I'm relatively new to comic book collecting, having started about seven months ago. However, when I share my collection in groups, I often receive criticism rather than appreciation. Many blame industry changes for declining readership, but I believe we should embrace newcomers and their enthusiasm instead of passing judgment.
Of course it's a business and all buyers are welcome but for long -term survival of the industry we need people who read every issue. As you know every issue is not a key issue. Someone people are only waiting to buy the key issues. It makes it hard for the industry to survive. When key issue buyers come into the market and readers are not able to ascertain the parts of their story due to hoarding of issues, it's difficult to maintain the readers. It's not a snobbery issue It's a long-term business outlook. Thank you for joining the conversation and welcome aboard.
@@HavenForHeroes Thank you for the warm welcome and helpful guidance. I’m still learning, and your videos have been invaluable as I dive into my new hobby. Recently, in a Facebook group discussion, someone portrayed the community negatively, claiming everyone flips issues for profit. Despite my seven months of collecting, I haven’t seen this at my local store. Our exchange became tense, with the other person dismissing my perspective due to their longer experience. As a 47-year-old newcomer, it’s disheartening to encounter constant complaints from veteran hobbyists. Their negativity overshadows the supposed joy of the hobby, making me question their dedication. Overall, it’s discouraging to feel unwelcome despite the initial warmth. The constant criticism, from spending habits to reading choices, leaves newcomers feeling isolated in what should be a fun supportive community.
@@Mountainrock70 Thank you! 🙏 Short answer: Graded slabs are not part of my budget or collection goals. After experiencing the loss of my mother and best friend, I sought solace by revisiting collectibles I had stored away 25 years ago. Among them, I stumbled upon a box containing random '90s Image Comics and a few Spawn books. This discovery inspired me to set a goal that would keep me focused, positive, and mentally occupied, and collecting comic books seemed like the perfect outlet. I walked into my local comic shop and jokingly requested, "I’d like every Spawn book you have, please!" The staff laughed and set me up with a pull list, which sounded exciting. For the past seven months, I've faithfully visited the shop every Wednesday. My objective is to adhere to a budget while acquiring my desired Spawn titles, along with a weekly read and variant covers or key issues for future trading to complete my Spawn run. I believe that by curating a high-quality collection, I can trade these books for other comics, further fueling my passion for collecting. I've committed to obtaining books solely from my LCS or through trades; eBay, Whatnot, or Facebook Marketplace are not options for me. While this goal may seem daunting, it promises to keep me engaged for a lifetime. Collecting every Spawn book has transformed into an immensely enjoyable journey for me, and since July 2023, I haven't missed a single Wednesday visit to the comic shop.
@@turnstyle518 sounds like you are “enjoying” comics the way it should be. Buy whatever interests you. Ive been collecting since the 70’s and still to this day never bought a slabbed book. Theres nothing like opening a gold to silver age book or bronze for that matter to smell the vintage paper and inks. It there was ever a comic huffer Im it lol Peace!
3:44 I know EXACTLY where your coming from and have had this happen to me due to just bad communication on my part. People tend to take my passion for insanity 😅 Not concering comics but life in general. I am, however, a former retailer/owner (3 shops) before going to work for Diamond (comic dist.) God bless 🙏
Impressed that they gave you a shout. I work in the photo industry and there's a similar coalition on our side of things, in the US. A lot of people haven't joined but most of the biggies have... And it definitely leads to some very interesting dynamics in the vendor/retailer relationships. You certainly have integrity, and that alone will keep your people coming back. I've become reasonably regular around Denver, and the states where I tend to buy when I'm on the road (UT and AZ in particular have some great shops) and I see a vibrant LCS community out there, better than when I was growing up. Definitely celebrating that. I'm all for whatever and whomever helps the little guy do what they need to do.
I personally think in the next 10 years comics will be exclusively online. I love my LCS but we used to have many now only 1 left and they stopped carrying a lot of comics about 6 months ago. They only order enough copies for a handful of people. So if I don't get there on Wednesday when the new issues come in I have to go online to get anything. So then what's the point of the store? Sadly comics are dying off and the only thing keeping them alive is speculation and greed. I hate going online to the point where I don't even care about collecting anymore. I hope I'm wrong and things turn around.
I'm not part of any of the selling groups. I'm part of the private retailer groups. One is comic and gaming retailer group. Comic alliance group Believe the third one is Comic shop association. All of them you have to be invited to get in so if your retailer let me know.
its good that you are aware of what you perceive as being too negative but dont be afraid to speak. we need more of that. especially from the old school guys. there is too much riff raff going on in the industry to be quiet about it. its part of the reason why i can count on 1 hand how many comics ive bought in the last 5 years. with the mass garbage they put out nowdays i cant justify spending money on new books. i just got done at the grocery store and it cost me 21 dollars for a single tomato, a individual portion of sushi for lunch tomorrow for work, and a crossant ham and cheese sandwich for lunch at work on tuesday. 3 items total. and they expect me to buy a book with some of the trash art and trash story they are doing? i have spent more money on back issues like what you have on your wall than any new comics. I know ill enjoy the art and the story. but the industry HAS to change from the woke representation aspect because to date they cant take an artist or writer that was hired because of diversity and make them talented. the ideals and self inserts that are going into the comics and the characters are changing those characters that already have back logs and volumes and decades of back story. you trample on that, the old guard isnt going to buy and the new gen doesnt care about comics anyway. what i think would be an awesome idea is to get some of those old great stories and books and put a beat up reader copy in the hands of a young kid and watch the fireworks go off. let them experience the art and the smell of the paper and words and the background art and detail of those olds books. because honestly, if the new comics are what they have to go by, i cant blame anyone for not caring and not buying.
Putting comics in the hands of kids is what I'm all about. Thank you for sharing your journey and comics being part of the conversation. It really is appreciated. There is a few bright spots starting to shine through avengers twilight is a must read.
Diversity is a good thing and can only help get more readers. Do you know how many women and POC were reading comics 30 years ago? ... Not many. Representation matters. And getting more people into the medium will lead to more new artists and writers. It's important for the health of the medium to have an influx of new talent. If you are upset/annoyed that a particular character or series is being done by a writer you don't like, try a new series out.
@@Omar_Littlewhat you are describing is not representation. it is taking a character that already existed and changing its race and or gender. the comic books are not selling. at all. that is why you have comic shops talking about not being able to sell books. if people truly wanted diversity the artists and writers would CREATE characters rather than race/gender swap the ones that already exist. and more often than not its about changing the character by self inserts and completely ignoring who the character is to "revamp" or do the lazy route and do a "multiverse" version of the character to justify changing the character that is lazy and as i already said before, it isnt working and the books are not selling. If the purpose is to get young readers interested then that is a failure. the young kids dont care. with the crappy art and stories going on now why would they care?
