My name is Philip M. Dispenza Jr. I grew up right across from New York City and have remained here since. I am currently 38 years of age and am now married to a lovely lady, Mabel Rey Dispenza(see photo below) as of 9/19/2004.

 

I got into this whole hobby thing back in 8th grade in 1984 when a comic book store opened up near my house. I spent every penny I got on comic books. In 1988, I expanded to sports cards. I also purchased my first "big" collection of comic books, over 1000 of them for $150. I started with my first "yard" sale of comic books and my extra cards that same summer. It was a good way to get rid of items I didn't want, and also was great to get back some of the money I spent... of course to buy more!

 

In 1993, I graduated from NJIT with a B.S. in Computer Engineering. With the job market being so rough, I opened my own little shop. After 3 1/2 years, business was hard to maintain with the whole Marvel disaster, and I had to close. But during these years, in 1995, a good friend of mine walked in the store one day with an Atari 7800 and about 20 games. That was my first venture into classic video games. Now, over 2000 games later in my collection and a couple more thousand extras, here I am before you.

 

I've bought and sold many, many things, from comics, to cards, to action figures, to beanies, to video games, etc, etc. If you would like to see what we deal with, just click on our "Wanted" page. Though we can't stock everything, we try and maintain a decent inventory of comic books and video games, with a dabble in other fields. So if you have anything you'd like to sell, or see something on our wantlist that you may be interested and don't see for sale, just drop us a line. We're always glad to keep in touch with our fellow collectors.

 

A hobby can be playing a sport, walking, needle stitch, painting, playing chess, or going for long drives and looking at trees and houses. I see many parked cars near train tracks, probably counting the number of trains going by and the number of cars per train. These are hobbies that do not require much money.

 

Then there are the hobbies that I deal with. These are your collectors hobbies. You may be a collector of a specific type. Maybe you like X-men related comic books so you buy every title ever printed related to mutants. Or possibly a Spiderman, Batman, or Superman fan. Some people like the old western, horror, war, or other books. Some collect tv show related comics.

 

These alone have much to offer in and of themselves. But you may expand these hobbies to other avenues. Maybe you like the cartoon Scooby Doo. You buy comics, but have them all. Maybe you look into any produced trading cards. Possibly original art or production cels, lunch boxes, toys! The list goes on and on.

 

There is a world out there that is enjoyable. You just have to choose an area that you can spend time with, have the extra income for, and even share with your friends and loved ones.

 

My personal favorite is the Atari 2600 video game system. I have hundreds of games, almost 300 of them are boxed complete, some are even sealed.

 

Nostalgia is a big part of a hobby. Most people collect items that they enjoyed when they were young, usually before high school when they could actually play and still act like kids (without being reprimanded). As adults, we like to recapture that youth. Most of those memories are happy ones that don't involve mortgages, car payments, tuition, and other nasties of the world. It is a temporary escape from reality.

 

So, here at GPD Comics and Collectibles, we try and bring back that youth, or even help you educate and build a collection that your children can enjoy with you. Scooby Doo was released 1 year prior to me being born, but it doesn't stop me from loving the cartoon any less, and if I ever have a child, I'd like him or her to enjoy watching Scooby and all his friends on the Cartoon Network and liking Scooby as much as I do.

 

So take your time browsing through our site. Look at all the items you had, or possibly didn't have. Relive that youth, maybe make a purchase, but most of all enjoy yourself. That's what a hobby is all about. And if you'd like to share some experience, or have questions, or just feel like talking, just drop us a line on the contact page.