Exotic Planterium and Card & Comic Collectorama

It’s a Kool place I like going in but the place is never open. He clearly owns the building. I really love Evil Ernie comics but in this place it’s not situated very well and I don’t feel like looking through all the other comics. This place could be a lot more. Who knows one day he might sell it to me.

This location is situated near Evening Star /​Majestic Lounge in the Del Rey area. It is a unique experience with plenty of antique comics, baseball cards, books, and other doo-​dads. Unfortunately, it’s not the cleanest of such types of stores.

Run away from this place. It’s scary and I feel bad for all of the comics and cards that live here as the guy who works here looks like a hoarder. Behind the counter has boxes upon boxes that just look trampled on and I honestly wish that the place currently looked like it does in the pictures listed on here. I asked about some of the old trampled boxes behind the counter and the owner said that he was going to hold on to them for a few more years to see if they gain any value despite the box set it was from (Pokemon Neo Genesis and Team Rocket Returns) were both over 15 years old. The plants that take up ¹⁄₃ of the store definitely don’t help the atmosphere of the place.

Cool combination of two seemingly unrelated items? CHECK. Somewhat shady storefront that’s just inviting enough to stop in? CHECK. Interior full of quirky clutter? CHECK.
This place (the name is too long to type out!) is a cool concept of something that’d only be cool IN concept. Though, I’m sure when the owner opened this place, he wasn’t trying to go for any kind of «concept» and he just did what he wanted. This place looks and feels like it’s been a Del Ray staple for a really long time and it really embodies Del Ray’s small business spirit.
However, I’m not a fan. Yeah, it’s really cool to go in and look around at the knickknacks covering all the tables and spilling off the shelves, but I was really pressed to find something that I’d want to purchase. I saw a lot of toys from my childhood that struck me with nostalgia, but the idea of owning them now wasn’t very appealing. The prices are *okay* but you could get better deals if you looked hard enough elsewhere.
They have a large selection of comic books, but none are in particularly good shape. I mean, if you’re not looking for a collectable edition, and you like the feel of well-​worn books, you’ll be fine. You’ll definitely find something that you like. Unfortunately, I’m not even into comics that much. Their book selection is decent, but not spectacular. I’m bummed they didn’t carry any Philip K. Dick; I feel like that would fit right in at a place like this! I’m not sure about their stock turnover, but it didn’t look any different from the last time I visited almost half a year ago.
I’d have to say that my favorite part about this place is the plant collection. They have some really cool (dare I say, EXOTIC) plants. It’s a cool place to look around and get lost in for a bit (the store isn’t very big so you’ll run out of places to look pretty quickly) but I’d be pressed to find something there I’d actually want to purchase. Oh, and be careful when opening the front door. It gets stuck at about the halfway point so be prepared!

I clearly feel less nostalgic about this place than some other Unilocalers. The unwarranted you walk through the doors you feel as though you’re on the set of «Hoarders: Buried Alive!». The exotic plant section is littered with dead and decaying plants. The comic book section seems to have been amassed from every garage sale within a 500 mike radius, with there being no rhyme or reason as to where they lay.
Save yourself a trip unless you’re in the mood to be baffled over this businesses strategy.

It’s eclectic and the owner is fabulous. I do wonder how he gets to everything or where things are. The door barely opens because of the sheer amount of stuff that is stuffed in this place. I think it’s a gem of a place even though it is highly disorganized but I think you can find something interesting to add to your collection whether it’s a plant or a comic.

If there ever was a business that would and could be called a «hidden gem», this is it. The front part of the store is plants, and most of the rest is comic books. An unlimited amount of the coolest stuff in the world. On our most recent visit we purchased a Mad magazine from 1979, a supercool military pin ($ 2), Archies comic from the late ‘80s, a pack of hockey trading cards from 1991 and a living breathing venus flytrap plant.
There’s also a refrigerator that has a handwritten sign with drink prices on it, but there’s no way to open the fridge because of the stacks of comic books and boxes blocking the way. There’s so much stuff everywhere that the gentleman that runs the place (the original owner and only person who works there) can’t really even get behind the register, he has to reach over the counter to ring you up.
I think the negative reviews just do not understand this place. Actually, neither do I, but all I know is it’s the most incredible retail store in these United States.

