Mile High Chuck's place in the hobby

[chrisco37]

Chuck's business is he has a huge selection of comics so that you can easily fill your want list in one fell swoop. If you have to pay slightly more, it's okay, because you're saving on shipping, you end up with free stuff, it's all discounted (so even if the prices seem high, after discounts, they're not as high), and it gets to you quickly.

 

People on this board are not his target audience.

 

Exactly right.

[shadroch]

Back in the Eighties when I was just thinking about opening my first store, I met with a couple of guys from SCORE. I explained how I would be buying new books at 50% off the sixty cent cover price. Whatever didn't sell at sixty cents would go into the back issue bins and be priced at seventy five cents or higher. One of the guys asked me why I wanted to sell books today for sixty cents that I'd be able to sell for seventy five cents in a month.

i think that goes a long way towards Chucks pricing.

 

Isn't it amazing how stores were able to even stay in business when comics had such a low cover price? I worked at a shop off and on for around 15 years (from middle school up), and big sales days were $800 (on new book Fridays) to sometimes less than $100 on a slow Thursday.

 

You just had to sell so many comics.

 

Chuck's business is he has a huge selection of comics so that you can easily fill your want list in one fell swoop. If you have to pay slightly more, it's okay, because you're saving on shipping, you end up with free stuff, it's all discounted (so even if the prices seem high, after discounts, they're not as high), and it gets to you quickly.

 

People on this board are not his target audience.

 

My rent was $300, I had one part time employee who I paid $3 an hour in comics, so it cost me less than half of that. A good day in new books was around $200. Back then , all my profit came from back issues that I paid a dime for and sold for seventy five cents.I didnt sell a lot of wall books so eventually I simply kept them in a box behind the counter. Goodies like Spectacular Spiderman 27/28 and 64, or a few well read ECs. I didn't keep expensive books in the shop as I couldn't afford an alarm system.

My shop was closed Monday and Tuesday and I drove a cab both nights. Bounced at a busy club on Friday nights and bartended at a gin mill on Saturday twice a month. Twice a month I did Sunday comic conventions.

Was living hand to mouth, but it beat having a real job.

[Tom473]

Do you guys really think that Chuck hasn't considered (and re-considered) all of the things that you're talking about? Do you really think he prices comics at a level where they don't sell or that doesn't give him a positive cash flow?

 

You may not like the way he does business or how he prices his books, but he sells a mess ton of comics every day. Probably more than any other dealer in the country. He has been in business for 40 years. He knows what he's doing.

 

If he is so successful, why is he whining about not selling enough books and warning all about the approaching death of retailers? I am not dismissing his entire SDCC argument, he made some good points, but without realistic pricing his arguments are weakened. His overhead for storing that amount of drek inventory can't be cheap, and probably contributes to the inflated pricing.

[Pirate]

He made a big mistake at SDCC this year. In past years, he brought a vast array of trade paperbacks and his booth was always crowded. This year he brought a vast array of overpriced back issues, and lost $10,000. Of course, he's blaming the producers of Comic-Con exclusives for draining the wallets of attendees. He, apparently, hasn't considered the possibility that it's his own fault for pricing his books ridiculously high.

 

I would bet you he didn't lose as much or any as he says. It's usually some disaster ploy to increase website sales. He did moan more than usual so there could be some truth but I'd bet against it.

[paperheart]

He made a big mistake at SDCC this year. In past years, he brought a vast array of trade paperbacks and his booth was always crowded. This year he brought a vast array of overpriced back issues, and lost $10,000. Of course, he's blaming the producers of Comic-Con exclusives for draining the wallets of attendees. He, apparently, hasn't considered the possibility that it's his own fault for pricing his books ridiculously high.

 

I would bet you he didn't lose as much or any as he says. It's usually some disaster ploy to increase website sales. He did moan more than usual so there could be some truth but I'd bet against it.

 

 

next codeword sale: ILOSTMYSHIRTATSDCC

[chrisco37]

He made a big mistake at SDCC this year. In past years, he brought a vast array of trade paperbacks and his booth was always crowded. This year he brought a vast array of overpriced back issues, and lost $10,000. Of course, he's blaming the producers of Comic-Con exclusives for draining the wallets of attendees. He, apparently, hasn't considered the possibility that it's his own fault for pricing his books ridiculously high.

 

I would bet you he didn't lose as much or any as he says. It's usually some disaster ploy to increase website sales. He did moan more than usual so there could be some truth but I'd bet against it.

 

Yep. He does it all the time.

 

Wonder what the secret codeword will be?

 

 

[Pirate]

He made a big mistake at SDCC this year. In past years, he brought a vast array of trade paperbacks and his booth was always crowded. This year he brought a vast array of overpriced back issues, and lost $10,000. Of course, he's blaming the producers of Comic-Con exclusives for draining the wallets of attendees. He, apparently, hasn't considered the possibility that it's his own fault for pricing his books ridiculously high.

 

I would bet you he didn't lose as much or any as he says. It's usually some disaster ploy to increase website sales. He did moan more than usual so there could be some truth but I'd bet against it.

 

 

next codeword sale: ILOSTMYSHIRTATSDCC

 

that will be it. He has to change the feb codeword sale of sweetheart sometime this year.

[dupont2005]

I can only find a 86 minutes video that states is was just a 86 minutes long recording of a live streaming from a comic con....

 

Is that the one?

Nope. Maybe you need Hulu+

It's about that length, but it's actually a pretty well made documentary. I was surprised because I thought it was going to be more a camera following Chuck around for a day.

