Looking at the latest Marvel solicits I notice that more than half of the regular comics are now $3.99 a 25% increase from the usual $2.99. Are we getting
anymore pages of comic art for this increase or is this just the inevitable next price point?
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$3.99
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 HighlandRay |
$3.99 |
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Posts: 3930 (11/19/08 9:17 AM) Registered Member |
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NewWorldKam |
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Posts: 450 (11/19/08 9:22 AM) |
Remember when cover prices used to increase by 5 cents? 10 cents? 25 cents? Boy, I miss those days!
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ElectricPeterTork |
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Posts: 254 (11/19/08 9:23 AM) |
I think it's just the wave of the future, and the thing that makes me happy I buy mostly trades.
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SamyMerchi |
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Posts: 11611 (11/19/08 10:16 AM) Golden Age |
You think trade prices won't go up by the same amount?
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ElectricPeterTork |
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Posts: 255 (11/19/08 10:23 AM) |
Well, it's already kind of started. The MPEs have went from being mostly $19.99 to $24.99. But, in my perception, I'd rather have one $24.99 collection
between hard covers than 6 flimsy issues for the same price.
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forgerelli |
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Posts: 163 (11/19/08 10:39 AM) |
I must have read 100 different articles on why more people don't collect comic books. Theories range from competition from other other forms of media like
video games and TV to the lack of books aimed at children. Put all those other things together and triple it and they still don't drive away as many new
readers as a $4 price tag on a 22 page decompressed, finished in 15 minute comic book.
Increasing prices by 33% on a luxury item like comic books in this economy is very troubling. You can take all the other complaints about the comic industry and throw them in the garbage. This is the #1 problem facing the industry. People are just not going to pay that much for a comic book. And I'm one of them. Scott F |
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DavidTai |
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Posts: 5992 (11/19/08 10:48 AM) Forum Moderator |
This is just going to turn into a frustrating cycle of 'drop books because price goes up, company raises price on books because less people are buying
them', it feels like.
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Brother Eye  is watching. -------------- |
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Urban |
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Posts: 1437 (11/19/08 10:48 AM) Golden Age |
HighlandRay wrote: Was wondering when someone was going to mention it. +33.5% approx? Its the next price piont and most of the present extra filler is fluff. Lets see what hits worse for comic buyers in the UK, exchange rate or increase in cover price. |
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kevin75 |
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Posts: 1755 (11/19/08 11:27 AM) |
while i can see the need for a price increase, it sure does seem to me that marvel has no clue as to what it's doing when it comes to pricing lately. look
at the secret wars omnibus ($100) vs. the inferno hc ($75). the inferno book has substantially more pages for $25 less. or even the cloak and dagger premiere
vs. the guardians of the galaxy premiere in the latest solicits. same price for both but a 60+ page difference. huh?
"There are just some things you can't compromise on. Some things you can. A new suit...yeah. Dream house...maybe. But the girl...you can't
compromise on the girl."
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SamyMerchi |
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Posts: 11612 (11/19/08 11:31 AM) Golden Age |
"This is just going to turn into a frustrating cycle of 'drop books because price goes up, company raises price on books because less people are
buying them',"
Dude, what do you mean "turn into"? That's how it's worked for the past 40 years. |
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jhalbright |
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Posts: 3777 (11/19/08 12:19 PM) Golden Age |
I first noticed the increase in the amount of 3.99 comics last week when I was in my LCS. I was ringing a customer up (I sometimes help out when I'm there)
and the guy had a stack of 10-15 comics - all new, all released in the past two weeks. They were all 3.99.
WTF? I'm used to some of the indy books being 3.50 or 3.99, but not the Marvel and DCs. And it didn't seem like they were all Specials or oversized either. Methinks that this price jump (when DC follows) will be the impetus for me culling my pull list even further. (I can easily see 7 titles that I can drop without a second thought.)
