Valiant Entertainment - July Sales Estimates

[krylox]

Courtesy of Milton Griepp/www.iCv2.com

The July numbers are out and, except for X-O, most books are in decline, some of them at a rather alarming pace.
Also, with A&A #11, July marks the first time a VEI title slips under 10k.

RANK // TITLE // EST QTY // (EST QTY JUNE)
141 QUANTUM & WOODY #1 17,622 (-)
168 X-O MANOWAR #15 13,997 (13,227)
174 HARBINGER WARS #4 13,259 (14,012)
204 HARBINGER #14 10,709 (12,930)
212 SHADOWMAN #8 10,089 (12,017)
213 BLOODSHOT #13 10,058 (12,145)
216 ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #11 9,880 (13,241)

I guess Unity can't come soon enough...

[bygranddesign]

I guess Unity can't come soon enough...

[Dallow Spicer1]

I can't believe Harbinger doesn't bring in bigger numbers, it's a consistently superb book!

VEI must be pleased with Harbinger Wars sales figures. Perhaps retailers cut down on the other books to order HW?

I thought Q&W #1 sold out at 22k?

[greg]

I thought Q&W #1 sold out at 22k?

It was 21K.

The numbers reported are what was ordered in North America only.
Another (roughly) 10% is outside North America, and the book stays in stock for retailers to order (after the book is released) until they're gone.
Within a month, all 21K were gone.

[tchalla8]

I thought Q&W #1 sold out at 22k?

It was 21K.

The numbers reported are what was ordered in North America only.
Another (roughly) 10% is outside North America, and the book stays in stock for retailers to order (after the book is released) until they're gone.
Within a month, all 21K were gone.

It's one of the reasons you have to take all these numbers with a grain of salt. There are so many thing unaccounted for that hit the bottom line. We don't even know if this accounts for digital sales.

[400yrs]

I thought Q&W #1 sold out at 22k?

It was 21K.

The numbers reported are what was ordered in North America only.
Another (roughly) 10% is outside North America, and the book stays in stock for retailers to order (after the book is released) until they're gone.
Within a month, all 21K were gone.

It's one of the reasons you have to take all these numbers with a grain of salt. There are so many thing unaccounted for that hit the bottom line. We don't even know if this accounts for digital sales.

It doesn't.


The drop on A & A is alarming. I wonder if people picked up q&w instead. The harbinger drop may have been from "event fatigue". I can say that my interest in the title has dropped off greatly after the renegades arc.

[FormerReader]

I'm shocked Harbinger, Shadowman and Bloodshot all fell by 2,000 issues. A&A falling by over 3,000?!?!!? Hopefully next month marks a turn in the right direction.

[bygranddesign]

The A&A Far Far Away arc is fantastic, one of the best arc's of the re-launch

if people/valiant fans aren't reading this arc ...they are missing out

the drop in sales does not coincide with any drop in quality

[betterthanezra]

The A&A Far Far Away arc is fantastic, one of the best arc's of the re-launch

if people/valiant fans aren't reading this arc ...they are missing out

the drop in sales does not coincide with any drop in quality

+1

-Brian

[hawkeyeps]

I guess Unity can't come soon enough...

I love that cat...can anyone photoshop his head on to a HARD Corps uniform?

[first_citizenx]

I'm curious...are these sales numbers comparable to the early Valiant of the 90's? I know they didn't become seen as a "big deal" until Unity or even after. Was that their third year or so?

Like I said, I was just curious.

[jmatt]

I'm curious...are these sales numbers comparable to the early Valiant of the 90's? I know they didn't become seen as a "big deal" until Unity or even after. Was that their third year or so?

Like I said, I was just curious.

An order of magnitude smaller. But that holds true for the entire industry. Turok #1 was a million printed copies. Bloodshot #1 was 850,000. Yes, you read that right.

Early VH1 issues had like a hundred thousand copies shipped. When Rai #4 rang in at like 40,000, people were shocked at the tiny print run.

[betterthanezra]

I'm curious...are these sales numbers comparable to the early Valiant of the 90's? I know they didn't become seen as a "big deal" until Unity or even after. Was that their third year or so?

Like I said, I was just curious.

An order of magnitude smaller. But that holds true for the entire industry. Turok #1 was a million printed copies. Yes, you read that right.

Early VH1 issues had like a hundred thousand copies shipped. When Rai #4 rang in at like 40,000, people were shocked at the tiny print run.

Yes this is true... 40K was considered a LOW print run but that was a different time. BIG difference to today. But considering the you find Pre-Unity books in the wild occasionally if you really try looking. To be these low print VEI books will be harder to find in the wild as the years go on. We were so shocked at the low print run (and it still is) of Shadowman #2 GBU variant. That book will always have a demand to collectors. Some of these VEI variant covers have an even lower print run than that...

We are Valiant collectors, we are different than any other Universe collector, How many other Universes have fan panels and the type of get togethers across the country like we do...it's easy they dont.

-Brian

[Aram]

I think the drops are due mainly because of Q&W. I think most shops cut their orders back closer to their pull lists to save money for taking a risk on Q & W, and A+A was hardest hit. I know all my lcs barely had any Valiants on the shelf because they sold out, again I'm assuming due to intentionally cutting their orders, since they usually have at least a few copies.

