lighthouse

I think more than anything they didn’t want to release comics under their own banner with print runs as low as these would have been. But they didn’t want to abandon the story arcs unfinished either. 
 

They’ve had a few weeks to see how retailers are slashing and burning at FOC time and it’s the third tier titles getting the sharpest axe. 
 

My shop is top 20% in Marvel accounts and I had 5 total subs for those three titles combined. In better times I might have ordered 25-35 copies total for those titles. (Perhaps slightly higher if there was a 1-in-25 cover a sub wanted to preorder). But my last combined FOC order was for those 3 titles was 8 total copies.

Rather than viewing this as a test of digital sales I view it as Marvel honoring its commitment to writer and artist that they’d at least get to see their story “published”.

Only 106 months off on that 100 Bullets

DCBS isn’t the new DC distributor. Lunar is.

Common ownership but separate companies. Just like Kay Jewelers, Zales, and Jared are all owned by the same owners. Just like Hot Topic and Staples are owned by the same people. Just like GEICO and Dairy Queen.

DCBS is the largest Diamond account for Marvel product. They’ll be the largest DC account for Lunar. 

It’s an easy tinfoil hat to put on. And it may even fit. But they are two separate companies.

1 hour ago, Bookery said:

And DCBS and Midtown are not my enemy... they are hyper-competitive as is their right... but they are certainly not my friend either, and it is to their advantage that I and the rest of us shops wouldn't exist.   Distributors in the past didn't deep-discount directly to the consumer in an end-run around their own clients.  

I disagree with you here. It wouldn’t benefit DCBS or Midtown to see a widespread closing of comic shops. They might benefit if specific shops with a heavy online presence closed. But local comic shops create new customers and grow the size of the market, which feeds new customers to internet retailers. 

If the national LCS count dropped from 2700 to 1350 and stayed there, there would be lots of titles (and a few publishers) that would no longer be viable because the economies of scale would be gone. Midtown and DCBS might see their share of that smaller pie go up. But I’m confident they do better the larger the overall market is.

1 hour ago, Bookery said:

As I said... every area is different.  This is a floppies town.  On the whole, they don't like GNs, or magazine-format, or books, or pricey statues, or even more than the occasional t-shirt.  They want stuff that can be collected (or flipped) and will fit into basic bags and backers and organized into comic boxes.  And they want them, whenever possible, cheap.

No doubt. I was chatting with a store owner friend of mine during lockdown and we swapped 2019 sales counts on a few items. The differences were astounding.

Last year I sold:

37 copies of Infinity Gauntlet TP

71 copies of My Hero Academia v1

21 copies of Killing Joke HC

29 copies of Saga v1 TP

3 copies of Daredevil Guardian Devil TP

He’d sold half again as many My Hero and Killing Joke, less than half as many Infinity Gauntlet or Saga, and five times as many of Guardian Devil. Some of it is about what you push. But towns are just different. Even beyond the standard “East Coast loves DC, everyone else prefers Marvel” differences. I happen to be in a town where no one buys Justice League but everyone loves Nightwing. Could be a function of long ago stores here and what they handsold to people. Or something else. But Justice League doesn’t sell at all here from any time period. Silver, Bronze, 80s, Morrison, Current. None of it sells. Nightwing I can’t keep in stock.

1 hour ago, Buzzetta said:

Just wondering and I do not want to fuel or start a rumor.  By entering into a purchasing contract, might you be required to put them on the shelves on Tuesdays?  I agree that it is best to put them out all at once but could DC force your hand here?

Street dates are an on-or-after proposition. We have to abide by them for lots of product we receive in advance (Comics, Funkos, Magic, etc). Shipping delays are common. No one would be able to enforce an “on” date.

31 minutes ago, Jeffro. said:

However, I'd be willing to bet that you have customers that are lured to Amazon or instocktrades or cheapgraphicnovels because they can get a TPB for 25%, or more, off. They may not do it all the time but if you don't think they have never done it, you've being naive

Of course. And we frequently direct regular customers TO Amazon if we are out of stock on something and they need it quickly, just as we direct regular customers to mycomicshop if we don't have a particular back issue they need. We are happy to check the in-stock status elsewhere to find customers what they are looking for. It's been a Miracle On 34th Street approach since day one.

