Sorry for the slight derail, but I should've probably explained myself a little better.
I do appreciate the offer, but I think I got it covered. I was a merely curious as to what the state of affairs was in your neck of the woods, as this whole new 52 phenomenon has got a lot of discrepancies in terms of value.
My LCS isn't a "brick & mortar" shop in the traditional sense. I frequent a long-running weekly collectible show called Frank & Sons Collectible Show (
http://frankandsonshow.net) that houses at least 200+ vendors, with a substantial amount of them being comic purveyors. So basically it is like attending a comic convention every week, twice a week, all year long. And if you have never been to a convention, comic book prices fluctuate a great deal, especially for hot books. And with artificial demand being what it is caused by speculators...it drives up prices once it hits the shelves, which unfortunately hurts new readers. I in no way endorse this behavior of price gouging, but I can hardly blame individuals for making a quick buck.
All things considered, I have a decade old relationship with my comic guy, and find him a upstanding individual. For me, if he has it in stock, I won't pay more than cover price.