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Post by Trevor on Sept 30, 2015 18:53:01 GMT -5
Trying to switch to all digital, as the 50 long boxes I currently own really should be much more than the house can hold, but it's a tough process.
I still buy singles and trades much too often.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2015 19:29:07 GMT -5
I buy floppies, but since a lot of my purchases are from Image these days, I'm getting annoyed that I'm paying $2.99, $3.50, or $3.99 an issue, only to have them collect in a $9.99 trade for the 1st 5-6 issues!
so I think Image may have lost me as a floppy purchaser and I'll just trade wait for anything that looks interesting from them.
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Post by dupersuper on Sept 30, 2015 21:04:04 GMT -5
Both. For the most part I get my weekly super hero fix in floppies and my Image/Vertigo/indie type stuff in trade, but that's just the general rule.
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Post by Spike-X on Sept 30, 2015 21:11:17 GMT -5
TPBs/HCs all the way for me.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 1, 2015 5:35:54 GMT -5
Floppies for old series I collect, cheap collections (Essentials and Showcases) for old series I don't collect but am curious about, and high page-count books for any modern stuff that looks really good -Saga hardcover, Walking dead compendiums and the like.
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Post by Randle-El on Oct 1, 2015 10:27:55 GMT -5
Regarding Image floppies -- even though buying single issues is usually more expensive than collections, one thing I like about Image is that most of the creators try to provide some incentive for you to buy floppies by providing exclusive content that's not in the digital or trade versions. Of the books I read, the two best examples are Lazarus and The Fade Out (or anything put out by Brubaker and Phillips). Both have letters pages, and both include additional content that provides additional depth to the story. Lazarus usually includes information regarding the fictional world, such as timelines and profiles of the various ruling factions, while The Fade Out usually has an essay that provides historical background on various aspects of the story. It isn't a lot, but it is something, and I find that the extra content does add value. If nothing else, it takes me a lot longer to read one of their floppies than one from the Big Two that doesn't provide anything extra except for ads.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 1, 2015 11:52:50 GMT -5
I generally by single issues for stuff I know I like, or stuff I have long runs of. Classic comics that have good collections and that are out of my price range I get trades. Most non-Big 2 stuff I get in trade... mainly do to the uneven release schedules most such books have. I do make exceptions for stuff that looks really good that I want to support and make sure actually comes out.
Also, I HATE the term floppies... seems very degrogatory to me.
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Oct 1, 2015 12:18:53 GMT -5
Also, I HATE the term floppies... seems very degrogatory to me. I view it as our secret code word for an otherwise underlooked source of treasures. The more people find it degrogatory and skip them, the more I stand a chance to get them and build my secret treasure. |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Oct 1, 2015 18:12:08 GMT -5
I buy floppies, but since a lot of my purchases are from Image these days, I'm getting annoyed that I'm paying $2.99, $3.50, or $3.99 an issue, only to have them collect in a $9.99 trade for the 1st 5-6 issues! so I think Image may have lost me as a floppy purchaser and I'll just trade wait for anything that looks interesting from them. I will never buy anything from Image in floppies because of this. Like Ish, I mostly read trades from the library. In Real Life, I buy Trades and Floppies in about equal measure. My team-up, pirate comics, and early-'60s-Charlton-monster comic collections are all floppies. Plus I have hundreds of comics I fished out of the fifty cent bins. But I have a huge shelf of Marvel Masterworks. I slightly prefer trades, just because they're easier to store and display. |
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Post by Spike-X on Oct 1, 2015 19:03:23 GMT -5
Also, I HATE the term floppies... seems very degrogatory to me. Singles, then? |
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Post by berkley on Oct 2, 2015 17:00:49 GMT -5
Mostly trades, for me, for the new stuff. I'll buy the occasional single issue for something to try it out or if I just want a particular issue for the artist or something.
