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Author Topic: Floppies or Trades? That is the question.  (Read 4430 times)
Jeff
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« on: April 09, 2019, 01:37:37 AM »

I'm really debating on switching to trades for DC Comics.  They collect 6 issues generally in their trades.  Which means I have to wait six or more months to read an arc.  But - you save at least $10 by doing it that way.  That essentially drops the per issue price to $2.40.  I currently get 8 DC series; possibly 9 if I add Action Comics.  That's a $90 savings for six months (assuming they each came out monthly) and $180 for the year.  Of course, for those that come out twice a month I would save even more.

What prompted this was I was getting ready to buy the issues of Action I'm behind on and get up to date (#1007-1009).  I realized I was right at the point where the next trade will come out.  So if I waited 3 or 4 more months I could save $10.

Am I being too miserly?  Or does it make more sense to switch to trades?  I've already proven I can wait since I'm a Marvel Unlimited subscriber.  But there is a part of me that hates being behind. 
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“If I could go back in time and like tell 11 year old me that like not only do you get to go to Comic Con but you go every year.  So much so that you get greeted by Stan Lee when you show up.  And 11 year old me would be like - How did we get so fat?”- Kevin Smith
Perry
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« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2019, 06:26:48 PM »

Am I being too miserly? 

Heck no! You're being wiserly  Grin


Or does it make more sense to switch to trades? 

Trades are the way of the future. There are a lot of creators that have almost always wanted to go for the original GN type format and I think what will happen, once people get wise and cut Dimond out of the loop is we will have monthly issues in digital format, at a cheaper price point than what is being currently charged and then the collected formats of those digital comics trades or HC's, will be sold as the only paper product. That my good sirs, it the way it should be.
In my onion that is.

I've already proven I can wait since I'm a Marvel Unlimited subscriber.  But there is a part of me that hates being behind. 

Well, sure it sucks to be a tad behind, but on most things, like Action for example, I don't think it is hurting you to badly. Sure things like Heroes in Crisis or any other event may get kinda irritating to wait for, but even then, once we all get on digital waiting, it won't be that bad  Grin. Then, especially with books like Action, why not just wait now that DC announced that they will be going full library digital, that their monthlies will be on their DCU site 12 months after they hit the stands? I am heading there I know that much
 Wink
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Jimmy T
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« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2019, 04:02:19 PM »

Right now, I don't know how I want to vote.

I mean, I KNOW my dollars and cents help a local businessman run his store. He doesn't do Yugio or Magic or Pokemon tournies. He doesn't run roleplaying sessions in the back. He's...comics and popculture. If I don't buy from there, that's money lost.

But...I'm now 5 months behind on comics. I've got 6 bought JL issues waiting, 3 Deathstroke, 3 Super Sons, and 2 more months at the store waiting for me.

I can say I don't miss 'buying' Marvel comics. But here's the thing, if Unlimited didn't exist, I'm not sure still that I would be buying any Marvel floppies! Thor, (but hating the art), Immortal Hulk, not sold on Cap yet, Iron Man doens't trip it fully for me yet to 'buy' it, and then there's so much else that I simply say 'nah' to without Unlimited.

But hell, I'm nearly there with DC too. (Thanks for nothing, Bendis!! **Obligatory cut; I feel I have to do it) Wink

Hell, I decided long ago that Image was only going to be digital.

So why am I buying floppies at all?

I ...don't...know...
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Jimmy T since 2001
Perry
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« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2019, 12:02:14 PM »

Right now, I don't know how I want to vote.

I mean, I KNOW my dollars and cents help a local businessman run his store. He doesn't do Yugio or Magic or Pokemon tournies. He doesn't run roleplaying sessions in the back. He's...comics and popculture. If I don't buy from there, that's money lost.

Hey buddy, I know you're concerned about your guy losing his business (and almost all of the shops closing at some point) and I totally agree that just sucks to think about and to more to the point, be a part of. But there are a couple things that ease my mind (because I feel the same way)

1 - It is not like they are being blindsided by the way things are going. If a comic shop is barely making it, things are only going to get worse. Sure there are shops that will survive if floppies go away. Super big stores like Midtown in New York or A Comic Shop in Orlando have enough traffic to make the switch to trade only buying (what I think will eventually happen),  but stores that don't have that, stores that are hanging in by the skin of their teeth ... they need to start thinking about another job.

Yes that sounds cold, but it is nothing that hasn't happened to countless other owners in the past. Encyclopedia sellers? Typewriter repair? VHS rental stores. All of them had to change. Sadly though, I can almost guarantee that none of them have the passion for the product like a typical Comic store owner
 Undecided

2 - Marvel and DC, the two biggest suppliers, are not helping by charging so much for a freaking comic. Like Jeff mentioned in one of his last posts, it will not be long before comics are $5 each. That is utter ridiculousness. Especially they no longer offer returns for the shop owners. And that brings me to the major issue in all of this

3 - Diamond has slowly killed this industry. From having to pre-order a product 3 months in advance, to not allowing returns, to no longer having comic racks, to not allowing shop owners to cancel orders if the comics are late by months, this company holds 80% of the responsibility for the decline in the comics industry. Not you, them
 Angry
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Jeff
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« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2019, 10:05:47 PM »

Typewriter repair?

Well now I'm sad since that was the business my Dad owned.  Put me through college and I spent a lot of sweaty summers locked up in high school typing rooms cleaning and fixing those old IBM Selectrics.  When I was 18 I told him he should start selling and fixing computers and he told me "Jeff, a secretary will always need a typewriter on her desk."

I didn't bring that up 10 years later when he switched to Printers.   Cheesy
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“If I could go back in time and like tell 11 year old me that like not only do you get to go to Comic Con but you go every year.  So much so that you get greeted by Stan Lee when you show up.  And 11 year old me would be like - How did we get so fat?”- Kevin Smith
Perry
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« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2019, 12:09:07 AM »

Well now I'm sad since that was the business my Dad owned. 

Oh wow!!
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Avatar mash-up is from Ross Pearsall... and of course those that own the original characters Smiley
Jimmy T
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« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2019, 02:40:31 AM »

Item 3-very much THAT pisses me off more than anything.

Jeff; wow, that's cool!!
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Jimmy T since 2001
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