Action:  One thing I've learned, over my many years shopping thrift stores, is not to buy vintage/old comic books no matter how much I'm tempted...On this page, you'll see my latest acquisitions, and these, while nothing to brag about - are the best of the best of the lot of worthless comics I dragged home....Oh woe is me, but woe is you too if you know nothing about comic books and you happen upon the inventory of a closed comic book store., newly arrived at your favorite thrift.  The vintage comics might look nice inside their clear envelopes, but unless you know what your doing, buying comic books at a thrift store is, in one word, "dumb" . I learned, the hard way, if a comic book store went out of business, it went out for a reason, and if there was anything valuable in the inventory, the former owners listed it on Ebay long before they donated it to the Thrift. Live & Learn. The same hardline thrift Shopping Rule applies to old record albums. Now I know the record dealers and collectors are big fans of thrift shopping. I always see them artfully flipping through the stacks of old record albums - never pausing for a second until they recognize the label or the artist or find something that might bring value. I imagine these record experts are looking for jazz or European imports or whatever it is that record dealers look for. I've purchased my share of "valuable" records at the Thrifts - I've even sold a few, but the majority of my purchases are worthless - just like the comic books. Recently I learned that just because he's Elvis Presley doesn't make him valuable -- So word of advice: leave the comic books and the record albums to those who deal in them, know the grading system, and the potential value....The thrift store is the last place you should look for something that needs a "grade" to bring highest price....Scene: Hospital & Hospice Auxiliary Thrift Boutiques. There's a dandy thrift store, run by a Hospice auxiliary, a few miles away. They offer awesome framed art, great vintage jewelry and some nice Modernism accessories. I saw a vintage Movie Star shopping for clothing there (she was hard to miss, because her features are so uncommon).These thrifts, since they are associated with Health care, are generally clean as a whistle (after a meeting with Lysol), and full of nice items. And if a Movie Star shops there, it must be good...Flops: Hawaiian shirts that aren't.. T'is the season, but don't buy any shirt with a fake Hawaiian or fake vintage label. The really good Hawaiian shirts are generally not found in the racks at the thrift stores, even though the ones you find are  marked up like valuable vintage goods. No way, Jose. I've been buying Hawaiiana for decades, and you need to know the authentic vintage labels to spend the big bucks. I recommend The Hawaiian Shirt Book as a great reference...I've sold most of my silky rayons, but I've kept two for posterity (and or a museum, whichever comes first)....The best Hawaiian shirts were made in the 1940-50s-60s, and while they've been copied like crazy, the good ones are mainly all bought-up already or for sale at expensive vintage boutiques. Once in a while, you might find a 1950's cool Hawaiian style shirt from J.C. Penny's at a thrift store - and these, without the Hawaiian label even, are keepers. But avoid the new ones if they're marked higher then regular thrift shirts. Because that's what they are: regular thrift shirts with palm trees and flower leis...Props: Anything Depression era - that advertises the fact is a good bet today. The economy sucks, but the appetite for 1930s advertisements, books (bargain cook books, for example), and the like -- is just starting to heat up -- we like to recall that we worked our way out of economic hardships before, and we can do it again... Happy Thrifting!!