VALIANT March 2013 Sales Discussion

[BugsySig]

Preliminary numbers just posted:

UNIT MARKET SHARE

PUBLISHER-SHARE

MARVEL COMICS- 43.78%
DC COMICS- 29.88%
IMAGE COMICS- 7.88%
IDW PUBLISHING- 5.24%
DARK HORSE COMICS- 4.16%
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT- 1.87%
BOOM! STUDIOS- 1.49%
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT LLC- 0.84%
AVATAR PRESS INC- 0.60%
ASPEN MLT INC- 0.57%

VALIANT stays at #8 with 0.84% Unit Market Share (0.86% Dollar Market Share). March was an interesting month with a drop back to 5 books after Harby #0 in February put 6 VALIANT books on the shelf.

With Harbinger Wars in April, two #0 Issues, FCBD and the $1 Debuts in May, the next few months should be interesting to follow and see if VALIANT really picks up some steam by drawing in new readers. Then, of course, we get Quantum & Woody in July and potentially 2 more books in August. Can the market absorb more VALIANT books, or will the individual books suffer?

Full numbers should be out early next week.

[Scott M Davis]

No to sound mean, but I think 6 titles should be the limit for Valiant. Anymore and they will be stretched too thin.

[MoonChild]

No to sound mean, but I think 6 titles should be the limit for Valiant. Anymore and they will be stretched too thin.

Eternal Warrior, Rai & Ninjak Titles after the five we have plus Q&W equals 9 and those are all major properties. Wouldn't call 6 stretching it too thin with a lineup like this...

[Dr. Solar]

No to sound mean, but I think 6 titles should be the limit for Valiant. Anymore and they will be stretched too thin.

I know they would like more titles, that's pretty much a sure bet.

That's always the question for any company, how do you expand, and keep quality up?

I expect that there will be 8 regular titles by the end of 2013.

What's impressive to me is that Valiant has about half the share of Boom and Dynamite, but they have a third of the titles Boom has, and a fifth of the titles Dynamite has.

[Scott M Davis]

Valiant gets the nostalgic 90's fanboys. Both BOOM! and Dynamite share comes from Multiple Covers.

I think 9 is pushing it really. I do want the titles, I loved all these characters 20 years ago, I just don't want them to expand too fast and then collapse.

[bygranddesign]

I’m very much in favor of the slow and steady approach that they have been using so far.
Make sure that a title has the right creative team and a concept, character(s) and tone that is unique from what’s currently out there.

I also think they should continue event type miniseries ala Harbinger Wars – Timewalker might not work as a regular series but as a 3 part mini-series that ties into A&A and an Eternal Warrior series – I think that would be pretty popular.

[MoonChild]

I’m very much in favor of the slow and steady approach that they have been using so far.
Make sure that a title has the right creative team and a concept, character(s) and tone that is unique from what’s currently out there.

I also think they should continue event type miniseries ala Harbinger Wars – Timewalker might not work as a regular series but as a 3 part mini-series that ties into A&A and an Eternal Warrior series – I think that would be pretty popular.

[Elveen]

With some of what they have coming Down the pipe, I'm thinking
Their numbers are going to keep going up.
More titles is for sure in the future.

Also I can tell you that they are getting respect in the comic publishing
Community.

[drmirage]

There's a lot of exciting buzz Valiant is creating that other publishers are noticing.

Certainly Harbinger Wars has been making news crossing paths with Bloodshot.

I am really looking forward on how VEI market share will be at the end of 2013. The foundation of the universe is staring to reveal itself month by month.

[BugsySig]

Considering the sales have basically leveled off over the past few months, the customer base has been established for the existing books. That means, theoretically, the LCS should not have to lower their orders of the existing books when a new one comes out. I believe that was VEIs strategy in waiting nearly a year between new releases. If they actually do so is another story

[GGSAE]

I'm surprised IDW is as high as that....there must be people that read them, just none I know of.

P.S. Image continues to expand, closing in on 8%...hmmmm

[BugsySig]

I'm surprised IDW is as high as that....there must be people that read them, just none I know of.

P.S. Image continues to expand, closing in on 8%...hmmmm

Huge dip for DC, so that percentage has to go somewhere. IDW has tons of licensed properties that sell well and those are what bolster their sales. Image has its trades, which is a huge part of theirs espescially since they get reissued every month.

Just to note, sales where up for the industry as a whole, so staying at, or increasing, market share means more money in March than in February.

