Wednesday Open Forum

Wednesday

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 276th edition of the open forum!



Did you get a copy of Batman #89 or was you las wiped out?

Did you know we have the forum up and running, you can check it out at the official CHU Forum site, go over and sign up.

As always we also want to hear about your weekly pickups.
So, What were your pick ups?

125 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Forum”

    1. I honestly can not see her sticking around. Popularity is something that should be arrived at naturally. Can anyone name the last character that was marketed like this, that was a long term success? Deadpool’s and Harley’s are a rare breed that are not easily manufactured. But, I guess we will all have to wait another 10-20 years to find out.

        1. Was the character really promoted that much? I remember a lot of buzz about Dark Knight Metal and the slew of mash-up characters…but I didn’t feel as if he was pumped until after he debuted…he didn’t even make the cover of the Metal books until issue 3…and that was a store variant cover…and that’s when I remember popularity exploding….after that cover came out.

          1. I’m in your boat, Drog. I don’t really recall BWL being promoted or marketed by DC before his arrival. I feel like BWLs success was quick and natural, and DC just instantly capitalized on it.

    1. Looks like they finally exhausted their supply. Not seeing any more copies being made available. Lasted almost an hour though from when they first became available.

        1. DC okie doked you all into having to buy two books and now everyone will get Hell Risen #3 after people preordered this trash Batman #89 at $49 and then nobody will care.

          1. The cameo is more than Kamala Khan’s cameo winner in Captain Marvel #14… It’s still a first. The market will decide which one becomes the more valuable one. I think Batman #89 will stay the winner though. It’s going to have the smaller print run as DC made Hell Arisen way easier for retailers to bump their orders before cutting them off.

  3. It’ll definitely crash tomorrow as copies flood eBay….but I can see it sustaining a $15 price for a while until we see what this character becomes…but let’s face facts…we know nothing about what DC will do with this character…what we do know is there will be a lot of copies likely in high grade unless the printer screws up copies like what happened to Canto #1.

  4. I grabbed one of the 2 ashcans of Bang #1, at the LCS, for a little under $20. They almost forgot that they had them, lolz.
    I never get The Flash. I’m getting The Flash, this week.
    Looking forward to seeing that Atlantis Attacks #2 MoNa variant.
    Regret will prolly haunt those not copping that Momoko Valkyrie, imho.
    Amalgama #3 has some interesting variants for spec, I imagine.
    Rags #6, both covers, if possible, are on my list.
    There is a Star Trek Voyager 25th Anniversary magazine that has a variant cover with 7 of 9 that I am trying to catch, also.
    Have fun, and best of luck!

  6. I’m grabbing 3 mattina cover Bs and keeping 2 and selling one. Free comics that have the chance of appreciating that’s appealing, but I’d never pay ebay prices for this issue.

        1. Babies are highly predictable, DRog. Eat, Sleep, poop. That’s it. One in three shot that you know exactly what any baby is doing at any given time. ?

  9. A surprising development (to me at least). Diamond is sold out of every cover of Wolverine 1 except the Skottie Young and the Chip Kidd Die Cut.

    Obviously there will be thousands of leftover copies of the main cover in the hands of the various retailers who chased the 1 in 500 variant. But looks like Diamond sold completely through.

    1. I bought one copy of Wolverine #1. It was tough deciding between the die-cut cover (nostalgia) and the JeeHyung Lee variant. Once I got a look at them, Wolverine flying at a Sentinel is totally awesome; glad I made that choice. On a side note: the price for Wolverine #1 ($7.99) made me sad; it is a reminder why I have cut my monthly new comic spending down to less than what I used to spend in a week.

      1. I broke my Drek rule myself. I bought the Sentinel Wolverine cover as well, just because it was way more beautiful in person than what I recall seeing online. I was set out to buy the Ross cover only, which I still did. I also picked up the Del’Otto variant because well, it’s hard to pass up his ratio variants at cover price (stay tuned though, I picked that one up also cause it’s likely going to be a giveaway book cause it’s my only ticket to heaven, if there is such a place). 😉

      2. It is $7.99, but it has two full stories in it, so your still getting your page per dollar value that you would get in your regular $3.99 book. But I kinda agree with you as well. Total cash grab by Marvel, as usual.

