The Official The Walking Dead Discussion Thread 12 12

[RockMyAmadeus]

10 hours ago, followtheleader said:

It's also on the speculators for buying something they truly don't care about beyond making a buck.  

But...but....but....but....once they print the second, you'll be able to read it! Eventually.....

Idiot new book speculators. Every last single one of them deserves the worst they get.

[kimik]

16 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

But...but....but....but....once they print the second, you'll be able to read it! Eventually.....

Idiot new book speculators. Every last single one of them deserves the worst they get.

If it follows the regular spec pattern, you just have to wait a month or two and the 1st prints will be back at or below cover....

[BladeTX]

17 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Also couldn't pick up a copy. Sold out the day of. "It's selling for $20+ online!" 

Furious.

Don't care what it's "selling for online." Wanted a SINGLE copy to read, along with the other 192. 

This is why comics as a printed artform will cease to exist within a generation, if not sooner.

It's a whole lot easier when you have LCS pull books so you don't miss an issue.  I still did not know what was going on but heard something big was brewing.  Asked my LCS (they know me as their TWD guy) to drop 2 shelf pulls with my hold book.   Next time try calling them in advance and seeing if they will hold one back for you.

[RockMyAmadeus]

1 minute ago, kimik said:

If it follows the regular spec pattern, you just have to wait a month or two and the 1st prints will be back at or below cover....

Absolutely. If you just wait...eventually, you'll be able to buy it for a reasonable price.

If you just wait.

Can't get it the day it comes out, like the people who happen to be in the right place at the right time.

Certainly can't get it within a reasonable time frame after that.

Just....wait.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Just now, BladeTX said:

It's a whole lot easier when you have LCS pull books so you don't miss an issue.  I still did not know what was going on but heard something big was brewing.  Asked my LCS (they know me as their TWD guy) to drop 2 shelf pulls with my hold book.   Next time try calling them in advance and seeing if they will hold one back for you.

And what about the people who don't have LCSs....?

[BladeTX]

2 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

And what about the people who don't have LCSs....?

Hmmmm… I guess read the digital version until you can track one down?

[RockMyAmadeus]

4 minutes ago, BladeTX said:

It's a whole lot easier when you have LCS pull books so you don't miss an issue.  I still did not know what was going on but heard something big was brewing.  Asked my LCS (they know me as their TWD guy) to drop 2 shelf pulls with my hold book.   Next time try calling them in advance and seeing if they will hold one back for you.

And what about the people who don't want to jump through hoops to be able to do what most people take for granted...?

With all due respect...this is nothing new. This has been going on for decades. Most of the people posting here are well familiar with what it takes to "grab a hot issue." "Calling them in advance" isn't going to change anything. The issue is the idiot speculators who scoop up everything so they can make a handful of dollars, denying readers even the opportunity to buy a book. This wasn't a problem when print runs were in the hundreds of thousands and millions...it's very much a problem when available copies are in the tens of thousands or less.

[BladeTX]

Well, I'm definitely in the "this sucks" camp.  I'm not like you long timers.  I read Compendium 1 after the TV show started.  Eventually read Compendiums 2 and 3 then decided to start buying single issues about 166.   The only surprise deaths for me were Dwight, Rick and the whole damn series.   I'll be glad to pick up any CGC 9.8 2xSS (Kirkman + 1 artist Moore or Adlard.  Best yet all three)   that I currently do not have in Issues 1 to 50.     Only been buying the certified books the past 1.5 years but have no need to sell so I'm sure there will be a dip but I can ride it out in hopes of a rebook.   I can see someone buying these single issues eventually - I back collected the single issues to Issue 20.  Hoping there is a reboot, my LCS will miss me.   TWD was and remains the only comic of interest to me. 

[RockMyAmadeus]

3 minutes ago, BladeTX said:

Hmmmm… I guess read the digital version until you can track one down?

No thanks. I read comics...not pixels.

[BladeTX]

1 minute ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

And what about the people who don't want to jump through hoops to be able to do what most people take for granted...?

With all due respect...this is nothing new. This has been going on for decades. Most of the people posting here are well familiar with what it takes to "grab a hot issue." "Calling them in advance" isn't going to change anything. The issue is the idiot speculators who scoop up everything so they can make a handful of dollars, denying readers even the opportunity to buy a book. This wasn't a problem when print runs were in the hundreds of thousands and millions...it's very much a problem when available copies are in the tens of thousands or less.

Sure, respect your opinion.  I still consider myself a newbie and yes, when Issue 192 came out (I knew Rick was done for so pre-ordered 6 regular and 3 blanks before distributor cutoff), my LCS sold through their 20 shelf copies in 30 minutes after opening.  So I'm sure that is some speculation.

