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How do we help the hobby?

Started by kc120us,

112 posts in this topic

THE_BEYONDER

THE_BEYONDER

Posted
Posted
I would say both as one really can't continue without the other.

 

 

How so?

 

Chris, how would you help the hobby? How would you get more people interested in collecting, money aside? If new blood does not come into the hobby, then it will go the way dodo.

 

I have no desire to pimp my passion on others.

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conditionfreak

conditionfreak

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Posted
Well. As you and many here know. I have always said that I love my books, but that I invest in them first and foremost. Except for rare exceptions, I do not read them nor do I collect runs. As unpopular as that may be here on this site, that is what I do. I used to read all of the time, but when my eyes went bad, I just stopped. I hate glasses and contact lens. They bother me.

 

Please don't hate me because I invest in them. It is my only flaw (besides my bad eyes) :) Otherwise, I am perfect.

 

There's always Lasik...

 

 

:kidaround:

 

Lasik will not work for old eyes. I have a very good eye doctor (Joseph Chen) and he says it won't work. I asked for it already.

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DrWatson

DrWatson

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Posted
I would say both as one really can't continue without the other.

 

 

How so?

 

Chris, how would you help the hobby? How would you get more people interested in collecting, money aside? If new blood does not come into the hobby, then it will go the way dodo.

 

I have no desire to pimp my passion on others.

How will you indulge that passion when it is no longer there? The one thing that made me really sit up and take notice was the possibility of no Chicago show. I don't go to buy at most conventions. I go to spend time with my friends. However, I will make a point to buy something at every show I attend because without the sales, the shows will no longer be available as meeting points.

 

I think Bob is correct in the idea that the shows need to be more family friend. I used to not think that way and it didn't really matter to me. However, more families equal more kids and more kids means the possibility of more long term interest and possibly a more secure future for the comic industry as a whole.

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kc120us

kc120us

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I would say both as one really can't continue without the other.

 

 

How so?

 

Chris, how would you help the hobby? How would you get more people interested in collecting, money aside? If new blood does not come into the hobby, then it will go the way dodo.

 

I have no desire to pimp my passion on others.

 

If comics were free, would you still feel the same?

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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Posted
I would say both as one really can't continue without the other.

 

 

How so?

 

Chris, how would you help the hobby? How would you get more people interested in collecting, money aside? If new blood does not come into the hobby, then it will go the way dodo.

 

I have no desire to pimp my passion on others.

 

Chris it takes an entire system of collectors to keep a hobby going...breadth of audience.

 

If you only have high end investments there is little emotion.

If you only have low end readers there is little preservation and exposure.

 

You really need the entire spectrum from $0.50 readers to the guys owning $1 MIL collections to make it work, otherwise it becomes unbalanced. It can't last and will disappear. We've discussed this before and pretty much came to the same conclusion.

 

R.

 

 

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Foolkiller

Foolkiller

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I think attendance at the shows is still strong (a la NYCC) but that those people may be interested in comic book themed type media and product, but not the comic books themselves.

 

Still -- $1 books seem to sell well.

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kc120us

kc120us

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someone may have already said this, but if the flood of comic book movies to hit the theaters lately doesn’t raise interest. i don't know what will.

I believe that will raise awareness of the characters but I'm not sure if that alone will inspire new people to explore the history of those characters.

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VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted
I would say both as one really can't continue without the other.

 

 

How so?

 

Chris, how would you help the hobby? How would you get more people interested in collecting, money aside? If new blood does not come into the hobby, then it will go the way dodo.

 

I have no desire to pimp my passion on others.

How will you indulge that passion when it is no longer there? The one thing that made me really sit up and take notice was the possibility of no Chicago show. I don't go to buy at most conventions. I go to spend time with my friends. However, I will make a point to buy something at every show I attend because without the sales, the shows will no longer be available as meeting points.

 

I think Bob is correct in the idea that the shows need to be more family friend. I used to not think that way and it didn't really matter to me. However, more families equal more kids and more kids means the possibility of more long term interest and possibly a more secure future for the comic industry as a whole.

 

I'm actually considering taking my kids to a few of these shows. I think they'd get blown away...right now it's just a comic geek thing but for them to experience it would be an eye opener for them.

 

I do agree that there is a place for the big media circus just as there is a spot for the smaller comic-only shows.

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kc120us

kc120us

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I would say both as one really can't continue without the other.

 

 

How so?