  10. Went to a Midnight Wolverine party

    Left with two Batmen 89 Cover A Both covers of Flash Forward 6 Bang #1 and Bang preview

    I have a couple more Batmen 89 on hold. Going to flip all and just keep one to slab

  11. Interesting Debate for ages.. lot of good points here ..Hell Arisin #2 Print was at or around 30k? retailers could bump this up alot.. Batman 89 should stay at or around its current numbers..80 is a half a face of her..not going crazy for this Midtown will be selling for 10-15 right out the gate ..dont blame em..this reveal of her being in 1/4 of a panel has definitely played a role in the market..and the floods are a coming.DC and he appearance does seem a bit forced ..only time will tell but I thing the Hell Arisen 3 will be the book to have …”But Hey,what do I know I just be sipping Sauce”

    1. I think the news broke after FOC for HA#3….so print run (1st printing) was already established…thus the quick turn around on a second printing announcement….but I need a fact check in that

  12. Are people really this desperate for Punchline? I heard about her first appearances from DC’s press release- on here- and pre-ordered just in case, easily. No one was talking about her. Now nothing has changed, and suddenly it’s release day and everyone’s going nuts trying to get it.

    1. Anyone who missed out on this just wasn’t really paying that much attention to begin with, or made the conscious decision to roll the dice and hope to grab from their LCS on release day.
      I had zero issue getting copies of this ordered after FOC from multiple sources.

      1. I guess I don’t understand why nobody preordered when the first seed aggrandizing notice form DC came out. I heard about it here, and had trouble finding that info on any other site, but it was out there if you’re a speculator.

  13. I’m hoping to trade a Venom 23 Skottie for a Batman 89. Sold 5 of my Venoms yesterday, now holding two.

  14. I feel like throwing in some Peter Gabriel “Here Comes the Flood.” A search of Batman 89 Punchline” brings up 125 listings currently on eBay. That includes sets and 2nd prints though….but it’s only 10am!

    Will be tracking this throughout the day, but my focus is shifting to HA #3 now.

  15. Wow. Midtown sold out in less than a minute in hell arising 3.

    I have the app and everything, jumped on it seconds after listing and still couldn’t grab a copy. Cover A was never offered from what I can tell.

      1. There’s always Poyos favorite shop, MCS next week….shocked they offered Batman 89 for cover when it went live.

          1. I tried for 6 but somewhere between checkout and paying 4 got removed. There was no limit in the description. Is that normal?

        2. Mmmm… love me some MCS. Maybe they’re taking notice that jacking up the prices is actually bad for business. One could argue, sure, you made bigger profit margin off the book when it sold but you turned away 1, 5 or maybe 10 other customers that could have started coming into your shop regularly.. Sure, jack up the prices to squeeze out more profits but doing so on new release day, you might lose more customers that hurt you in the long run. Hopefully your business can survive on the once quarterly hot book that you make $20 profit off of instead of the $2.. 😉

          1. There is a big conversation going on about this on the collectors corner page. Basically a guy said his local shop was charging $25 for the book and to boycott shops like this. Many people came on and said “did you pre-order it or have a subscription to Batman? And if not than it is a good price” others are saying that shops have a right to jack up prices in the day of release. Others are saying it is shady. Basically my response was just that. Is it worth making an extra $21 a copy to lose hundreds of dollars worth of sales from a perspective customer? People argued that if shops cannot charge eBay prices then they lose money and it is why so many stores close. My point is if they can charge eBay prices can I get that Dell Otto Wolverine you got on the wall at $50 for $19.99, you know the eBay going price…. it works both ways. No one is saying there isn’t a smart way to do this where shops can make money and buyers are happy, but in the end, no one really wants everyone happy.

            1. Basically, Uncle Willie says it best. Your business is to move inventory, not hold, wait and hope..

              Sure you might sell a Batman #89 for $30 that you paid $2 wholesale, netting an additional $28 profit instead of the $2 you would have made but how many potential customers were turned away before one was willing to pay that amount? How many of those customers that were turned away will now second guess shopping at your shop? I’m pretty sure consistent repeat loyal happy customers is better for your business long term than the bigger profit book that comes about every couple of months.. if you think you can survive on the once a quarter hot book to keep your business afloat, all the more power to you but I think I’d trade that for more steady, consistent repeat customers willing to buy from your shop each week…

              1. I love, love, love when uncle willie drops in because he lays the truth. I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with a like-minded shop owner and it’s incredible. He knows that there are books that have higher value, but operates at as if all comics only have the profit he needs to operate. All comics at this store are $1 (he doesn’t carry new releases anymore) and tpb are $2. He has been in business for almost 30 years and does a great job catering to collectors by replenishing his stock regularly and not worrying about marking them up. That being said, retailers have the right to charge what they like. However, if your business model is based on squeezing $10-$20 more out of a few hot comics each year, there is a problem. Where I live, new books that are marked up do not sell and they eventually fall to “sale” or “discounted” prices.

