ExNihilo

Disney won't release two Avengers movies in the same year as it would most likely affect their revenue forecasts. It would provide a YoY increase in revenue which would be great for shareholders when the Q4 and FY'18 numbers are released, but without a tentpole movie (or two or three) of similar scale in 2019, the resulting year would see a YoY decrease in revenue which would negatively affect share price. That or Disney would have to reduce guidance which also would negatively affect share price.

Once a book is handed over to USPS, shouldn't it be tracked via the USPS site?

I'm a Proud Californian. Does that count? There are more of us so it should (39million vs 36million)

He's probably a troll playing the long game. In a weeks time, he'll post an ASM 252 claiming it was shipped. Some poor boardie will click on the link to find something and they'll get hacked.

Yeah....I'm definitely not clicking on shady links about shady transactions....

Does the state of NY offer a payment plan?

My dad started me off on Batman (as that was his favorite character). I don't remember any of the stories, but I did go get a book about once a month. Back then I was more concerned with art and characters so I didn't really buy up arcs...just whatever book happened to grab my attention on the shelf. That turned out to be mostly Spider-Man and Silver Surfer. As a result, I have some incomplete arcs/runs that I've had to go back and fill in the gaps. I think it wasn't until Maximum Carnage that I focused on buying up the whole story. I leaned heavily on Marvel as a child and that preference is still prevalent today. However, I'm more focused on story now and as a result my current monthly sub is probably 50/50. DC would make up most of my subs if not for Marvel's constant fresh start (so I guess their gimmick of renumbering is working on this poor insufficiently_thoughtful_person here.

I really hope OP decides to do an unboxing video.

None of the listed situations are comparable. - NES Classic was sold by multiple outlets at a set price ($59.99 i believe?). Any new shipments to Target or Walmart were sold at the MSRP and was not marked up to match the second hand/auction prices. If you want to argue that Nintendo held back supplies to increase demand, that could be true. But the fact that the dealers did not increase the price means no one benefited. In fact, the dealers most likely lost out on the opportunity cost because demand far exceeded supply even after Nintendo announced it was ceasing production (though, I'm glad to hear that it's coming back at the end of June). - The Honda Civic Type R was available from multiple dealerships, likely in the hundreds. If you didn't find a price you liked, you could go to a different dealership. Additionally, marking up the price of cars has always been at the dealerships discretion. Typically cars are marked up to attain a level of profitability. I'm guessing Honda dealerships didn't mark up the cars 3 or 4 times with each new shipment. - Video game bundles seem fairly common these days with new launches. Again, the bundles have a set MSRP and the amount does not change simply because of increased demand on the open market. - The LCS example is the closest one, and I'll admit it gave me pause. But your LCS isn't the only one selling Teen Titans #12 and whether they drip sell comics or not isn't going to impact the value on the open market. Also, depending on when they move books to their back issue, maybe they only have enough room on the shelves for a month. Frankly, if my LCS took all the Teen Titans off the shelf and then a week later I saw them in the back bin for $20, I'd be a little upset when other "new titles" are still sitting in the appropriate new issue section. The bottom line is this, Torpedo/Midtown/Paris Comics are the primary (and sole) vendors and their actions seem to have directly influenced the value on the open market. Had they just come out and immediately sold the books for $80/issue, there would be no problems because it is well within their right to determine a good profitability point. But "selling out" and then increasing the book and then "selling out" again, to me, that just screams price fixing/collusion.

My response: "I hate to break it to you, but 95% of modern comics sold from the 90s onwards are like cars. They lose value as soon as they leave the store. If I were to sell my collection, I would probably get $0.25/book if I'm lucky. Only a handful of "key" comics are worth anything. Check eBay."

I'm not getting paid by any professional grading company, so at no point in my handling of the book will I have been able to make a professional judgement on the book. When I bought the book, it was my own amateurish grading. And when I sell the book, it's gonna be the same amateur judgement call. When I say "i'm not a professional grader", I just mean I'm not in a position to grade on a 0-10 scale. I could say a book looks like a 9.6, but if it doesn't come back as that, then I'm liable for false advertising. It does me no good to get specific, so I might as well resort to the basic grading system ranging from Poor to Mint.

Next step: leave a 1 star rating on the various social/business apps (FB/yelp/etc)

It's all subjective. I'm not a professional grader, so the best I can do is offer up a history of the book as I know it. As long as someone offers up a general FR/G/FN/NM (+/-) identifier that the photos can justify and they throw in other things like "never read. bought and immediately bagged/boarded", I don't see what the issue is. If you want a professionally graded book...don't buy raw on eBay.

