Kids hate comic stores 1 1

[FSF]

3 hours ago, FineCollector said:

I strongly disagree with this point.  You're more likely to buy something after touching it, that's an established sales principle.  Comics have to be out in the selling area, or they mostly won't move.  We all may have more refined tastes now, but when you were starting out, how many comics did you buy just because they looked cool?  Even now, flipping through a box will tempt me to buy comics I wasn't looking for, or even aware of, especially when they're discounted.  Go back to when you were a novice collector, never having seen many books before, and tell me you knew exactly what to ask for, compared to what you've since collected, or are collecting today.

Keys, Amazing Spider-Man, Batman, Deadpool, and movie-of-the-month books don't need help selling, but that'll be a minute portion of anyone's sell stock.  If I need a dozen issues of Incredible Hulk between 200-300, do you think I'm going to make you pull two long boxes off a shelf in the back, and drag them up front, or bother you to pull the singles out?  Unless the clerk looks young AND fresh AND bored, I'm probably not going to make you do all that work for what might end up a $10-20 transaction.

Couldn't agree more.  There's a TON of impulse buying when looking through comic boxes.

 

[cosmic_surfer]

I brought my 9, 14, and 15 yr olds in our LCS multiple times and they didn’t enjoy it. They all like reading; but not comics. There’s a big push in schools to get kids reading chapter books instead and those are exactly what’s in their shelves. Also, I have a feeling they see comics books are for lame dads  

[kav]

20 minutes ago, cosmic_surfer said:

I brought my 9, 14, and 15 yr olds in our LCS multiple times and they didn’t enjoy it. They all like reading; but not comics. There’s a big push in schools to get kids reading chapter books instead and those are exactly what’s in their shelves. Also, I have a feeling they see comics books are for lame dads  

Buy em some SA superman stories.  Back when comics were interesting to kids.  Modern carp a super turn off.  

[tv horror]

3 hours ago, FSF said:

Couldn't agree more.  There's a TON of impulse buying when looking through comic boxes.

You WILL buy comics!

 

[the blob]

My kids are ok in comic shops, but not happy when I point them to the dollar box for their purchase options rather than the full retail toys, comics, trades, and graphic novels they want me to buy. I sum, they have no concept of a bargain hunt or stretching your dollar. 35 years ago I went into a comic shop with $1 and had to stretch it as far as I could. Now they go in with me, daddy credit card.

Edited October 14, 2018 by the blob

[the blob]

16 hours ago, kav said:

Buy em some SA superman stories.  Back when comics were interesting to kids.  Modern carp a super turn off.  

 

17 hours ago, cosmic_surfer said:

I brought my 9, 14, and 15 yr olds in our LCS multiple times and they didn’t enjoy it. They all like reading; but not comics. There’s a big push in schools to get kids reading chapter books instead and those are exactly what’s in their shelves. Also, I have a feeling they see comics books are for lame dads  

Captain underpants, wimpy kid, dog man.. I guess your kids are old for these. My just turned 7 year old is obsessed with these.

[Scrooge]

11 hours ago, the blob said:

Captain underpants, wimpy kid, dog man.. I guess your kids are old for these. My just turned 7 year old is obsessed with these.

Yup. Add Amulet and the reimagined Babysitter's club and many other young readers graphic novels / comic albums and the market is there but it's hijacked "traditional" comics publishers so if they are interested in comics, they are not interested in those a traditional LCS would stock.

Amulet # 8 just came out and so did Babysitter's club # 6 and they top the children's front list in PW. Here's the list for the most recent week -

# 1 - Dog Man # 5 @ $9.99 - 1 week's worth of sale - 35,000 copies

# 4 - Amulet # 8 @ $12.99 - 25,000 copies

# 5 - Dog Man # 4 - 8,000

# 9 - Babysitter's Club # 6 - 5,000

# 14 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid # 12 4,000

Edited October 15, 2018 by Scrooge

[Scrooge]

FWIW, I went back in time through back issue of PW to check how much Dog Man # 5 did in its first week. It came out in August. First week: 136,000 units. Second week: 65,000 units. Third week: 51,000 units. Fourth week: 44,000 units. The ranking above with 35,000 was its 5th week. In a matter of slightly over a month, it's 331,000 units, not counting the bump in early volumes in the series leading up to and concurrent with the new release.

[kav]

16 minutes ago, Scrooge said:

Yup. Add Amulet and the reimagined Babysitter's club and many other young readers graphic novels / comic albums and the market is there but it's hijacked "traditional" comics publishers so if they are interested in comics, they are not interested in those a traditional LCS would stock.

Amulet # 8 just came out and so did Babysitter's club # 6 and they top the children's front list in PW. Here's the list for the most recent week -

# 1 - Dog Man # 5 @ $9.99 - 1 week's worth of sale - 35,000 copies

# 4 - Amulet # 8 @ $12.99 - 25,000 copies

# 5 - Dog Man # 4 - 8,000

# 9 - Babysitter's Club # 6 - 5,000

# 14 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid # 12 4,000

Babysitter club is great-I read em myself.  as well as her book Smile.

[zeeto]

My 6 year old daughter really became interested in comics when she saw her favorite character Chewbacca on one. At this point though, she enjoys going to only certain comic shops and it's pretty much the ones where she can look through the bins. They really aren't any fun for her when she has to have me look through everything for her. We went to a local show/con this past weekend where a couple of vendors had books lower, one with a "kiddie" box under the table, and she looked through the boxes for a couple hours.