Wednesday, the best day of the week, new comic book day. It is like your birthday in the middle of each week (well, one where you buy your own presents.)
We open things up to hear from you. A free for all.
The 233rd edition of the open forum!
As always we also want to hear about your weekly pickups.
So, What were your pick ups?
What had disappeared off the shelves?
What was sitting on the shelves?
What back issue deals did you grab?
Everyone knows about the Walmart secret variant, right? The artgerm Captain Marvel #1 with long hair?
Yes. Have been looking for it for about a week now with no luck. I would have to imagine it would be considered a reprint now since it is so long after the book originally came out
I just found out about them today. Grabbed two and flipped one to cover my costs. Going for $20 shipped on the bay currently. But they costs $8 unlike the DC packs which are $5.
I got the 2 at my local store and opened 1. FYI: It is the current Captain Marvel series, and not the “Life of Captain Marvel” from 2018.
The other books in my pack were 2nd prints of the current Black Widow #2, and X-Men Gold #3.
Black Widow was last series-not current. Sorry.
Cool, thanks. Not worth opening for the other two books. Does it say 2nd print? What does the indica have for a title?
Definitely say 2nd printing
The artgerms are limited to 2 per walmart according to Artgerm on twitter.
I found the two near me, haven’t had a chance to venture out.
I think the $20 they sell for is a hard ceiling, I don’t see them being worth more than that.
I have looked in four stores and have found 0
If you’re going to Wal-Mart make sure your ass crack is showing at all times and you’re t-shirt doesn’t fit wit holes in it. Then you’ll score the things you’re looking for. 😉
Oh and for the record there is a nice Wolverine and the Infinity Watch variant as well, just like the Venom Annual the only difference is the color of the logo… this Walmart Wolvie is done in the calssic yellow and blue of his costume.
Also, my LCS is doing a B2GO free this week in back issues. Grabbed an Eternals (1976) #3, #4 and #8 issues for $20.
Already flipped #3 for $35 and it paid for the other two plus going back for more tomorrow.
scored a marvel age #119 second squirrel girl . uncanny avengers #15 return of the hulk by the hand 1 in 10 variant betty and me #18 2 copies ,regie and me #122&betty and veronica silver age series #251 all for $20 I also picked up flash Gordon Whitman s#31-33 witch adapts the movie for$8 all getting s.s. treatment by sam jones&melney Anderson in a few weeks . also about to finally hire a human seeing eye dog/person assistant and launch a go fund me to fund a project getting my crap together at long last.thank you allf or the love and surport blind adam out
Bwl is great and I am really looking forward to Plague Doktor.
Working on spoilers. Not a lot of spoilers but one scene is good. Really good.
Any True Believers spoilers?
Kidding!
Lol. Yes.
Is there going to be any spoilers for Friendly neighborhood spiderman #5? I heard spider bite might make a cameo.
Sadly know. I was looking for it and not sure I saw it.
Is Dceased worth specing on? There are some great store variants out there, but i don’t want to go in hard on them.
Today’s episode of Sesame Street is sponsored by the letter Cover A. Kevins prediction is good for me on this series.
The A cover will be worth cover price. This is an Elseworlds mini-series. The only chance of cover A going up is if the story is amazing. The Suydam homage to the classic Ross Harley and Joker is the cover to get if you want to spec on this comic.
Mutant Beaver comics has a good one to.
The Suydam cover is a high buy-in at $35-$40. I’m not sure of the print run, but given how many shops are selling this id say it’s 1500-3000.
It’s a nice cover, but doesn’t blow me away. So definitely not a quick flip, and I think there are too many printed at a high price point such that future increase in price is unlikely.
I got the Suydam cover for $15 when it first came out last week.
It is gonna have a massive print run. The story is cool though. Issue 1 is a very good read.
Never go ‘heavy’ on Marvel or DC store variants. I would avoid them at all costs.
Only a occasionally one can score big on store variants but usually you have to buy in early and sell early. There are a few that stay hot long term but that’s when supplies have run dry, you can no longer find cheap cause everyone who collects got their copy and has tucked it away into their long boxes. But yes, always tread real lightly when it comes to store variants, you’ll lose more than you will gain.
By that logic no one should have went heavy on the Alex Ross Detective Comics #1000 homage variant. I sold them for $230/ea. I wish I went way heavier on it.
glad you made some $$$ on that one. jury still out on my choices The Ross cover is going under $90 now on ebay.
Not the Ross homage cover. I just looked on ebay and the last sold late yesterday for $219 plus shipping and multiple others sold yesterday for $210. I got them for only $20 each so even if they did go down to $90 it’s a win, but these are staying at around $200+. And CGC 9.8 copies are going for $450+. I have one I’m sending to CGC that’s hopefully 9.8 but that’s for my PC.
His shipping was way too much though, a $40 buy in was not worth it if one was just planning on keeping the copy for PC.
If you bought 1 for your PC it would have been $37 after shipping. But if you bought 2 it would have been $57 and you could have sold one for $230. That’s a $173 profit (before fees) and you get the copy for your PC for free.
Also just to let you know, the shipping was high because Detective 1000 is a big heavy 96 page comic and most people bought more than one.
A broken clock is right twice a day. And I do not put artists stores in the same category as online retailers. Alex Ross, JSC et al, are not online comic retailers. They are creators. M2c
I understand what you’re saying, but Alex Ross owns an online store called alexrossart.com so he is an online comic retailer. I understand that store variants that pop are few and far between, but that can be said for any variants or for any regular cover.
Can you preorder new books out of previews from Alex Ross store every Wednesday? No. Hence, he is not an online comic retailer. He sells his art, and his art only, at his shop.
Yes, but the buy in for a Cover A book from your LCS is $4. How much, w/ shipping, are exclusives? All spec is hit or miss, but you are always better off buying low, which is not an option for exclusives.
With any type of comic you have to know what you’re looking for. The Ross homage variants were only $20 (cover was $9.99).
All I’m saying is that it’s not as simple as never buy store variants or always buy cover A. I know you know that.
For me, it is 99%, I do not buy store variants anymore. The only exclusives I flip now are from a local shop, where I can walk in and buy/pick them up. And even that is once in a blue moon now. I find it more fun, and better margins, to go out and dig through boxes looking for flip gold at small cons and LCS’. Personally, and this is widely known on CHU, that i despise store variants. I dont buy them, I do not collect them and i have purged 99% of them from my PC. When I did the purge, it was eye opening as to how little, if any, profit is to be made after reselling those purged exclusives from my PC. To each their own though. There is more than one way to skin a cat. Cheers, Brione.
If you look at the value on the Action Comics #1000 the only covers increasing in value are the store variants. All the others are pretty much still cover price.
Yes. There are exceptions to the rule. But I have found, from experience, that there are not many store exclusives that retain value over time. Especially these days. 99% are essentially overpriced garbage, imo.
Didn’t mean to start a wildfire people. Step back and look at the posts. We are all talking good ? here. Those of you on the store variants side, more power to ya if you’ve got the cash and quick flip abilities….however probably should be first b/c they typically don’t hold long term. I’m on the avoid team and buy low (some variants) and usually cover A and in quantity when it seems appropriate i.e. Naomi. I also buy books that “feel” like its gonna be popular..i.e. Faithless #1 A and B. The rest are reads that happen to hit….ex..Immortal, Bitter Root. We all create the market.
