The following is an interview with Collector’s Paradise owner Edward Greenberg on the Los Angeles-based comic store chain’s 30th anniversary celebration. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Greenberg about the stand-out moments throughout the stores’ history, why his team provides a strong foundation for success, and what customers have in store for the anniversary month!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on Collector’s Paradise celebrating its 30th anniversary this month! As you look back on the past 30 years, what have been the truly standout moments with the comic shops, personally and professionally?
Edward Greenberg: Thank you! We host a lot of events, and having hosted legendary creators like George Perez all the way to Ms. Marvel herself, Iman Vellani, to hundreds if not thousands of creators in between has been very rewarding, because we have always heard from our customers, “Oh, when can you bring so and so to the shop?” And we always do our best to make it happen. The generational shopping that we have seen, where the kids who grew up on pogs and the original Pokemon craze now come as adults with their kids to buy their own books and something for the new generation is super exciting. We always place kids’ areas in the front of our stores, and make them the focal points of the stores for that reason. Personally, to watch my own two daughters grow up in the business and being able to support their own dreams of what they wanted to become because of what the business provided, even if in a completely different direction, is my biggest accomplishment.
BD: In celebration of the anniversary, you have quite a few events and sales planned to mark the occasion. What will customers have in store this month as they visit any of your three locations?
EG: This whole month is customer appreciation month. We are doing the biggest sale we have ever done, with 30% off each week’s sale merchandise, plus our Most Valuable Customer promotion, where every $10 spent gets you a stamp, and at the end of the month, the customer with most stamps at each location becomes an MVC, which entitles them to 30% off one item, per month, for a year. We have also worked with publishers for some really cool and creative events, from the first signing where artist Scott Koblish will be signing the record-breaking X-Men covers he just created that together feature over 1,100 X-men characters on 4 wraparound covers, to the 5 writers on the new Star Trek #500 comic book, to Hong Kong superstar Daniel Wu signing his new book. And the crowning achievement is the Comic Books For Kids Charity event on the 21st where amazing artists will do sketches for anyone who brings in comics for the charity. We have an incredible lineup of artists that we will announce very soon and have been keeping secret. We will be revealing them next week.
BD: An anniversary event of this size and scale is only made possible through a team effort. What can you share with us about the individuals who make up the Collector’s Paradise team and support creators and customers throughout the year?
EG: We have an amazing crew, and them being able to free me to do creator and event support while they run the stores on a daily business is the reason for our success. From the three managers: Nick, Drew [Siragusa] (who your readers know well I assume), and Zachary, to our incredible social media person, Kevin, and the rest of our fantastic employees, and to the many who have worked at the store in the last 30 years, and are now at publishers and all over the comic book industry and beyond, I owe them everything, and I try to make sure they know that.
BD: In addition to the events and sales, you also will be collaborating with Comics for Charity this month. What can you tell us about this organization, as well as your collaboration throughout the anniversary month?
EG: Yes, this started in 2019 when a friend of the store, Jason Inman was doing his JAWIN charity drives. We had just opened the NoHo store and I asked Jason to get involved. As part of our Grand Opening month for the store, we did a drive event with a bunch of artists doing sketches for anyone who brought comics for Jason’s drive. It was a HUGE success, and with the help of the publishers that got involved, specially DC Comics, we were able to collect 60,000 comics for the charity Jason worked with, Operation Gratitude, who provided items for first responders, fire fighters, and soldiers, and their families. I wanted to bring that back for our 30th anniversary. Jason was not able to be involved, and Operation Gratitude decided comics were not something they wanted this year. I contacted Mark Weiss at Comic Books For Kids! And Comic Books For Troops! Charity and we started working on this event. I also did not want to make it JUST about our stores. So, I contacted a couple of store owners I know well, Jun at The Comic Bug and Timmy at Arsenal Comics, and this became the first of HOPEFULLY many of these events to come. This, in a way, is a pilot event, for a much bigger possibility. If we can show that this can be HUGE, from Manhattan Beach to Pasadena to Ventura, covering a large part of the LA area, who knows where this can go next year?
BD: As you look ahead, what are you most excited about for the Collector’s Paradise stores in the years to come?
EG: Honestly, just being around would be exciting. We live in a very tough time for the comic book industry. A few of our best shops in LA have closed, and the rest of us still around are not “swimming in dough” so to speak, so just being able to continue doing what I have loved doing for 30 years and still provide for my family is what I am looking for. There are signs that things are looking up, and I am very hopeful and excited for what’s to come. The fans just want good and exciting products and creators that want to be part of it and want to meet the fans, and that’s kind of what Collector’s Paradise has always done.
BD: Lastly, what would you like to tell fans who want to learn more about and celebrate Collector’s Paradise’s 30th anniversary celebration?
EG: We make it easy. Nobody has ever accused us of being shy, that’s for sure. Comicsandcards.net has all the info, but you can follow us on social media, which is all on that site. I also really recommend signing up for our weekly newsletter, where we debut all our cool creator-involved products (signature series, artist sketch series…) and all our creator events. Or, just visit the stores. See you in our 4th decade!