[dupont2005]

Chuck is 60 now. I wonder how long he wants to do this?

What happens to the comic book market when he wants out and wants to sell?

He'd sell to other large dealers who would price the comics more accordingly.

[rodan57]

He's kinda like a great actor who is not-so-great off camera. I think he's done a lot for the industry simply by being a big player (and yes, he is HUGE in Colorado - in the early 90s, there were like 5-6 Mile High Comics in malls around the city) - but I think he must have a skewed view of how people want him to interact with the public.

 

His emails - while chock full of interesting and from-the-heart content, really need to be edited in such a way that he doesn't come off as A) whiney or B) car salesman-ey.

 

If he tweaked his messages just a bit to less self-promotion and more industry-specific topics - he'd begin to understand that the benefit to his business of speaking to a huge online community comes in the residual affinity that followers feel towards an "online persona" rather than trying to do the "immediate sale" pitch to customers.

 

Since social media really started ramping up about 10 years ago, by now he could arguably have been the most well-known and borderline beloved comic dealer in the world, if he had taken his time (or hired someone to take the time) to understand the nuances and psychology of communicating to a customer base online. He could have finessed his legacy much like how Stan Lee has done for himself - and really put the majority of the collecting community on his side with some careful tailoring of what he puts on the internet.

 

Instead, he's managed to shoot himself in the foot on a near month-to-month basis for the past several years (I personally enjoyed the times where he'd talk about a national tragedy, and in the next sentence offer a special sales on books ) . He may be successful in terms of numbers and dollars, but boy - he probably left more than that on the table due to some social media and online missteps he's made.

 

This is really well written.

[jaeldubyoo]

Chuck has already established his legendary status in comicdom. What remains to be seen is his legacy. What will Chuck be remembered for?

[drbanner]

Sometime in the late 70's (could have been early 80's) my family took a vacation to Colorado and I begged and pleaded with them to let me visit the Mile High Comics shop in Denver. They finally caved, and all my dreams were to come true as I was to visit the Mecca of back issue comics!

 

Then, reality hit as the Mecca turned out be just another typical store and I was stunned...where are the GA rarities? Where were the SA gems? Where were the hordes of BA back issues? Nowhere to be found...my LCS in Gainesville, Florida had a better backstock than the fabeled Mile High Comics in Denver!

[01TheDude]

I have seen numerous reports about how warehouse space in the Denver area is at a premium right now as various grow houses need to expand.

 

seems like a good fit

Mile HIGH Comics and Weed Growhouse/Dispensary

 

[goldust40]

Finally watched Comic-Con Episode 4 (can't figure out why I more or less ignored it when it first appeared). Enjoyable bit of fun, especially for those that have been to SDCC, and done with affection and just the right amount of irony. The soundbites from all the celebs were mostly great.

 

Regardless of what you may think of Chuck, I thought he came across quite well, even if it's unclear whether he was being disingenuous or not regarding his feelings for SDCC.

[ChrisInBaltimore]

Sometime in the late 70's (could have been early 80's) my family took a vacation to Colorado and I begged and pleaded with them to let me visit the Mile High Comics shop in Denver. They finally caved, and all my dreams were to come true as I was to visit the Mecca of back issue comics!

 

Then, reality hit as the Mecca turned out be just another typical store and I was stunned...where are the GA rarities? Where were the SA gems? Where were the hordes of BA back issues? Nowhere to be found…my LCS in Gainesville, Florida had a better backstock than the fabeled Mile High Comics in Denver!

 

Yea I lived in Laramie, WY and had always wanted to go down to Mile High in the mid 2000s. Finally one trip my wife, then girlfriend, and I made it to the store. I went in expecting the mother load of back issues and a paradise of comics.

 

All I saw was a massive store with your run of the mill back issues. They had a display case of overpriced silver age books. My wife pushed me to buy a book because she thought it was really neat. I bought a book that I felt was a bit pricey but it was still pretty neat.

 

Of course, I over paid by about $50

[DBOi]

Any chance the $10,000 loss is akin to financial reports where he projected to make $50,000 but only realized $40,000 and therefore loss $10,000?

[dupont2005]

I don't see what he did for the industry or why he is considered legendary. Because he bought some comics through a newspaper ad? Because he has lots of comics?

 

You know who is legendary in the automotive industry? People who design, engineer, and manufacture automobiles. Not a single used car salesman is significant to the auto industry. Not even the biggest used car salesman.

[drbanner]

I don't see what he did for the industry or why he is considered legendary. Because he bought some comics through a newspaper ad? Because he has lots of comics?

 

You know who is legendary in the automotive industry? People who design, engineer, and manufacture automobiles. Not a single used car salesman is significant to the auto industry. Not even the biggest used car salesman.

A little different here, the Mile High Collection (and Chuck's subsequent efforts to sell back issue comic books, most notably the Mile High II collection as advertised in then "modern" books) helped establish the hobby and back issue/collectible comic book market. The magnitude of his contribution to this may be debated as there were comic dealers before him (and much bigger dealers now), but certainly he played a role during the time our hobby grew substantially.

[dupont2005]

Surely comics would have been collectible without his "contribution."

[shadroch]

Would top grade pedigree books be as sought after if he hadn't marketed the Church collection as such? I'm sure that there were many collections sold prior to the Mile High books, but none of them had the panache.

You were wrong about him making millions off the Church collection, wrong about his using the MH2 collection to jumpstart his career. Why not simply admit you don't like the guy and will belittle him whenever possible. You are far from alone.