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Post by The Doctor on Dec 23, 2008 17:08:55 GMT
Yeah, my enthusiasm for good comics remains undimished. Just getting them via a different route though (trades). I still pick up Titan's TFA and TF Movie comics at newsstands though. It would sadden me if I bought no actual comics rather than only in collected editions in book format.
I don't miss picking up US direct market single issues though.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 17, 2009 14:55:10 GMT
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Post by blueshift on Feb 17, 2009 15:59:32 GMT
Oh for Christ's sake. There's struggling to continue to turn a profit in an increasingly difficult financial system, and there is being bloody greedy...
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 17, 2009 16:49:20 GMT
Remember when comics were cheap disposable entertainment? Those crazy days when they were cheaper than novels/cinema tickets/bowling/sausages?
-Ralph
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Nigel
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
Posts: 5,098
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Post by Nigel on Feb 17, 2009 18:01:36 GMT
I spoke to a Diamond rep at Toy Fair. As a couple of my suppliers went out of business last year, I'd been looking at opening a Diamond account, mainly for toys and collectables, but also for graphic novels. I decided to leave them for the time being as I've got enough other existing/planned suppliers and products to be getting on with that I don't especially need Diamond as well at the moment. Now I'm glad I took that decision. I already know of two other sources for graphic novels if I do want to start selling them, albeit without the range of Diamond, of course.
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Post by legios on Feb 17, 2009 20:52:14 GMT
Good grief. A further price increase from Diamond is just approaching absurdity. I remember the days when comics had a reasonable price-to-content ratio.... When $19.99 trades are costed at £16 it puts them in the kind of ball-park as 600page novels. So really I'm not going to be buying many trades at that kind of price point, because they are going to be extremely densely written to justify it. The only place I am likely to be buying them is from on-line sources with deep discounts. Diamond's pricing policies are likely to actively drive people away from buying trades at comics shops at a time when a lot of people are already switching away from single issues.
I can see this taking quite a few shops to the wall in honesty.
Karl
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Post by Philip Ayres on Feb 18, 2009 23:07:08 GMT
Has the price of trades increased at a rate greater than the price of floppies ?
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 19, 2009 11:33:31 GMT
I think so. Trades that shops sold for £16.99 before Christmas now go for £22.99! Masterworks/Omnibus volumes are up by a tenner!
I've also noticed big hikes in amazon prices too. For example, the Transformers War Within Omnibus went up from £8-ish to £12-ish. Add on postage and many trades are not much cheaper than if I jump on a train to FPG.
Either way, I'll be buying significantly less comics (in any format) now. They're just too expensive for what you get.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Feb 19, 2009 17:27:11 GMT
I suspect my consumption of colour trades - outside of the Cap/Iron Fist/Daredevil - will go down unless there's a really impressive volume of older work released (like the recent Avengers one)
The thing I don't plan on cutting down on is Essentials. Oh yeah.
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 8, 2009 17:39:41 GMT
I wonder if Amazon UK order some of their trades through Diamond. I have noticed a sizeable jump in prices there since the turn of the year. The Secret Wars Omnibus is £10 more than it was, quite a few trades have jumped from £8 to £12, etc.
Novels seem to be priced as before though.
-Ralph
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Post by Jaymz on Mar 18, 2009 11:14:29 GMT
Fuck me, they're doing it again!
From Monday 30th March Diamond UK are again increasing prices, just got the e-mail from them. An extra 20p+ per comic. Trades:
$7.99 - £6.99
$9.99 - £8.50
$12.99 - £10.99
$14.99 - £12.99
$19.99 - £16.99
$24.99 - £20.99
Say goodbye to your local comic shop!
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 18, 2009 11:17:49 GMT
Fucking hell.
Thank you Diamond.
Utter twats.
Andy
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Post by blueshift on Mar 18, 2009 11:22:58 GMT
Haha what the hell. Are they increasing prices every month now?
Anyone fancy setting up a rival distribution business? :v
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 18, 2009 11:24:38 GMT
I just did a double take there.
That's unbelievable. The third increase in as many months. In a recession.
Shops are going to go the wall. What was a fun cheap hobby now becomes ludicrously expensive. This makes me sad.
Diamond: fuck off.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 18, 2009 11:28:51 GMT
I just can't fathom their business plan at all.
Fucking idiots.
Andy
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Post by blueshift on Mar 18, 2009 11:31:52 GMT
Well I kinda can.
1 - Comic buyers are obsessive-compulsive
2 - The market does not gain casual readers so low prices will not get casual buyers
3 - HO HO HO MONOPOLY ON THE INDUSTRY
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 18, 2009 11:34:25 GMT
Thing is though, if they keep it up shops go out of business so Diamond get less orders so make less money and so on.
It's a head scratcher.
-Ralph
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Post by Jaymz on Mar 18, 2009 11:38:57 GMT
Many shops have gone out of business oweing Diamond UK money, so they're in the shit too at the moment.
