Cover Price for New Issues too much? Will VEI be competitive

dhudson1 · Post by **dhudson1** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:39 pm

Tim wrote:
sanman wrote:This thread has me thinking about collecting back issues nearly exclusively except for Batman and Detective.
Welcome to the club! With the exception of the Superman titles and Flash which I've been reading monthly since I was 12 and a few other books that are always in danger of being dropped, I'm pretty much done with new comics. Back issues are so much cheaper and generally better than anything that's being published now.

I have been considering that for years, jus t cannot break the habit

sanman · Post by **sanman** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:13 pm

My LCS is on the verge of closure so the decision may be out of my hands anyway. Picking up a few monthlies that should have high print runs shouldn’t be that difficult.

I, however, may be purchasing books in a nearby town every other month but whatever—will probably be a good thing for me in the long run.

RJMooreII · Post by **RJMooreII** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 3:40 pm

It's amazing to me that cover prices on comics have outpaced either inflation or cover prices on hard and softcover novels. Comic book prices have doubled (sometimes more) in the past 15 years.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 4:57 pm

RJMooreII wrote:It's amazing to me that cover prices on comics have outpaced either inflation or cover prices on hard and softcover novels. Comic book prices have doubled (sometimes more) in the past 15 years.

That's why I gave up buying new stuff on a regular basis. I'll buy a few things here and there, but nothing like what I used to.

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 12:56 pm

a lot of stuff i just wait and buy a huge run on ebay for 1.50 per issue

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 2:20 pm

superman-prime wrote:a lot of stuff i just wait and buy a huge run on ebay for 1.50 per issue

That's the best way to do it.

wrunow · Post by **wrunow** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 2:37 pm

RJMooreII wrote:It's amazing to me that cover prices on comics have outpaced either inflation or cover prices on hard and softcover novels. Comic book prices have doubled (sometimes more) in the past 15 years.

This is not all that weird, I am sure the price of paper has increased (probably quadruple, and they use better stock now), and most of the mainstream creators are paid pretty well nowadays from what I can tell.

Also, a big thing now is transportation, just about everything costs more nowaday than it did 5/10/20 years ago just to get it there. In the case of comics, a pallett of comics is probably pretty heavy as far as shipping weight.
It's funny, I own a gas station and it costs almost 4cents/gallon just to get the stuff here and the terminal is only 40 miles away.

Btw, Solar 10 had a $3.95 cover price and a lot of people balked at it "back in the day", that's was ok as I bought whatever was left on the shelf at my LCS.

maraxusofkeld · Post by **maraxusofkeld** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 5:59 pm

I don't think it is going to come to the point where VEI will be putting books out to have to work about their cover prices. I would assume that prices have increased with comics due to the large drop off in reader shift and how writers/artists get these expensive contracts to be exclusive to DC or Marvel, etc.

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 2:01 am

ya but a 4 doller book vs all the 3 doller valiants that are 25c fodder

tarheelmarine · Post by **tarheelmarine** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 9:58 am

sanman wrote:This thread has me thinking about collecting back issues nearly exclusively except for Batman and Detective.

It just doesnt make economic sense to buy lots of invidividual issues now. The majority of books produced are garbage, and the content and presentation is is poor. Case in point, all of DC's books have to many ads.

One thing I like about Dark Horse books, the interior of the cover page is not at ad. Very nice if you like to get books bound. Also, in Conan the 99% of the ads are not on pages with artwork. Another bonus.

I like Batman as well, and just picked up Batman 702, but all of the ads and overlapping ads on pages with artwork, just make this book come off as trash. I will wait for trade.

I was giving the new Hama GI JOE a try, until I realized it was 3.99 an issue.

I find collecting back issues is cheaper. For example, I picked up over 75 books this back weekend for $50. Compare that to 12 books if I had gotten 3.99 books.

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:39 am

yep its a deal just to wait now a days

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 2:59 pm

maraxusofkeld wrote:I don't think it is going to come to the point where VEI will be putting books out to have to work about their cover prices. I would assume that prices have increased with comics due to the large drop off in reader shift and how writers/artists get these expensive contracts to be exclusive to DC or Marvel, etc.

I think that's a big part of it.

yardstick · Post by **yardstick** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 3:08 pm

tarheelmarine wrote:
sanman wrote:This thread has me thinking about collecting back issues nearly exclusively except for Batman and Detective.
It just doesnt make economic sense to buy lots of invidividual issues now. The majority of books produced are garbage, and the content and presentation is is poor. Case in point, all of DC's books have to many ads.

One thing I like about Dark Horse books, the interior of the cover page is not at ad. Very nice if you like to get books bound. Also, in Conan the 99% of the ads are not on pages with artwork. Another bonus.

I like Batman as well, and just picked up Batman 702, but all of the ads and overlapping ads on pages with artwork, just make this book come off as trash. I will wait for trade.

I was giving the new Hama GI JOE a try, until I realized it was 3.99 an issue.

I find collecting back issues is cheaper. For example, I picked up over 75 books this back weekend for $50. Compare that to 12 books if I had gotten 3.99 books.

