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Disney might cut the price of Marvel comics to $1.99

Started by MR.COMICBOOK,

45 posts in this topic

s-man

s-man

Posted
Posted
Will never happen. :tonofbricks:

 

It might....in an alternate universe somewhere :insane:

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Foolkiller

Foolkiller

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I hope this happens... it'd be great for the industry overall I think.

 

As many have mentioned here, go to cheaper paper stock, find a way to also reduce your costs -- reduce the salaries of many of the artists/creators, especially on the top end, get rid of Quesada/Bendis, overhaul your universe to a more cohesive unit, and prepare your company for mass marketing of your properties.

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the blob

the blob

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i don't think sales will go up all that much ($ wise at least, sure, more units will get sold, people will spend their $30 a week on 15 comics rather than 10) unless Disney uses its might to get the product into more venues (better partnering with Walmart, Target, 7-11, etc.?). Also, I think fragility is a problem. Comics get mangled on the rack easier than a thicker magazine. I don't know if they can keep the price point low while packaging them in a manner that might help them not get mangled. The casual buyer may not expect a 9.8 copy, but they may be reluctant to spend full price on something that has been trashed, which describes most of the comics I see at Borders, et al. Heck, even at my LCS after a while.

 

Factoring in inflation, $2.00 is actually not out of whack with 60 cent cover prices of 1982 or thereabouts.

 

 

 

Then again, none of the above has ever been accomplished via the marketing might of Time Warner.

 

With that said, Disney may have a better mindset for cultivating younger consumers (my kid knows Mickey and Donald, he doesn't know Bug Bunny and the crew (even though the TW characters had a pretty good resurgence via cartoons 5 or 10 years ago with Tinytoons)) and giving them things at the right pricepoint. But seriously, even in the relatively good times in the 70's and 80's when kids still did grow up reading comics, most of the marve titles were only selling like 300K a month. 3.6 million copies a year at $2 a pop means what, like what, maybe a $500-800K a year in profit for those titles. Honestly, I have no idea how profitable the comics are, I'm figuring they see like 70-75 cents in revenue per comic with a wholesale price of 90-100 cents? The distributor needs to make a buck and transport the stuff.

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Jeffro.

Jeffro.

Posted
Posted
I hope this happens... it'd be great for the industry overall I think.

 

As many have mentioned here, go to cheaper paper stock, find a way to also reduce your costs -- reduce the salaries of many of the artists/creators, especially on the top end, get rid of Quesada/Bendis, overhaul your universe to a more cohesive unit, and prepare your company for mass marketing of your properties.

 

I hearby nominate Foolkiller to replace Joe Q.

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Jeffro.

Jeffro.

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Posted
This is just a rumor but I hope Disney follows thru.

second article down on your left. no direct link.

Marvel, Disney And The $1.99 Comic Book

 

...more chance of Michael Jackson doing a farewell concert!!! :whistle:

 

They're doing it, just not with Michael.

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EastEnd

EastEnd

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I don't think Disney is going to set Marvel prices. Disney will give Marvel goals/targets to hit (e.g., revenues, cash generation, profits), but tactical decisions on how to achieve those goals will likely be left to Marvel - they're the ones that understand their business and the industry they operate in.

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marvelcollector

marvelcollector

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I don't think Disney is going to set Marvel prices. Disney will give Marvel goals/targets to hit (e.g., revenues, cash generation, profits), but tactical decisions on how to achieve those goals will likely be left to Marvel - they're the ones that understand their business and the industry they operate in.

 

There's really been very little evidence of that in the past 10+ years.....

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the blob

the blob

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will likely be left to Marvel - they're the ones that understand their business and the industry they operate in.

-----------------------------------

 

which is why they've seen volume shrink like 75% over the last 15 years?

 

WDCS used to sell in a single month as much as Marvel's entire line does now.

 

Not that the current folks at Disney have any real experience. but clearly Marvel (and DC) don't have any good ideas to stop volume sales from going down 2-5% a year over the long haul, at least of the print versions.

 

I see NO efforts to get marvel comics beyond the comic shops and back into mainstream circulation. $6-$7 kids magazine versions? the whole point is parents and kids don't want to lay down $3 much less $6 or $7! they need to be priced and available...it won't be 1979 volume, but really, I do see at a price point of $2 a parent buying a kid a comic at the walmart to shut him up rather than spending that money on a snack. the kids watch the cartoons. they have superhero themed parties (I've been to FOUR this year!), i do not believe they can love spiderman on TV and when handed a spiderman comic go "blech, this is yickey, i don't look at comics"..heck, my kids sits there examining the pages for 10 minutes and remembers the fricking stories (even though he can't read!). heck, he knows there's a "black" and a "white" green lantern and was a bit freaked out to learn there's an evil purple one too!

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500Club

500Club

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Will never happen. :tonofbricks:

 

It could.

 

The corporate term is 'loss leader'.

 

It would probably have to happen in conjunction with cheaper paper, and Disney backed distribution methods, though.

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500Club

500Club

Posted
Posted
I hope this happens... it'd be great for the industry overall I think.

 

As many have mentioned here, go to cheaper paper stock, find a way to also reduce your costs -- reduce the salaries of many of the artists/creators, especially on the top end, get rid of Quesada/Bendis, overhaul your universe to a more cohesive unit, and prepare your company for mass marketing of your properties.

 

What's wrong with Bendis? DD, Alias, Powers, and early USM were fantastic. Just stop overusing him, and having him write books that don't play to his strengths.

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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I think we've discussed in the past that paper costs are not the big expenses. I thought that we finally agreed that it was the rising salaries of the creators.

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