Deluxe editions. Why the delays?

[tchalla8]

Valiant prides itself on never missing a deadline. They've shipped every issue and trade on time as scheduled.

However, when it comes to their Deluxe editions they often miss their scheduled date. Looks like X-O Volume 4 Deluxe edition is going to now miss its arrival date. It was supposed to be available in the next two weeks, but now this...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/16821 ... UTF8&psc=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And we all know about the mysterious, mythical Shadowman Volume 2 Deluxe edition. Original solicitation date was over a year ago, and it's still being pushed out.

Any speculation on why they can't seem to consistently meet a deadline on these Deluxe editions?

[greg]

My speculation would be that there may only be one or two printing/binding companies for these books and that there are orders from Marvel, DC, Eaglemoss, all competing for "time on the machines" against Valiant.

Bigger orders are more money of course, and given Valiant's 1% market share, who do you think wins?

[paradise]

Greg is right. Another possibility may be pre-order numbers. They may be lower than expected, and that can increase production costs. One way to avoid is to wait for several to batch up and then run them together one after the other, getting that volume, which is the only thing that matters in printing.

[Zhuge1]

Greg is right. Another possibility may be pre-order numbers. They may be lower than expected, and that can increase production costs. One way to avoid is to wait for several to batch up and then run them together one after the other, getting that volume, which is the only thing that matters in printing.

That would make sense, and if so, I hope folks are pre-ordering the deluxe editions they definitely want. After a few that I didn't have (and wanted) have sold out, I've taken to pre-ordering quite a few of these (and even some of the softcovers since the pre-order costs are less) as soon as they show up as available.

[tchalla8]

Greg is right. Another possibility may be pre-order numbers. They may be lower than expected, and that can increase production costs. One way to avoid is to wait for several to batch up and then run them together one after the other, getting that volume, which is the only thing that matters in printing.

The flip side of that is that people will potentially cancel their pre-orders because they get tired of waiting for something they may never see.

[rmfwfu]

Hope that Shadowman 2 shows up, since I used that Amazon discount this week to pre-order it!

I think the reality is that these books probably have a low print run (500 copies or so), and the company is juggling printing costs, cash flows, etc. While everyone knows about the 4-5 OOP ones, there's others that have been lying around for years, not to mention the "dead in the water" Masters series. That's not a good use of a small company's cash.

Personally, I would doubt that there's no room on presses to get these books printed, with all the cutbacks in printing these days. Remember, we are getting Ninjak, Faith, 4001 AD, and X-O v4 all within a few months of each other, with Shadowman v2 (OK, I'm hoping!) and X-O v5 later this year. Sure, I wish Valiant would just do hardcover reprints, but paperbacks are cheaper and more widely accepted.

[mkb28]

I think my Shadowman Volume 2 order has been sitting at DCBS for over a year now. I have a feeling that it will never happen.

[Zhuge1]

Hope that Shadowman 2 shows up, since I used that Amazon discount this week to pre-order it!

I think the reality is that these books probably have a low print run (500 copies or so), and the company is juggling printing costs, cash flows, etc. While everyone knows about the 4-5 OOP ones, there's others that have been lying around for years, not to mention the "dead in the water" Masters series. That's not a good use of a small company's cash.

Personally, I would doubt that there's no room on presses to get these books printed, with all the cutbacks in printing these days. Remember, we are getting Ninjak, Faith, 4001 AD, and X-O v4 all within a few months of each other, with Shadowman v2 (OK, I'm hoping!) and X-O v5 later this year. Sure, I wish Valiant would just do hardcover reprints, but paperbacks are cheaper and more widely accepted.

Interestingly, the Ninjak Valiant Masters is out of stock on Amazon (aside from 3rd party vendors)

[rmfwfu]

Interestingly, the Ninjak Valiant Masters is out of stock on Amazon (aside from 3rd party vendors)

But since no volume 2's were ever published and it's been 4 years, it does appear that these 6 books are all we'll get. As much as I am tempted and curious to read the "first version" of these characters, I'll wait for further volumes to be announced before committing to them.

[Zhuge1]

Interestingly, the Ninjak Valiant Masters is out of stock on Amazon (aside from 3rd party vendors)

But since no volume 2's were ever published and it's been 4 years, it does appear that these 6 books are all we'll get. As much as I am tempted and curious to read the "first version" of these characters, I'll wait for further volumes to be announced before committing to them.

I can understand that -- I had hoped they would release more material, but you're right that it looks unlikely.

[possumgrease]

And honestly, there's really no need for VEI to look back to the 90's at this point. It's different than Marvel reprinting their silver age.

[paradise]

Meanwhile if anyone DOES want a set of the masters, cheap, maybe look here:
http://www.valiantfans.com/forum/viewto ... =2&t=49521" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Zhuge1]

And honestly, there's really no need for VEI to look back to the 90's at this point. It's different than Marvel reprinting their silver age.

Why different out of curiosity?

I'm sure some of it is dated (I found the Shadowman Masters to be a bit dated in certain areas, but I'd still like to read more of it if they released more of that material), but I'd imagine the Marvel Silver Age would be similar.

[jeremycoe]

And honestly, there's really no need for VEI to look back to the 90's at this point. It's different than Marvel reprinting their silver age.

Why different out of curiosity?

I'm sure some of it is dated (I found the Shadowman Masters to be a bit dated in certain areas, but I'd still like to read more of it if they released more of that material), but I'd imagine the Marvel Silver Age would be similar.

Continuity. The VH1 didn't happen in regards to the current Valiant titles, whereas the old Marvel stuff did.

[possumgrease]

Continuity. The VH1 didn't happen in regards to the current Valiant titles, whereas the old Marvel stuff did.

Yep. That's how I feel about it.

[Zhuge1]

Continuity. The VH1 didn't happen in regards to the current Valiant titles, whereas the old Marvel stuff did.

That makes sense. I don't follow Marvel at all (since the mid 90's), so I had thought much of their continuity had been rebooted (similar to what I understand DC has done a couple of times), which is why I thought they were in the same boat as Valiant with respect to older material.

[Phoenix8008]

And honestly, there's really no need for VEI to look back to the 90's at this point. It's different than Marvel reprinting their silver age.

Why different out of curiosity?

I'm sure some of it is dated (I found the Shadowman Masters to be a bit dated in certain areas, but I'd still like to read more of it if they released more of that material), but I'd imagine the Marvel Silver Age would be similar.

Continuity. The VH1 didn't happen in regards to the current Valiant titles, whereas the old Marvel stuff did.

I understand what you mean, but technically, since Secret Wars last year the universe that the Silver Age comics happened in is now gone. There is another universe in it's place that the Fantastic Four created which is nearly identical in many ways, but it's not the same universe any more canonically.