One of my favorite places on the planet. In an area where everything is so type A and hermetically sealed this place bucks back. Don’t enter if you want something that is any less that bizarre and strange.

I collect comic books and thought I’d hunt down places in my area. Since this store was listed in a comic book store locator, I thought I’d check it out.
The store is a bizarre mix of plant nursery (mostly cactus and succulents) and pop culture collectibles (e.g. comic books, trading cards). Personally, I wouldn’t have thought sun lamps and air misters would really help maintain the integrity of paper-​based collectibles but what do I know. Let’s not even start talking about the fire hazards.
The store has no organization what-​so-​ever. Essentially, stuff is just stacked on every available surface and, in some cases, slipping off that surface. I assume that this is what the inside of a hoarders house would look like. Plus, the store was at least 85 degrees inside with still dusty air.
The elderly man behind the counter and the condition of the store, made me wonder whether his mother’s desiccated corpse was propped up in a back room like in «Psycho.» I’m six-​foot-​six but the place even gave me the willies.
The comic book stuff is mostly crap. Banged up yellowed comic books from the 80’s and 90’s stuffed in cardboard boxes at the back of the store. Nothing is marked for price. The few prices the owner quoted indicated that he might be insane. I knew that the tattered comic books could be bought for fifty cents or a dollar at any other comic store, but he was quoting prices like they were real collectibles. Maybe it was only those few items but that sealed the deal for me.
If you are in the neighborhood, it is worth sticking your head inside, if only for the WTF factor, but I wouldn’t make a trip there to shop.

I have no idea how the Collectorama stays in business. It is in a prime location in the heart of Del Rey. Yet, it is a remnant of the past in that it is a dark, dusty room with stacks and stacks of comics and trading cards, to go with a weird variety of «exotic» plants of sale. I estimate the daily revenues of this place to be around 40 dollars a day (at most!). It appears all the merchandise was acquired between 1989 and 1993 with little or no more recent merchandise. A great place if you are looking for packs of 1992 Topps baseball cards.
This review sounds negative, but it is a refreshing and great place to lose an hour or two sifting through stacks of items looking for a hidden treasure. Go, while you still can. Places like this are disappearing everywhere.

Another creepy «nursery,» if you can call it that! This overstuffed, cluttered, dusty little house filled with old comics and dried up plants (how do those go together?) was so eerie, I actually broke out in hives. Great place to take misbehaving children around Halloween!

this store is worth visiting just to visit. it’s dark and musty and strange, and talking to the owner is definitely a unique experience. comic books and sci-​fi collectibles are piled on every available surface in the store (i don’t know how this is not a fire hazard!) with a couple of racks of exotic plants near the front window. the only thing i’ve bought here before are some plants, but you definitely have to be careful selecting them. i’ve seen some pretty faded looking plants for sale that didn’t look like they would last much longer.

Set to the tune of «Le Freak» by Chic
Aaahh Geek out!
Le Geek, C’est Chic
Geek out!
I stopped in here the other day to get a surprise little something for the geek in my life. This store is a tad peculiar. If there is a local version of Comic Book Guy’s store in Del Ray, this is it.
As I expected from a place called «Comic & Card Collectorama» this place sells used comic books, old trading cards («I’ll trade you my Spock Card for your Kirk) and.plants. Yeah, plants.
Other than the trading cards and comics, there are also some cool cardboard cutouts of actors from Sci Fi and cult shows as well as some neat-​o mobiles.
Behind the cashier is where the really valuable stuff lives. Items like a copy of the first run of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic (26 bucks) and «Strangetales» #115 (over a hundred clams) are hung here — definitely look but don’t touch!