 

Chris, how would you help the hobby? How would you get more people interested in collecting, money aside? If new blood does not come into the hobby, then it will go the way dodo.

 

I have no desire to pimp my passion on others.

 

Chris it takes an entire system of collectors to keep a hobby going...breadth of audience.

 

If you only have high end investments there is little emotion.

If you only have low end readers there is little preservation and exposure.

 

You really need the entire spectrum from $0.50 readers to the guys owning $1 MIL collections to make it work, otherwise it becomes unbalanced. It can't last and will disappear. We've discussed this before and pretty much came to the same conclusion.

 

R.

 

 

:golfclap:

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THE_BEYONDER

THE_BEYONDER

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Posted
I would say both as one really can't continue without the other.

 

 

How so?

 

Chris, how would you help the hobby? How would you get more people interested in collecting, money aside? If new blood does not come into the hobby, then it will go the way dodo.

 

I have no desire to pimp my passion on others.

 

If comics were free, would you still feel the same?

 

 

It has nothing to do with money. I don't care how many people collect comic books. I didn't care when I was a kid.....and I don't care now.

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Monstro

Monstro

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when you think about it comics probably has more exposure right now then any other time in history.

 

tons of major motion picture movies, tons of pod casts and web/video casts. they are easily accessible through a million different web locations. and i don't know about where you live, but in Maryland the Boarders and B&K have a pretty decent size comic book and TPB section with reading areas.

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conditionfreak

conditionfreak

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You know. This sort of reminds me of the often touted argument that the continuation of the humans species should be the number one thing when dealing with global catastrophies. Global warming and such.

 

Truth is. What do I care if the earth continues another ten thousand years. When I am gone, I am gone.

 

Same for comic books. Why should I care if comic books die a painful and quick death, once I am gone? No pedigree status is going to be given to my collection, so that I can some how vicariously "live" on in memories and literature.

 

Any thoughts in this regard?

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Wally's Comics

Wally's Comics

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when you think about it comics probably has more exposure right now then any other time in history.

 

tons of major motion picture movies, tons of pod casts and web/video casts. they are easily accessible through a million different web locations. and i don't know about where you live, but in Maryland the Boarders and B&K have a pretty decent size comic book and TPB section with reading areas.

 

and Stan Lee is becoming a household name to folks that don't even know what a comic book is...

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THE_BEYONDER

THE_BEYONDER

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I would say both as one really can't continue without the other.

 

 

How so?

 

Chris, how would you help the hobby? How would you get more people interested in collecting, money aside? If new blood does not come into the hobby, then it will go the way dodo.

 

I have no desire to pimp my passion on others.

 

Chris it takes an entire system of collectors to keep a hobby going...breadth of audience.

 

If you only have high end investments there is little emotion.

If you only have low end readers there is little preservation and exposure.

 

You really need the entire spectrum from $0.50 readers to the guys owning $1 MIL collections to make it work, otherwise it becomes unbalanced. It can't last and will disappear. We've discussed this before and pretty much came to the same conclusion.

 

R.

 

 

:golfclap:

 

If you really want to "keep the hobby alive".....you need to get publishers to reduce the cost of new books & get them back on the spinner-racks at your local 7-11 where they belong.

 

The kids today are the future of the hobby if the hobby is to have a future.

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MrBedrock

MrBedrock

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If you really want to "keep the hobby alive".....you need to get publishers to reduce the cost of new books & get them back on the spinner-racks at your local 7-11 where they belong.

 

The kids today are the future of the hobby if the hobby is to have a future.

I agree that they need to be on spinner racks again. But lower prices, for many reasons, won't help get them there. And lower prices, when tried over the last several years, have not helped sell more books.

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THE_BEYONDER

THE_BEYONDER

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yeah it's efing ridiculous what it costs to stay on top of even a small pull list

 

Publishers doomed themselves the moment they stopped making comics for kids & started targeting adults exclusively. The hobby is still around today because we all grew up readings comics.

 

Adults have stolen the hobby from children......and have noone to blame but themselves if it goes the way of the dodo bird. 2c

 

 

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DiceX

DiceX

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If you really want to "keep the hobby alive".....you need to get publishers to reduce the cost of new books & get them back on the spinner-racks at your local 7-11 where they belong.

 

The kids today are the future of the hobby if the hobby is to have a future.

 

Maybe we need to go back to three channels on TV and only let kids have cartoons on Saturday morning. Perhaps showing snow from the hours of midnight til 6am will help too. Then kids would HAVE to read comics to entertain themselves.

 

 

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