100% agree, Chandler. But I believe this convo was a healthy, respectful debate on the subject. We can all have different opinions, and still get along and be civil. I respect Brione and anyone else who is able to make money from this lil hobby of ours. If store exclusives are your thing, more power to you, my friends.
I respect you and your opinions too man. I didn’t think our debate got out of hand or anything. It’s all good with me.
???
The Suydam Harley and Joker cover that’s a homage to the Harley Quinn #1 Alex Ross cover is the only one that’ll be worth anything IMO. People love homages. I bought 2 for $15/ea when they released last week, 1 for PC and 1 to sell.
I can’t speak to specing variants but the story in issue #1 is the best DC comic I’ve read in years. It’s structured in a way that every page just about leads to another shock, surprise or revelation from front to back building the story to a drool for #2 to hurry up and get here. I’ve read it 3 times now in PDF. I’m expecting a gradual rise on the 3 covers through Diamond after release due to word of mouth increasing demand on a book a lot of people didn’t take a second glance at in the solicits thinking it was just another zombie book and I’m not even a zombie fan generally. This was a great job of story building to get from page 1 to page last. If the rest of the series matches the 1st issue DC should have something to talk about for years and hopefully a great animated movie in the future to follow since it’s stand alone/ outside continuity so it wouldn’t have to upset anything or tie in other issues from other series. It may not enrich your wallet but it will definitely enrich your mind!!!!!!
i wouldnt, print run is gonna be massive, and store variants are pretty hard to predict if one will pop
My secret to store variant success:
Go after the covers which have only one option and limited to a print run of 750 or less. Should be a popular character or hot book. And look on eBay before the auction starts to see if “pre-pre sales” are selling double cover or more before they officially go on sale to the masses.
Examples:
– Dark Nights Metal #3, Mattina Virgin cover (although this had a trade dress and a B&W, the virgin was different art and only 500 printed)
– Amazing Spider-Man 797 Mayhew Variant (ASM 238 homage). Offered as trade dress only but print run was 600 I believe.
– Immortal Hulk 16 Inhyuk Lee variant. Trade dress only limited to 500 print run.
– Dark Red #1 Red Foil Maer art. Virgin cover only, limited to 500 limited to 500 print run.
– Detective 1000 Alec Ross Tech 27 Homage. Only trade dress offered, print run of 500.
All of these sold out in minutes. All were selling for double or more before they were available online. They also sold for reasonable prices ($30 or less). The DKM3 and ASM797 have held their value too (I missed out on those and I’m still waiting for them to drop).
I think there are a few Vampirellas that fell under this method that are still holding value.
There is a wild card; Harley covers. Like Detective 1000 JeeHyung Lee. Not all Harley’s are good spec, but art that’s over the top can be. I’m eyeing JeeHyung’s DCeased cover with zombie Harley. I think the virgin cover may be a good flip.
The Maer DCeased cover looks mis-proportioned. Stay away from that one.
Has everyone seen the Maer DCeased cover with Harley? Her head looks like it’s about 25% larger than it should be. She’s a peanuts character!
Yes, it’s not very proportionate.
I’m not gonna buy it, but I don’t see anything wrong with the art. She looks like a small girl. Harley’s not an Amazon like some artists tend to draw her. This cover is pretty awesome.
Nothing wrong with the actual art for sure, I just agree that the body and head are not proportional. Just something odd about it.
She looks like a funko pop Harley, w/ that huge noggin she has on that cover.
I thought the same thing about the Maer. Arms look funny.
One other thing, first appearances don’t matter in the shop variant world. If they did then the Venom #3s would all be sought after, but really only cover A is desired.
Best to stick with cover A or ratio incentives for first appearances.
What’s Poyo always say? What’s that phrase?
🙂
Alex never announced the print run, he just had people sign up on a waitlist and then notified everyone at once when he randomly decided to sell it. Really poor planning all around, the 500 # would’ve helped me decide better.
You gotta wonder sometimes if they’re just phoning these in. Does the artist blind
To their own work they’re in denial it’s optcally awkward?
I believe your numbers are wrong on some of those, DRog. Marvel does not allow less than 3000 print run for their exclusives. If there are 2 versions of the book (eg trade dress / virgin), then the 2nd cover minimum is 1500. A store that advertises print runs at less than 3000 for any Marvel Trade dress exclusive is lying to you.
Not sure what rules marvel has when shopping around variants…I just know what the shops advertise as the number released, and it’s not just one shop usually…it’s multiple shops saying the same thing….so they’re all lying if that’s the case.
Now, that’s not to say they “release” 500/600 and destroy the rest…? I’ll reach out to some of these shops and see what they come back with…they may not answer. I’ll let you know.
But whether 500 are printed or they’re lying, that’s what is sold and it creates scarcity and 600 or less copies seems to be a magic number of sorts.
But if I’m eyeing a quick flip I’ll always check ebay pre-sales ….not sure who these silly creatures are that are laying double/triple or more than the shop price, but they sure are a good indicator of what has potential for a money maker.
I have had 1st hand knowledge about Marvels minimum print runs. I worked closely with a local shop and Marvels policy for store exclusives is; 1st cover is minimum 3000, 2nd cover (virgin, b&w, etc) are minumum 1500. Now, that may of changed in the last 6 months, but those are facts, as far as I know. I believe Tony could back me up on this. I believe DCs minimums are 2000 and 1000. Yes, a lot of those retailers have been using misleading sales lines in their advertising. They will say ‘only 600 available’. 600 available is not stating a print run. Its what they are making available, online, at that time. I assure you Drog, these are facts. If a store claims a certain amount are destroyed, in order to create manufactured rarity, is another topic, but I assure you that Marvels minimums for store exclusives are 3000/1500. Guaranteed. ?. I do not know if those hard minimums are applied to books sold at artists stores such as Cho or JSC for example.
PS. There has been several forums about this topic. Certain/most stores will BS you, or ignore you if you ask about their print runs. They have been known to erase questions on their FB pages that enquire about the print runs. Just check the wording in the sales lines. You will never see the words “600 print run”.
I think if any store that does an exclusive variant and does decide to destroy the non worthy copies to make the variant more limited, they should be required to publicly release the video of the books being destroyed. Basically, any shop that does this tactic should provide the proof as it would be really dishonest (and destroy their reputation) if they sold them off on the side, leaking them out slowly over time. Which I’m sure has happened before, I mean, come on.. we weren’t all born yesterday. We hear the stories about Marvel ratio variants being released months later after they left with leftovers at diamond.
Marvel, Dynamite and DC have sales and dump leftovers occasionally including Variants sold without strings. I believe they should be destroying unsold QTY Variants but I can’t stop it so the next best choice has been to buy in excess when they do.
All this just reinforces my position never hold onto a ratio/shop variant unless it’s for your PC indefinitely. And if you are buying as an investment, don’t expect it to increase in value long term (basically 99.9% are short term flips at best to get the most for your investment).
I went heavy on faithless this week. Reminds me of the xxx savage dragon cover. I flipped that book very well. Sex sells.
