‘Comic Book Men’ star Robert Bruce found dead in NJ storage facility
Robert Bruce, a cast member from the popular reality TV show “Comic Book Men,” was found dead inside a New Jersey storage facility, according to a report.
Bruce, 62, was found Friday at the City Center Plaza Professional Records Storage Facility in Red Bank after his family did not hear from him for several days, NJ.com reported.
Police said his family believed Bruce had been living in a basement unit at the storage facility, which served as his office, the outlet said.
Cops do not suspect foul play.
Well before his tenure on the Reality TV show, Bruce had been a fixture in the world of collectibles for about 40 years, one friend said.
“I think for people who knew him through ‘Comic Book Men,’ where he would appraise toys and other various collectibles, that really did not scratch the surface of the knowledge that he had,” longtime friend and fellow collector Ben Leach told The Post Sunday.
“He knew genuine quality antiques, he knew early 20th century, pin-back buttons for political candidates, he was an expert on those,” Leach said. “He’s really one of the early people to bring awareness of Japanese toys to the East Coast.”
“I think people these days have taken for granted that eBay, you can look up anything on eBay, you can look up anything on Google,” he said. “He was aware of this stuff before anything like that existed.”
Leach said he last saw Bruce at a flea market in Columbus, NJ, earlier this year.
“He was a fixture of a lot of flea markets,” he added.
Bruce’s last Instagram post was from another Jersey flea market on Dec. 22.
Bruce appeared in 34 episodes of “Comic Book Men” during the show’s run from 2012 through 2018, and has consulting and production credit on 82 episodes, NJ.com said.
Although the case has not been deemed suspicious, Red Bank police are investigating his death and are asking for anyone with information to contact the department.
