SD Comic-Con Panel Discussion On Community Issues - Input Solicited

[Aman619]

we dont have to categorize, and we dont really care since we are doing what we feel we must or want to.

 

But Bob repeatedly shares his frustration with those who pose as collectors yet behave like dealers. I see some truth in that. And being in his shoes, it would bother me too. I dont think its an issue between us collectors though, as you say, except for those danm speculators and flippers we encounter in the hottest markets. Ive been a buyer and holder, though I have sold off some books to get into bigger and better ones. And I have bought collections wholesale. But in each occurance it was for the collection, not sales inventory. So Im comfortable that I know where I stand.

 

But I can see "Bob's Lament"!!!! However, as a collector who will someday sell his collection, Im thrilled with the choices out there nowadays! And Bob could still be one of them. :hi Bob

[shrunkenhead]

How about getting Jon Berk on the panel as "the collector?" I'm surprised his name hasn't already popped up in this thread...

[Larryw7]

How about getting Jon Berk on the panel as "the collector?" I'm surprised his name hasn't already popped up in this thread...

 

Excellent idea!

[shrunkenhead]

Also, I'd propose that some sort of nice audio/video record be made of the panel...something that could perhaps be put online later and downloaded or streamed. I for one would love to hear the discussion, but my alleged career is going to keep me in Florida.

 

I'm thinking there's got to be somebody in California that you can find to hold a camera!

[FFB]

How about getting Jon Berk on the panel as "the collector?" I'm surprised his name hasn't already popped up in this thread...

 

He already said he wasn't going to be in SD this year.

[october]

Also, I'd propose that some sort of nice audio/video record be made of the panel...something that could perhaps be put online later and downloaded or streamed. I for one would love to hear the discussion, but my alleged career is going to keep me in Florida.

 

I'm thinking there's got to be somebody in California that you can find to hold a camera!

 

I suggested that in the other thread and got no response.

[BassGMan]

Also, I'd propose that some sort of nice audio/video record be made of the panel...something that could perhaps be put online later and downloaded or streamed. I for one would love to hear the discussion, but my alleged career is going to keep me in Florida.

 

I'm thinking there's got to be somebody in California that you can find to hold a camera!

 

I suggested that in the other thread and got no response.

 

I sure hope somebody will record it. But to make it halfway decent you need a couple stereo mics and a decent video camera set up on a tripod. Somebody operating it for closeups and etc. would be very helpful instead of just a view of the whole room.

[blazingbob]

You know Brad if I was in your profession "freelancing" and you were losing jobs and money because I undercut your rates or took jobs you would be singing another tune. I run a "business", it's to buy and sell comics. Collectors who are "dealers" take money out of my pocket, plain and simple. They sometimes resort to lying in order to get that deal claiming they are "collectors" and a week later they are selling the books on Ebay. And it's not their "b" copy, it's the same book they claimed they had to have for their collection.

[FFB]

You know Brad if I was in your profession "freelancing" and you were losing jobs and money because I undercut your rates or took jobs you would be singing another tune. I run a "business", it's to buy and sell comics. Collectors who are "dealers" take money out of my pocket, plain and simple. They sometimes resort to lying in order to get that deal claiming they are "collectors" and a week later they are selling the books on Ebay. And it's not their "b" copy, it's the same book they claimed they had to have for their collection.

 

I've seen you complain about this a bunch of times. The solution is simple: If you want maximum dollars for your books, don't discount your books for collectors who "just really want them for their collection." Make a decision on how much or how little you're willing to accept and stick with it no matter who is buying a book or why. Memorize and use the following lines whenever someone gives you the "I really really want the book for my collection" spiel:

 

"You really really want the book for your collection? Fine. Pay me what I really really want to get for the book. Since you really really want the book for your collection, it won't kill you to hold off on some future purchases for a month or two until the comic budget is back in line after paying my price on this one. If it is still too much for you, then maybe you need to reassess how badly you need this book to be happy with your collection."

 

Obviously you can discount if you want to for your regular customers, but that's a decision that no one but you can make. Once you've made that decision, you have no one to be pisssed at but yourself if you decide later you should have stuck to your guns on price.

 

Almost every person who buys a book from you is expecting to sell it for a profit one day. Whether that's 24 hours later or 24 years later should make no difference to you as long as you got a price you could live with when you sold it.

 

Or, if ebay is really a great venue to sell books and your customers are buying from you at cut-rate prices and then selling them for a huge profit on ebay, then sell more books yourself on ebay. It's really that simple.

[Red Hook]

Bob, you got an hour or two so I can explain what's happened to my industry? The one I entered in 1977 no longer exists. In 1993 I had to reinvent myself completely, and go digital. Now I'm competing for a smaller and smaller slice of the pie as more magazines, inhouse publications and ad agencies use more and more stock and royalty-free illustration. I'm now competing with a Global Market, where companies outsource their web design to places like Southeast Asia. Every 23 year old on staff thinks he's Paul Rand. I can tell you about design school graduates with the ink on their diplomas not yet dry, undercutting me by multiples and the clients going with them because taste is going down the dumper and the bottom line is all there is right now.

 

I've got one daughter entering college this fall, and another in three years. I have a big fat mortgage. I've got car payments and a 401K that needs a real boost. So at the age of 50 I have to reinvent myself once again. I've had my slowest first half of a year in 28 years in the business, after working hard to establish myself and provide good service to my clients. Right now I'm on pace to make about half of what I made last year. And trust me, I've been busting a hump to drum up business.