I think Diamond US just want to be rid of Diamond UK, doing this is an easy way to shut them down.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 18, 2009 11:39:08 GMT
There is a breaking point and given the fact that Panini/Titan have reprint rights, there will get to a point where people will go and pick up their collectors editions given that they print three comics an issue with a nice cardstock cover.
I know that the demise of Woolworths did do some damage to UK sales of comics/magazines but Diamond UK's continued moves coudl potentially play into their hands.
Hopefully given Diamond UK and their US parent companies current policy moves we will see more distribution ventures launching up and their monopoly will be broken over the next few years. Especially given Diamond head honchos Steve Geppi's current financial problems.
Andy
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Post by blueshift on Mar 18, 2009 11:43:36 GMT
It also threatens the indis / new titles a lot because people will be far less willing to pick up new things, leading to a shrinking of the market.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 18, 2009 11:44:57 GMT
I can see a lot more POD and companies circumventing Diamond in order to get their product out there.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 18, 2009 11:55:27 GMT
The only good I can see from this is the death of heavily decompressed/low content comics. I don't see folk tolerating these as much when comics cost as much as novels. Yes, really. Look at the supermarket charts (where many causual readers pick up books). You can pick up novel for £3-4, which give you a few hours of entertainment. Or go to a comic shop and spend the same on a decompressed comic with 5 mins or less of reading.
Decompressed comics make bad trades too. Who will pay a tenner or more for a book with 15 mins reading?
-Ralph
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Post by blueshift on Mar 18, 2009 12:05:32 GMT
The only good I can see from this is the death of heavily decompressed/low content comics. I don't see folk tolerating these as much when comics cost as much as novels. Yes, really. Look at the supermarket charts (where many causual readers pick up books). You can pick up novel for �3-4, which give you a few hours of entertainment. Or go to a comic shop and spend the same on a decompressed comic with 5 mins or less of reading. Decompressed comics make bad trades too. Who will pay a tenner or more for a book with 15 mins reading? -Ralph Well, decompression isn't /always/ bad. Take Ellis' The Authority for example. That was brill but very decompressed. Just now it seems to be shorthand for lazy |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 18, 2009 12:07:00 GMT
Oh decompression done well is good, but the problem is that so few writers are able to do a good job of it.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 18, 2009 12:18:19 GMT
Ellis' Authority and some issues of Planetary use decompression well as the comics still had a lot of reading in them because the way words were used with pictures made you slow down and pay attention even though less words were on page compared to typical comics of the time. Where decompression is bad is when very little happens. An example is when conversations/scenes are stretched beyond a natural length. Or when comics are paced like cartoons/live action: an entirely different medium!
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 18, 2009 12:20:58 GMT
I'd have to say that the most enjoyable comics for me in recent years have been fairly dense efforts, the Annihilation Conquest: Starlord mini, Fell by Ellis and the Spotlight: Sideswipe issue by Furman. Packed to the panels with story.
Contrast with things like Secret Invasion, which plodded and padded along stretched out to yawn inducing limits.
Andy
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Post by chrismcfeely on Mar 20, 2009 2:06:00 GMT
So, hey, lads, uh, bit of bad news...
...wholesale price is going up AGAIN, week after next.
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Post by legios on Mar 20, 2009 7:18:13 GMT
So, hey, lads, uh, bit of bad news... ...wholesale price is going up AGAIN, week after next. Doesn't really affect me in many ways. They have already priced me pretty much out of buying single issues already. What it may do is provide a further impetus towards the development of digital comics. That and give comic shops another kick in the stomach. Karl |
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primenova
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
Posts: 6,057
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Post by primenova on Mar 20, 2009 8:09:13 GMT
I think this is the email most places got
processing e-mails when we got one from DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS headed PRICE INCREASE...here is body of the e-mail
"We are taking this opportunity to announce increases in the prices of comic and book products sold by Diamond Comic Distributors. These new
prices will take effect from Monday 30th March 2009.
We regret the need to increase prices once more. However, as you will no doubt be aware, the exchange rate between the pound and US dollar has
continued to deteriorate since the last price change in December.
Please find below examples of the new price tables for comics and books.
The new prices will be introduced on Monday 30th March for US products not yet published, products in stock and products available to order from the publishers.
The prices of toys, models and novelties may be increased from forthcoming Previews order forms. There will be no immediate increase in prices of toys & novelties currently in stock at Diamond UK.
We will continue to monitor exchange rates and of course advise you of any subsequent price changes at the earliest opportunity.
Meanwhile, if you have any queries concerning the details that are attached please do not hesitate to contact me, or your Customer Services
Representative.
With best wishes
John Hitchen
General Manager
Diamond Comic Distributors
So prices are about £2 instead of £1.80 now.
ps - remember that Diamond charge UK shops for the free comic book days comics - postage while in the us they get them free post.
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Dave
Empty
Posts: 1,811
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Post by Dave on Mar 20, 2009 11:11:05 GMT
I've almost given up buying single issues after the last increase. This is probably it for me.
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