What is it? Like the Eyes of Mara on Indiana Jones Adventure @ Disneyland? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones_Adventure

In my opinion, the story. The cover was fantastic. A sort of yin/yang approach to the Batman 608 2nd print cover. Both did a great job conveying the tones of the respective characters. Perhaps, I need to re-read the Superman run, but overall, I remember being very disappointed in the story overall.

I wanna believe you (I bought two copies), but I don't think any increase to value will be able to sustain itself in the long term. Bendis might say the villain will play a bigger role, but I wasn't terribly impressed by the villain in the story. This is opposed to the Batman Who Laughs who was seen as an interesting hybrid and I feel readers really latched on to the character (hence why Teen Titans 12 did so well). I don't think readers are as invested in whoever this new guy is (see, I can't even be bothered to remember his name). The book does have the fact that it's not only a first appearance, but also a first cover appearance. And there is the fact that Jim Lee drew it (still my favorite artist of all time). But it's hardly what you would call an "iconic" cover is it. It's no Silver Surfer 4, Infinity Gauntlet #1, Batman #608 2nd print, or Amazing Spider-Man 300. I personally feel like it's a pretty standard cover. Very busy. And lastly, a 2500 print run hardly means anything. The Adam Hughes cover of Amazing Spider-Man is selling for $20 (maybe $35 on eBay). The virgin cover which has a print run of 1000 is selling for ~$90. Personally, when it comes to these store variants, I think you're really looking at a niche market of solely collectors. The average buyer who is more interested in the story isn't going to care much if a book is the standard cover A or if it's a Jim Lee variant. Just whatever looks coolest. Not whichever has the lower print run. I personally think we'll see prices settle down in a few months. But I hope I'm wrong.

Was the first guy filming the cam high? It was a great moment, but he seemed overly impressed by it all.

whoops, i didn't click the check box to show "out of stock" items.

Either way, the books are no longer offered on Midtown. It's not even shown as Sold Out, it's been completely removed from their site.

I rather enjoyed Ego. A villain who's purpose wasn't death, but procreation. It just so happens that in order for him to spread, others have to die. I also liked what they did with Zemo. I get that a lot of people didn't like him because he wasn't in any action sequences like your typical villain. But his calculatedness was refreshing to me. And being motivated by the consequences and fallout of AoU and the love of his family was well done imo.

Frankly, I loved the darker tone of the film. To me, it signifies the film is much more mature so to speak. If you think about the Nolan films and Logan, they are all similarly dark and simultaneously feel very much like movies for adult audiences. There is an added layer of depth and emotion that elevates these types of movies above the rest within the genre. Above the standard popcorn action comedy flick. I think when an audience thinks about the characters...thinks about the emotional heart ache and sacrifices...that person becomes a little more invested in the film than they would with mindless dribble. And when that happens, when a movie sticks with you and sparks conversation, it achieves more than being a simple comic book film. The DCEU movies have attempted this, but they've lost sight of who their characters were originally to the point that they're no longer recognizable by fans/audience members. For everyone who complained Infinity War was too dark...Incredibles 2 is coming out this summer. There's your lighthearted Disney hero movie.

FYI, I'm basing my 2500 figure off of this post. I assume it's accurate, otherwise we get into fraud territory. Also, it's possible I could have misconstrued "limited to 2500 copies". Perhaps that meant Album Comics Paris received an allotment of 2500 as opposed to 2500 print run? Now you've got me second guessing and I'm not 100% sure. I know that's a separate discussion that I've seen elsewhere in these forums.

Midtown/Torpedo/Album Comics Paris are still making money, it's just the profit margins are lower. If they weren't going to come out ahead at $25/book, the initial price would have been higher. What we have here feels like "Price fixing" or "Price collusion" to me which is illegal in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_fixing

But they're not a 3rd party seller in this case. Midtown, Torpedo, and Album Comics Paris were the only shops to receive original allocations of the books. They are the primary and the only vendors to receive the books at the dealer prices.

The thing that irks me is that this is advertised as a "Tour variant" and that originally only a small selection would be available in store/online for sale. As far as I can tell 3 stores were involved (Torpedo Comics, Midtown, and Album Comics Paris). Print run is apparently 2500 copies with 300+ going to the Paris shop (well, 300 were signed, I'm guessing they received 500-600 copies overall). So let's assume Torpedo and Midtown received similarly sized allocations. That means there's about 700+ copies for Jim to sell while at cons. I guess I'm starting to wonder if the print run was accurate. And whether the dealers have been complicit in their distribution of inventory in order to increase profits. I think it's especially upsetting in Midtown's case considering the breadth of business they do on a national scale.