Sadly, sex does sell.
It isn’t sad if the comic is good, tho! Those absurdly raunchy Boundless comics sometimes actually have some solid stories! I haven’t read, “Faithless,” yet, so I’ll have to see what I think.
Yeah, I only speak about products in general that wouldn’t necessarily sell. They only sell if “sex” or “sex appeal” is used to draw in buyers..
You mean those Carl Jr. ads with the half-naked ladies washing cars and eating burgers was just a cynical marketing ploy to use sex? I thought we all enjoyed burgers while washing cars in our bikinis!
Here’s a little bit about my own personal history. Long ago in high school I worked at Hardee’s for about a year. It’s the same as Carl Jr. for those not aware. I can just say one thing, do not ever eat at Carl Jr. or Hardee’s…
They claimed the store I worked at in Indiana was rated the cleanest store in the nation. It wasn’t that clean.
But that leads to my other advice, try to avoid fast food in general. If the food doesn’t kill you, the nasty teenagers germs in the back making and handling your food likely will kill you.
“Indiana…..its a nice place to be from, but not live.” Cashier in Florida Keys gas station when I commented on my Hoosier roots….Gary(thats why you are skeptical of me….arent all Hoosiers familiar about how the state views us Region Rats?)
I’m not from Indiana… I only lived there for 4 years. I got back out when I could. 😉
Picking up:
Low 21
Rat Queens Special 1
Wonder Twins 3
Debating whether or not to pre-order the new Heavy Metal comedy book that looks to be a mashup between Heavy Metal and Mad Magazine. I like the Death Dealer cover parody replacing the horse with a cat.
Im really liking the new trade dress for the tec series.
Only one book that I picked up this week:
Web of Venom: Cult of Carnage #1 (Dell’Otto variant for $35)
Spec pick ups this week:
Spiderman/Deadpool #47 (cover price)
Silencer #15 (1st Smoke-2 copies at cover)
Umbrella Academy Apocalypse Suite #5 ($3)
Thanos #15 (4th printing-$5)
Good hunting everyone!
Thanks Eric. Great pickups.
I keep,forgetting about Smoke. Gotta go back and find some of those.
So in anticipation of everything Carnage summer, the new Dark Carnage 1st appears in web of venom Carnage born right? When he’s injected with Grendel’s Symbiote.
Sounds about right.
Nothing like on the regular cover of the issue though.
off topic here, but did Rags #4 or 5 by Antarctic Press ever come out? I haven’t seen either one at my lcs?
No
midtown must not have upped there order for new naomi very much, sold out already and was limited to 1 each
If you mean issue #4 it doesn’t go on sale until next week. I actually decreased orders for #4 since I’d already sold out of 3 while 1 and 2 appeared heading that way fast. With no reprints announced at the time I figured there was no need for additional copies of 4 above what subscribers wanted and the print run was bound to go way up drying up any chance of moving them online if the price stays down. I did order 1,2,3 Final Prints so I could get a couple new readers started. Unfortunately it looks like Diamond sold out of 4. Hopefully they’ll offer a Final Printing of 4 or there’s no reason to bump 5 and 6 higher, especially 5 which promises to reveal all secrets finally and will probably be over ordered and selling at cover or less.
Peace fam. Considering the range of media outlets and their respective interests in titles past and present, it’s not a stretch to say that’s it’s anybody’s game out there. I’m going hip hop retro this week with Kid N Play 1-9. 90s hip hop culture is the reigning golden era (see: sneaker culture, fashion, trap 808/909’s, tv reboots, etc) and this book set, which also features a rare Venom appearance (#9) sits in a ripe position to get hot. Didn’t even know this book existed until last week. Great find for a hip hop head like me. House Party 5 anyone? As long as Martin is the DJ I’m in. Have a great week everyone. ?
This Week:
Detective 1001A
Batman Who Laughs 4 A/B
Catwoman 10B
Throwback:
Kid N Play 1-9
Unstoppable Wasp #3 (1:25 Ganucheau Variant)
Kid n’ Play and Venom. Now that is interesting. I am very curious as to how that crossover went down.
Some people can despise store variants all they want but they have a purpose. No one are forcing people to buy if they they don’t like. First of all it provides people with more choices. 2nd more and more shops are relying on store variants to stay in business. Without store variants – more shops would fold. 3rd – it provides an avenue for new artists to penetrate the market, while giving existing artists more work. Without store variants you would be left with people like Liefeld where no editor seems to care about how bad his art has become.
if stores are relying on “store variants” to stay in business then maybe they shouldn’t be in business?
No sure why, it is called diversification.
Anyway – most shops and this hobby will disappear over time anyway. Just a matter of time.
People have been saying that for 25 years now, Poka, and the hobby is stronger today than it has ever been before. The industry is bucking all the trends of other print media. There are new publishers of comics forming sll the time. The ‘classic’ dusty box comic shop will have a hard time surviving in todays market, but the diverse stores are booming (at least they are in my area). The fact of the matter is is that that humans like to collect things, whether that be comics, stamps, finger nail clippings or belly button lint, it can not be argued that it is human nature to accumulate and collect. Imo, if you are 35-40 years old, or older, then we will not see the death of comic books. Characters like Batman and Superman are almost 100 years old and today Practically every other child under 10, today, can be seen wearing Spidey, Bats and Supes gear. Comics and Super heroes are as American as Apple pie and baseball. They arent going anywhere, anytime soon, imo.
It would be nice if the numbers being reported reflected that. I’m seeing numbers of comic book stores down from over 2,300 in 2016 to only 1,900 now. https://www.globaltoynews.com/2019/02/comic-book-stores-are-closing-should-the-toy-industry-be-concerned.html I’ve read other articles with even lower numbers. Lots of scary sounding articles out there. While I agree the comic book heroes isn’t going anywhere, the paper books themselves may be short lived. Between digital, theme parks, tv’s and movies they’ll always be around. The drop off from newsstand distribution in the beginning of the 1990’s has allowed an entire generation to grow up having never seen an actual paper comic book and now those people are having children themselves and have no history or exposure to pass on. Out of sight, out of mind. I literally had a 20 something parent angry that I would insist to having watched Fraggle Rock on HBO back in the early 80’s on Cable. He knew it was new programming he was watching around 2000. (it was reruns) Movie’s are cranking out word of mouth but they aren’t driving people to the stores to get paper comics. I have no subscribers for the shazam or Captain Marvel series. Only one for Black Panther and he was already reading everything before the movie. The Hot topics an mass merchants suck up most of the demand for Pop Figures and have them in the hands of the consumers before Diamond ever gets them to us to sell. the only way to survive is to diversify. Today in particular POP figures outsold comic books in the store. Even then the Pop Figures that sold were one’s from 2 to 3 years ago that collectors are chasing now that they’ve gone up in price on the secondary market. I rad articles that 3 of the top 5 publishers are in trouble financially losing millions a quarter. As a spec site I would think this place would be all over having the number of stores still around as commonly updated stats since it tells you how many one per store and two per store comics are actually potentially out there. DC’s laying off people and has cut back the number of comics shipping every month this year noticeably. IDW had 1 single comic on the sorting table yesterday and is giving every sign of pending closure. Image is now cutting back the qty of new series dramatically although they claim it’s by request. They advertised that today in the Diamond daily. They launched 1 new title in Feb this year as opposed to 6 in Feb last year. Marvel is still pushing the drastic over purchasing to get high qty ratio’s. Makes for nice numbers in the market reports but I’ve still got over 900 Fantastic Four #1’s and close to 1,200 Return of Wolverine #1’s still sealed in factory packed boxes that may never get opened. A large number of Uncanny X-men #1’s also. I’m rolling the dice to ride the wave but it’s not sounding great and I may end up feeling stupid for hanging on too long later in hindsight. 18 hour days living and working in a comic book store is not as much fun as big Bang Theory would have you believe.
