Comic Book Men Episode 504 “Bryan Gets Bit”
Dun Dun, Dun Dun.
Who doesn’t get chills whenever they hear the iconic theme from Jaws, the 1975 classic that made people afraid to go into the water. A discussion surrounding the recent spate of shark attacks in the news leads Bryan to bring up the fact that it’s the 40th anniversary of Jaws. Mike then reveals that the person who owns the largest collection of Jaws memorabilia, including props from the movies, is going to put the items up for auction.
In an attempt to get Bryan into collecting, the guys take him to a Jaws museum to get an up close look at some of the on screen props and merchandise from his favorite film. Some of the items in the museum included the harpoon gun, the underwater cage, as well as Quint’s (Robert Shaw) flashlight, hat and coat.
This episode featured one of the most bizarre items to ever find its way into the Secret Stash – Incredible Hulk and Amazing Spider-Man toilet paper form 1979. The roll of toilet paper featured comic panels of a story written by Jim Salicrup and Michael Higgins with art by Marie Severin. The strange licensing move was a source of confusion and laughter as Kevin, Bryan, Walt and Ming thought about what could have led Marvel to allow two of their top properties at the time on such a product.
Another cool toy that was brought into the shop was a 1978 Kenner Darth Vader figure with a double-telescoping lightsaber. The double-telescoping Darth Vader, one of the “holy grails” of toy collecting was so intriguing that Walt had to put in a call to Rob Bruce to validate its authenticity.
Meanwhile, although Bryan’s first foray into collecting didn’t turn out as he would have liked, he didn’t leave the museum empty handed. As Michael Fasbender said in Prometheus, “Big things have small beginnings” and with the first item in Bryan’s collection now secured, the sky’s the limit.
