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Wizard - anyone have the whole story...

Started by slym2none,

50 posts in this topic

Bio-Rupp

Bio-Rupp

Posted
Posted
... but I will state the entire "death of Captain America" debacle soured me on them somewhat.

 

xxx ooo

 

Rupp

 

Can you go into more detail on this? I mentioned it earlier but couldn't remember the details. Something about them selling copies of it while also listing it as "hot" or whatever?

 

Wizard mag knew about the Death of Captain America in issue 25 waaaay before anyone else did. The magazine had lead in time to give it full coverage in the new Wizard mag that month (which came out within days of the issue) plus a full size tribute issue.

 

Wizard's online ebay store had 100's of copies to burn off at $60 - $80 each the week of release on Ebay... and made a fortune off Captain America #25's.

 

When retailers got the reorders in the following week...which rumor has it was already printed and ready to ship when the previous week's copies sold out... we were met with comments like "wish you would have had this before I paid $50 for it online".

 

Consumers don't really like to be singed like that and leaves a bad taste in their wallet toward any future speculation (remember those burned in the early 90's).

 

Don't get me wrong... I bought plenty of merch in Wizard's Ebay auctions... $10 case lots of Twisted Toyfare theater come to mind... but I don't like the only comic distributor or one of the largest producers of comics in the world giving a competitor, ANY competitor, insider trading secrets.

 

Rumors I heard at the time was that Marvel gave them the heads up for more coverage... weather that's true or not, who knows. Another rumor was that Gareb was bleeding money and this was a nod to him from Diamond to help pay on back debt for items in the Wizard Store. Again no idea if that's true or not.

 

Its been a few years and time may have made all of it a little cloudy in my ancient mind... so if anyone remembers more details, please chime in.

 

xxx ooo

 

Rupp

 

 

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Reader's Copy

Reader's Copy

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Posted

Don't get me wrong... I bought plenty of merch in Wizard's Ebay auctions... $10 case lots of Twisted Toyfare theater come to mind... but I don't like the only comic distributor or one of the largest producers of comics in the world giving a competitor, ANY competitor, insider trading secrets.

 

Rumors I heard at the time was that Marvel gave them the heads up for more coverage... weather that's true or not, who knows. Another rumor was that Gareb was bleeding money and this was a nod to him from Diamond to help pay on back debt for items in the Wizard Store. Again no idea if that's true or not.

 

Its been a few years and time may have made all of it a little cloudy in my ancient mind... so if anyone remembers more details, please chime in.

 

xxx ooo

 

Rupp

 

 

I recently finished reading Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe (which was great!) and it goes into some detail about Quesada and Jemas giving Wizard the heads up on their new Marvel Knights line and basically asking for extra coverage, which Wizard was happy to give (as far as I remember it). Had to pay Marvel back in someway I guess for allowing Wolverine to appear on 85.7% of their covers. Don't see any reason they wouldn't continue this policy.

 

And as an aside, Twisted Toyfare Theatre is just about the best thing Wizard ever did (well, it was in Toyfare, but you know what I mean.)

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Ant-Man

Ant-Man

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No real insider info, just memories of what it was like near the end.

 

I was on those boards before they shut down. The complaints posted about Wizard made our CGC-bashing look tame in comparison. Orders from the Wizard store being mailed in part, or damaged, or not at all. Items promised in VIP convention packages never provided. Wizard was letting everyone go, so there was nobody to even hear complaints in customer service. Sounded like many frustrated buyers were going to unite and consider legal action (not sure if that ever happened). It got to the point where one of the newer Wizard employees came on the boards and got into it with one of the users. Poor judgement led to some things being said that, as a business, you would not want to see an employee post about a customer, and *POOF* ... the boards disappeared.

 

I thought that exchange was captured & posted on one of the other comic sites shortly thereafter, but I could not tell you which one.

 

And wasn't Gareb ousted by the Board of Directors? Replaced by his brother or something? It's been a while, so I could be mistaken.

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Moondog

Moondog

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No real insider info, just memories of what it was like near the end.

 

I was on those boards before they shut down. The complaints posted about Wizard made our CGC-bashing look tame in comparison. Orders from the Wizard store being mailed in part, or damaged, or not at all. Items promised in VIP convention packages never provided. Wizard was letting everyone go, so there was nobody to even hear complaints in customer service. Sounded like many frustrated buyers were going to unite and consider legal action (not sure if that ever happened). It got to the point where one of the newer Wizard employees came on the boards and got into it with one of the users. Poor judgement led to some things being said that, as a business, you would not want to see an employee post about a customer, and *POOF* ... the boards disappeared.

 

I thought that exchange was captured & posted on one of the other comic sites shortly thereafter, but I could not tell you which one.

 

And wasn't Gareb ousted by the Board of Directors? Replaced by his brother or something? It's been a while, so I could be mistaken.

 

Yes, Gareb is gone from Wizard. I did see him last week on ESPN's coverage of the final table of the WSOP. He was in the cheering section for the fellow who came in second.

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