BJ. You are right, knowing the number of stores is important. But not all stats are easily obtainable. Thanks for the article pointing in that direction though. We have generally said “less than 3,000 shops” but it’s good to know the actual number. Overall though I wonder how many are actual shops vs Diamond accounts (big difference there).
I’d guesstimate that the number of actual brick and mortar stores vs online stores (diamond accounts only) is a huge difference nowadays.
It wouldn’t be that hard to try and determine all the actual comic book stores if one were to use any number of the online mapping tools, FCBD shops lists, sites like yelp to narrow them all down to each city and state. (no, I’m not volunteering myself).
Doesn’t someone here work there or have a source that does? Just Monday someone said they had inside info Venom#13 was getting a reprint but so far not a thing showing at Diamond. About 5PM EST today is when the Marvel Mailer comes out and that’s usually the earliest announcements.
Not sure. We have lots of people here who own shops or work at shops.
I don’t remember anyone saying it was officially going to second print I think someone just said second print with no incentive variants.
No matter how you look at open store numbers vs online retailer accounts the numbers will always be skewed toward online. There are Lot of weekend eBay warriors who buy the min from diamond hoping for a profit. (I know, that’s how I started)
Knowing that, I would think the actual number of retailers is far less than what is stated.
The industry needs people who are passionate about pop culture. I would love to own a shop but I’m just a weekend ebayer with no capital. I can dream though and maybe someday I will own one.
“Jared Ronemus
says:
April 8, 2019 at 8:12 pm
It’s already going to 2nd print except there was no incentive for the 1st print.”
———————————————————
That’s a pretty specific quote for Venom 13 having a 2nd Print coming. I’ve been checking 3 or 4 times a day at Diamond since to see if they advertise a cover with it. Nothing showing yet. It’s a timing issue also hoping that Savage Venom gets cover credit for the 2nd Printing if it hits the stores before Venom 14 which I expect may get new cover art released after 13 hits the streets. Now we have the FCBD Spider-man book really messing things up in the knowing who’s what in the world of symbiotes.
I don’t know who Jared is. I don’t know if he has inside contacts or not. A quick search of the internet though shows him as a comic book blogger. I’m guessing he sees the trends just as well as we do and assumed that with 13 being sold out Marvel would do a 2nd print. Speculation ?
We will have to wait for the Marvel mailer to find out …. while we are on the topic did you see DC Comics did a Blank Variant for DCeased with this weeks FOC ?
Yes, I’m torn on whether to promote it though. I’ve only got 1 walk-in who has ever bought blanks and he was shopping the once a year deep discount Marvel variant sale copies I brought in. I tend not to order blanks. I’m absolutely convinced it’s the best DC comic I’ve read in years but very few people locally signed up while the other 3 #1’s were available to order pre FOC. One guy even gave me that I’m making too bold a prediction when I pointed out all he had to do was step behind the counter and take 5 minutes to start reading it for free right now!!!!! I’m sure 5 minutes would have anyone wanting to finish the PDF completely.
The other problem I see is the few blanks I do get frequently arrive not perfectly clean to sometimes downright scuzzy. I wish publishers would ship white covers prebagged to keep them clean.
Now that FOC has passed and I did everything I could reasonably do to promote the comic preFOC, the bills say it’s time to start hoping they sell out at Diamond and start increasing a little in price so by the time walk-ins figure out they want it, it’s turning a few bucks more a copy. I’m not expecting it to go high dollar but you never know long term since it’s a perfect sized series to turn into an animated movie that may spark new interest.
I love blanks to a certain degree. As a collector I can get quick sketches done by artists that I can then put on my comic wall. One day I will have to post a photo of my “comic” wall
Knowing that there are at least 10% of the comic collecting people who like blanks I ordered a few and put them on eBay. The ones I don’t sell I will get artists to sketch and have CGC,Ed and put on eBay.
I did sell one set of that Spawn Kills Everyone Too that had the mostly blank covers on E-Bay after the walk-ins ignored them. One more set to go. I blanket ordered that series though not really paying attention to what I was ordering.
Please do
I’ve been in the Business for over 40 years .. I’ve seen the ebb and flow of the cycle many times .. the one thing that stands out these days is, the youngsters are not coming into the Hobby as they used to .. and they were the ones that always drove new comic sales ..
My survival has been predicated on a large number of Pull & Hold customers that I have built up over the years .. if I had to rely on newbie walk ins, I’d be out of business .. My core base customers, some of which have been with me for more than 30 years, are my foundation .. hell, I’ve had regulars that have died of old age ..
The continued escalation of shipping costs as it relates to on-line sellers and new & common books will continue to erode the on-line market, IMO ..
And, as much as no one wants to hear it, at some point, the spec craze will die down .. that’s just the way it is and it’s the way it’s always been ..
I love this business, I love cracking open those Diamond shipments every Wednesday .. (although I hate how Guido sometimes just seems to throw the books in the boxes) .. at 74, I’m probably one of the few “old dusty shops” left .. and proud of it ..
It has been my pleasure to know some of the greats of this Industry ..
A shop that chases the New and Hot is not a real comic shop .. those of us that are of the Old School are fellow Nerds, charter members of the Club, who Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk .. it is us that have kept the flame going thru the thick and the thin ..
Excelsior .. !!
You don’t pay the $4 a week to get your books delivered Tuesday? That was a huge change for the good I made about a year ago now.
I get to take my time inventorying books/bagging and boarding without the pressure to find and shelf by customers who are in a hurry or already left before UPS arrived.
Damages/shortages identified and reported Tuesday evening still have a shot at getting replacements where most used to go to back order never to be seen with Wednesday deliveries getting worked on Thursday for replacements by the Diamond sales reps.
Pizza night moved from Wednesday to Tuesday night so no cooking to allow more time for reading comics before customers showed up.
I offset the $4 a week cost in my mind by getting set on Net 7 so I saved the $12-15 a week COD fee. I came out at least $8 a week ahead and now having the bank directly mail the checks I save the stamp, envelope and money order costs on top of all that.
*Still haven’t seen the secret shopper show up to try and bust me on Tuesday and supposedly buy product to reimburse some of that $4 a week.
Uncle Willie, I still love old dusty shops and try to hit them whenever I can. They are the ones that have the books that I love.
When I got my 25 Year Customer Certificate some time back from Steve Geppi, Diamond began treating my shipping costs in a very “economical” way .. which I am not going to disclose ..
UPS delivers me at 7 AM on Wednesday, 1st stop on the route .. it’s been that way for years ..
