Back Issue Bins: A Thing Of The Past?

[PhotoJones]

That's a very valid point...and comics DO seem to be on an upswing lately, in regards to sales.

you can thank marvel comics and the press coverage civil war got for that.

 

[Dread]

Interesting question in the wake of CD collections (and perhaps to some extend the thriving TPB market; ESSENTIALS, all arcs instantly getting a trade, something that wasn't a given back in 1997, when trades were more rare and limited to very exclusive "events" like BLACK COSTUME SAGA and so on). However, at least for the near future I don't see back issue bins totally being abandoned from the marketplace.

1). Overorders: Stores will always overorder some books and so thus they'll need to put them somewhere.

2). Insurance rarely covers burnt books: Many stores already have some sort of back issue box section and they're not about to dump them into a lake anytime soon.

3). Value: While a CD can house 300-400+ issues, an individual back issue can be worth money unto itself. You also never know when some obscure character will become "hot" and suddenly his back issues will fly in value (Warpath's first appearences have doubled in value since he started showing up in Brubaker's UXM, for instance), or if some writer/artist becomes hot or even dies, those books also rise in value. While fans aren't as "investment crazy" as they were before 1994, back issues still have some value. CGC in a way has ensured that lone old issues can be graded and sold, even if it has also driven up prices for collectors.

4). All or Nothing: Many collectors many not need 400+ copies to a run, they may only want to track down a handful of issues.

5). Availability: There are only a handful of CD collections and most stores I have seen in NY are lucky if they have one in stock of any one collection.

6). Price: This many sound wonky, but if you want a handful of back issues for maybe $30 total, and the CD rom costs like $40, which are you picking? Remember, if fans valued overall price vs. short term convience, monthlies wouldn't sell anymore because we'd all have switched to cheaper, ad-free trades. That hasn't happened.

7). Nostalgia & Niche: the comic market is a small market and nostalgia can play a big role in keeping things "old school" for us longer than in over markets (like electronics). Remember, Marvel as a whole brings in under half a billion in sales. That is CHUMP CHANGE for major companies. Plus, the companies are run by fans far older than many of us.

 

[Joker]

As some of you may be aware, certain comic book collections' entire runs have now been collected onto cd-Rom...Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Uncanny X-Men. It's come to my attention that more are on the way (Hulk, Ghost Rider), leading me to believe that this has been a successful venture. Heck, pre-dating these collections, one of our fellow posters, Donald Thomas, had put together an online Spider-Man "library" that has proved very successful with fans.

As a long time collector, i have enjoyed back issue bin "browsing" for years. Every Thanksgiving week-end, a local comic shop in my area, Dave's Comics, has a huge blow-out sale, with comics (including Silver Age) up to 50% off. ( i scored a very good conditioned copy of ASM annual #1 this past year. )...

I have a huge collection of Spider-Man & Fantastic Four comics, and was already planning an assault on THIS year's sale for The Incredible Hulk, but now seeing that the entire run is going to be available next month for fifty bucks, i find myself seriously considering just buying THAT, instead...

I also enjoy collecting figures and statues (Spidey & FF of course), the plan being to leave a nice collection for my daughter (and hopefully one day grand children), but i actually found myself considering selling all my comics off in favor of the cd-rom collections, to make more room for my ever growing figure and statue collections...
Perhaps just hanging on to a few of the more expensive, "key issues", for nostalgia...i mean, my 13 year old is becoming less and less interested in comics, but LOVES everything computer related anyway...one can only imagine HER children looking at comic books the same way I look at pictures of a covered wagon; (They're cool, but i'd prefer riding in my shiny new car instead... )

Questions For Discussion:

1) As a fan, are you at all presently interested in purchasing these cd-Rom collections?

2) Would you consider replacing your collection with them some time in the near future?

3) In your opinion, will comics one day go the way of the dinosaur, or will they somehow endure in their present incarnation?

Discuss.

1. Yes, yes I am.

2. No, I love single issues. Reading them on the computer just isnt the same as having the actual issue in your hands.

3. Yes. All comics will be distributed digitaly, and if you want a hard copy, you just print it out via your Documentizer 8000

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

As some of you may be aware, certain comic book collections' entire runs have now been collected onto cd-Rom...Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Uncanny X-Men. It's come to my attention that more are on the way (Hulk, Ghost Rider), leading me to believe that this has been a successful venture. Heck, pre-dating these collections, one of our fellow posters, Donald Thomas, had put together an online Spider-Man "library" that has proved very successful with fans.

As a long time collector, i have enjoyed back issue bin "browsing" for years. Every Thanksgiving week-end, a local comic shop in my area, Dave's Comics, has a huge blow-out sale, with comics (including Silver Age) up to 50% off. ( i scored a very good conditioned copy of ASM annual #1 this past year. )...

I have a huge collection of Spider-Man & Fantastic Four comics, and was already planning an assault on THIS year's sale for The Incredible Hulk, but now seeing that the entire run is going to be available next month for fifty bucks, i find myself seriously considering just buying THAT, instead...

