MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

How did Robert Bruce die? 'Comic Book Men' star, 62, found dead in storage facility

Bruce's family believed he was living in a basement unit at the New Jersey storage facility

A cast member from the popular reality TV show 'Comic Book Men', Robert Bruce, as reportedly been found dead inside a New Jersey storage facility. The 62-year-old was found dead last week inside a New Jersey storage facility. Bruce's family had not heard from him for several days before that. 

Robert Bruce's brother, John Bruce, wrote in a tweet on January 2, "Congrats I want to inform you with great sadness that Robert Bruce’s ( my brother) has passed away this past week in his office in Redbank, NJ. I’m leaving to go home tomorrow to help his family after being absent for many years. Prayers in this new year for him and his family."

READ MORE

How did Marko Grilc die? Instagram star and snowboarder, 38, found dead at ski resort

How did Devan Nicole Elayda die? Fans mourn tragic death of Fresno TikToker at 23

According to police, Bruce's family believed he was living in a basement unit at the storage facility. The place served as his office. Police do not suspect foul play in his death. A friend of Bruce said that he was a fixture in the world of collectibles for about 40 years before his tenure on the Reality TV show.

“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 New York Post. “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 that 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 said. Bruce's last Instagram post is from about a week ago from another Jersey flea market, captioned: "The golden nugget".

Bruce appeared in as many as 34 'Comic Book Men' episodes during the show's tenure. The show ran from 2012 through 2018, and has consulting and production credit on 82 episodes. Although Bruce's death is not being considered suspicious and foul play has been ruled out, Red Bank police are investigating the matter and also urging anyone with information to contact the department. 

Tributes poured in on Twitter as fans mourned Bruce's death. "This really hit me, so I can’t imagine how his family and close friends feel right now. RIP #RobertBruce he was so gracious with his time and treated me to a set visit of Comic Book Men right before filming @popculturequest with @HamillHimself and I learned a ton from him. Sad," one user wrote, while another commented, "RIP Robert Bruce, a.k.a. The Pop Culturist. We were friendly and bought and sold things to each other over the years. I always found him to be pleasant in these interactions, if also very shrewd. One of the true trailblazers for Japanese Toy collecting on the east coast…"

One user commented, "Rest In Peace to my friend Robert Bruce. He loved talking about novelty pop culture more than I love talking about movies. His passion endured and his knowledge was unsurpassable. Sad day". "Robert Bruce was crazy, loud, and in a league all his own. Cantankerous, boisterous always on the hunt with a keen eye and a sharp wit, and generous and most of, a friend," one user wrote.