Comics are Awesome III

[BWprowl]

I love educating Prowl about how buying comics works. (It is so cute how much he seems to miss.)

You mean buying comics for you, of course. Who knows who else's shops use the same system you describe below. I could very well describe my in-hospital health plan and say it's 'cute' how much you miss about the 'right' way to buy prescriptions.

The discount trigger I mentioned relates to the stores discount card program.

This isn't unusual, my shop knocks like 10% off after you spend a certain amount on Wednesdays.

For every $10+ dollars I spend, I get a sticker/stamp on a card. When the card has 10 stickers, I get $5 of store credit that I can spend on anything, even new arrivals. (I am laughing so hard in anticipation of Prowl's reaction, and I am not even done yet.)

This is nothing unusual either, businesses of all sorts have used stamp cards for ages, I've used many car washes and sandwich shops with them. Hell, the hobby shop my brother used to work at did something similar where you had a digitally-stored customer profile that would save up $5 'coupons' for you (incidentally, said brother is now a sales rep in the games-distribution arm of Diamond).

So yeah, not sure what's so funny about it, unless you seriously thought I was so sheltered I'd never heard of stamp cards before.

Meeting that $10 mark is easy enough. Some weeks I hit $20, with $30 not being unheard of. I try to budget for money and time though.

And here I was, stupidly just buying what I wanted to read when it came out.

The only true obligatiory" purchases are books that I am subscribed to or things I have special ordered. I am expected to buy those eventually. Were I to drop a book (say...."Earth 2"), I would be obligated to buy whatever was in my pull-file and maybe an issue more (depending on how fast my dropping the book was processed and reflected in store ordering numbers).

See, this is another reason not to just let things sit in your pull-file forever. You pick stuff up when it comes out, you know as soon as you want to drop it, instead of ending up being required to pay money for 2-3 more issues of something you already know you hate.

Informally, the store prefers people pick up larger items (regardless of cost) first. (The idea is that action figures, statues or shirts are more difficult to stockpile than comics.) But, I have seen action figures sit for a few weeks or more. (I really wish I could see Prowl's face as he reads this.)

See, this does piss me off. You order something, you want it to come in for you THE DAY it comes out? You do that BECAUSE you want it right away, on release. Letting something like that sit and rot on a retailer's shelf just shows a colossal disregard for the service they're doing you, making it come across like the item actually wasn't that important to you. It's immensely self-centered and disrespectful to the people trying to run the business.

I actually just got a text from the hobby shop showing a Gundam model kit I'd pre-ordered had come in, so I'm jetting down there after work TODAY to pick it up, not just because I, y'know, wanted it badly and soon enough to pre-order, but because I don't want to make them hold onto it for me any longer than they have to.

Japanese toy retailer AmiAmi blacklists you from the site if you don't pay for a pre-order like three days after it comes in. Someone gets something and holds it for you, with your name on it, you get it and pay for it as soon as you can.

I am a bit behind at the moment because I had a few tight weeks pay wise and a few compilations shipped in succession. (Even if I had the money, I can only spend so much time reading in a given week, so it makes sense to leave some stuff behind.) One of the reasons I have been cutting back is time (to say nothing of money).

I feel you on time, that massive Amazon order I just had come in just stacked onto my reading material, it'll take me a while to go through everything. Still, it's not fair to make the retailer hold onto stock, un-paid for and un-sellable to anyone but you, just because you haven't had the time to get to it.

[Sparky Prime]

Anyway, predicting that DC is going to do a big dumb event series is like predicting that major TV networks will show football games in the fall. Of course it's going to happen. We're in the middle of Multiversity, a big universe-shattering event RIGHT NOW.

Sure they will have another event. The question, however, is when? The last time they did it, nobody saw it coming (likely because Flashpoint is largely speculated to have been shoe-horned into such an event as it was in production, but still). DC does seem to be setting the stage for such an event this time, but I'm not completely convinced it'll happen next year until we get some more information. The creators do like to throw curve balls from time-to-time to keep readers guessing. And Multiversity isn't a multiverse-shattering event, it's pretty much it's own thing.