I also enjoy collecting figures and statues (Spidey & FF of course), the plan being to leave a nice collection for my daughter (and hopefully one day grand children), but i actually found myself considering selling all my comics off in favor of the cd-rom collections, to make more room for my ever growing figure and statue collections...
Perhaps just hanging on to a few of the more expensive, "key issues", for nostalgia...i mean, my 13 year old is becoming less and less interested in comics, but LOVES everything computer related anyway...one can only imagine HER children looking at comic books the same way I look at pictures of a covered wagon; (They're cool, but i'd prefer riding in my shiny new car instead... )

Questions For Discussion:

1) As a fan, are you at all presently interested in purchasing these cd-Rom collections?

2) Would you consider replacing your collection with them some time in the near future?

3) In your opinion, will comics one day go the way of the dinosaur, or will they somehow endure in their present incarnation?

Discuss.

The same topic has been brought up in my own forum.There is no doubt that digitial formats will replace paper.But for me..paper is my choice,i like to read comics in my hands.Not on a screen.

Well Captain,in order to get Silver Age Comics.You must have a quite impressive collection.Personally,if comics do stop being on paper..i can imagine book collections becomming more valueable..because of nolstalgia.

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

Does this really have to happen?Will this become the next venture in which comics are presented to the masses?If comics are like this..then there will sure be a way of piracy.Like illegal distribution.Not like paper comics.

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

But it also brings up a good point.Will comics be of any value,if they come out on this format?Perhaps cheaper,since some parts of printing will eventually stop.Will comic readers as a whole accept this change?Or will such a decision fall to the next generation?

 

[Killswitch]

I really enjoy the Marvel Essentials series, but it's clear the CDs are the medium of the future --- full colour, complete archives, always in order, etc. (I always fear the CDs being scratched though....)

Why can't Marvel have some kind of online PDF purchasing system? It would be like itunes. "Explore 40 years of the Marvel Universe, with these rich scans..$0.99 each for back issues....$3.99 for current..."

 

[Darthphere]

I prefer cbr over PDF, its so much easier.

 

[PhotoJones]

I really enjoy the Marvel Essentials series, but it's clear the CDs are the medium of the future --- full colour, complete archives, always in order, etc. (I always fear the CDs being scratched though....)

Why can't Marvel have some kind of online PDF purchasing system? It would be like itunes. "Explore 40 years of the Marvel Universe, with these rich scans..$0.99 each for back issues....$3.99 for current..."

i think that's what's coming. quesada's planning something.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

The same topic has been brought up in my own forum.There is no doubt that digitial formats will replace paper.But for me..paper is my choice,i like to read comics in my hands.Not on a screen.

Well Captain,in order to get Silver Age Comics.You must have a quite impressive collection

It's not bad. But as i said; i mainly look for sales or good deals on ebay. Keep in mind, im raising a family and dont have a ton of money to throw away on my hobby.

 

[Darthphere]

It's not bad. But as i said; i mainly look for sales or good deals on ebay. Keep in mind, im raising a family and dont have a ton of money to throw away on my hobby.

Have you looked into selling your family for extra cash?

 

[Joker]

Does this really have to happen?Will this become the next venture in which comics are presented to the masses?If comics are like this..then there will sure be a way of piracy.Like illegal distribution.Not like paper comics.

you can already get illegal comic books of current and back issues online...

 

[TheCaptain22555]

Cd-rom comics were out when I was like 8 (I'm 20 now) and I thought they were dumb then. No point for them IMO, and besides I'm sure one day I'll get a bit weary of comics (although I love drawing the characters) and will probably hold on to them just to give them to my future child/children. Teaching kids how to read by flipping through Spider-Man and Superman books? That's awesome. As far as the bins I think it depends where you go as the smaller places I've been to don't really have a bunch of bins. The bigger places tend to have a seemingly endless amount of back issue comics.

 

[UK_Stu]

Well, as a comic book reader i say there's nothing like sitting in bed or in a comfy chair with a stack of comics and reading. I can't do that with my computer.
Now I might like to get a CD collection in order to get early issues that I couldn't possibly afford nowadays--like the first 20 to 30 issues of FF or Avengers. But for me, it wouldn't replace the comic books I already own.

This pretty much sums up my feelings. I had an afternoon off work just last week - stuck some of my favourite tunes on the sound system, grabbed a large cup of tea and then sat an read a run of 30 or so FF comics - ir was great, simply couldn't have done the same thing with the CD-ROM comics.

I would consider the CD ROMS to use as reference tools, but don't intend to buy them, unless back issues become really hard to find.

On a related note, I am finding I am buying less back issues these days - mainly for space reasons - and buying more TPBs.

 

[Ahura Mazda]

I bought the x-men one and the F4 one. Surprisingly, I was not allowed to buy the ASM one

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

I bought the x-men one and the F4 one. Surprisingly, I was not allowed to buy the ASM one

Really? Why not?

 

[Mr. Green]

1) As a fan, are you at all presently interested in purchasing these cd-Rom collections?

I wouldn't mind getting entire runs on cd-rom just because of the convenience. On the other hand, I really don't care about reading old comics.

All the stuff from the silver and bronze ages is just not that great (IMO). The writer constantly reinforces what the artist is drawing with an over-abundance of thought and speach bubbles. (ie: Spidey dodging an attack accompanied with a thought bubble saying "I am dodging his attack!") A lot of the stories just aren't that great compared to a lot of the stuff out now (again, IMO) so I think I'll just save my cash and get what I like.