            2. Sounds like the same conversation we’ve been having here for weeks.

              I didn’t see any jacked up prices…but I also didn’t see any in the shelves today either.

                1. Today, Myself and three other regulars at my main LCS, which is a relatively small shop, ended up chatting and hanging out. We all got our copy of BM89 today, and during the hour that we were hanging out, we watched about 6-7 strange faces walk in, go to the new books, and then turn around and walk out empty handed. My LCS shop keep will mark up hot books to the obvious speculators who are only there to buy the ‘hot’ book, but he will also always take care of his regulars. I’m okay with that.I think he deals more in SA and GA and he doesn’t need to cater to speculating walk-ins at his particular store.

                  The consumer, just as much as the retailer, have their respective rights to do as they see fit. We should all respect each other’s decisions and use our power as consumers to choose were we spend our money. I simply don’t shop at the stores were I don’t like the store policies, and I give my business to the shops who I think treat me, and others, fairly. I typically will also tell the shopkeep why he/she has lost my business. This is the foundation of capitalism and free markets. No one should be complaining, they should be voicing themselves using their spending power. It is truly the most effective way to let retailers know what you think of their policies and practices. M2c.

    1. But red goblin was promised for several issues before making an actual appearance. That run did get hot and it’s still a decent pc hold.

  17. Sold out at Midtown. AKA we put out minimal and yanked the rest to price gouge with the best of them.

  18. Marvel and DC should start selling directly to consumers online. LCS only hurt consumers when they do this garbage. Allow consumers to pay cover online and limited. LCS can still order bulk for discount. This would greatly stabilize prices.

  19. Went to two comic shops this morning. Got to both of them when they unlocked the doors. I was limited to one single copy of Batman 89 for cover price at the first shop. Had my pick of covers. Although I wanted both I can live with that. The second shop held back all non-subscriber copies and priced them at $30. None for the wall. No, I didn’t call out the owner on it because I’m good friends with his parents. But another customer was chewing his butt off.

  20. Third week in a row my closest LCS up charged a cover price book. Of course it was Batman…12.99/14.99 depending on cover. They held a single copy for anyone that had been buying it for the last 2 months. I think that’s cool…. And rag on me if you want.. But when suddenly they just change a policy with no warning or announcement, it’s kind of shady. They’re free to charge what they want but how about a little “hey we’re following what’s blowing up pre release now so certain titles will be higher than cover, please pre order or add to your pull list if you want to guarantee cover price.”
    Went to two other shops about 15 miles away… Both limited to one per but at cover…. Found venom Scottie young at cover too.

  21. Picked up 2 cover A and 3 cover B of Batman 89. I presold a set knowing I had at least one set reserved and put the funds towards a preorder of Batman 89A and Hell Arisen 3A in CGC 9.8. I ordered them few days ago when they were still cheap so the 9.8 set was only about $40 total out of pocket. Thinking of putting that set on eBay for way too mich to see what happens.

      1. Thought about that…never bought a preorder 9.8 before so the seller could take forever to send or not send at all, but they have an estimated delivery date plus over 2k pos feedback vs 1 neg. Have you had bad experiences with preorder sales? I feel like now might be the best time to list…

        1. No. But there are things out of the control of the seller. Like cgc taking too long or the cases getting damaged in transport. If you pre-ordered a 9.8 that came out today they have to get the books prescreen them ship them to cgc wait for grading. Have them shipped back out. Repack then to ship out. A lot of steps in the process.

          1. Also, this is risky for sellers since pre-sales have a 30 day policy on eBay:

            “Presale listings must clearly state that they are “presale” in the title and description, and guarantee delivery within 30 days of purchase. In order to protect buyer and seller guarantees, presale listings must follow eBay policy, including listing the date the item will be available to ship.”

            https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/presale-listings-policy?id=4252

        2. Just remember that that shop will get their books just before release day, then they have to send off to be graded, then have it returned to them, then they ship to you. It may be a while before you receive your pre-ordered 9.8s. ?

  22. Went to 5 shops and got 5 copies of Batman #89. First shop had 1 Martina on shelf, second shop had a stack of 7 or 8 so I got cvrs A and B. Third shop was sold out. Forth shop had a line up outside but owner only limits 1 per family so I was able to grab anover cvr B. Fifth shop had 1 cover B on the shelf…I snatched it sold 2 covers Bs in 1 hour on ebay, keeping the other 3.