Are there a percentage of customers purely motivated by price? I don't doubt it. But the presence or knowledge of a cheaper option isn't the automatic death knell many folks assume.

26 minutes ago, Hieronymus Bosch said:

So you believe... that's how the rest of the hobby does it too, so everything will be ok? 

I don't believe any such thing. In any industry there are businesses that choose to compete on price rather than on service, selection, or any other factor. And in any industry there are businesses subject to local market factors that would not apply universally (local unemployment higher or lower than average, local market oversaturated or undersaturated in that industry, etc).

But the common misperception overstates the price sensitivity of a typical consumer. We don't all drive the cheapest cars, wear the cheapest clothes, eat the cheapest food, visit the cheapest dentist, use the cheapest cell phone, get the cheapest haircut, drink the cheapest beer, rent the cheapest apartment, sit in the cheapest seats at an event, or hire the cheapest plumber. Consumers happily pay more all the time if their consumption experience brings them happiness.

1 hour ago, Hieronymus Bosch said:

Seriously, if you can buy one of every DC title for 50% off through DCBS as a CUSTOMER (or individually for 40% off - including variants), why would you ever want to settle for 25% off of the same book in a store? (DCBS's packaging is outstanding by the way). 

I guess if, as a customer you get one or two titles a month it wouldn't make much difference, but...

It might end up opening people's eyes to getting ALL of their books through DCBS...

People grossly overestimate how price sensitive consumers are. My customers are well aware that every single item in my store (other than wall books) can be instantly purchased cheaper online. They aren’t stupid. They know that they can get discounts buying from Amazon or Midtown or any number of other online options. They don’t care.

I charge full price for new comics. I charge full price for trades and hardcovers. I charge full price for statues, figures, Funkos, t-shirts, all of it. We do have a rewards program (and automatic discounts for first responders, educators, and active duty military). But we charge full retail. 

Customers don’t care because we provide great customer service. Employees are well compensated (we start part time employees at $4 over minimum with profit sharing) and are specifically hired for customer service attitude. The store smells good (something mentioned in several reviews). It’s quiet with pleasant music. We shut down spoilers and gatekeeping immediately. 

My customers would rather pay full price and get an outstanding shopping experience than chase discounts. Just like the customers of Nordstrom or REI or Chik-Fil-A or H-E-B or Trader Joe’s (all among the companies we emulate when defining who we are as a comic shop). I’m not in the comic business. I’m in the customer service business, and just happen to sell comics.

I’ve mentioned this several times. But as a retailer I don’t hate digital.

My shop is very family friendly. Very LGBT friendly. Judgment free. You love My Little Pony? So do we. Here’s our section of MLP comics and I’ll be happy to talk the Mane 6 with you. You think comics as a medium died when Coletta stopped inking? No worries, let’s geek out on some Kirby Thors I’ve got right over here. You want a great LGBT story with BDSM themes? Got you covered. You’re gonna love Sunstone.

I can’t tell you how many customers bought their first printed comic from me that had already fallen in love with comics digitally. It’s dozens and dozens. Might be hundreds by now. Folks who see Moon Knight memes trying to collect his money from Dracula on Reddit or Imgur and come to my shop to get the real thing. Folks who read Ultimate X-Men 41 on Imgur (probably the most digitally shared Wolverine story of all time) and realized comics aren’t what they thought they were.

Good brick and mortar shops benefit from digital. 

1 hour ago, Hieronymus Bosch said:

This is the first big step toward the elimination of monthly print comics.

And thus... the comic book shop...

Companies like IDW and Boom have been profitable and growing the last several years. Selling print comics. With none of the built in advantages DC has with two of the most recognized characters in the history of fiction.

They’ve been taking market share from DC for three years now (Marvel is essentially unchanged) because they’ve been publishing stories worth reading.

83% of my subscription customers do not subscribe to a single DC title. Those folks will be completely unaffected if DC ceases print publication. If anything there will be more shelf space available for the horror and sci-fi and fantasy and robot and crime and thriller and licensed-TV/movie comics they love to read.

If DC can’t sell floppies profitably with Superman and Batman in their stable, when Boom and IDW can? That says a lot more about DC than it does about the direct market.

52 minutes ago, Hieronymus Bosch said:

Most New Comics have a life expectancy of about 7 days. Not putting them out for a day, when your competition, including Walmart or a book store or people who buy from DCBS directly, will take that sale away and you'll be stuck with a book.