[FormerReader]

The A&A Far Far Away arc is fantastic, one of the best arc's of the re-launch

if people/valiant fans aren't reading this arc ...they are missing out

the drop in sales does not coincide with any drop in quality

+1

-Brian

[400yrs]

I think the drops are due mainly because of Q&W. I think most shops cut their orders back closer to their pull lists to save money for taking a risk on Q & W, and A+A was hardest hit. I know all my lcs barely had any Valiants on the shelf because they sold out, again I'm assuming due to intentionally cutting their orders, since they usually have at least a few copies.

The shops around here are starting to go more toward pull list only orders. Hopefully unity will start to swing things around. Unfortunately, to get stores to order adequate shelf copies, the publisher has to prove they can stay publishing. It's still early for vei.

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Wow. Happy for Q&A, but worried for Harby and A&A. Those are two of the best books on the shelves right now. Not just VEI, but of ANY publisher. Strange to see that. Hope it turns around.

[GGSAE]

I'm shocked Harbinger, Shadowman and Bloodshot all fell by 2,000 issues. A&A falling by over 3,000?!?!!? Hopefully next month marks a turn in the right direction.

Seriously, What the *SQUEE*? A 2k drop in one month for Harbinger?....I'm surprised more people haven't participated in this discussion.

[krylox]

I'm shocked Harbinger, Shadowman and Bloodshot all fell by 2,000 issues. A&A falling by over 3,000?!?!!? Hopefully next month marks a turn in the right direction.

Seriously, What the *SQUEE*? A 2k drop in one month for Harbinger?....I'm surprised more people haven't participated in this discussion.

i think there has to be a bug somewhere... 25% drop on archer and armstrong is absolutely brutal and just doesn't make any sense, especially since last month the title actually climbed a few percent.
we'll see what the "professional" sales commentators on cbr and the beat make of this...

[CallMeBloodshot]

Yikes! At least X-O did better than expected. And Q&W it seems couldn't have came at a better time. Thank the Valiant gods for Asmus and Fowler!

[krylox]

Yikes! At least X-O did better than expected. And Q&W it seems couldn't have came at a better time. Thank the Valiant gods for Asmus and Fowler!

Well, depends what you expected. Even at 21k copies, it'd be the weakest launch in vei history. The next best launch, Archer & Armstrong, sold about 23.500 units.

[CallMeBloodshot]

Yikes! At least X-O did better than expected. And Q&W it seems couldn't have came at a better time. Thank the Valiant gods for Asmus and Fowler!

Well, depends what you expected. Even at 21k copies, it'd be the weakest launch in vei history. The next best launch, Archer & Armstrong, sold about 23.500 units.

Well it's worse than I thought. Abandon ship!

[krylox]

Yikes! At least X-O did better than expected. And Q&W it seems couldn't have came at a better time. Thank the Valiant gods for Asmus and Fowler!

Well, depends what you expected. Even at 21k copies, it'd be the weakest launch in vei history. The next best launch, Archer & Armstrong, sold about 23.500 units.

Well it's worse than I thought. Abandon ship!

i do believe them when they say they're quite content with the numbers on q&w. i think this is what the relaunch of a "cult series" which never sold a lot of comics in the first place, can do. especially when the original creators, which played a major part in the book's fandom, are not even on board.

i don't think you could expect considerably more of a ninjak or rai reboot.

that's where unity comes into place. and hopefully some new creations.

[BugsySig]

I'm shocked Harbinger, Shadowman and Bloodshot all fell by 2,000 issues. A&A falling by over 3,000?!?!!? Hopefully next month marks a turn in the right direction.

Seriously, What the *SQUEE*? A 2k drop in one month for Harbinger?....I'm surprised more people haven't participated in this discussion.

i think there has to be a bug somewhere... 25% drop on archer and armstrong is absolutely brutal and just doesn't make any sense, especially since last month the title actually climbed a few percent.
we'll see what the "professional" sales commentators on cbr and the beat make of this...

Same numbers at Comichron, so no bug. The drops surprise me (especially A&A), but there are a few things going on...

With a new title added to the stable, the other books drop. It's happened with every new launch thus far. VEI is expanding titles, and total sales, but some people who buy multiple books are likely starting to drop titles.

Retailers also will only add so many more non-big 2 books to their shelves. Despite the positive reviews, and obvious stability a year + in, retailers are still reluctant to invest in VALIANT books. That's why the Unity return guarantee is important. VEI needs them to order the books despite this reluctance. Not to mention Eternal Warrior will be on shelves by then as well.

Don't forget, though, VEIs market share (and more importantly their dollar share) has continued to grow steadily. Additional TPB offerings will continue to add to that as well. So while the individual book sales may slip, their overall sales continue to be strong.

[nonplayer]

Me Buying variant is like crack to a junky. I can't afford to buy all the titles. And keep my habbit.
I get pull box variants of harbinger, xo. I have dropped bloodshot
After 0 but will still get the tpb for bloodshot and hard corps. And do get tpb for xo and harbinger.
I'm getting q&w until #4 that is when the goat come into play.
I probably will only get eternal warrior #1 if it catches my attention we will see.
I get variants of covers I like. I have four coming over the next 3 months
Unity back in the day was against mother god and was mind blowing! Now xo as the enemy??? I sure hope they make it good cuz if valiant drops the ball like bloodshot's part in HW they will lose more readers. I was so excited for the return of solar and turok and the rest of stupid dark horse release fiasco. Just to end it like they did was like ending a piece of my soul That said if valiant goes under, comics will be done for me. Except for the twd.