I’ve managed, thru Luck, Hard Work and Determination to “Outwit, Outlast and Outplay” any number of shops .. I see no reason to change the way I have done things from the get go ..
Someday, they may find me laying over the counter, smiling, with a comic in hand .. deceased ..
I had a heart attack in the shop 12 years ago ..
It’s going to take you young bucks to carry on this Industry .. that’s the long and the short of it ..
Just turned 50 Friday so it’s not feeling so young here anymore. The only good part is now I could be the fresh young meat on the old folks dating sites you have to be 50 to sign up for!!!!! I just can’t figure out how to make single guy, no kids, one puppy, non smoker, lives in a comic book store sound sexy!!
Our Wednesday deliveries came in between 1 and 2:30 which meant people standing at the counter wanting books.
Even this weeks boxes arrived at close to 3PM so I worked on them until Midnight, tossed a few variants on E-Bay, got up at 6AM and got back on it. I finished up about noon Wednesday but had to skip most of my reading so far other than those pesky symbiote FCBD issues.
” I just can’t figure out how to make single guy, no kids, one puppy, non smoker, lives in a comic book store sound sexy!!”
You underestimate the Power and Allure of the Mature Nerd .. 😉
In Canada, there is a wholesaler out of Montreal. He has 1 diamond account, but supplies lots of stores across Canada. I know of 2 stores in my area that buy their new comics from the Montreal wholesaler. These stores do not have dismond accounts. The reason these stores use the wholesaler is due to high shipping costs for the books coming over the border. These shops also do not order enough to qualify for the best diamond discount, so, they essentially pool their orders together, from one account based out of Montreal.
The only problem I had with the article is they quoted Cosmic Book News who is known for less than accurate reporting
That’s just what turned up for a reference in a quick search late at night when I should have already been in bed but got up to pack an E-Bay order. I’ve read multiple other articles at multiple locations and sources with similar messages and numbers. I would think someone here actually worked for Diamond and could provide a more recent number of how many Diamond accounts there are now.
The numbers I can verify myself are that just since I opened my own store 6 stores within an hours drive have closed including Daves Comics which had ads in comics dating back to the 80’s. A 7th was sold to a someone I hear sold off most of the inventory and is focused more on gaming now.
I noticed the number of stores/number of comics coming out a month and/or advances in processing has apparently shrunk so much Diamond didn’t set up a separate processing facility for the Free Comic Book Day comics this year. Usually they have a separate facility, pack and ship separately but everything came in with the regular orders this year which I assume actually saved in shipping overall.
Diamond has their own problems. They can’t seem to ship all the comics that I ordered. This week alone I’m missing all the variants I ordered and the FCBD order that I had on my invoice
I’ve good success overall with order filling and shipment but for the last year Diamond’s owed me as high as over $3000 at times that takes forever to get credited. I’m still waiting for a 90 cent an issue credit for Fantastic Four #1 to show up or return labels to send back 7 unopened cases of 130 copies. It was approved last year right after the release of #1 and still hasn’t shown up.
Out of 13 boxes that arrived yesterday I had 5 sale comics damaged, 1 regular comic damaged and 4 FCBD comics missing or damaged.
Diamond is such a monster is size to deal with the individual has no way to get anything accomplished other than repeated phone calls and e-mails to the same 5 people over and over again. If they have an item shipping incorrectly, they’re automatically going to reship it incorrectly again with no system to easily have someone look at what’s labeled wrong or opened and shipping eachs at case prices.
Last summer someone reentered my initial order for a month that had already shipped all comics so I ended up with boxes of comics that filled from leftover stock that I didn’t order or need more of and had to pay for as it arrived. They finally got the last shipping label and paperwork to send the last of that group back in January but I’m still waiting for the final credit for that return to get applied so basically I ended up paying interest on a credit card to cover the order screwup for over 6 months and counting plus the shipping cost of having those items I didn’t order delivered. Not even an apology for that and the final credit isn’t showing on next weeks invoice yet either.
I figure I’ve gone about $1,000 a month further in debt for the last year on average. Apparently $2 copies of FF and Return of Wolverine #1’s wasn’t enough to get kids in the door to pick them up. Maybe long term the Herald of Doom will get married to Johnny Storm and make the FF #1’s jump and in demand. Maybe at least an out of wedlock cousin for Franklin storyline. Fantastic First Cousin!!!!!
Everything I read in your comment just tells me one thing.. “Diamond needs to either go or fix their crud!”
Diamond is hideous. They honestly don’t even seem like they are trying most of the time.
Ive had zero shops close in my area over the last 4 years. In fact, 3 new ones have opened ( two of which are owned by a store owner who now has 3 locations. 90% percent of the stores in my area sell lots of other products besides comic books. I think that is the key. Like I said, the old dusty bin comic shop will have a hard time surviving in this market, but a good owner will diversify their product line and reap the rewards of the geek culture that is widely pervasive in our society today. M2c
https://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2019/2019-02.html
Feb Sales data.
All good points, Poka. I do not buy/invest in store variants, but I do understand that different folks like different strokes.
Nothing new for me this week. Just reading about everyone else’s pickups. I did get my copies of Naomi #1a and b on Monday, and I pre-ordered the rest so at least I have one complete set.
Pick ups this week:
Avengers NRH 9 (love a good Putri cover)
Batman 68B
Batman WLs 4B
Tech 1001A (x3)
Web of Venom: CoC #1A
True Believers: Stormbreaker (I have a few of the original Thor 339s, including a CAnadian Price variant that looks 9.6/9.8)
Back Issues:
Little Bird #1A (cover price)
Eternals 3, 4 & 5 ($14, very nice clean copies)
True Believers : What If #4 (first Hulk/Venom merger)
True Believers: FF #48 (May heat up some day)
picked up all three covers for Faithless
As did I. I’m gonna read it today, methinks.
just discovered a indy hidden gem.or a hidden gems potlight book. it is called tracey queen .this is a original graphic novel.and it looks #awesomesauce p.h.o.p. for life https://www.oneshipress.com/store/shop/books/comic-books/tracy-queen-volume-one/
Naomi #4 sold out everywhere. eBay already asking $12+….no sales yet though.
It’s too soon for sold out everywhere when most of the print run is sitting in boxes getting ready to go to UPS to get delivered to stores. Let’s see where the prices are next week once the boxes arrive, unpack and get listed. My expectations are to expect a large print run and prices to stay down. My one copy unsubscribed to wants me to be wrong!!!!!!!
This one’s a convenient link that has a breakdown for each month and year.
It’s nice to go back and look at things like the 10 comics that outsold Immortal Hulk #1.
https://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales.html
midtown soldout in 2-3 hours even with limiting it to 1 per a person. print run might not be the 13k of issue 3 but it wont be over 20k
Usually the key is getting Lonestar (mycomicshop) to sell out. They’ll splatter listings all over E-bay. Don’t they usually wait until they have comics in hand to start E-Bay listing?
Yes
No Venom #13 on Second Print Notice today.
Back to Press –
These issues have gone back to press, be sure to place your orders now.