This is not the case. I see around 26% of shelf sales the first week. Weeks 2-4 range around 10-12% each. Weeks 5-8 around 6% each. Weeks 9-12 around 3% each.

Less than 10% of my subscription customers come in consistently on Wednesdays. The few that do are disproportionately higher tickets as you would expect. But my most common subscriber transaction is a customer who comes in every 2-3 weeks on a day convenient to them, who then supplements their pull with books off the rack that came out in the last 2-3 months.

I have lots and lots of “only comes in on Friday” or “only comes in on Sunday” or “only comes in on Thursday evenings” etc customers.

The only DC customers I will miss by not shelving my books on Tuesday are flippers. 

To give a concrete example of the lack of thought from DC lately:

Diamond has distributed statues and action figures for DC for decades. These items are a significant component of most comic shops’ aggregate spending with DC (which determines the discount received on periodicals).

Nowhere in the email from DC today are statues and figures addressed. Retailers are directed to two new distributors for floppies and trades, or to PRH for trades. No mention is made anywhere of statues that are FOC’d six months ahead of shipment.

Regarding the Marvel Action Avengers 10, Diamond’s shipping has been really wonky since the restart. I’ve had books arrive two weeks apart (cover C one week, cover A the next week, cover B the week after that). Specifically for Yellow Hulk there was a gap between the weeks I got my regular and incentive. 

You used to be able to judge scarcity of a book based on how quickly it heated up on eBay because the presumption was every shop got their books at the same time and if $30 buyers were available, the sellers would show up until you knew where real demand was. That is not the case in these first few weeks of relaunch. Books may heat up for a week or two and then see a flood as other shops receive their own copies. 

On an unrelated note, expect a flood of previously hot variants from the last 12-15 months arriving in the next couple weeks at an eBay near you. Marvel started their annual variant sale and last Thursday featured a ton of 1 in 200, 1 in 100, 1 in 50 variants at a buck a piece. All those Marvel Tales 1 in 50 Bartel variants that used to be incredibly scarce? They were on there. Some quick-to-the-trigger dealers now have more copies of some variants than were previously in the wild. The sale is still running and there’s still some nice 1 in 25s and whatnot. But the sharks ate the best meat a week ago.

On 6/1/2020 at 3:21 PM, littledoom said:

Selling out of all Jurassic Park stuff... what is all the commotion about?

I haven’t been able to keep any Jurassic Park comics in the shop for over a year now. Doesn’t matter if I slap $8 price stickers on them they all move.

I sent off a few samples from that big newsstand collection (some Marvel, some DC, some Image). Here were the 4 Image books shipped back to me today.

Well and it makes it easier to get a designation on the label, since "newsstand edition" alone often isn't enough, but "price variant" is.

1 hour ago, mr_highgrade said:

What would you grade it at? 

It’s not in line with your handle. There’s a spot of gloss loss in the center of the cover.

This one from same box is probably 9.4 though. Also one I hadn’t seen. And also a price variant.

Both from same collection. Guy bought most of his stuff direct. But a few interesting newsstands.

Not one I’d personally come across before. And counts as a price variant.

17 hours ago, greggy said:

@lighthouse

That's still one of my favorite board moments.

And somehow I went all the way past "way past starting to dislike you" to " @THE_BEYONDER is my homeboy."

Probably because he was such a good sport about it. And in the time of Bug, and Khaos, and Hammer, and JC, that was positively group-huggy.

4 hours ago, the blob said:

They still planning May 20? Parts of New York are reopening today, but they are not, mostly, the high population areas other than Rochester and Syracuse. NYC, Long Island, Westchester, Buffalo, and Albany are still on lockdown. Isn't CA still pretty tight? Of course, comic shops here should just start selling food, in which case they can be open, and it seems some electronics are getting a pass. (So set up a cell phone kiosk?) Go figure. (Or booze, but they need a license.) While I believe covid19 was an is a big deal, it's time to start. The irony is they want to push barbers, gyms, etc. in some areas to open up... those are the most dangerous ones!! A comic shop? Easy...ask folks to wear a mask and limit how many people come in for a while.

Officially yes. But it's going to be a VERY small shipment, as the DC stuff didn't reach Diamond in time and will instead arrive with the May 27th stuff.