It is hard to believe that four years have passed since the doors of View Obscura, opened in a virtual sense. As expected sales were slow at first but by the end of it's first year business was sailing along briskly. What had begun as a showcase for my personal photography and art prints quickly expanded into a full-fledged comic book and vintage toy store, in fact the store has grown so fast that I can hardly believe it.
Visit Atomic Robot Comics & Toys!
Recently both Terri and I were thinking about what we could do to take our online business to the next level. After a lot of thought, and most importantly prayer, we came to the conclusion that the only thing that was holding us back was our name "View Obscura." Back four years ago the name fit. We began the business as a way to showcase my photography and sell ephemera. Today that is just a very small amount of the items that we have for sale and now our old name didn't accurately communicate exactly what we are.
Besides "View Obscura" is really hard to remember. We recently learned that many of our customers were referring to us as "Obscure Comics", which is of course okay but if you tried to find our store by looking under that title you would never find us.
That's when we were given the divinely inspired name "Atomic Robot". We played with other names like "Fun Time Comics" and "Atomic City", but in the end "Atomic Robot Comics & Toys" won out. We truly believe that this new name will be easier to remember plus it more accurately suits us with our expanding catalog of comic books and retro toys.
Both Terri and I want to thank all of our loyal customers for all of their patronage. We also want to assure you that a name change does not mean a change in the kinds of products we sell, a change in the way that we do customer service or a change in our speedy shipping service.
None of that will change, our customers are still the number one priority to us.
Here is the a summary of just who we are from the Atomic Robot Comics & Toys website:
We are big in the Bronze Age!
Though we carry comic books that date back to the 1940s, it is the era known as "The Bronze Age" (1970-1979) that account for about 60% of our total sales. This, in my opinion, is proof positive that this era of comics is coming into its own with the fan base ... and that they are just damn good comics.
Gone in a Flash!
Of our total comic book sales, “The Flash” led the way. To be honest it has been a bit difficult to keep up with the demand for these books, though we have managed to do exactly that. Other top sellers include:
• Green Lantern• Amazing Spider-Man• Action Comics• Avengers• Justice League
• Uncanny X-Men• Spawn• Wonder Woman• Captain America• Iron Man
Star Wars, those crazy ... Star Wars
When it comes to our vintage toy section, I just had to sing along with Bill Murray from SNL back in the day. Star Wars toys sold very well along with Godzilla items and our Barbie and Disney dolls.
Our Movie Memorabilia section has been growing steadily all year with new original movie stills, lobby cards, and movie posters regularly added.
To everyone who has taken the time to shop with us over the past four years, I personally thank you. We have really taken pleasure in serving you in the best way we possibly can. We take great pride in making sure that each item shipped from our store is packed securely so that when it arrives to you it will be in perfect condition. Additionally we strive to get each item out ASAP, so that you can have your item in a timely manner. Our customers, a great compliment, have called us “the best shipper on Etsy” and we accept this honor with a lot of pride.