AVENGERS NO ROAD HOME #8 (OF 10) 2ND PTG BARBERI VAR (FEB198762, FOC 4/15/19)
WAR OF REALMS #1 (OF 6) 2ND PTG DAUTERMAN VAR (FEB198763, FOC 4/15/19)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #18.HU 2ND PTG LASHLEY VAR (FEB198822, FOC 4/15/19)
AVENGERS NO ROAD HOME #9 (OF 10) 2ND PTG MEDINA VAR (FEB198823, FOC 4/15/19)
DAREDEVIL #3 2ND PTG CHECCHETTO VAR (FEB198824, FOC 4/15/19)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #3 2ND PTG SHAW VAR (FEB198825, FOC 4/15/19)
MAJOR X #2 (OF 6) 2ND PTG LIEFELD VAR (FEB198826, FOC 4/15/19)
SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #3 2ND PTG GARNEY VAR (FEB198827, FOC 4/15/19)
VENOM #12 2ND PTG CASSARA VAR (FEB198828, FOC 4/15/19)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #19 2ND PTG SANDOVAL VAR (FEB199012, FOC 4/22/19)
CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 3RD PTG CAMERO VAR (FEB199013, FOC 4/22/19)
CAPTAIN MARVEL #2 2ND PTG CARNERO VAR (FEB199014, FOC 4/22/19)
CAPTAIN MARVEL #3 2ND PTG CARNERO VAR (FEB199015, FOC 4/22/19)
CAPTAIN MARVEL #4 2ND PTG CARNERO VAR (FEB199016, FOC 4/22/19)
COSMIC GHOST RIDER DESTROYS MARVEL HISTORY #2 (OF 6) 2ND PTG ZAFFINO VAR (FEB199017, FOC 4/22/19)
WAR OF REALMS JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #1 (OF 5) 2ND PTG ARAUJO VAR (FEB199018, FOC 4/22/19)
WEB OF VENOM CULT OF CARNAGE #1 2ND PTG BEYRUTH VAR (FEB199019, FOC 4/22/19)
SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN #1 (OF 5) 2ND PTG LAND VAR (FEB199020, FOC 4/22/19)
do you think Marvel is waiting on the Variant Store retailers to catch up on orders before putting this out there for 2nd print variants?
I need to put my tin foil hat on … Everything is a conspiracy !!!
“do you think Marvel is waiting on the Variant Store retailers to catch up on orders before putting this out there for 2nd print variants? ”
I’m not sure what Variant Store retailers are. Venom appears to be a book with a huge print run to start with looking at past numbers. It just feels like we’re really a little too far out. I think 13 ships the 24th and even if they announce it a week ahead of time it could still FOC on the 22nd.
If that happens it still gives plenty of time for a Second Printing of 13 to arrive before #14 with a new cover art look on the 22nd of May.
The wild card in the mix is the FCBD Spider-man Venom issue May 4th. It really throws some confusion in the mix I can’t talk about yet.
Marvel has been doing 2nd prints of most of their books for awhile. All Venom books get 2nd prints. You guys know this. Venom 13 will get a 2nd print. Geeesh.
This isn’t a question of IF, it’s a timing issue. Is it going to get announced early like Immortal Hulk 16 or announced after the next issue.
——————–
Venom 11 second shipped 4/17
venom 12 shipped 3/30
——————-
Venom 12 second ships 5/15
Venom 13 arrives 4/24
———————
Spider-man/Venom Free Comic Book Day hits the streets 4/4
———————-
Recent Venom history says they tend not to hurry them to the stores which could affect cover appearance credits and desirability.
That should have been 5/4 for FCBD
at the pace from the immediately previous issues Venom 13 Second Printing will arrive with a June date.
if you could get one book the flash autographed by grant guston what would it be and why?i am thinking silver age classics showcase #4.other ideas?
Flash #123 flash of two worlds. The episode where he meets his dads counter part who’s the flash was a great mini arc in the show.
Flash Season One #1 standard cover, that is his face after all and he’s actually in the book so the signature thing makes sense.
HUGE NEWS, we get California back as a destination to sell comic books!!!!!!!!
Quote:
The California legislature has passed AB-147 to increase the state’s economic nexus threshold from $100,000 or 200 transactions to $500,000. The bill also implements marketplace facilitator collection requirements.
They were by far the worst of the States to comply with.
Quote:
April Sales Tax Updates:
Nebraska Codifies Economic Nexus and Enacts Marketplace Nexus Legislation
Effective April 1, 2019, Nebraska has enacted legislation with economic and marketplace nexus provisions. The legislation codifies Nebraska’s administrative position, effective January 1, 2019 and creates new requirements for marketplace facilitators. A remote seller or a multivendor marketplace platform (marketplace facilitator) is required to collect and remit Nebraska sales and use tax if it either:
Made or facilitated total retail sales (per specific legislation) of property or services subject to sales tax in Nebraska exceeding $100,000 in the previous or current calendar year; or
Made or facilitated retail sales in Nebraska in 200 or more separate transactions in the previous or current calendar year.
For purposes of calculating the threshold, remote seller should include sales they make through a multivendor marketplace platform. Note that Nebraska had previously issued guidance on July 27, 2018 indicating that remote sellers meeting an economic nexus threshold of $100,000 or 200 transactions were required to collect and remit Nebraska sales and use tax effective January 1, 2019.
Remote sellers, including multivendor marketplace platforms, must obtain a sales tax permit and begin collecting and remitting Nebraska sales tax on April 1, 2019 if they exceeded the threshold amount in 2018 or in the first two months of 2019.
Remote sellers, including multivendor marketplace platforms, who exceed the threshold in March 2019 or later in 2019 must obtain a sales tax permit and begin collecting and remitting Nebraska sales tax on or before the first day of the second calendar month after the threshold(s) are exceeded. Affected retailers will also be subject to the Local Option Revenue Act and shall collect and remit the sales tax due under the act.
Short version, places like E-Bay and anywhere that introduces buyers to sellers are now required to collect Sales Tax.
Quote:
Kentucky Enacts Marketplace Nexus Provisions
Kentucky has enacted legislation that affects marketplace providers that exceed the state’s economic nexus threshold, effective July 1, 2019. Kentucky has enacted marketplace nexus provisions that affect marketplace providers (facilitators), effective July 1, 2019. The provisions replace the definition of “marketplace facilitator” with “marketplace provider” and expand it.
Marketplace providers are required to register and collect tax in Kentucky if, in the immediately preceding or current calendar year, the marketplace provider:
; orMakes $100,000 in retail sales on its own behalf or in facilitated retail sales of tangible personal property, digital property, or services that are delivered or transferred electronically to a Kentucky purchaser
Makes 200 or more separate retail sales transactions on its own behalf or in facilitated sales
Marketplace providers that exceed either of these thresholds must register for a sales and use tax permit number to report and remit tax due on their own sales through the marketplace and register for a separate sales and use tax permit number to report and remit tax due on sales it facilitates for its marketplace retailers.
Marketplace providers must begin collecting tax by the first day of the calendar month that begins no later than 30 days after it meets either of the thresholds.
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North Dakota Enacts Marketplace Nexus Legislation
Effective October 1, 2019, North Dakota has enacted marketplace nexus provisions.
