Unity 3D cover distribution problem

[lorddunlow]

So, for those that have seen them in person, are they purty?

[KXXX]

Quite

[Donovan]

They are stunning!

[Donovan]

Boy, I actually feel for the guy who paid $300+ for this on eBay.

[Phoenix8008]

I wish my LCS hadn't closed. Maybe they would have gotten one and I'd surely buy it at this point.

[Shadowman99]

These jerks speculating with the book on eBay can suck my cock.

[chriskay99]

...order more than his XO Manowar #1 Order.

Ah, come to think of it, that's probably how my shop qualified. I think they ordered like five copies of XO 1 and I know I got at least 8 of the Unity covers in my pull file.

[The Noto]

At $25 I would still buy them. I think right now it's flooded there because there was mistakes made. I still feel it's a very cool cover and I think it has a lot of long-term collectibility. I would maybe equate this more towards the BATMAN 608 RRP. Cause when they first came out a lot of people passed on but they still get $1800 now. That's just my two cents worth. If you buy it for 25 I'll happily buy it from you for that price plus shipping.

What's an RRP?

[SJS4]

These jerks speculating with the book on eBay can suck my cock.

Just curious what you mean?

[xodacia81]

My LCS has one. They want 15 for it.

[kjjohanson]

My LCS has one. They want 15 for it.

[Phoenix8008]

My LCS has one. They want 15 for it.

If you don't want it, could you buy it for me and I'll pay you for shipping plus a small handling fee?

[lorddunlow]

Just stopped by my LCS. No luck. He returned his extras. I'm sure he ordered more than his X-O order. Should he have qualified for at least one copy that way?

[Ramses818]

We'll with price dropping so much at least it is pulling down my average. Got my best deal on them so far today. 3 more for $50. Can't wait to see if I get offered more.

[hawkeyeps]

Just stopped by my LCS. No luck. He returned his extras. I'm sure he ordered more than his X-O order. Should he have qualified for at least one copy that way?

Oh that's a bummer Dunlow, I got a really nice one today...for free

[jmatt]

Moved to Buy / Sell

[lorddunlow]

Just stopped by my LCS. No luck. He returned his extras. I'm sure he ordered more than his X-O order. Should he have qualified for at least one copy that way?

Oh that's a bummer Dunlow, I got a really nice one today...for free

Hawkeyeps can suck my cock.

I paraphrased a bit, but I'm sure Shadowman99 meant you.

[FormerReader]

Hawkeyeps can suck my cock.

I paraphrased a bit, but I'm sure Shadowman99 meant you.

[hawkeyeps]

I was hesitant to say this because I don't want to ruffle feathers with anyone (VEI or board members) but...

For comic book sellers like Ed (Paradise), who kept all his books and believed there would be very limited quantities of this, the fact that pretty much every LCS got one regardless of whether they kept their 100 issues or not can't sit well with him.

Ed was kind enough to make these available very early to board members at $200. I declined because I just won't spend that much money on a gimmick variant (nice as it may be). But now the people that bought it from him at that price have to feel like they way overpaid, even though it was none of his doing.

Six weeks ago people were thinking "OMG if I don't order this now I'll never have a chance of getting one!" Now the market is flooded and people are getting them for $25 in some cases.

I know VEI doesn't want to aggravate their big sellers like this but this seems... I dunno...

Furthermore, shops were told that if they they kept their 100 issues, they'd receive one. Now, many if not most of them received one anyway. Doesn't that kinda undercut credibility going forward with this kind of incentive?

Very true Jmatt, I had earned my copy the hard way by convincing my shop to do a 200 order.

I convinced Marty (the shop owner) to do the 200+ order way back before Atom even sent out his letter, I was right on it as soon as it was announced. I pretty much covered it by committing to $200 for a full set and since bought more Unity #1s at a really nice discount. My buddy Dan also bought a bunch and Marty (the shop owner also took a set).

He made a small profit for it but was happy to do it as we are old friends and I'm the Valiant guy, he has many copies left but did not do a return.

When I heard about this 3D issue he was really excited as it seemed to be really rare and he could likely make a nice profit on the sale of the extra issue. A nice reward for doing a big order and not returning a single copy.

The only other shop in town that did a 200+ order was the "big shop" in town. I go there to get the odd variant as they are the only shop who orders 20 or more copies of VEI. I was there right before this cover was announced and noticed a big stack of Unity #1s sitting on the counter with the covers ripped off, obviously for a big return.

Both my LCS and the "big shop" got 3 copies each even though my LCS didn't do a return and the "big shop" appeared to have.

Of the 3 copies he got he kept one, I got one (a nice one) and the third one had a big dent on Livewire so I wouldn't even want to sell it here for him. I think my old buddy Dan might get it for like $20 or something.

The big shop was selling their copies for $99.95 US.

One thing Marty pointed out on his Diamond form was this issue was named "3D keeper variant", yet it seems that many more copies than were deserved were distributed lessening the reward for the "keepers". There seems to be much confusion as there was with the whole XO #6 1:50 debacle.

I'm happy to have my copy and it's a really nice book but it's too bad it didn't work out for Marty from a profit point of view especially after I told him about it and got him all excited.

