Support your LCS! But why? 2 2

[Robot Man]

26 minutes ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Really. I guess we were not watching the same team last year. 

Ha ha lol.

 

That's last years news. Wha happened to the "dynasty"?  The champs seem to be stumbling a bit this year. While the perpetually 2nd place finishers are rolling along just fine despite having all their ace pitchers on the DL (oh, excuse me, the "IL"). It's a long season...

[Buzzetta]

1 hour ago, MrBedrock said:

This is a bad analogy...fans pay an average of $25 for affordable seats at Fenway to watch the Red Sox play, and there is absolutely no entertainment value in that.

Go Yankees !

[Buzzetta]

Yeah I have to say... I think that the upcoming Disney streaming platform will not only be cheaper but be worth more per month than buying any two comic books.  

[Ken Aldred]

42 minutes ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Agreed. I read 99 percent of my comics digitally now either thru Amazon Kindle or Marvel Unlimited.

 

 

42 minutes ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Terrible value for the money when Amazon`s Comixlogy Unlimited is $5.99 a month.

 

Yup.  A very different world, comparing 2019 to that LCS back in 1983.

Now, all I really need to do is make sure my odyssey doesn't go beyond the very short range of my broadband router.

Edited April 27, 2019 by Ken Aldred

[ComicConnoisseur]

20 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

That's last years news. Wha happened to the "dynasty"?  The champs seem to be stumbling a bit this year. While the perpetually 2nd place finishers are rolling along just fine despite having all their ace pitchers on the DL (oh, excuse me, the "IL"). It's a long season...

Trust me on this one. In about a month they will be in first place. A lot of bad mlb teams. By default the Red Sox will make the play-offs.

Too funny though a Astros fan (MrBedrock) and a Dodger fan (Robot Man) bringing up the Red Sox who beat both their teams in the play-offs last October.

Ha Ha lol.

Now with that let`s leave MLB talk for the water cooler. I don`t think many comics general fans are into the MLB like we three are.

 

[ComicConnoisseur]

3 minutes ago, Ken Aldred said:

 

Yup.  A very different world, comparing 2019 to that LCS back in 1983.

Now, all I really need to do is make sure my odyssey doesn't go beyond the range of my broadband router.

Yeah just did the math on that and that was 36 years ago! 

MTV was kind of new back then, and that be like in 1983 compared to what was happening in 1947.

A big time time difference and like you said a very different world.

[MrBedrock]

24 minutes ago, Buzzetta said:

Go Yankees !

 

[MrBedrock]

8 minutes ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Too funny though a Astros fan (MrBedrock) and a Dodger fan (Robot Man) bringing up the Red Sox who beat both their teams in the play-offs last October.

 

We are just as amazed as you are that they won anything last year. Obviously last year was an anomaly, given how they are playing now.

[Robot Man]

31 minutes ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Trust me on this one. In about a month they will be in first place. A lot of bad mlb teams. By default the Red Sox will make the play-offs.

Too funny though a Astros fan (MrBedrock) and a Dodger fan (Robot Man) bringing up the Red Sox who beat both their teams in the play-offs last October.

Ha Ha lol.

Now with that let`s leave MLB talk for the water cooler. I don`t think many comics general fans are into the MLB like we three are.

 

Somehow, I think both the Astros and the Dodgers don’t want to or will need to get into the playoffs “by default”.

As for the baseball thread in the “sandbox” known as the water cooler, I am through with all the AL smack talk from most of the losers who frequent it...

OK, as the man said, let’s continue talking about lousy comic stores and dealers.

[MrBedrock]

The wife and I, last year in LA. Visited DC's offices, went to a few LCSs, and watched the Astros take two of three from the Dodgers...

 

Edited April 27, 2019 by MrBedrock

[Bird]

Take it back to the WC guys, stop killing this thread please.

[dupont2005]

5 hours ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

The main problem with the LCS future is the main product they are selling is low entertainment value for the price.

I was just looking at the upcoming Disney streaming service which debuts later in the year and they will charge $6.99 per month, while the LCS sells one monthly comic book in the $3.99/$4.99 range. If you are consumer which one would you pick? Not to mention the Disney streaming service will instantly go to smartphones/HDTVs, while it`s a difficult task to find most LCS.

This definitely isn't the late 1980s/early 1990s anymore and the LCS now has some serious competition when it comes to accessing superhero adventures. Before the LCS was the main game in town for most of us to get our superhero fix,now with a click we can get that fix somewhere other than the LCS.

It will be interesting to see what the LCS`s landscape will look like in 5-10 years.

The shops will still be there for the most part. Super heroes are being heavily marketed to the mainstream and it doesn’t really take a huge percentage of Avengers moviegoers buying the comics to keep things going. 