Quote:
North Carolina Codifies Economic Nexus Provisions
North Carolina has enacted legislation that codifies economic provisions that the state previously issued in a policy directive.
Quote:
Kentucky Enacts Exemption for Specified Services if Certain Conditions Are Met
Kentucky has enacted legislation that exempts specified services from taxation if certain conditions are met.
Quote:
West Virginia Enacts Marketplace Nexus Legislation
West Virginia has enacted legislation that requires remote sellers, marketplace facilitators, and referrers that satisfy the state’s economic nexus requirements to collect use tax, effective July 1, 2019. The new legislation codifies the state’s economic nexus rules.
Remote sellers, referrers, and marketplace facilitators are required to collect and remit use tax on all taxable sales of tangible personal property or services made on its own behalf or facilitated for marketplace sellers. A remote seller, referrer, or marketplace facilitator shall collect tax when, in the immediately preceding or current calendar year:
The remote seller, referrer, or marketplace facilitator makes or facilitates sales of $100,000 or more in gross revenue; or
The remote seller, referrer, or marketplace facilitator makes or facilitates sales in 200 or more separate transactions
Under the legislation, a “remote seller” means a seller that does not have physical presence in West Virginia that sells tangible personal property or services to in-state purchasers that are subject to sales or use tax under the state’s economic nexus legislation.
A “marketplace facilitator” is defined as a person that contracts with one or more sellers to facilitate (for consideration) sales of the seller’s products through an electronic of physical marketplace. A marketplace facilitator engages in activities, directly or indirectly, such as communicating offers between buyers and marketplace sellers, owning or operating electronic or physical infrastructure that brings together buyers and sellers, or providing a virtual currency used by purchasers.
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Utah Enacts Law for Marketplace Facilitators
Utah has enacted marketplace nexus legislation, effective October 1, 2019. Under the legislation, marketplace facilitators are required to collect tax if, in the previous or current calendar year, the marketplace facilitator makes sales on its behalf or facilitates sales on behalf of one or more marketplace sellers that:
Exceed $100,000 in gross revenue; or
Are made in 200 or more separate transactions
Once a marketplace facilitator without physical presence in Utah meets or exceeds either threshold, they are required to begin collecting and remitting sales and use taxes no later than the first day of the calendar quarter that is at least 60 days after the day the marketplace facilitator met a threshold.
“Marketplace facilitator” means a person, including an affiliate of the person, that enters into a contract, an agreement, or otherwise with sellers, for consideration, to facilitate the sale of a seller’s product through a marketplace that the person owns, operates, or controls and that directly or indirectly and does any of the following:
(A) lists, makes available, or advertises tangible personal property, a product transferred electronically, or a service for sale by a marketplace seller on a marketplace that the person owns, operates, or controls;
(B) facilitates the sale of a marketplace seller’s tangible personal property, product transferred electronically, or service by transmitting or otherwise communicating an offer or acceptance of a retail sale between the marketplace seller and a purchaser using the marketplace;
(C) owns, rents, licenses, makes available, or operates any electronic or physical infrastructure or any property, process, method, copyright, trademark, or patent that connects a marketplace seller to a purchaser for the purpose of making a retail sale of tangible personal property, a product transferred electronically, or a service;
(D) provides a marketplace for making, or otherwise facilitates, a retail sale of tangible personal property, a product transferred electronically, or a service, regardless of ownership or control of the tangible personal property, the product transferred electronically, or the service that is the subject of the retail sale;
(E) provides software development or research and development activities related to any activity described in this Subsection (68)(a)(i), if the software development or research and development activity is directly related to the person’s marketplace;
(F) provides or offers fulfillment or storage services for a marketplace seller;
(G) sets prices for the sale of tangible personal property, a product transferred electronically, or a service by a marketplace seller;
(H) provides or offers customer service to a marketplace seller or a marketplace seller’s purchaser or accepts or assists with taking orders, returns, or exchanges of tangible personal property, a product transferred electronically, or a service sold by a marketplace seller on the person’s marketplace; or
(I) brands or otherwise identifies sales as those of the person; and
(ii) does any of the following:
(A) collects the sales price or purchase price of a retail sale of tangible personal property, a product transferred electronically, or a service;
(B) provides payment processing services for a retail sale of tangible personal property, a product transferred electronically, or a service;
(C) charges, collects, or otherwise receives a selling fee, listing fee, referral fee, closing fee, a fee for inserting or making available tangible personal property, a product transferred electronically, or a service on the person’s marketplace, or other consideration for the facilitation of a retail sale of tangible personal property, a product transferred electronically, or a service, regardless of ownership or control of the tangible personal property, the product transferred electronically, or the service that is the subject of the retail sale;
(D) through terms and conditions, an agreement, or another arrangement with a third person, collects payment from a purchase for a retail sale of tangible personal property, a product transferred electronically, or a service and transmits that payment to the marketplace seller, regardless of whether the third person receives compensation or other consideration in exchange for the service; or
(E) provides a virtual currency for a purchaser to use to purchase tangible personal property, a product transferred electronically, or service offered for sale.
“Marketplace facilitator” does not include a person that only provides payment processing services.
For sales made or facilitated during the 2019 or 2020 calendar year, the marketplace facilitator is not liable for the amount the marketplace facilitator fails to collect due to error that is equal to rate of 7%. During the 2021, the error rate is not to exceed 5% and in 2022, the error rate is not to exceed 3%.
Marketplace sellers are not to pay, collect, or remit sales and use taxes for any sales facilitated by a marketplace facilitator. In addition, marketplace sellers can exclude sales made through the marketplace facilitatory who is collecting tax on the facilitated sales. Marketplace sellers are not liable for a marketplace facilitator’s failure to pay, collect, or remit or any underpayment of tax. No class action cases can be filed against a marketplace facilitator on behalf of purchasers related to the overpayment of sales and use taxes collected and remitted on sales facilitated by the marketplace facilitator on behalf of the marketplace seller. (S.B. 168, Laws 2019)
Quote:
Arkansas Enacts Economic and Marketplace Nexus Legislation
Effective Date: July 1, 2019
Threshold: $100,000 or 200 or more separate transactions
Measurement Date: Previous or current calendar year
Includable Transactions: Gross sales
When You Need to Register Once You Exceed the Threshold: Next transaction
Under an emergency clause, Arkansas has enacted economic and marketplace nexus legislation, effective July 1, 2019. Remote sellers and marketplace facilitators that sell or facilitate the sale of tangible personal property, taxable services, a digital code, or specified digital products into Arkansas are required to collect and remit sales and use tax if, in the previous or current calendar year, the remote seller or marketplace facilitator had:
$100,000 in aggregate sales; or
200 transactions
The new requirement to collect and remit sales or use tax will not be applied retroactively.
The legislation defines a “remote seller” as a person that does not maintain a place of business in Arkansas but makes sales into the state that are subject to tax.
A “marketplace facilitator” is defined as a person that facilitates the sale of tangible personal property, taxable services, a digital code or magazine, or specified digital products by listing or advertising the products/services previously listed for sale in a forum. Marketplace facilitators either directly or indirectly facilitate payments between purchasers and sellers. The legislation also repeals the previous provisions requiring sellers to collect tax based on affiliated relationships and payments of referral fees which are often referred to as “click-through” nexus. (S.B. 576, Laws 2019, Effective July 1, 2019)
We get California back though so that’s great news!!!
