!

 

Where do you guys find all these idiots?

 

Thats the million dollar question.....................

 

love to say its skill but its all lady luck.

 

Got some - gotta check the inventory.

 

First, they're not idiots - the guy I bought my batch from was a car-guy.

He just wanted them to go to a good home and make a few bucks. It was a win-win situation.

But for me, the trick to locating neat stuff, at a good price, is to go where the other guys don't go. My find was at a local house-junk flea-market.

And don't forget to look in the classified ads of your local newspaper and free "PennySaver" type papers. Don't just look in the car sections, though. Check the freebies and the miscellaneous-for-sale, and especially the mixed-ads. Those are the ones where the owner lists all his junk together:

"For sale: mattress, table, baby clothes, 1936 Ford, lawn mower, doesn't run"

No kidding - you can't believe how many nice cars and things are sold this way. Good luck and happy hunting!

 

About 8 yrs ago I have a nice collection of mags (most all car and truck mags covering about '78-96). All in their own folder and filed away by mag and date. I have 6 4 draw filing cabinets full (plus some in closets). I moved to a smaller place and could not take them. no one wanted them so I put them out for the recycler man that came around once a week. the pile was 4 ft hi and abouot 6 ft sq. I did not know about ebay back then and did not have internet access. My '68-'78 stuff was stored at my parents place but most were ruined by water damage. Now I only keep a few mags (4 or 5 yrs worth) not counting my collection of TRJ #1-current and my Custom Rodder collection which is getting smaller since I have given many earlier ones away to my friends to fill their collections.

 

Just to test my statements about looking in odd places for car stuff:

For the next week or so, everyone reading this post can look in their local newspaper and "Trade Talk" type papers. Check out all the ads in the unlikely places for neat car stuff - parts, cars, magazines, whatever.

Then post here as you find something interesting. You can show the price, if listed, but not the telephone number, since this is not the place to sell stuff
(and you're not the person selling). You can mention the section of the paper the ad was in - "Freebies" for example.
Let's see what we can find. It's September and folks are cleaning house!

 

If you get the original 48's..., can I buy the Reprints back from you...???

 

In my local "Merchandiser" stuff-for-sale paper this week:

Buried in the "Antiques" section was one ad which featured a "potato digger" and antique house bell" and:

"(3) 6.00x16 tires and wire wheels, 5 hubcaps and two rear fenders - all for Model A, all for $200."

It's out there!

 

im a collector of mags too. i cant seem to toss any of them. i have that first issue of rod and custom also. im starting to think after reading this thread maybe it isnt that rare or valuable. i also collect other old magazines for all the cool ads...car and non car stuff.

 

I have never collected anything for the money I collect because its what I like. The worst thing is going to a shop and being told that there overpriced shit is better than the same kool stuff you bought at a garage sale. Like going to a flea market and seeing the same over priced stuff over and over. Just like sucker fishing but im not the sucker.

 

RotN'Kustom you bastard see what ya did to me? LOL
I walk into the A&Tswap, intent on specific thangs,repeating to myself...(nomorestuff)(got nufstuff)...
I'm not 50 feet into it and i hear off in the corner... "holyshit"..
I stick my nose in and lo and behold...a whole box of lil ones...
I ask the gal "how much"..make her a counter offer..and leave with them!!
Much to the dismay of the guys who took too long to get off there wallets
Now i've already got a bunch of these from over the years...but..
theres a couple here that i've never even seen before..
so your the expert...ready?

Rod Builder and Customizer-Sept/56
Custom Craft-Sept/62
Rodding Guide#2Customize your car-June/58...???

And heres the rest of them, from this box(just incase your in dire need)...
(i hope ya read this...cause i hate typing)

Speed and Custom-April/62
Custom Cars-nov/58-march/59-sept/59-aug/60
Car Craft-feb/55-nov/55-march/56-dec/57-march/58
Rodding and Restyling-oct/58-oct/60-june/61
Customs Illustrated-march/60-jan/61
Car Speed and Style-jan/61-feb/61
HotRod-Customizing Fins and Taillights/61
HotRod-Wiring Systems/62
and lastly..
Rod& Custom-feb/54-april/59-may/59-aug/60-nov/60
What do ya know about the first one?
I paid too much ...but hey ...there mine now!!
and only a couple duplicates.....more stuf...oy

 

I aim to please!
Sounds like you picked up some nice titles. I have written a magazine article on collecting car magazines, which has not been published, yet. Not sure if it will, but here is some info on what pocketsized ones I collect.
In the early days, pocketsize car magazines were produced by many companies in New York, Ohio, and California mostly. Here is a list of the more common titles. I like the eastern ones because they reflect what was happening where I grew up, but I won't turn up my nose at anything!

You asked about the "first" one - Did you mean the first that you mentioned, Rod Builder and Customizer (RN&C)? That came from Washington DC, not exactly a hotbed of rod activity in the fifties. They had some nice articles and were usually a mix of rod, custom, and drag racing. Their quality was uneven, but often showed cars not found in the other magazines.

It was not unusual in the fifties for the same article to show up in several magazines (often from the same publisher) over the course of a year or two. There was an RB&C in the batch I found (Dec 1956) which I think was the best I have seen of that publication.

Here is a list of titles & publishers to get your started:

Quinn /Peterson Publications - California
Hop Up, Honk, Hot Rod, Custom Cars, Rod & Custom, Car Craft

Magnum Publications - New York
Custom Rodder (not connected to the current magazine of that title)

Speed Sport Magazines - Washington D.C. and New York
Rod Builder and Customizer

Harle Publications - New York
Custom Craft, Car Speed and Style, Speed and Custom

Universal Publishing - New York and Ohio
Rodding and Re-Styling, Customs Illustrated

 

That's a good idea.......I'm game!

 

Thanx for the repsonse RNK...like i say, i still got loads from when i was a kid
But i've never researched them at all...just wondering if there was a Holy Grail in this new batch
Get that article published man...that would be a good read

 

I haven't been that lucky in a while up here. The guys who have the little ones.. well one guy does the car shows has a batch, I asked last year how much and dropped them like a hot potato when he said $10 - each - you're lucky if you can find someone who'll take less than $5 each on them.

That guy still seems to have most of them, though, I didn't pay super close attention but he has the same stuff every show. Sort of like I do.

I keep buying the buck ones with no cover. Good reading material in the john if nothing else. In my price range, too.

And the two "original" 1948 Hot Rods I bought? reprints, I didn't look close enough. I did okay though, I took them to a car show the next week and made about $3 on each one. Not because I cared about making a buck, I just threw a price on them, marked that they were reprints, and let them go away.

 

At car flea markets - car-magazine dealers here in Pennsylvania are now asking as much as $15.00 each. But the real bargains are at non-car events, yard sales garage sales, etc. Keep looking!

 

Here's two from this week's "Penny Pincher":

1964 Buick Skylark - runs good, body needs restored, antique tags - $750.

1955 Chevy 2-door-post - no motor or trans, solid floors, $5000.

 

Does anyone have issue #1 Vol #1 of Rod & Custom for sale? I have been looking around for that one. Thanks guys.