I don't like the colouring in the modern collections of older comics so I'll usually try to find the original issues for things from before the 80s.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 2, 2015 22:00:36 GMT -5
Also, I HATE the term floppies... seems very degrogatory to me. Singles, then? Sure.. I call them 'comics' generally  The Image thing is interesting... while I very much like their 1st trade is $9.99 (which through DCBS is usually $5.99), it does seem to beg people to trade wait...especially with their penchant for lateness. I mean, you're talking over twice as much for the comics than the trade.. that's really kinda crazy... I wonder if at some point they'll just make everything graphic novels. |
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Post by Randle-El on Oct 2, 2015 22:18:45 GMT -5
Sure.. I call them 'comics' generally The Image thing is interesting... while I very much like their 1st trade is $9.99 (which through DCBS is usually $5.99), it does seem to beg people to trade wait...especially with their penchant for lateness. I mean, you're talking over twice as much for the comics than the trade.. that's really kinda crazy... I wonder if at some point they'll just make everything graphic novels. I doubt they would do that, unless an individual creator preferred to release their stories as longer form graphic novels instead of monthly issues -- which, in theory would be conceivable since Image is all about giving creators the freedom to do what they want. But I'm assuming payouts for their creator-owned series are tied to the monthly cycle, so unless a creator had another form of regular income (or they had enough money saved up to last them six months or so between releases), graphic novels would basically mean they are getting paid only a couple of times a year. That might work for a writer, who can support himself with other monthly series work, but I doubt that would be feasible for an artist. Image only does the lower priced trade for the first volume. After that, it's the regular price. So I don't think that it necessarily encourages people to trade wait, since the later volumes, while cheaper, are closer in price to buying single issues (and as I pointed out earlier, lack the backmatter content that many titles are including these days). I think it's designed more to lower the barrier to entry for people who want to jump on to a series that's already started. Image titles tend to generate a lot of buzz (and speculation) in the early issues, and sometimes that makes it hard for someone to try out or jump on to a series a couple of issues in if prices for #1 and #2 are going through the roof. Also, unlike Marvel and DC, Image titles don't really do relaunches or reboots, and they usually have a built-in end point, so making the first trade inexpensive encourages people to try out a new series and stay on for the rest. I think it's actually a pretty smart business strategy. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2015 22:46:52 GMT -5
Sure.. I call them 'comics' generally The Image thing is interesting... while I very much like their 1st trade is $9.99 (which through DCBS is usually $5.99), it does seem to beg people to trade wait...especially with their penchant for lateness. I mean, you're talking over twice as much for the comics than the trade.. that's really kinda crazy... I wonder if at some point they'll just make everything graphic novels. It's trade wait for 6 months while those 6 issues come out, a low cost intro/starter volume for all the years it remains in print after that, and later volumes are back to the normal $14.99. Short term ,yeah it may limit some sales of the first 6 issues, long term it will bring a lot more volume of readers to the entire series over the course of several years.Books like Saga are still bringing in new readers with the $9.99 first volume. Short term thinking says oh this is bad because of trade waiters, long term thinking thinks the is is good because it will keep bringing in new readers long after the shelf life of issues 1-6 has expired in the shops. If it brings people into the series, and they then go on to buy volumes 2, 3, and then current issues, it functions as a loss leader does (without actually losing any money in the deal) and the long term growth potential far outweighs any short term floppy sales reduction. -M |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2015 22:50:02 GMT -5
Sure.. I call them 'comics' generally The Image thing is interesting... while I very much like their 1st trade is $9.99 (which through DCBS is usually $5.99), it does seem to beg people to trade wait...especially with their penchant for lateness. I mean, you're talking over twice as much for the comics than the trade.. that's really kinda crazy... I wonder if at some point they'll just make everything graphic novels. I doubt they would do that, unless an individual creator preferred to release their stories as longer form graphic novels instead of monthly issues -- which, in theory would be conceivable since Image is all about giving creators the freedom to do what they want. But I'm assuming payouts for their creator-owned series are tied to the monthly cycle, so unless a creator had another form of regular income (or they had enough money saved up to last them six months or so between releases), graphic novels would basically mean they are getting paid only a couple of times a year. That might work for a writer, who can support himself with other monthly series work, but I doubt that would be feasible for an artist. Image only does the lower priced trade for the first volume. After that, it's the regular price. So I don't think that it necessarily encourages people to trade wait, since the later volumes, while cheaper, are closer in price to buying single issues (and as I pointed out earlier, lack the backmatter content that many titles are including these days). I think it's designed more to lower the barrier to entry for people who want to jump on to a series that's already started. Image titles tend to generate a lot of buzz (and speculation) in the early issues, and sometimes that makes it hard for someone to try out or jump on to a series a couple of issues in if prices for #1 and #2 are going through the roof. Also, unlike Marvel and DC, Image titles don't really do relaunches or reboots, and they usually have a built-in end point, so making the first trade inexpensive encourages people to try out a new series and stay on for the rest. I think it's actually a pretty smart business strategy. If you read Justin Jordan's comment son the $9.99 price point, he does a pretty good cost-benefit analysis, but he also points out Image pays creators their royalties from sales only twice a year. So their is no monthly cycle of payment even on the monthly comics. -M |
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