When I first moved to Oregon from Colorado I was 12 years old, and scared to be moving to a damp logging town in the center of a state I knew nothing about. The first week my family were there we explored some of downtown and eventually stumbled into the Smith Family Bookstore. Underneath this classic Eugene business was a hidden gem of misfit literary habits. Comics soon became a way for me to escape from the strangeness of this new place through characters strong than myself and with greater problems of their own. Years later, Nostalgia Collectables would where my Wednesday afternoons were spent, discussing the benefits of the bat cave, debating what super hero's where sexually perverted, and generally making fun of each others fascination with imaginary men and women gallivanting around in tight pants and masks. My name is Kellen Terrett, and I am a proud comic nerd.
Nostalgia has a enormous back stock of comics in the store, as well as it's sister store Emerald City Comics. If there's something you're looking for but can't seem to find, they'll find it for you. The store is well laid out and it's very easy to find just about anything you're looking for. There's usually at least one person working there, and if they're busy all the people who are regulars there are more than willing to help you find something.
People who are not part of the subgroup comic/graphic novel-reader are often intimidated to enter a store like Nostalgia. From the outside it looks just like any collectable store, filled with posters, busts of various characters, shelves of trades, and lots of toys. But upon entering Nostalgia you are overwhelmed by the history and detail this store has developed over the decades and cannot help but be impressed with all it has to offer.
If you're a regular comic reader, the comics are separated by weeks, which is something I'm a fan of because it can become confusing to some people what is a new comic and what is a reprint. Often they'll put all the DC and Marvel books on a shelf by themselves, trades and other magazine on another, and young adult/kid books on the lowest shelf. I like this because you don't want your kid picking up Punisher Max when they're suppose to be grabbing Tiny Titans.
If I had to make a criticism of Nostalgia it would have to be the organization of they're back stock. Over the years I've gotten use to the stacks of books layered high into the store. It's not a system of organization that you usually see in comic stores and I think it's a great way to manage space in such an odd location. The way they have it set up makes it hard to find what you're looking for if you're not interested in roleplaying Indian Jones.
In the few years since comic books movies started making a splash the mainstream seemed to be taking notice of comics once more. I do not think that we'll ever see comic books like The Goon next to US Weekly in the supermarkets as was common in the comics boom on the 90's. But before I left I certainly saw more non comic readers entering Nostalgia Collectable's and slowing understanding that not all of us are like the comic nerd from The Simpson's. It is my hope that Nostalgia continues its many years of being the willamette valley's premiere comic book vender. If you live in Eugene, or are just passing through, stop in and spend a few buck on a comic or two and help support an amazing local business and a literary art form as unique as Eugene. read more