I've been hyping up Valiant a lot to Calgary retailers and lately they have been making me look bad.

[hawkeyeps]

Hawkeyeps can suck my cock.

I paraphrased a bit, but I'm sure Shadowman99 meant you.

Sorry guys I can't get in there, Dynamite is already sucking your balls

[bygranddesign]

I was hesitant to say this because I don't want to ruffle feathers with anyone (VEI or board members) but...

For comic book sellers like Ed (Paradise), who kept all his books and believed there would be very limited quantities of this, the fact that pretty much every LCS got one regardless of whether they kept their 100 issues or not can't sit well with him.

Ed was kind enough to make these available very early to board members at $200. I declined because I just won't spend that much money on a gimmick variant (nice as it may be). But now the people that bought it from him at that price have to feel like they way overpaid, even though it was none of his doing.

Six weeks ago people were thinking "OMG if I don't order this now I'll never have a chance of getting one!" Now the market is flooded and people are getting them for $25 in some cases.

I know VEI doesn't want to aggravate their big sellers like this but this seems... I dunno...

Furthermore, shops were told that if they they kept their 100 issues, they'd receive one. Now, many if not most of them received one anyway. Doesn't that kinda undercut credibility going forward with this kind of incentive?

Very true Jmatt, I had earned my copy the hard way by convincing my shop to do a 200 order.

I convinced Marty (the shop owner) to do the 200+ order way back before Atom even sent out his letter, I was right on it as soon as it was announced. I pretty much covered it by committing to $200 for a full set and since bought more Unity #1s at a really nice discount. My buddy Dan also bought a bunch and Marty (the shop owner also took a set).

He made a small profit for it but was happy to do it as we are old friends and I'm the Valiant guy, he has many copies left but did not do a return.

When I heard about this 3D issue he was really excited as it seemed to be really rare and he could likely make a nice profit on the sale of the extra issue. A nice reward for doing a big order and not returning a single copy.

The only other shop in town that did a 200+ order was the "big shop" in town. I go there to get the odd variant as they are the only shop who orders 20 or more copies of VEI. I was there right before this cover was announced and noticed a big stack of Unity #1s sitting on the counter with the covers ripped off, obviously for a big return.

Both my LCS and the "big shop" got 3 copies each even though my LCS didn't do a return and the "big shop" appeared to have.

Of the 3 copies he got he kept one, I got one (a nice one) and the third one had a big dent on Livewire so I wouldn't even want to sell it here for him. I think my old buddy Dan might get it for like $20 or something.

The big shop was selling their copies for $99.95 US.

One thing Marty pointed out on his Diamond form was this issue was named "3D keeper variant", yet it seems that many more copies than were deserved were distributed lessening the reward for the "keepers". There seems to be much confusion as there was with the whole XO #6 1:50 debacle.

I'm happy to have my copy and it's a really nice book but it's too bad it didn't work out for Marty from a profit point of view especially after I told him about it and got him all excited.

I've been hyping up Valiant a lot to Calgary retailers and lately they have been making me look bad.

+1 JMatt and Hawkeye

I feel for the retailers who committed to Unity and stuck with it (didn't return any) and now the book they qualified for - every LCS and their mother ended up getting anyway. And i feel for the fans who spent 200+ bucks thinking this will be so rare - that only certain retailers will qualify.

I think this will definitely hurt credibility going forward with retailers and fans.

[nycjadie]

I bought one from Ed for $200 thinking this was very different in terms of rarity. I'm not upset at Ed at all. In fact, I think it's probably hurting him more than me. His competition returned the books and got the 3D books that he worked hard to earn. I don't feel fabulous about it, but I'm sure VEI will make it up to everyone.

This particular issue seems to be much worse than the other incentive mixes because retailers who bought heavy and didn't return Unity books are being penalized while retailers who returned copies benefited twice.

[Ramses818]

So for all of us that bought the book at the $200 mark from Ed and other places does that mean we get the 3-D red variant? Figure somebody had to make a joke about it

[hawkeyeps]

What is it about 3D that seems doomed to distribution problems?

It was the same with DC but reversed, instead of not enough it was too many.

It just didn't line up with the hype and created false expectations which is really unfortunate.

I'm still have happy to have it, it's a great looking book but it's hard on the committed retailers who were expecting a special "keeper" variant with some exclusivity attached to it.

Judging from the roll out I can't see this is how VEI wanted it to go down, something must have gone wrong here.

[kjjohanson]

What is it about 3D that seems doomed to distribution problems?

It was the same with DC but reversed, instead of not enough it was too many.

It just didn't line up with the hype and created false expectations which is really unfortunate.

I'm still have happy to have it, it's a great looking book but it's hard on the committed retailers who were expecting a special "keeper" variant with some exclusivity attached to it.

Judging from the roll out I can't see this is how VEI wanted it to go down, something must have gone wrong here.

DC's issue wasn't a distribution error, as I understand it. The problem is that they had to set the print run far in advance, and orders came in way over the print run on some issues, so they had to allocate some stores' orders. So the "error" was in thinking that there would be less demand.