Pull List:
DC: Action Comics, All Star Batman, Batman, Booster Gold, Final Crisis, Green Lantern, Jonah Hex, JSA, Spirit, Superman Vertigo: Fables, House of Mystery, Jack of Fables, Madame Xanadu, Scalped, Unknown Soldier Indy: Buffy, Lone Ranger, Madman, Zorro Kids: Billy Batson, Tiny Titans The bold are the best of the best. |
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Monsty |
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Posts: 943 (11/19/08 1:00 PM) Registered Member |
That stinks, but I can understand why they have to do this (cost of paper, salaries, transportation etc. have all gone up in the last year). However, it will
be hard for me to justify buying a funnybook when it hits $5.00. I love monthlies and they definatly provide a fix that is different from trades, but maybe
they should go straight to making 100-200 page graphic novels of new material rather than making the monthly floppies.
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mcmaenza |
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Posts: 3461 (11/19/08 1:26 PM) Registered Member |
$3.99 as a regular price will push me out of the hobby even more. I'm already cutting back to about 10 on-going monthly series at the most. Yes, I do get
some mini's in there as well, but I will seriously be considering the impacts on the bottom line to my collecting habits.
I feel the days of only getting Essentials and Showcases are coming a lot sooner than I thought. Then again, I've been collecting comics for almost 35 years now so maybe it is time to call it quits.
---
View my blog at mcmaenza.blogspot.com/ |
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Monsty |
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Posts: 944 (11/19/08 1:29 PM) Registered Member |
Are you crazy? Don't quit...we are the last generation of comic collector/spinner rack kids. Hold tight man!
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sterlling |
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Posts: 3722 (11/19/08 1:36 PM) |
QUOTE: "Are you crazy? Don't quit...we are the last generation of comic collector/spinner rack kids. Hold tight man! "
= 
 ...The Pick!
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Blastaar |
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Posts: 861 (11/19/08 3:47 PM) Registered Member |
Monsty wrote: You can also add probably the biggest factor in increased prices - Torrent sites. -Tarik |
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GammaJosh |
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Posts: 300 (11/19/08 3:53 PM) |
This won't affect my decision to keep up with core titles like ASM, Avengers, Hulk, etc., but it will make me less likely to try out new series,
mini-series, one-shots, etc. Personally I'd like to see Marvel find ways to cut costs, maybe cheaper paper or more advertising, rather than raising
prices by 33%. I wonder how badly this will affect LCS's bottom-lines?
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Raro |
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Posts: 1067 (11/19/08 3:58 PM) Registered Member |
More advertising ? I think that there are to many ads already, sometimes you can't find the actual comic pages, at this high rate of ads the price should
be lower. 2.99 $ for a single issue is my absolute limit, I am not going to pay 3.99 $ for 20 pages. For around 10,50 $ I can buy a Doctor Who DVD with many
additional features giving me at least three hours of fun, a standard Marvel Comic lasts about 6 to 8 minutes, maybe 10 if Lenil Yu is the artist because it
takes longer to figure out what the art on the pages displays.
Last Edited By: Raro
11/19/08 4:07 PM.
Edited 2 times.
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hellboy789 |
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Posts: 15 (11/19/08 5:33 PM) |
$3.99 just seems ridiculous to me also. I'd definitely cut back even more, and probably mostly buy HCs and TPBs (except for Fantastic Four which I've
been getting every month for over 25 years!).
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NewWorldKam |
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Posts: 451 (11/19/08 6:32 PM) |
This is one "spinner rack kid" that is officially done. Life has become too expensive to keep absorbing the large price increases of new comics,
especially with virtually everything showing up in collected form now.
For me, it's now Marvel Masterworks HC's, selected Omniboo, selected Marvel Classic/DC TPB's for older material, and 100% of any new comics of interest will be bought in TPB form. Even though I have every issue of Fantastic Four from #52 to present, I will now just stack the new TPB's behind them as they come out. I was wondering what would be the final nail in the coffin and now I know... $3.99 plus a world-wide recession. |
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comix750 |
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Posts: 1285 (11/19/08 6:44 PM) |
price for me is the only reason i don't buy new floppies. Sure, I buy a few here and there, maybe like 5 a month. But there's really no point me
wasting gas driving to an LCS and buying a bunch of comics- even if they are gooduns- that i could get for 1/2 off or more as a trade/HC online.
and the ads. the ads suck. my transition to HC's only is now almost complete. |
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