TF Views

Posted: **Mon Jul 15, 2013 9:47 am**

Since they publish Transformers comics, this topic seems to belong here. I ran across an interesting article on the Beat discussing IDW's sales and profit margins. The article doesn't discuss Transformers books in particular, but focuses on the health of IDW in general as a publishing company. And it appears that they're doing very well.

http://comicsbeat.com/are-comics-sales- ... e-for-idw/

For the quarter running February to April 2013, IDW took in $6.3 Million, and made a profit of $1.6 Million. In three months.

For six months, (November 2012-April 2013, which includes the Holiday season), IDW took in $11.5 Million, and made a profit of $2.6 Million. That’s half of CTM’s fiscal year to date. They have already surpassed the income earned from FY2012.

Now, that’s not bad for a mid-size comics publisher. “Millions” is always a nice word to add to any number. If zero is a hero, then six of them is the Justice League! But that’s only if one is talking a profit. The United States government works in Billions and Trillions of dollars, but runs deficits. So look at the right-hand column. Percentage. Three months: 216% Six months: 166%. One digit in a percentage is nice. Two, nicer. Three, and you’ve doubled (or more) your profit.

So IDW is quite profitable for their shareholders…

They had a few rough quarters, noticeably due to their children’s books and some overprinting which ended up as remainders. But the last negative quarter was in 2010. Since then, they have expanded their deluxe editions and successfully marketed their licensed properties.

Posted: **Mon Jul 15, 2013 10:02 am**

Glad to hear they're doing well, and I'm honestly not surprised. They've got a solid, profitable niche covered, running the comics arms of some successful franchises with loyal customer bases. Honestly, you even get a TF or Joe fan into a comic store, and they're probably going to grab one or two books with 'Transformers' or 'GI Joe' on the cover. Not to mention all the dosh they're rolling in after the brilliant launch of the MLP comics (you know other publishers are kicking themselves for letting IDW be the only ones to get cozy with Hasbro after missing out on that license).

Ironically, I'm not personally crazy about their TF comics right this moment, but their Joe and MLP offerings have been pretty great, so I'm happy to see IDW doing well. They also do some of the best compilations ever, so.

Posted: **Mon Jul 15, 2013 5:34 pm**

IDW has been a licensing magnet, their big name publications are TF, GI Joe, MLP, Star Trek, Doctor Who, TMNT, Ghostbusters, True Blood, and more, without making them shitty cash-in comics the way most licensed tie-in comics used to be. That is a recipe for success in a market that is very pop-culture-based AND '80s nostalgia-based.

Posted: **Wed Jul 17, 2013 1:47 pm**

Yeah, I gotta say, I've wanted to pick up the Ghostbusters trades for a while now, and the TMNT stuff (before I stopped reading it because I suck at keeping up with things) was brilliant.

Posted: **Mon Mar 19, 2018 11:04 am**

This thread was originally about IDW sales numbers in general. Things have changed quite a bit, and with Chris Ryall leaving, I wondered about monthly sales on the Transformers comics. Bottom line: they don't look good.

243 237 Transformers Lost Light 13 $3.99 01/24/18 IDW 6,144
248 228 Transformers Vs. The Visionaries 1* $3.99 01/03/18 IDW 5,929
255 255 Optimus Prime 15 $3.99 01/17/18 IDW 5,622

TF Views

IDW Sales

IDW Sales

Re: IDW Sales

Re: IDW Sales

Re: IDW Sales

Re: IDW Sales