You can find it on here if you look but I have done extensive research on circulation back to Issue 100.  It's not as bad as you make it out to be.  Let's ignore Issue 100 and 115, with it's tons of variants, etc, that each sold over 300,000 copies.  #100 and was the highest single book sales in the prior 10 years.  The next highest TWD book was 150 at 156,000 but obviously a benchmark book with also a lot of variants.  So Issue 109 is next at 90,362.    Most issues from 2012 to 2018 are in the range of 65,000 to 85,000.  The drop in 2019 saw the lowest point Issue 190 at 42,177.   Issue 191 (Rick shot) ticked up a bit at 48,743.    So in conclusion, the drop was not from "millions" to tens of thousands.  The average drop was from about 75,000 to 45,000.  Yes, a big dropoff but still consistently a Top 20 monthly.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Just now, BladeTX said:

So in conclusion, the drop was not from "millions" to tens of thousands. 

Nobody said Walking Dead ever sold millions. Read the post again.

[BladeTX]

13 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

No thanks. I read comics...not pixels.

Well if you don't have an LCS and you read the hard copies, you must have a trusted shop you work with over the many years you have been collecting to pull a favor now and then???

[RockMyAmadeus]

Just now, BladeTX said:

Well if you don't have an LCS and you read the hard copies, you must have a trusted shop you work with over the many years you have been collecting to pull a favor now and then???

Not everyone buys news comics through shops.

[BladeTX]

Just now, RockMyAmadeus said:

Nobody said Walking Dead ever sold millions. Read the post again.

Um direct quote from you:  "This wasn't a problem when print runs were in the hundreds of thousands and millions..."

[BladeTX]

Just now, RockMyAmadeus said:

Not everyone buys news comics through shops.

 

Just now, RockMyAmadeus said:

Not everyone buys news comics through shops.

Just drop it dude.  Nothing more to say.  You are not buying though shops.  You are not reading digital.  You want hard copies.   Somehow I would have expected you would have found a reliable way to get the books you want.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Just now, BladeTX said:

Um direct quote from you:  "This wasn't a problem when print runs were in the hundreds of thousands and millions..."

Yes, that is, indeed, a direct quote. Here's the whole post again, with emphasis added:

17 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

And what about the people who don't want to jump through hoops to be able to do what most people take for granted...?

With all due respect...this is nothing new. This has been going on for decades. Most of the people posting here are well familiar with what it takes to "grab a hot issue." "Calling them in advance" isn't going to change anything. The issue is the idiot speculators who scoop up everything so they can make a handful of dollars, denying readers even the opportunity to buy a book. This wasn't a problem when print runs were in the hundreds of thousands and millions...it's very much a problem when available copies are in the tens of thousands or less.

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

6 minutes ago, BladeTX said:

Just drop it dude.  Nothing more to say.  

My apologies, I thought, by your continued commentary, you were still interested in discussing it. If you'd now like to "just drop it", you are certainly welcome to do so.

6 minutes ago, BladeTX said:

Somehow I would have expected you would have found a reliable way to get the books you want.

I did find a reliable way to get the books I want: buying them when they're published, and not having to compete with idiot speculators who grab everything they can before anyone can react.

You don't seem to understand that this isn't a problem that only affects me, or a small handful of people. When readers cannot buy what they want, at a reasonable effort, in a reasonable amount of time, you lose them. This is an issue far, far beyond Walking Dead #193.

You want comics to continue to be a legitimate artform? Then you'll understand that the damage that has already been done because of new comics speculation will eventually finish the job and printed comics as they have existed for nearly 90 years will cease.

Edited July 5, 2019 by RockMyAmadeus

[BladeTX]

28 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

My apologies, I thought, by your continued commentary, you were still interested in discussing it. If you'd now like to "just drop it", you are certainly welcome to do so.

I did find a reliable way to get the books I want: buying them when they're published, and not having to compete with idiot speculators who grab everything they can before anyone can react.

You don't seem to understand that this isn't a problem that only affects me, or a small handful of people. When readers cannot buy what they want, at a reasonable effort, in a reasonable amount of time, you lose them. This is an issue far, far beyond Walking Dead #193.

You want comics to continue to be a legitimate artform? Then you'll understand that the damage that has already been done because of new comics speculation will eventually finish the job and printed comics as they have existed for nearly 90 years will cease.

We're good man.  We're good.    Sounds like an industry-wide issue and I have not been subject to speculators as of yet but I do understand it is a rampant problem.     Though I sure hope comics don't go away.   People were saying that when I was coin collecting 2002 to 2009.   But it didn't and now values are in the tens of millions of $ for multiple highly rare coins.   Hoping they reboot Walking Dead into something and I can continue to support the franchise beyond TV.   It's been a fun ride while it lasted.

Edited July 5, 2019 by BladeTX
spelling error

[Broke as a Joke]

Kept one copy of 193 and sold the other two.  It will go down in price once the second printing drops.

[dupont2005]

5 hours ago, BladeTX said:

It's a whole lot easier when you have LCS pull books so you don't miss an issue.  I still did not know what was going on but heard something big was brewing.  Asked my LCS (they know me as their TWD guy) to drop 2 shelf pulls with my hold book.   Next time try calling them in advance and seeing if they will hold one back for you.

The local shop out here stocks the shelves Wednesday morning before opening, then they open, then throughout the day as they have time they fil the pulls from the shelves. If they run out they run out, you never get the hot book even if it’s been on your pull for years.