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1st and 2nd print released on the same day
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18 posts in this topic

went to my LCS to get my weekly pile. as I was going thru it, I noticed that he set aside two copies of Batman : The Merciless. One has the foil/metal cover, while the other has a regular cover. I noticed on the bar-code it shows the regular cover as a 2nd print.... weird huh:whatthe:

 

 

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2 hours ago, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

I realize that the barcode would indicate a second print, but it seems like these are actually different variants

It wouldn't be the first time the barcode was incorrect either.

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8 hours ago, combiner1 said:

went to my LCS to get my weekly pile. as I was going thru it, I noticed that he set aside two copies of Batman : The Merciless. One has the foil/metal cover, while the other has a regular cover. I noticed on the bar-code it shows the regular cover as a 2nd print.... weird huh:whatthe:

 

 

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Check the indicia. Does it say second print? If not, it's just an error. They do that all the time. You are correct, it's coded as a second print, but it's unlikely that it is one.

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If someone knows why these books require a "2 month lead time", please feel free to share. "It's foil" isn't the the answer. Does anyone know what specifically is special about it being foil that would require that length of time. 

Doing some more research, apparently they ordered "second prints" before the first printing was even published, which would be quite revolutionary...but may be explained by the above....in which case, these aren't "second printings" but "regular variants"...and certainly looks to be a marketing gimmick. 

Anyone with info?

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12 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

If someone knows why these books require a "2 month lead time", please feel free to share. "It's foil" isn't the the answer. Does anyone know what specifically is special about it being foil that would require that length of time. 

Doing some more research, apparently they ordered "second prints" before the first printing was even published, which would be quite revolutionary...but may be explained by the above....in which case, these aren't "second printings" but "regular variants"...and certainly looks to be a marketing gimmick. 

Anyone with info?

What's the indicia/who's the printer for the first print? I've actually wondered if they're printing special covers in China.

http://www.printninja.com/printing-resource-center/printing-academy/advanced-concepts/foil-stamping-process

Anyway, DC did give advance notice that the special covers have earlier FOC. At least this was less confusing than what they did for Batman/Flash: The Button lenticulars.

 

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The shops in my area only put the first printings on the shelves. I am assuming they will put out the second printings at a later date, if someone specifically asks for one or as soon as the first printings sell out. Batman the Merciless has been my least favorite of the Dark Knights so far so I am not predicting a sell out unless someone includes Merciless in bundles with Red Death, Murder Machine, Dawnbreaker & Drowned. Seems to be an abundant supply of Merciless from the 4-5 shops I frequent.

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Wow. How very, very interesting.

I've heard of books having second printings ordered, but never arriving, the same day as the firsts. This might be an industry first.

You'd think this might just be a logistics issue. Why aren't they printing overruns?

The conspiratorial might suggest: marketing.

Very interesting.

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8 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Wow. How very, very interesting.

I've heard of books having second printings ordered, but never arriving, the same day as the firsts. This might be an industry first.

You'd think this might just be a logistics issue. Why aren't they printing overruns?

The conspiratorial might suggest: marketing.

Very interesting.

Valiant did that a few times within the last couple of years. Someone mentioned Faith. I think A&A #1 had the second print ship same day as the first. Perhaps Harbinger: Renegade as well?

Regarding the foil question, if that's not a stock that the printer normally carries, they may not have had more on hand, or obtaining the additional quantity needed may have been cost-prohibitive on a per-unit basis to make it economically worthwhile, thus the second print without.

Or it could just be marketing, as you suggest as a possibility. 

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8 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Wow. How very, very interesting.

I've heard of books having second printings ordered, but never arriving, the same day as the firsts. This might be an industry first.

You'd think this might just be a logistics issue. Why aren't they printing overruns?

The conspiratorial might suggest: marketing.

Very interesting.

DC has recently reduced their overprints (line-wide). Probably trying to save money. They have slimmer profit margins than Marvel considering they're sticking to $2.99 on their double shipped books so they have to count their pennies more carefully. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason DC solicited reprints at the same time for all of the Batman one-shots that were already past final order cutoff (FOC) was because they were trying to save money with a bigger batch order. The non-foil 2nd print probably costs DC less per copy than the foil 1st print, too.

Marvel has, for a long time, barely been doing any overprints and they're actually quicker to go to multiple printings compared to DC. 

I don't think retailers expected Metal one-shots to do quite as well as they did given event fatigue over on the Marvel side. The big event prior was Secret Empire and there are plenty of retailers complaining about the SE one-shots not selling so I'm not actually surprised if retailers underestimated demand.

From Brian Hibbs' Tilting at Windmills:

Quote

Meanwhile, on the other coast, DC continues… well, doing something with the whole “Dark Days / Metal” group of things. DC’s got a real branding mess on their hands with a really unclear focus on just exactly what most of this stuff is, and how it ties together, and just why people should care. Weeks in on the promotional wheels of all of these books, and I honestly can’t tell if there’s a good idea in the middle of this with unnecessary ideas being layered on top, or if instead the whole thing was poorly conceived from the word “go” – I still don’t really understand what “Metal” itself is? And that’s a pretty big sin for “the big fall event”?

 

DC has also announced some truly baffling stuff, like a seven issue weekly series of one-shotsthat all sound exactly like continuity-waste “Elseworlds” of “What If Batman was Green Lantern…. But Eeeeeeevil!” and “What If Batman was Flash…. But Eeeeeeevil!” and “What If Batman was Aquaman…. But Eeeeeeevil!” and….. well, let me stop you there, hoss, because I don’t see how the audience gives a darn, not at $4 a throw, not for seven of those?

 

And worse, I believe I can correctly fill in the colors from a video chat with Dan Didio on the Facebook page that because these books are all with fancy covers, they’re going to do the solicitations for them super-early, essentially ruining Final Order Cutoff for ordering the comics incompatible – we aren’t just ordering three of them essentially blind… we’re ordering all seven.

Just to give an idea of the required lead time for retailer orders, Dark Nights Metal #5 (Foil) has FOC of 11/06/17 and release date of 01/10/18. Most books with 11/06/17 FOC would be released 11/29/17. Most books released on 01/10/18 would have FOC of 12/18/17. By my estimates, FOC for Batman: The Merciless 1st print was 08/21/17 which was before Batman: Red Death was released.

Edited by aerischan
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