We were lucky to catch up with Vincent Zurzolo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Vincent, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?

My parents are my heroes. The immigrated to the United States from Italy with nothing and made a life together, living the American Dream. My father taught me that knowledge is power and that no matter what you lose, as long as you have what’s in your head, you can make it all back. My mother taught me that I could be anything as long as I worked hard. Having a foundation like this helped me to believe in myself and my ability to overcome any obstacle and make my way in the world.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Vincent Zurzolo. I am the President of Metropoliscomics.com, the world’s largest dealership for vintage comics and ComicConnect.com, the premier online auction company for comics and collectibles. I was the first person to sell a comic book for a million dollars, Action Comics 1, the first appearance of the first superhero, Superman. I built my business on excellent customer service and building personal relationships with my clients. Everyday I get to work with passionate collectors around the world to help them build world class collections. We also cater to people buying comics for just a few dollars a piece. I started off selling comics in the streets of Manhattan and worked my way up from there. I have appeared on numerous tv and news programs, hosted a radio show about comics, and co-founded the longest running comic convention in NYC. I am as passionate about comics today as I was as a little boy. Live life with passion is my motto.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 1996 I was set up at a convention and had my best inventory stolen. I had no insurance and was completely in shock. It took me about a month to shake the cobwebs loose. I remember waking up one morning realizing that if I continued to wallow in the mire then something was really stolen from me. I vowed on that day to work 10 times smarter, faster and harder and get my business to excel. It took 3 months for me to get back to break even and from there I continued building my company.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

About a year ago a friend of my partner’s brought an interesting collectible to us. He was a camp counselor back in 1992 when one of his favorite campers came to him with a baseball card of himself in his uniform swinging his bat. The counselor thanked him for the gift but handed the card back and asked the camper to sign it. The 8 year old gladly signed his name on the card…. Mark Zuckerberg. Wow! We recently brought this card to auction. Many professionals told us it had little to no value. We disagreed. The card sold for a whopping $120,750. The buyer is thrilled. The seller is thrilled. And we are pretty happy too.

Contact Info:

• Website: comicconnect.com
• Instagram: mcomicconnect
• Facebook: Metropolis Comics & Collectibles
• Linkedin: comicconnect/metropolis comics
• Twitter: @mcomicconnect
• Youtube: Metropolis Collectibles & ComicConnect

Image Credits
vincent zurzolo