[andersonh1]

Here's the last page of Superman Doomed: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=55745

[Shockwave]

This is why I got out of non TF comics. It's literally the same shit every year. And we literally wind up having the same discussion every year. "More massive big event book coming!" "None of that will stick anyway!" 6 months later "That big event is being undone!" "I knew it wouldn't stick!" Lather, rinse, repeat.

[Sparky Prime]

Here's the last page of Superman Doomed: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=55745

That's really interesting. Some of those worlds shouldn't exist in the current DC mutliverse. Certainly raises some more questions. Also, I think CBR may have mis-labeled Harley Quinn, that looks like "The Batman" version rather than the Timm-verse version.

[andersonh1]

Here's the last page of Superman Doomed: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=55745

That's really interesting. Some of those worlds shouldn't exist in the current DC mutliverse. Certainly raises some more questions. Also, I think CBR may have mis-labeled Harley Quinn, that looks like "The Batman" version rather than the Timm-verse version.

Yeah, CBR is just guessing, though I think they have it mostly right. It's nice to see all of these characters again.

Newsarama has a theory that the big bad could be the last version of Brainiac from before the Crisis, the robotic skull-headed version. I think his final fate was unaccounted for, but it's been ages since I read Crisis. If they're going to do a sequel, picking him as a villain isn't a bad choice at all.

[Dominic]

This is nothing unusual either, businesses of all sorts have used stamp cards for ages, I've used many car washes and sandwich shops with them. Hell, the hobby shop my brother used to work at did something similar where you had a digitally-stored customer profile that would save up $5 'coupons' for you (incidentally, said brother is now a sales rep in the games-distribution arm of Diamond).

I was explaining the incentive for me to spend in blocks of $10+ dollars. You seemed to think I was being forced to spend a minimum, when I was just trying to get asl close to the discount sticker minimum as possible.

And here I was, stupidly just buying what I wanted to read when it came out.

Some weeks, it makes more sense to wait until Friday.

You order something, you want it to come in for you THE DAY it comes out?

No, it means I want the store to order one for me *and* I want it to be there when I show up for it.

If somebody orders a larger/expensive item (a statue, some action figures, DVD sets), they might not want to spend the money on Wednesday. They might not have time to rush down to the store to buy their comics on Wednesday. But, they can make it on Friday or on the weekend. The pull-file means that the items are actually going to be there when the person shows up to buy their stuff.

With comics, a pull-file guarantees that the reader will not miss an issue. Some books sell through the day they ship. If not for pull-files, I would have been out of comics years ago because I would have missed enough comics to make it not worth my time to stay in.

This is why I got out of non TF comics. It's literally the same shit every year. And we literally wind up having the same discussion every year. "More massive big event book coming!" "None of that will stick anyway!" 6 months later "That big event is being undone!" "I knew it wouldn't stick!" Lather, rinse, repeat.

True. DC's "Crisis" book used to mean something when they only happened every decade or so. But, "Flashpoint" was only 5 years after "Infinite Crisis". And, now, barely three years after "Flashpoint", there is talk of *another* "Crisis" type book. Reboots are becoming routine.

Newsarama has a theory that the big bad could be the last version of Brainiac from before the Crisis, the robotic skull-headed version. I think his final fate was unaccounted for, but it's been ages since I read Crisis. If they're going to do a sequel, picking him as a villain isn't a bad choice at all.

Braniac showed up in "Crisis on Infinite Earths" #11, working and well. But, after the Byrne reboot, that was ignored.

That's really interesting. Some of those worlds shouldn't exist in the current DC mutliverse. Certainly raises some more questions. Also, I think CBR may have mis-labeled Harley Quinn, that looks like "The Batman" version rather than the Timm-verse version.

I tend to think they are setting up for another multiversal reboot. The problem is that DC has barely used the multiverse that they have. The "Earth 1" books really do not need to be part of the multiverse. And, "Earth 2" (as much as I hate to say it) has been a creative failure. We got (yet another) Earth 3 (and it has already been destroyed).

