Back to the Past Collectibles was founded back in 1990 by a guy who loved comic books and monster movies. The store quickly became a key player in the local scene, gaining reputation as an honest collectibles broker with a strong expertise in vintage and pop culture goods.
With the impact of Internet sales expanding the store’s reach in the late 90s, we started to bring our talents for finding value in vintage items to bear. During our second decade, we grew this part of the business and started specializing in bringing estates and vintage finds to market.
Things really took off around 2011 when we further expanded our sales avenues with our own live auction events, able to be attended both in the room and online (via Proxibid).
Entering our fourth decade, our primary focus revolves around helping families in our community and around the nation identify the potential in their collectible’s values and, when necessary, getting those goods to market via the best method.
“I had a wonderful experience selling some of my vintage toys and comics to Pete and crew at Back to the Past! They were kind to speak with me at length on the phone, schedule a mutually convenient time for drop off, and provided a great offer with a fast turnaround! Even as I’m trying to purge my collection before moving out of state, I couldn’t resist picking up a few new items from their awesome showroom — truly a treasure trove where deals abound!”
“I wanted to take a minute to talk about what a great job you guys did for me recently. I purchased $5,000 worth of books from you guys at a recent auction. Even though I purchased from you before and you’ve always done a great job on shipping, I was rather concerned about getting these books in good condition. I order a lot of graphic novels from auction houses all over the country and I’ve had some issues with other sellers. I received the 20 boxes of books each weighing approximately 35 lbs. I’ve got to tell you this was the greatest packing job I have ever seen. You guys did an amazing job. Every single box of books made it in perfect condition. I can’t thank you enough, I was really sweating it. I will be purchasing more soon. Thank you!”
“We feel so blessed we found you and you were willing to help us out. We feel you all went WAY above and beyond helping us and getting the best prices for everything. We were at our weakest and most vulnerable and you all stepped up to help and protect us as well as make this process so much easier for us. No business takes that kind of risk or cares that much! You all are a HUGE exception!! We felt 100% trust for you and felt so unbelievably lucky that our paths crossed. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for all your help, support, empathy, kindness, support, and trust. We feel like our brother would have been very happy and honored with how you handled his life’s collection and what you got for it.”
“Thanks for charging such reasonable shipping and handling rates. It’s nice to deal with a company that isn’t trying to gouge folks on the shipping and handling costs… as several others do routinely.”
“I love your auctions and have gotten some great items from you. I hope you have many more auctions of this type coming up this year. Your packing is excellent and I appreciate the items being individually packaged.”
“Got my package today. 4 stars to you and your crew. Everything arrived in Florida just fine. Thanks again for the great service!”
“It’s always an adventure walking into your store. It’s always that odd mystery as to what may be found hiding in the rows of cardboard boxes which hold unimaginable treasure or horror, almost like a great Lovecraft tale.”
“I just want to say thanks’ again for helping me find some issues from DC’s 1987 miniseries Phantom Stranger and DEMON. I was all over town looking for these titles and your store became my hero of the day!”
“Over the last 20 years, I’ve visited tons of comics/pop culture shops in at least 16 states (including over a half dozen in my current area) and Toronto, Canada. I can honestly say that Back to the Past is the best overall location I’ve seen yet. (They’ve ruined me for other stores.)”
“What a great store. As the name implies, they’ve got just about everything retro here, not just comics. Paperbacks, used DVDs, action figures, posters, lunchboxes, vintage magazines… more pop culture ephemera than you can shake a stick at. Dudes are super-friendly, too.”
“The Back to the Past crew never hesitates to discuss topics relating to art, comics, sci-fi, television and all the very essences of fandom with any and all customers that happen to be fortunate enough to straddle through their doors. A great place to escape from boredom and drudgery.”
“The selection of merchandise is vast and keeps growing. This is far more than just your average comic book store. They have a selection of non-comic book, but pop culture-related merchandise that matches, if not exceeds their comic merchandise!”
We offer treasures from both our own warehouse and other consignors from across the country.
Main event auctions are held in our physical showroom (COVID-safety permitting) and are broadcast online via Proxibid.com, so you can attend whether or not you’re from our local neighborhood. Most auction events have a 1-hour inspection and registration window, so you can take your time looking over the lots.
The buzz you’ve heard is real. It’s a lot of fun to attend our onsite live events, so we invite you to come and check it out!
If you’re unable to join us in person on auction day, we highly recommend using Proxibid to place absentee bids and attend online.
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Cool People With Cool Stuff!
When you step into our Wixom headquarters it’s obvious that we possess a relentless passion for vintage treasures. You’ll always find something new in our weekly auctions, and on our eBay store, with new inventory being listed every week!
If you’re looking to make some cash or do some trading with your comic books, figurines, vinyl, magazines or just about any vintage collectibles or memorabilia, we’d love to meet you.
Come and visit! You’ll feel right at home.
