First of all, if you have recently caught the Star Wars craze, and you have never checked out our brother DrunkWooky, GO over at DrunkWooky.Com, and subscribe to all the neat cool stuff he posts on Star Wars.
I been visiting his site for a while and I find it very informative. Though I’ve been reading the Star Wars novels since I was in grade school, I’ve only been collecting Star Wars novels for several years now. Every Friday, I’d head over to at least 8-10 different Goodwill stores in Phoenix (there are over 90 of them in the Phoenix area) and I’d always have my choice of what Star Wars book to buy that week and read. However, in the last year, every Goodwill, Thrift store, used Book store has dried up of Star Wars books. I am savoring a small satisfaction knowing that those stories/tales, whether canon or legends, are starting to be read by others.
If you haven’t learned the Final Order Cutoff format with your LCS, and you never utilize it, it is time you learn how to do so. Every single Wednesday, while at the comic book store, people are always asking to see my FOC list, since for some reason, I always “got the hot books.” So this past week, I gathered a small group of about comic book readers who had no idea how I “always had the hot book,” according to them, and taught them how I do it. Check with your LCS on when they want your list of FOC list turned in. Ask them, check if you have to pay in advance, etc. For me, basically, every Tuesday night, no matter how tired I am, I take about an hour, and I glance at the FOC list that PreviewsWorld puts out at https://www.previewsworld.com/FinalOrdersDue ! Bookmark that page right now.!
I print that list, put it in my car, so on Wednesday morning, I am able to turn it in. For me, I am not just looking at cover art, I’m also reading the comic book descriptions/summaries. Yes, books are cool to flip, but it is even better if you read and enjoy them. There are certain artists whose cover art I prefer to buy, Hans, being one of them. Before FOC came about, I asked my LCS to order 8 Star Wars High Republic #1s of the Hans variant. It is a roll of the dice if I want to get covers of art that has not been released depending on the artists, so BUY WHAT YOU LIKE, and what will make YOU HAPPY, because if you buy something and a certain craze dies quickly like it does week to week, you don’t want to get stuck with not being able to flip it. Reading the description, I actually know, I will read the book, or be able to pass it down to someone to read because I know what I should expect out of it. Our very own AgentPoyo has a GREAT Article every SINGLE WEEKEND on the FOC Highlights. I definitely recommend everyone to read it if you are not doing so yet. Which leads to the next topic. My next suggestion is on the FOC for Monday.
Get that “STAR WARS LEGENDS OLD REPUBLIC OMNIBUS HC.”
There are 2 different covers (the other one found here) and yes, it does cost $125. You are probably thinking, “Wow.! That is a lot to spend,” right? Well it does collect, STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC #1-50, STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC – WAR #1-5, STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC HANDBOOK and material from STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC/REBELLION #0 ! That would probably be a total of 57 different comics to find. Divide the $125 by 57 and you are paying about $2.20 a comic, and it is all collected in 1 big format so you don’t have to try and go to 57 different sources, pay each source for shipping+ tax. This is how I am justifying on whether I should drop a certain amount of $ on Omnibuses, TPB, etc etc.
BTW, TFAW does have the Star Wars Old Republic Omnibus for under $90! Still need convincing? Let me remind you that the Darth Vader Omnibus is currently going from $240-$300+ on the secondary market.
While the cover art has not been released, Star Wars High Republic #1 has gone to a 4th Print! As “Torgo” from the “ComicsHeatingUp.Net Forum” said, ‘They could do 25 printings of this, and I’d probably by them all” I am with you Torgo! The PreviewsWorld Search says that variant will done by Ario Anindito. Clicking on that Catalog Link, it names Phil Noto being the Cover Artist. It will be in Shops on March 17, 2021 and your FINAL ORDER CUT OFF DATE is Feb 22, 2021. You got about a little over a week to ask your comic shop to get you a copy (or multiple copies). The PreviewsWorld Catalog code is: DEC209473 – https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/DEC209473
Going along with all the Star Wars Fandom for all the new Star Wars fans, it may be time that you think to add “Star Wars Insider,” the magazine to your pull list at your LCS if you have not done so. They have some great stuff to read in it. Talking with my LCS, he used to only order 3 or 4 copies. Last week he told me had had to FOC his last order to 16 copies. While it was discussed on the ComicsHeatingUp.Net Forum, I challenged the writers to write something up on it as I was pressed for time, and before the year started, AgentPoyo hit it out of the ballpark with the article, “Star Wars Insider Magazine – Magazines Heating Up.. Say What?”
The recent Star Wars Insider #200 (Comic store variant) done by Peach Momoko released this past week is starting to push past cover price, while some of those fancy store exclusives (foils and virgins) are commanding high prices. So what cover do I suggest you get? Well you got options! When it comes to these SWInsiders, there is normally 3 different variants. 1 is the Newstand Copy which has normally a photo style cover. The 2nd one is a Comic Book Store Variant which known as the PX Edition. This cover tends to be more of an artistic rendering than a photo image that the news stand cover tends to have. A heads up, The PX Edition of Star Wars Insider 201 and 202 will be done by Peach Momoko as well. Get those on your FOCS, now if anything. The last variant is a subscriber variant. Basically, you pay a subscription through a mail away, and it gets directly mailed to your home. That variant maybe a little harder to obtain through secondary market, but easier to get directly without the FEAR OF MISSING OUT.
If you made it this far, Thank You. I didn’t mean to overwhelm some of you. I may not be a BIG GRAND MASTER STAR WARS COLLECTOR like some of you out there, but I’ve been a fan as long as I can remember.
One last note, Thank you to the owner of Cab Comics in Northern Arizona for allowing me to enter his store and buy some items even though his business at the time only allowed curbside pickup. You really helped me fill in some gaps and also pick up some books that I could not locate in the Phoenix area. The store space maybe small, but he did something big, and mighty for me. Congratulations on 10 years in your location! If you are on the GRAM, you can follow them at @cabcomics
That’s it for me now, Stay Healthy
May the Force Be With You.
-CRUZZER-
“Con Safos, Y Sin Fin..” (With safety, and without end..)
Wow! So much to take in. Great article.
Gratitude!
Excellent, excellent article!
I love the back issues of Star Wars Insider (SWI) from #101 and on for the Clone Wars and Rebels information that’s in them. An overlooked one is #101 newsstand edition which is the first Ahsoka Tano on a Star Wars Insider cover and predates Clone Wars #1 (even though it’s a small pic at the top of the cover). They are very affordable currently and I’ll take a first of Ahsoka ANYTIME!
There are numerous Ahsoka SWI covers and I’ll buy them all if they’re at a reasonable price.
Caveat (since that’s what we have to do now): I own some but have none for sale. So while I’m in for the pump, not so much for the dump.
Oh I always read them. One of my favorite all time Insiders articles was when they interviewed Timothy Zahn about the notions of how he created Thrawn.