[betterthanezra]

I'm surprised IDW is as high as that....there must be people that read them, just none I know of.

My Little Pony sales a BOAT load of issues and they now have expanded it for two monthlies

-Brian

[blujay]

I also think they should continue event type miniseries ala Harbinger Wars – Timewalker might not work as a regular series but as a 3 part mini-series that ties into A&A and an Eternal Warrior series – I think that would be pretty popular.

Mini-series' seem like a pretty good way to test the waters. I've noticed that DC has been doing a lot of that as of The New 52.

[BugsySig]

Top 300 Books are in (Full #s coming soon):

Qty Retail Index Title Price Pub

135 108 11.43 X-O MANOWAR #11 $3.99 VAL

153 130 9.53 SHADOWMAN #5 $3.99 VAL

167 140 8.84 HARBINGER #10 $3.99 VAL

180 153 8.03 ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #8 $3.99 VAL

183 155 7.95 BLOODSHOT #9 $3.99 VAL

Trades:

44 95 1.34 ARCHER & ARMSTRONG (NEW) TP VOL 01 $9.99 VAL

133 75 0.67 VALIANT MASTERS NINJAK HC VOL 01 BLACK WATER $24.99 VAL


Notes:

Once again, XO is the highest non Big-3 (throwing Image in there as they are having a huge year thus far), non-licensed (Star Wars, Buffy, TMNT, Adventure Time, MLP), non-Hellboy title on the list.

Looks like Shadowman might be settling in between XO and Harby as it is in a similar position as last month.

Some love for the A&A TPB and Ninjak HC. Those are decent ranks.

[GGSAE]

Can't say I'm surprised A&A and BS have settled further down. I think moving forward we'll see less movement among titles, with the exception of Harby and Shadowman leap-frogging each other.

[BugsySig]

Can't say I'm surprised A&A and BS have settled further down. I think moving forward we'll see less movement among titles, with the exception of Harby and Shadowman leap-frogging each other.

Remember, month to month the rankings can slide up or down without reflecting the actual sales. Across the board, sales for the industry are up and more books are coming out all the time from Image, IDW, DH, etc...not to mention double shipping from Marvel. Though A&A and BS have pretty consistently been the bottom 2 of the group, their numbers are still pretty good overall.

Nice to see Harby rising a bit, though

[greg]

Here are my guesses:

MARCH 2013
135 X-O MANOWAR #11 16,200
153 SHADOWMAN #5 13,500
167 HARBINGER #10 12,500
180 ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #8 11,400
183 BLOODSHOT #9 11,300
(I hope each of these is about 100 too low, but I'm being conservative.)

Here are the February 2013 numbers for comparison:
138 - Harbinger #0 - 14,699
152 - X-O Manowar #10 - 13,504
164 - Shadowman #4 - 12,531
170 - Harbinger #9 - 12,222
174 - Bloodshot #8 - 11,557
176 - Archer & Armstrong #7 - 11,494

[drmirage]

Looks like the books have leveled off..... with those approximate numbers.

About 3000 more issues sold.

320 earned copies of X-O Manowar 1:50 Sears Variant .
around 600 earned copies of Shadowman, A&A and Bloodshot 1:20 Variants.
around 500 earned copies of the Shadowman Grampa Linewide Variant.

Here are my guesses:

MARCH 2013
135 X-O MANOWAR #11 16,200
153 SHADOWMAN #5 13,500
167 HARBINGER #10 12,500
180 ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #8 11,400
183 BLOODSHOT #9 11,300
(I hope each of these is about 100 too low, but I'm being conservative.)

Here are the February 2013 numbers for comparison:
138 - Harbinger #0 - 14,699
152 - X-O Manowar #10 - 13,504
164 - Shadowman #4 - 12,531
170 - Harbinger #9 - 12,222
174 - Bloodshot #8 - 11,557
176 - Archer & Armstrong #7 - 11,494

[BugsySig]

Here are my guesses:

MARCH 2013
135 X-O MANOWAR #11 16,200
153 SHADOWMAN #5 13,500
167 HARBINGER #10 12,500
180 ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #8 11,400
183 BLOODSHOT #9 11,300
(I hope each of these is about 100 too low, but I'm being conservative.)

