Robot 6
Food or Comics | Money, comics and the economy
IDW Publishing
• ICv2.com takes note of IDW Publishing’s rise in March to the No. 4 publisher in the direct market in terms of dollars and No. 3 in terms of units.
• Dark Horse has followed up on last fall’s announcement of its participation in Diamond’s “Final Order Cutoff” program beginning April 20.
The publisher’s FOC dates will allow retailers to adjust orders on comics up to 20 days before their release, and on graphic novels up to about three months before.
“We are pleased to announce this move to the FOC,” Dark Horse President Mike Richardson said in a press release. “As every comics retailer knows, times are tough. It is important that Dark Horse not only support them with great product, but with our best efforts to make their ordering decisions as easy as possible. This system will help every retailer who orders Dark Horse product and should lead to better business for all of us.”
• Retailer Christopher Butcher has more thoughts on the problems with The New York Times’ Graphic Book Best Seller List.
• The Chicago Tribune looks at how the recession is driving people to sell their collections — toys, records, comics, etc. — for very little money. Shane Wallace of Graham Crackers Comics in Lincoln Park undoubtedly crushes the hopes of several collectors when he says, “We usually offer 5 to 10 cents an issue” for comics from the 1980s and ’90s.
• Casey Seiler of the Times-Union in Albany, New York, discovered at Albany Comic-Con that his big box of comics was worth just $80.
- April 14, 2009 @ 07:22 AM by Kevin Melrose
3 Comments
Carroll
April 14, 2009 at 7:55 am
You wouldn’t believe how many people would bring in a long box or two of late-80s, early-90s comics to the store I used to work at and expect us to offer them hundreds of dollars for them. Usually they would point out an X-Men #1 or Deadpool #1 and then I would pull out our box that had dozens of the same books. I would also usually explain the idea of rarity, and somethings not worth a lot if hundreds of thousands of copies are still available, often below cover price.
Also, I hate collecting comics. I love to buy and read them, but harbor no disillusions as to the worth of my books.
fernald
April 14, 2009 at 10:28 am
The real problem, is a lot of the stuff from the late 80′s and early 90′s isn’t really all that rare. I’ve been doing this since ’86 and when people come to the shop I aways see the same things. Todd’s Spidey #1, All the X force covers, All the Lee X-Men #1′s, The 1st year Image titles, Spawn, Youngblood, Savage Dragon, Wildcats, and Shadowhawk. Various Junk Bond Valiants. Oh and lets not forget Deathmate, and Techno,
Knightfall, Return Of Superman, Clone Saga,..
.
Everybody’s selling the same stuff over and over again, and there’s just not a market for it.
fernald
April 15, 2009 at 12:53 am
The real problem, is a lot of the stuff from the late 80′s and early 90′s isn’t really all that rare. I’ve been doing this since ’86 and when people come to the shop I aways see the same things. Todd’s Spidey #1, All the X force covers, All the Lee X-Men #1′s, The 1st year Image titles, Spawn, Youngblood, Savage Dragon, Wildcats, and Shadowhawk. Various Junk Bond Valiants. Oh and lets not forget Deathmate, and Techno,
Knightfall, Return Of Superman, Clone Saga,..
.
Everybody’s selling the same stuff over and over again, and there’s just not a market for it.
Sorry, forgot to add great post! Can’t wait to see your next post!