The post-"Infinite Crisis" multiverse had potential. But, it was trashed before it was really used. (The most use DC got out of it was "Countdown: Arena", which was one of the most idiotic things ever published.)

[BWprowl]

I was explaining the incentive for me to spend in blocks of $10+ dollars. You seemed to think I was being forced to spend a minimum, when I was just trying to get asl close to the discount sticker minimum as possible.

You’ve made reference before to having to buy quantities of books after you already dropped them, and seem to indicate that you have to really ‘plan ahead’ to drop books in advance of them not being in your pull-file anymore.

No, it means I want the story to order one for me *and* I want it to be there when I show up for it.

Yeah, but “when I show up for it” shouldn’t be a month+ down the road.

How can you even be into comics if you aren’t excited enough by them to want to get them as soon as they come out? I jet down to the store as soon as I’m off work because I just can’t wait to read the new issue of New Warriors or All-New Ghost Rider or Spider-Man or that issue of TF that has Sarah Stone art in it this month. I’m checking the shipping lists for that week a couple times leading up to it, because I’m excited and anticipatory about what’s coming out. Even if I could get a pull-list, I’d only be having them hold that stuff for me until Wednesday afternoon because, hey, a new issue of Cook/Price’s MLP comic comes out this week, no way I’m putting that off!

If comics are something you can just go “Eh, fuck it, I’ll get them next week”, then how can you demand to be treated so specially that they’re holding giant piles of comics just for you and giving you special discounts and so forth? All these books that you claim to want and enjoy, being set up especially for you to buy on their special system, and you can just shrug it off and go “Meh, whatever, maybe next time”? They’re working overtime for someone clearly not appreciative of it. If you don’t care about the comics that much, don’t make the store work harder than it has to for you to pick them up half a year down the line, and don’t bogart the books for people who ARE enthused enough by them to get there on Wednesday when they come out.

If somebody orders a larger/expensive item (a statue, some action figures, DVD sets), they might not want to spend the money on Wednesday.

Uh-uh, bullshit. You pre-order something, you make damn sure you have the money to pay for it when it comes out, you set that money aside WHEN you pre-order it if you have to. Otherwise you get assholes impulsively pre-ordering stuff and then reneging on it when it comes in, and the store has to eat that cost and be left with an item that potentially no one else wants to buy. This is the reason AmiAmi blacklists people who don’t pay for their pre-orders right away.

They might not have time to rush down to the store to buy their comics on Wednesday. But, they can make it on Friday or on the weekend. The pull-file means that the items are actually going to be there when the person shows up to buy their stuff.

I can understand something coming up sometimes and not being able to make it down before the weekend. Shit happens. But there’s no reason to put it off for weeks at a time, especially for stuff you supposedly ‘want’. I get antsy if I have to pick up a package at the post office a day after I miss the delivery, because that’s my shit and I want it ASAP. I can’t imagine waiting weeks at a time to read comics I was excited to get.

Also, what untold nether-dimensions are your guys’ comic shops located in that they’re so hard to get to? It always sounds like they’re out in the country after a half-hour of highway driving or something, to the point that you have to make a big trip of it once every couple of weeks to get your stuff. Say what you will about my local shop (and you will, because you apparently feel some need to condescend to me about your shop providing more helpful services than mine and how you take it for granted), but at least it’s in the middle of town where human beings can easily stop in on their way home from work on Wednesdays.

True. DC's "Crisis" book used to mean something when they only happened every decade or so. But, "Flashpoint" was only 5 years after "Infinite Crisis". And, now, barely three years after "Flashpoint", there is talk of *another* "Crisis" type book.

How long are we counting between “Dark Cybertron” and “Combiner Wars”?

[Dominic]

You’ve made reference before to having to buy quantities of books after you already dropped them, and seem to indicate that you have to really ‘plan ahead’ to drop books in advance of them not being in your pull-file anymore.