Here are the February 2013 numbers for comparison:
138 - Harbinger #0 - 14,699
152 - X-O Manowar #10 - 13,504
164 - Shadowman #4 - 12,531
170 - Harbinger #9 - 12,222
174 - Bloodshot #8 - 11,557
176 - Archer & Armstrong #7 - 11,494

#s from Comichron:
135 X-O Manowar 11 $3.99 Valiant 15,765
153 Shadowman 5 $3.99 Valiant 13,145
167 Harbinger 10 $3.99 Valiant 12,196
180 Archer & Armstrong 8 $3.99 Valiant 11,072
183 Bloodshot 9 $3.99 Valiant 10,959

XO, Shadowman UP, A&A and Bloodshot DOWN, Harby about the same.

Surprised about BS and Harby considering the boost from Harby #0 and lead in to HW. Maybe peeps are waiting till this month to jump in? Hoping thats the case.

[BugsySig]

And Trades:

44 Archer & Armstrong Vol. 1 $9.99 Valiant 1,852
133 Valiant Masters Ninjak HC Vol. 1 Black Water $24.99 Valiant 930

[ErikG]

I agree that I'd like to see a limit to the number of regular titles VE puts out a month. For me, eight monthlies would be just right -- after all, if memory serves, that's the way it was at the time of Unity. But I'd be happy with ten, as long as the quality of all is maintained. I'm not against minis and one-shots either, published only when necessary to supplement on-going storylines elsewhere. But we'll just have to see. Those of us who were there at the time saw how the quality of many of Valiant's titles deteriorated soon after Unity (even though they were largely still better than the competition). Having said that -- if the current high quality of VE's titles can be maintained in both story and art, I guess I'll have no choice but to accept as many as they put out, subject to wallet constraints. As an aside, both my wallet and intellect are feeling far less strained at present -- for reasons that should be obvious to many among you, I've just cancelled about twelve DC titles from my pull list, leaving only Batman and Detective. So roll on Quantum and Woody (hoping that the ineffable Amy Fishbein will somehow make an appearance there) and the other mysterious two.

[BugsySig]

I agree that I'd like to see a limit to the number of regular titles VE puts out a month. For me, eight monthlies would be just right -- after all, if memory serves, that's the way it was at the time of Unity. But I'd be happy with ten, as long as the quality of all is maintained. I'm not against minis and one-shots either, published only when necessary to supplement on-going storylines elsewhere. But we'll just have to see. Those of us who were there at the time saw how the quality of many of Valiant's titles deteriorated soon after Unity (even though they were largely still better than the competition). Having said that -- if the current high quality of VE's titles can be maintained in both story and art, I guess I'll have no choice but to accept as many as they put out, subject to wallet constraints. As an aside, both my wallet and intellect are feeling far less strained at present -- for reasons that should be obvious to many among you, I've just cancelled about twelve DC titles from my pull list, leaving only Batman and Detective. So roll on Quantum and Woody (hoping that the ineffable Amy Fishbein will somehow make an appearance there) and the other mysterious two.

I think 8 will be the magic number for at least another year. Perhaps a mini or two along the way a la Harbinger Wars.

Ultimately, I think their goal is 12-16 titles (3-4/week). That # would put them into the company of other publishers like Boom and Dynamite in terms of books, and if the numbers hold at 8k or above per book they'd be in the company of DH and IDW in terms of sales.

Of course most of us prefer the "less is more" approach, but VEI has a business plan that probably leads to more books down the line.

[Phantom]

7 is heaven.

Just saying, for no reason. I always work by familiar numbers.

So love this thread and the comments, even though I do not add much to the content.

Really hope harbinger wars pushes up numbers overall. Suprised that harbinger numbers dropped

[IanAlexavier]

I think a lot of us are nostaligic for the days when Unity blew our minds away and the continuity was so tightly weaved together. It really was amazing.

Like Ive told Dino, Im not as sad as I used to be about what could have been for VALIANT but Im now looking forward to what WILL BE for Valiant.

With that being said, I have no special number that I think would work best but will trust that Valiant will provide good quality books that can survive in the market without a loss of quality. If that means 8 books, then great. If they can do more to expand their universe then Im good with that too. Right now I can still buy all of their titles. Im sure at some point I will nto be able to do that and will need to pick and choose according to my budget.

Anyone else see the FB post from a disgruntled collector who was angry at VEI for having too many variants?? He was angry at VEI for HIS collectin habits. Too funny Instead of saying that collecting all of the variants was too expensive for HIM he was blaming VEI for OFFERING variants.. good grief!