Story and photos by Stephen Zenner
Standing underneath black KISS masks dangling from the ceiling and surrounded by thousands of sequential art stories, Jaymz Collins, or JC as he is less formally known, talked about his legacy as an artist who runs the oldest comic book store in Toledo.
Collins has amassed a treasure trove of visual details unleashed on his customers when they walk through the doors of JC’s Comics N’ More: Your Pop Culture Super-Store. The few hundred square feet of commercial real estate is filled to the brim with varying merchandise, from comic books, magazines and posters to action figures and games. There is so much that it truly could not be called anything less than a “super-store.”
“You gotta’ do at least two laps of the place, and even then you’re not guaranteed to catch everything,” said Oak Harbor resident Greg Fillmore as he rummaged through a box of comics. “This is where I come to get my Godzilla fix.”
Each nook and cranny of the store is leant to an expressive image, a unique story or any variety of curiosities Collins would be more than happy to obsess over with anyone who finds their way into his shop, located at St. James Plaza on Central Ave. in Toledo.
Collins took over the previous comic store on Hill and Reynolds in 1985. The 23-year-old, fresh out of the Navy, mortgaged his inheritance to make a downpayment on the store.
The ultimate personality hire, Collins let his love of comic books run wild, and lends a bit of his own expert fandom to each customer who enters his store.
“I think stores like this thrive on relationships,” said Jacob McPhail, who was a fairly regular customer before he started working for Collins. McPhail has since gone on to get a “big-boy job,” but said they have maintained a strong friendship.
“He’s real,” McPhail said. “If you ask him, he’s gonna’ give you the truth. He’ll give it to you straight and I think people appreciate that.”
It is common for Collins’ customers to form a long-lasting relationship with him. After all, his super store will celebrate its 40th anniversary in September.
But recently, Collins has been upfront about the financial difficulties he’s been having at the store as he tries to make ends meet.
“I guess I am theoretically rich,” quipped Collins, referencing the merchandise in his store. “But my bank account? Not so much.”
Collins explained that his business thrives off of disposable income, and with the cost of necessities rising, people are slowly cutting comics and the paraphernalia he provides out of their budget.
But plenty of people still wander into Collins’ store with lighthearted expectations, which McPhail affectionately calls “one-sie, two-sies,” based on how many times they may come back to the store.
“We’re just kinda’ looking,” new customer Conn O’Halloranon told Collins as he snaked his way through the narrow pathways. But O’Halloran, here on vacation from California, ended up purchasing a few comics for himself and a number of other items for his kids.
Collins has mastered the art of piquing curiosities with his selections and making informed recommendations, but, the bottom line is his comics need readers.
McPhail said that “online I can find any issue I want, but there’s a distinct feeling of going through a bin and finding things, that create an experience for the buyer. People can find things cheaper online, but resourceful people come to JC’s.”
Two years ago, Fillmore, a Godzilla fanatic, found an oddly specific Godzilla piece at JC’s, and he and Collins both remember it clearly.
“It was a 62’ Godzilla, the first King Kong vs Godzilla, released in Japan in 62’ and in America in 63’. That’s the one I walked in and I had to have it,” Fillmore recalled. That light-up Godzilla cost around $300, but Fillmore prefers not to dwell on the price of his “habit.”
“I peel the price tags off so the wife doesn’t see them,” he laughed. “He’s got anything you could damn near imagine. That’s what keeps me coming here over and over again.
“Did you have me in mind when you bought that Godzilla,” Fillmore asked Collins, who replied that of course he had Fillmore in mind when he bought the rare piece.