  23. I went another direction today. I picked up a high grade set of UX221, UX266, XMen Annual 14 and a Catwoman 74 Hughes, at one of my LCS’ that recently had a large XMen run come in. All the books are sharp. And the UX266 is a strong 9.8 contender. If any of the Rogue rumours hold any weight (not saying that they do) then Gambit can not be far behind.

  24. Pretty light week for pick ups….

    Blade Runner #6A
    Bang! #1 Cover A & Cover B
    Goon #8 Cardstock

    Visited 5 shops today all in the morning and every one of them was out of Batman #89 which was crazy in my opinion! Normally, each one of these stores would have between 4-10 copies on the shelves after holds. When I asked, a couple owners said that they had been getting calls since Monday on this book.

    For a cameo of a villain that might not amount to anything! I’m all for folks speculating and making money, but I haven’t seen a rush for a book like this since Batman Damned #1.

    To everyone that got a copy, congrats. I’ll just have to wait for the 2nd print or give it a week or two and get it when the market corrects back which is fine with me. It goes that way the topsy-turvy game of comic speculating.

    Good hunting everyone!

  25. We had 15 copies of Batman 89 after pulling for subs. I held 5 back as future back issues, put 5 on the shelf, and held 5 behind the counter for any regulars who asked.

    Shelf copies were gone in 7 minutes even with a 1 copy limit. Had about two dozen people come in asking during the first hour, none of whom shop with us. Every one of them just hoping to flip. Two of those shouted obscenities at me for being sold out.

    Of the 5 copies for regulars (now all gone) I know that two of them are guys who fully intend to flip. But they frequent the shop buying other stuff as well. Not just the profitable flips. Their flip profits are somewhat likely to wind up back in my register for other things they like. They’ve built a relationship and I’m happy to take care of them.

    The guys who only come in for books they can buy at 80% off market, then curse at me when I’m sold out? You’re why so many shops hate flippers.

    1. Sorry to hear you took verbal abuse over a comic book. Those people have bigger issue at play if they’re swearing at you for not having a book in stock.

    2. I love the way you did it. That’s what I have been saying. Sorry they were d-bags to you. I flip a lot. I had actually contacted my lcs when the news first hit and requested 2 of each cover and three copies of Hell Arisen. When I got to the shop last night there were no copies in my box and none on the shelf. I told the manager working that the owner and I had an email exchange and should have had four copies in my box. He apologized looked at the email exchange and brought out copies for me to look through. They were out of B covers. They ended up giving me four A covers. I was good with it. I had purchased one from Mycomicshop as well. When i went in to get my books today, I had five copies in my box. They grabbed me an extra copy and threw it in for the mistake.

  27. Went to 2 shops the second they opened. Neither had Batman. One filled his subs (of which he added 9 that week) and the other said he was short 1 on his subs. None made the shelf.

    Both are shops that would normally have 5-10 on the shelf.

    My regular took care of me and put one in my pull. That’s why he’s my regular.

    Was hoping to grab a second copy of a Cover B. Maybe once it cools some.

  28. Speaking of babies, everyone see Selina’s bump from Tom King’s Twitter account?

    Helena may be on her way…

  29. Here is my experience of the day. I went to pick up the Batman books from a LCS that I visit every now and then but don’t have a pull with them. I preordered the books. Well when I got to the counter to get them, the guy had them for $24.99 I told him what the heck? He said cuz that was the going rate on eBay that is what he was charging. So I left the book. Other people where mad as well. They have done this to me on the Immortal Hulk 16 1:25 variant. What has this world come to. I am a collector first, then a reader and last a flipper. Everyone here says to pre-order, but what the heck is the point if your still going to get charged eBay prices.

  30. Yeah dude. I’m to the point where I just want to quit the hobby and use those fund for something else.

    2. Don’t let the bad seeds ruin a good thing for you, Gbess. You just need to find an honest LCS to deal with. The books are still fun if you can find like minded people to deal with. Don’t let the ass clowns, and there is a lot of them, bring down your love of collecting comics. ?

      1. Looks see Poyo. MCS is taking your advice to heart. Offer cover initially, but Pull some books to upcharge later.

            1. Based on the number of people here and on Facebook who commented they got one and based on how long they had the book listed before it sold out.

              1. People are actually admitting to paying those prices???

                I will say undercutters have been few so far. Sales keep happening at $30. Demand is meeting supply. Most likely because retailers held back so many copies, or others are holding so many copies instead of dumping for instant profits.