Another herd of States are now taking the responsibility for collecting Sales Tax out of the hands of individual stores and into places that introduce comic book buyers, to sellers and or have subscription services. The wording varies from State to State.
Breaking it down now that I have a little more time.
The majority of the list was States saying places like E-bay and other sites that introduce buyers to sellers (different wording for each State) will be required to charge, File and Pay SALES TAX themselves exempting the individual sellers from having to do so. The number of States this applies to is still growing rapidly and as a consumer you’ll probably notice it as higher charges’s on your E-bay purchases not going directly to the seller but to E-Bay itself as E-bay gets forced to collect Sales Tax for more and more States whether the individual is exempt of not.
The part about transactions means that individual sales count towards having individual sellers qualify to have to collect file and pay Sales Tax themselves directly into States they do not have a physical presence. 200 is a number used frequently. California in particular was the worst wanting sellers to have to charge different % amounts based on individual districts within CA and to have to file/pay those districts individually. Now it sounds like the new $$$$ amount only qualification would keep most smaller comic book sellers from qualifying while at the same time forcing E-bay to have to do so. This is huge for small sellers not to have to deal with Californias Districts directly and an accounting nightmare eliminated.
Good news for individual sellers, more bad news for buyers as buying out of State may now cost the same as buying locally if both have to charge Sales Tax!!
There was a foil variant from comic con last year with his face on it.
My pick-ups this week included…
Batman B
Batman Who Laughs B
Catwoman B
Detective Ax3, B×3
Flash B
Hawkman B
Red Hood Outlaw B
Scooby Apocalyse A
Superman A
Wonder Woman B
Amazing Spidey B
Avengers No Road Home A & B
Dead Man Logan
Immortal Hulk 2 4th print
Symbiote Spidey B
Web of Venom Cult of Carnage A
Winter Soldier
X-23 A
Punchline
Little Bird 1st print
Red Hood B was scarce in my area. My reg. LCS (who says the book doesn’t sell well) only got one for a pre-order. I had to find my copy at a back-up shop after calling around.
I also scored a Spidey Deadpool 47…my LCS rec’d a few additional copies and let me have one at cover (although I think the Major X cameo is pretty lame). No more copies of SD 47 anywhere…I have been looking multiple places since late last week. I bet
SD 47 had a low print run as I think SD’s popularity peaked a long time ago. I also found 2 more Deadpool 9’s at back-up shops. Web of Venom Cult of Carnage A sold out at my reg. LCS and I saw none at 2 back-up stores…possibly not ordered too heavy…? And I agree with Poyo, Amanda Conner is not the right artist for Batman…even for one issue…her style just doesn’t fit the Dark Knight. Looking forward to reading Little Bird…interested to see what it is about…art looks decent. And I could have bought a Major X 1:25 for $30 last week…but I couldn’t justify it…and I have no regrets. Tired of high variant prices.
Did you mean Deadpool 10? Not sure why you would point out 9.
I enjoyed 9.
Yes, I meant Deadpool 10…thx for the correction. And speaking of Deadpool…I loved and picked up the Asgardian variant for #11…too funny.
An image of Deadpool riding a unicorn is hard to pass up.
Yes it is. Love #11 Asgardian
I so want that sad leamon comics variant to faithless that is how you taste the rainbow but like com on you could had the girl have a mouth of skittles #testify happy Friday blind adam out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyMKG8feMYw
Finally picked up my pulls. Didn’t take a close look at the new release table, but Detective Comics #1001 was sold out (both covers). There appeared to be 2 or 3 copies of the Artgerm variant (trade dress, though) for Symbiote Spider-Man #1 priced at $6.99, so I decided to pass. The pulls:
Batman #68 (Cover A Amanda Conner)
Batman #68 (Cover B Francesco Mattina)
Batman Who Laughs #4 (Of 6)(Cover A Jock)
Batman Who Laughs #4 (Of 6)(Cover B Kaare Andrews)
Catwoman #10 (Cover B Stanley Artgerm Lau)
Detective Comics #1001 (Cover A Brad Walker & Andrew Hennessy)
Detective Comics #1001 (Cover B David Finch)
Flash #68 (Cover B Mitch Gerads)
Hawkman #11 (Cover B Julian Totino Tedesco)
Justice League Odyssey #8 (Cover B Toni Infante)
Red Hood Outlaw #33 (Cover B Lucio Parrillo)
Supergirl #29 (Cover B Amanda Conner)
Superman #10 (Cover B Adam Hughes)
Titans #36 (Cover B Francis Manapul)
Wonder Woman #68 (Cover B Kaare Andrews)
Low #21 (Cover A Greg Tocchini)
Age Of Conan Belit #2 (Of 5)(Cover A Sana Takeda)
Avengers No Road Home #9 (Of 10)(Cover A Yasmine Putri)
Dead Man Logan #6 (Of 12)
Invaders #4
Savage Sword Of Conan #4 (Cover A Alex Ross)
Star Wars Age Of Rebellion Grand Moff Tarkin #1 (Cover A Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson)
Star Wars Age Of Rebellion Princess Leia #1 (Cover A Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson)
Symbiote Spider-Man #1 (Of 5)(Cover A Greg Land)
True Believers Avengers Ronin #1
True Believers Avengers Stormbreaker #1
True Believers Avengers Thanos And Gamora #1
War Of The Realms Journey Into Mystery #1 (Of 5)(Cover A Valerio Schiti & David Curiel)
Web Of Venom Cult Of Carnage #1 (Cover A Joshua Cassara)
Is there a picture online, anywhere, of the uncensored Lotay bagged cover for Faithless? I bought a copy, and really do not want to have to open it just to see what all the fuss is about. It’s nowhere online.
Aren’t you supposed to open polybagged items anyway to put them in something more suited to long term storage like Mylars so the polybags breaking down don’t harm the books? You kill two birds with one stone if one of those birds is to see some naughty bits.
Yeah Its weird. If you don’t open it its bad for the book. If you open it its no longer “Mint”. And its one thing when they were clear bags with a trading card or some nick knack inside. But with these “Adult” covers don’t you want to see what you’re buying beforehand?
That’s the part I don’t get. If you don’t open the bag to examine the book you have no idea what condition the book is in. It could be missing staples, creases, corner dings, fingernail indentations, marks from Diamonds sorting, pages could be loose or out of order, color discrepancies due to ink at the printer running low, double cover, etc, etc. I’ve seen all of those things. You might even have the ultra rare black nipple secret variant and not know it.
If the bags not open the only thing you can give a grade to is the outer plastic bag which I haven’t found a grading chart for and if it had a “Mint” grade for plastic bags, almost every one I ever see wouldn’t be close due to them being oversized compared to the books they’re hiding. They come in scratched up, folds, stretches, color discrepancies in the ink and many other problems made worse as soon as you shove it into a bag and board and fold it around some more.
For that matter if you aren’t going through an entire book page by page and leaving it unopened then all you’re grading is the external cover which really should be identified as never opened grade assigned. If you don’t look, you have no idea what the inside is like or missing.