I'm still hoping someone will pull their head out, and print a 48 page book for $4.99. It can be one book, or a two-book flip style (2x 21-22 page stories). I'd prefer the latter.

The only way the companies are gonna be able to leap the cover price hurdle is by increasing page volume per book printed, or having the printing done in the far east (probably China).

sanman · Post by **sanman** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 12:02 pm

tarheelmarine wrote:
sanman wrote:This thread has me thinking about collecting back issues nearly exclusively except for Batman and Detective.
It just doesnt make economic sense to buy lots of invidividual issues now. The majority of books produced are garbage, and the content and presentation is is poor. Case in point, all of DC's books have to many ads.

One thing I like about Dark Horse books, the interior of the cover page is not at ad. Very nice if you like to get books bound. Also, in Conan the 99% of the ads are not on pages with artwork. Another bonus.

I like Batman as well, and just picked up Batman 702, but all of the ads and overlapping ads on pages with artwork, just make this book come off as trash. I will wait for trade.

I was giving the new Hama GI JOE a try, until I realized it was 3.99 an issue.

I find collecting back issues is cheaper. For example, I picked up over 75 books this back weekend for $50. Compare that to 12 books if I had gotten 3.99 books.

I feel the need to support the LCS with a few must have books at least. Waiting for the trade or a cheaper price on eBay is a good suggestion but will kill the hobby in the long run.

If you want to see certain titles remain in print and/or want to see the LCS survive one must support the hobby on the front end.

Granted, Batman and Detective will probably remain in print as long as DC publishes comics but your independents and lesser titles (e.g. the DH GK books) need regular support.

By no means am I suggesting that you support a garbage or refrain from looking for a good deal or a better format. However, one must recognize that consumer patterns dictate what and how publishers release their comics. And I for one fear that one day trades and digital comics will be our only options. That’s fine for most of the comics I’m reading now but for my favorite titles I still want the floppy.

dave · Post by **dave** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 12:25 pm

tarheelmarine wrote:
I find collecting back issues is cheaper. For example, I picked up over 75 books this back weekend for $50. Compare that to 12 books if I had gotten 3.99 books.

And they are obviously fine with it-otherwise they wouldn't be putting out trades of everything so soon after it's released.

The industry is just very different today than it was in the 90s

sanman · Post by **sanman** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:31 pm

dave wrote:
tarheelmarine wrote:
I find collecting back issues is cheaper. For example, I picked up over 75 books this back weekend for $50. Compare that to 12 books if I had gotten 3.99 books.
And they are obviously fine with it-otherwise they wouldn't be putting out trades of everything so soon after it's released.

The industry is just very different today than it was in the 90s

True but the LCS may become a thing of the past.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 9:28 am

sanman wrote:
dave wrote:
tarheelmarine wrote:
I find collecting back issues is cheaper. For example, I picked up over 75 books this back weekend for $50. Compare that to 12 books if I had gotten 3.99 books.
And they are obviously fine with it-otherwise they wouldn't be putting out trades of everything so soon after it's released.

The industry is just very different today than it was in the 90s
True but the LCS may become a thing of the past.

They are definitely becoming extinct around here.

Second_Death · Post by **Second_Death** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 1:48 pm

wrunow wrote:
RJMooreII wrote:It's amazing to me that cover prices on comics have outpaced either inflation or cover prices on hard and softcover novels. Comic book prices have doubled (sometimes more) in the past 15 years.
This is not all that weird, I am sure the price of paper has increased (probably quadruple, and they use better stock now), and most of the mainstream creators are paid pretty well nowadays from what I can tell.

Also, a big thing now is transportation, just about everything costs more nowaday than it did 5/10/20 years ago just to get it there. In the case of comics, a pallett of comics is probably pretty heavy as far as shipping weight.
It's funny, I own a gas station and it costs almost 4cents/gallon just to get the stuff here and the terminal is only 40 miles away.

Btw, Solar 10 had a $3.95 cover price and a lot of people balked at it "back in the day", that's was ok as I bought whatever was left on the shelf at my LCS.

Good points. Solar #10 may have been the first to reach the $4 cover price. Several regular Valiants were 2.50 covers and all the Chromium covers were 3.50 I think. By '95, all the titles had 2.50 covers. Besides Valiant, other publishers were regularly meeting or exceeding the $3 barrier already.

So here we are 15+ years later and no surprise that $3-4 is the norm, unfortunately.

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 12:36 am

4 will be soon but for some reason when a 99c book is added to dc or marvel it tops the charts food for thought

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 11:27 am

superman-prime wrote:4 will be soon but for some reason when a 99c book is added to dc or marvel it tops the charts food for thought

Good point, SP. I know it sure gets my attention when a book has a price tag like that.

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 6:26 pm

anyone pick up prelude to IC
or legacy 0

thats the point dc you almost got it

drop

action
detective
jla
gl
and watch everyone pick up the other half to complete the story and as far as warner bros cares its more or less ads for their movies so break even for a while to build up intreast

and Disney YOU have no EXCULSE figure it out (morons)