 

Change is the nature of things. Every aspect of business and marketing has been affected by the internet and by the fact that anyone with a computer is a potential competitor. If I spent my time bemoaning how everyone is taking a cut of my former business, I'd be dead before I put one foot on the floor in the morning. It's nobody's fault. Change, along with [embarrasing lack of self control]....happens. What I'm facing is not that disimilar to what you might be facing. Ebay = images.com

 

So figure out a way to stay competitive and forget what the other dealers are doing. It's a waste of time because it won't stop the pace of change. It's a cliche, but start thinking out of the box.

 

If I told you I had the answers to how I am going to answer the challenges facing me right now, I'd be a liar. But I'll figure it out.

 

- And that is exaclty what I would tell any good friend of mine. So good luck buddy.

 

[Aman619]

Boy you got that just right, Hook. We're all feeling exactly what you describe. Things change, and we just gotta change too. I never made the connection that what Bob faces is no different from the graphics business and lots of others where the ground keeps shifting.

[esquirecomics]

Also, I'd propose that some sort of nice audio/video record be made of the panel...something that could perhaps be put online later and downloaded or streamed. I for one would love to hear the discussion, but my alleged career is going to keep me in Florida.

 

I'm thinking there's got to be somebody in California that you can find to hold a camera!

 

I suggested that in the other thread and got no response.

 

I sure hope somebody will record it. But to make it halfway decent you need a couple stereo mics and a decent video camera set up on a tripod. Somebody operating it for closeups and etc. would be very helpful instead of just a view of the whole room.

 

Perfectly fine by me. I have no objections to going on the record. I will check with the convention personnel to see if there is a problem with doing so. I don't know if they will do it themselves, so perhaps someone who plans on attending can bring a video camera.

[esquirecomics]

"Steve Borock has already graciously accepted my invitation to participate."

 

That is true, but as I told Mark, as long as things are set up way ahead of time like:

 

Who is on the panel (people who are good for the hobby and can look at both sides of an argument and discuss it rationally)

 

Who is moderating

 

The moderator is impartial (or at least leave their opinions out)

 

It is not a pressing panel or a witch hunt to see who presses and who does not.

 

......and other things.

 

I do not want the hobby to go back to being the way it was 6-7 years ago. People running around yelling "the sky is falling", dealer's being called evil by the self proclaimed collector's who also buy and sell books when they themselves can't spot restoration, conspiracy theory's about a "shadow Cabnet" running things, and more garbage that took the fun out of the hobby. I love talking comics, but when it comes to the politics, we chase away many more people then we keep in when it comes to politics over the collecting/reading/history aspect.

 

I have already, so I thought, made it quite clear that this is not a pressing panel. And it most certainly will not be a witch hunt. Pressing will most certainly be a topic of discussion, as will numerous other topics that I have already referenced and no doubt others as well. The panel will be balanced and not serve as the basis for an attack of anyone or anything.

 

That said, by no means should any panelist shy away from voicing their opinion or directing a pointed question at someone. That is the whole purpose of a roundtable discussion. This will be energetic and informative. I will not permit anyone to get rowdy, unprofessional or out of line. That goes for the audience as well, though I will, of course, have no control of what question might be asked from the floor.

 

I will be the "moderator", MC or however you want to style it. But I will not check my opinons at the door. I will be a full participant in the discussion and vocalize my views as well as lead the questioning, and "moderate" the tone and time spent on each matter so that everything will be fairly discussed and each participant will be permitted a full opportunity to respond.

 

I have a wealth of experience doing this, and have organized conferences, and spoken before, thousands of people. This will not be an issue.

 

I hope that you don't equivocate at the end Steve about participating. Your presence will contribute significantly to the discussion.

[shadroch]

 

Sounds like you might need a Sergeant At Arms.

Help is just a plane ticket away

 

Sounds like it will be more like the McLaughlin group or Bill Maher's old Politicaly Incorrect than your run of the mill panel.

 

Just get the publicity out with SB being listed on the panel and he'll be stuck doing it out of guilt.Of course,his two hour absence from the grading room will mean about 3,000 less slabs that show.

[esquirecomics]

Sounds like it will be more like the McLaughlin group or Bill Maher's old Politicaly Incorrect than your run of the mill panel.

 

Exactly

[shadroch]

So,I take that as a no thank you to my offer of help?

[nearmint]

Don't care who's on the panel, Mark. Whoever it is, I'll be there.

[esquirecomics]

So,I take that as a no thank you to my offer of help?

 

What, you want me to fly you out there? They are not even flying ME out there!

 

Just turn it into a Vegas trip.

 

You can be my bodyguard at the con.

[awe4one]

Perfectly fine by me. I have no objections to going on the record. I will check with the convention personnel to see if there is a problem with doing so. I don't know if they will do it themselves, so perhaps someone who plans on attending can bring a video camera.

 

It's my understanding that the con isn't set up to record individual panels. If you want one recorded, you have to do it yourself or get someone to do it for you. Mark Evanier, who moderates many panels each year, is always asking if people have recorded copies of some of his panels...

 

He's current looking for recommendations for an MP3 recorder to record some of this year's panels himself...

 

Jim

[awe4one]

I hope that you don't equivocate at the end Steve about participating. Your presence will contribute significantly to the discussion.

 

Sounds like he's already setting the stage...

 

Jim