kimik

It was selective books here and there. Now we have people spending COVID cheques on books and it is running up prices on a much broader spectrum of comics. The current “free money” effect will have a limited life span and these books will pull back when that happens.

If you have 9.8 Copper or Modern keys/hot books, now is the time to unload them. Books that were $200-$300 to start the year are now $1000+

Only those who had short stacks. Some of us still have some. 😉

Even better. Cosplay cameo = $$$$ now.

I still love the fact that Hawkeye vs Deadpool #0 is a $20 due to the cameo.

And hopefully they burned it upon receipt.......

The article sums it up - stores need to evolve in the way they do business. The three I know of that are doing well during COVID locally have good websites, provide great service and either rely on TPBs/GNs or back issues more than files. They also sell books via weekly FB Live auctions, on eBay and through auction sites if needed. They use multiple distribution channels to sell product and are thriving. Weekly single issues are a nice add on. None of the three do gaming.

Marvel has been looking at alternative distribution as well from what I have heard. DC just moved first. Diamond must have been in trouble for a bit, as per the rumors. I can see why if they let other stores run up debts like Mile High did.

So, when will the real boardie fess up re: the shill account Mully79?

Yeah, it was posted here earlier. Chuck realizes that he is fooked since the new distributors will not likely let him rack up a $1M debt by not paying for his new comics while still selling them and keeping the money.

I have talked to the owners of two LCSs today, and they had the same response - the shift away from Diamond is not a big deal since they already use multiple distributors for products. Their main concern is whether the shipping cost will be higher, but otherwise they are fine with DC moving to different distributor as long as they get the new books on time. They are also hoping for better service - both stores get shorted on orders and do not receive variants they qualify for with Diamond on a regular basis (even the larger one that has been around since the early 80s).

This could create a great speculation opportunity if stores follow through on their threats of cutting DC shelf stock. Then again, it could also work in LCS's favor as collectors would be forced to open up files to get their books.

I am sure they will figure out a way to do it. Does someone other than Diamond distribute figures to Walmart and Toy stores?

So this is the only salient point here. Chuckles issued his rant to stand up for a "friend", likely only due to Steve giving him such generous terms on a $1M debt (WTF - do they have chimps punching random numbers when ordering?). The new guys at DC had an easy decision to make - go with a more reliable distributors who are willing to get product to market during COVID partial shut downs (and plan for a potential future shut down in the fall if there is a bad second wave of infections) and are not having financial struggles, or stay with Diamond. While I feel bad for LCS owners as this adds a layer of complexity to their lives, it was an easy decision to make.

The big question is what is Marvel's plan now. I would imagine they are looking at alternate distribution arrangements as well given Diamond's recent troubles and shut down during the pandemic. The fact that most stores were open for business while Diamond was still closed was a bad business decision as a distributor. I don't blame DC for looking at alternatives when the current incumbent has been struggling and is not providing reliable service. FWIW, stores here were allowed to stay open for curbside and mail order/online sales, and my file LCS said that they saw sales and profitability jump without weekly books. The reason - they made a big push towards TPBs and GNs two years ago and with people stuck at home they were ordering more of both online. Not having the weekly shipments single issues reduced their costs significantly. A couple of other stores that primarily do back issues sales did well with their eBay and weekly FB auctions, as well as online sales as they could still do curbside or mail order delivery. The stores that depend on gaming and weekly new books suffered and are still struggling. This also furthers the trends towards GNs/TPBs and digital rather than monthly single issues. Marvel announced a number of titles going digital now that will be collected in TPB format later - no single issues will be released. I wonder what the monthly sales cutoff will be for that decision going forward? Soon enough, will we only see the top 15-20 titles for each company coming out as single hard copies, with the rest going digital?

I wonder if the on again/off again rumors re: Diamond being in trouble are accurate?

So, now that the fun is over, which one of you is going to fess up that you were using a shill account to mess around?

Sounds more like a 2.5 to me.

Sounds like a lot of issues to me.

From the sounds of things here in Edmonton, it will hurt as shipping costs will likely be higher.

Just got a text from my file LCS so it is accurate. DC will be using the companies listed in the article for distribution going forward.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/dc-cuts-ties-diamond-comic-distribution-1297309

Thanks. I sent her a note and hope that the show will go forward.

Really? If this rumor is true, the question is which Batvillain will NOT be in the movie.