 

Just wondering if the monthly floppy will will still be around in ten years. There’s eventually going to be a breaking point, at which times comics don’t have to end but they do have to be reformatted to something more cost effective with broader appeal. I’m thinking in ten years monthly installments will be primarily digital, with limited print run collectible editions available at shops. Cheap trades, premium hardcovers, and maybe an anthology in large format like the manga books or in small format like the Archie digests mixing old and new content from multiple titles as well as some cutting room floor stuff 

[MrBedrock]

34 minutes ago, Bird said:

Take it back to the WC guys, stop killing this thread please.

How can this thread get any deader?

[DavidTheDavid]

Some recent news articles:

• Why are comics shops closing as superheroes make a mint?
• 'The Avengers' effect: Have local comic book shops benefited from a decade of Marvel films?
• https://www.theplainsman.com/article/2019/04/local-shop-aims-to-keep-comic-book-industry-alive

Maybe India is the next big market? 
Comic commerce: What fuels the mini economy of vintage Indian comic books

Edited April 27, 2019 by DavidTheDavid

[Bookery]

5 hours ago, Ken Aldred said:

A shop here originally called itself Odyssey because, despite being quite inconveniently located in the Southside university district with poor public transport connections at the time, comics fans would still desperately make the weekly trek there for their fix because the store was the only source for imported US comics in the city.  That was divulged to me by its rather arrogant proprietor.

With monopolistic attitudes like that one, no wonder I'm so thankful for the arrival of the digital medium.

Okay... I know one of the primary missions of these boards is to forever bash comic shops, but I must be missing something here.  Comic shops (like rare bookshops before them) are the kinds of businesses that often can't afford prime real estate downtown rents.  So a lot of them tend to be "inconveniently located".  Given that, this seems to be an enterprising dealer who decides to counter that by not only offering what customers want, but decides to carry what the other shops don't.  I'm assuming he didn't have the power to prevent them from ordering imports... they just chose not to.  And it worked, because customers felt it was worth the effort to get to his shop.  So I'm not understanding how this is in and of itself either arrogant or a "monopolistic attitude".  It seems like he was providing a service... it would be the other "more convenient" shops that were arrogant by not providing product their customers wanted.

[Ken Aldred]

2 hours ago, Bookery said:

Okay... I know one of the primary missions of these boards is to forever bash comic shops, but I must be missing something here.  Comic shops (like rare bookshops before them) are the kinds of businesses that often can't afford prime real estate downtown rents.  So a lot of them tend to be "inconveniently located".  Given that, this seems to be an enterprising dealer who decides to counter that by not only offering what customers want, but decides to carry what the other shops don't.  I'm assuming he didn't have the power to prevent them from ordering imports... they just chose not to.  And it worked, because customers felt it was worth the effort to get to his shop.  So I'm not understanding how this is in and of itself either arrogant or a "monopolistic attitude".  It seems like he was providing a service... it would be the other "more convenient" shops that were arrogant by not providing product their customers wanted.

Just looking back and thinking about an example of an addict / dealer dynamic being cynically expressed by an LCS owner, as also discussed by others here.

He was rather smug about it.

Edited April 28, 2019 by Ken Aldred

[batman_fan]

6 hours ago, MrBedrock said:

This is a bad analogy...fans pay an average of $25 for affordable seats at Fenway to watch the Red Sox play, and there is absolutely no entertainment value in that.

Truer words have never been spoken 

[Kramerica]

6 hours ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Yeah just did the math on that and that was 36 years ago! 

MTV was kind of new back then, and that be like in 1983 compared to what was happening in 1947.

A big time time difference and like you said a very different world.

In 1983 I was working at Hi De Ho Comics in Santa Monica, recording MTV videos on my VHS player and playing the standup Dig Dug (or was it Popeye?) game that we had at Hi De Ho. Good times! In 1983 I think we still had over 100 NM copies of Iron Man #1 and Cap #100 that would sit at $20 Hulk #181's were also $20  Timely's were always in stock, the beach was 5 blocks away and Seinfeld was still 9 years away......dang I'm old.

[fastballspecial]

Its not all bad. I have a local shop that greets me as I come in. Ask me if I have found anything
neat lately. Cuts me a deal on books as I pay cash and brings in a local CGC dealer for his
customers to submit too. Runs a video game section and a PS4/X-box tournament section for
older kids. His knowledge is above average and makes sure his employees treat customers
fairly and most of the time they are pretty knowledgeable in one or two areas between the gaming,
comics, video games, books, and albums.

If its not the owner you are expecting way too much from an employee. I tell my wife the same with
fast food. Just be lucky the order is right. Have a frank discussion with your local shop you might be
surprised what it gets or it may confirm your fears. Economic Darwinism will always swallow up the
bad shops. I cant bring myself to go digital. I will either order online or buy from $1 boxes before I go
digital. It makes me feel like I am turning my back on my hobby in general.

Remember this as well sometimes its not the shop owner that's the problem its the customer.

 

 

[Supa-Bad-Mofo]

On 4/24/2019 at 8:06 PM, Bird said:

I also tip them off to hot books all the time.

Why?