A month or so in advance. The longest turn-around I have seen is 2 months. This is because stores typically order about 2 months in advance and smaller stores would rather not have unsold copies. (That is very reasonable.) The store I buy at now is large enough and has enough traffic to be able to absorb the odd extra.

How can you even be into comics if you aren’t excited enough by them to want to get them as soon as they come out? I jet down to the store as soon as I’m off work because I just can’t wait to read the new issue of New Warriors or All-New Ghost Rider or Spider-Man or that issue of TF that has Sarah Stone art in it this month.

I did that this week for "New Avengers". Yesterday was busy. (Being at work was the slowest point of the day ironically.) But, I found the time to get to the shop, and I read the book last night.

But, there have been weeks when I could not get to the store on Wednesday and/or Friday.

20 years ago, I knew a guy who bought and read damned near everything. EVERYTHING. The subscriber registration form had an option for "EVERYTHING". He subscribed to every book that was solicited. From Archie to the most vile porn you can imagine and everything in between, he got it (and planned to read most of it). (Statues and big ticket items were less common at the time. And, I am not sure how they were handled.) He could maybe transport a week's worth of books per trip. But, some weeks, he could not get to the store. (He was a busy guy.) I saw him buy long boxes.....and still leave stuff behind. (He once hired me under the table to bag and board 2 months of his books. It was a strange weekend for me, and an expensive one for him. Even at a nickel per book and discounting the extra bags and boards he paid me back for...he owed me well over a hundred dollars.)

More realisitcally, somebody might not be able to buy everything in a given week and/or may not be able to get to the store.

You pre-order something, you make damn sure you have the money to pay for it when it comes out, you set that money aside WHEN you pre-order it if you have to. Otherwise you get assholes impulsively pre-ordering stuff and then reneging on it when it comes in, and the store has to eat that cost and be left with an item that potentially no one else wants to buy.

Where are you getting this stuff? Where are you getting these accounts of people flaking out and the ridiculous hold times (as a regular thing)?

I have seen registration forms that specifically have an option for customers to come in every two months. Few people use that option. But, it exists because stores allow for it.

There have been weeks that I left stuff in my pull-file because I would not be able to take it home that day (compilations on days when my backpack is full) and then I do not make it back for a few days.

don’t bogart the books for people who ARE enthused enough by them to get there on Wednesday when they come out.

If those people want their books so badly, they can set up their own pull-files. It is not like pull-files are exclusive to a chosen few. Any regular customer can get one. I have walked in to stores as a new customer and set up pull-files. It takes 20 minutes of paper work (if even) and maybe a month of turn-around for ordering to catch up.

[BWprowl]

A month or so in advance. The longest turn-around I have seen is 2 months. This is because stores typically order about 2 months in advance and smaller stores would rather not have unsold copies.

See, you obviously understand this concept, but then think it should be okay for people with pull-files to let their stuff rot unsold on the store shelves for months at a time, maybe longer.

But, there have been weeks when I could not get to the store on Wednesday and/or Friday.

Which I said, is fine if you’re only putting it off until that weekend or so. But I know for a fact that you still have stuff in your pull-file from a month+ ago. If you can’t make time to read something over a month after it already came out (to say nothing of actually buying it), you clearly didn’t want it that badly.

Where are you getting this stuff? Where are you getting these accounts of people flaking out and the ridiculous hold times (as a regular thing)?

Uh, from the guys at my shop who tell me that that’s why they can’t set up new pull-files? From online retailers that kick you out if you renege on your pre-orders because they don’t like being left with people’s unsold expensive stock? From you yourself talking about how you’ve got stuff in your pull-file stretching back past a month, waiting for you to come in and pay off your tab?

If those people want their books so badly, they can set up their own pull-files. It is not like pull-files are exclusive to a chosen few.

Not at my store, where the people with pull-files are the ones on a ‘legacy’ system where they still have them from before the store stopped setting new ones up, and I just *know* those assholes have that last copy of Van Lente’s GI Joe rotting back there that I totally would have bought the day it came out. Fuck that guy and everyone like him, I’ll be down here to by the books every week, just hold one for me!