  32. I see shops going out of business or pulling out of new comics pretty regularly. I do not fault them for holding hot books for their regular customers and/or up-charging for weekly hot books. They take the risk in ordering; people whom speculate without preordering do not. Are people going to multiple shops to buy Batman #89 also buying extra copies of Wolverine #1, with its $7.99 price tag? I doubt it. However, any shop worth its salt had to order relatively heavy on Wolverine #1, taking a lot of risk of this costly book sitting in back stock. Who buys those Wolverine #1s? The shops regular customers.

    1. I’ve had zero shops close around me in the last 5 years. And I know of at least 3 new ones that have opened in that time. Comic book sales have been relatively steady for many years now. If your shop is closing, it’s because the owner is a bad manager, or he/she opened their shop in market that didn’t require a comic store. Either way, it’s on the business owner and his practices and not a fault or sign of a slow industry.

      1. I agree. Every shop currently in a 50 mile radius around me has been open a long long time (decades). The one shop I know of that closed was a few years ago was open maybe 2 years max, and not consistently open. It also have very small supply of new books and back issues. They opened up literally around the corner from a shop that was 100 times its size in what it offered so obviously that shop was doomed from the start.

        I did stop in and buy books from them…it was cool having two options when hot books were scarce….they were a nice couple who owned the shop. But could not compete in the same neighborhood. I felt they would have had a much better shot at survival even one town over.

    2. Wolverine was outrageous in price. But that is on Marvel. Stores should not have ordered more than the could really expect to sell

  33. Support your comic stores and they are more likely to hold a hot comic for you. If stores must ration a hot comic, they tend to treat good customers better instead of strangers or bad customers. Good relationships count in business.

    1. Oh. I agree 100%. I don’t think anyone is arguing against rationing. We do not support shelf clearing and advise against it. It’s the jacking up of prices that people are arguing against. I have a great relationship with my lcs and they slide books in my bin all the time. Last week it was a Meet the Skrulls #1 they found more copies of. This week it was a fifth Batman #89.

      1. And it’s so much easier to call and say, “hey, can you throw this book into my regular pull list?” than just asking them to put it aside somewhere random for a random person they have no information about.

        I even, like Anthony, show up Tuesday evening and ask for Wednesday books now. It’s pretty cool.

        That’s why I have pull lists for different shops now. Diversify!

  35. Yesterday’s whole Batman #89 scenario was interesting to say the least. My LCS took care of me (A & B copy), but it was impossible to score multiple copies. I visited & called several stores, and shelf copies were basically non-existent. On a title where there is usually a stack available several weeks later, none were to be had. I suspect it was a combination of more folks picking it up due to Punchline’s cameo and retailers holding some copies back. I even went to a store (not my LCS, but one I occassionally visit) for their midnight Wolvie release…and though they had a very light customer turnout, there were no shelf copies of Batman. They said they ran out, but interesting enough, they had a stack of Batman #88’s. I should have called ahead to avoid the drive…so lesson learned…but at least I got a back issue I wanted. I admit I need to be more proactive…but I just don’t always have the time.

    Some of my other pickups included…

    Aquaman A & B
    Deceased Unkillables A
    Flash Forward Bx3
    Joker Killer Smile B (great cvr!)
    Nightwing B
    Captain America A
    Captain Marvel A & Lee connecting cvr
    Daredevil A
    GOTG 1:25 variant
    Revenge of Cosmic Ghost Rider C
    Wolverine 1:25 and 1:50 variants
    Bang A & B
    Skulldigger & Skeleton Boy
    Spawn B

    On a side note, I was very disappointed with most of the covers for Wolverine #1. The best cover IMO is the 1:50. I didn’t really like any of the others except the 1:25 which was okay. Although I am a big Alex Ross fan, I felt his rendition of Wolvie was colored way too dark…it ruined it for me. C’mon, Marvel, you can provide a better selection of covers on an $8 cash grab 1st issue.

  36. So…yesterday (Wednesday) I picked up my pulls which included a copy of batman 89 cover A and there were 2 copies of the B cover on the shelf so I looked at ebay and saw that there were 200-ish active listings and 200-ish sold listings. I picked up the B covers and planned to flip one copy to cover my costs. Today, I did the same search for Batman 89 and there are 5000-ish active listings. Yes 5,000! Flood is in full effect. Giving my extra copy to a buddy that couldn’t find one instead.

  37. So the online place I preordered from screwed me out of a copy of Batman 89. I don’t know if this is the right place to ask, but if anyone here has extras could you set me up with a copy for a “friend” price? Thanks.

    2. Where’d you order from? Don’t be afraid to mention them by name.

      I only have one copy coming. I tried to score some locally at my shops but no shelf copies anywhere. I was hoping to snag at least one extra to do a giveaway.. 🙁

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