— March 28, 2007
Yes, you read that right. Diamond Comics sent me an empty box today. Not only that, I was billed for it COD.
I was supposed to receive a shipment of the Black movie version Spider-man mini bust from Diamond Select today. But instead, I got an empty box. There was a letter inside. Here is what it said.
Dear valued retailer,
Due to an error, JAN073263 - SPIDER-MAN 3 BLACK SPIDER-MAN BUST appeared on your invoice, but you will not be receiving this product. We will ship this as soon as it becomes available.
Sorry for the inconvenience,
Diamond Comic Distributors
Think about this. Someone actually went through the trouble of packing and taping up an empty box and shipping it to me via UPS. Unbelievable. I’m sure I’ll get a bill for the shipping too!
Well Diamond, I decided I don’t want the empty box you sent me. Please send me your address, so I can send it back to you. Thanks.
— March 23, 2007
Just got notice that the Spider-man 3 mini busts from Diamond Select with sculpts by Gentle Giant will be shipping and will arrive next Wednesday. I am not taking orders right now, but I will post what I have available next Wednesday when they arrive. Let me know if you are interested though. Price will be $60 each.
— March 22, 2007
This just in… new pre-orders from Gentle Giant have landed and been added to the store. Why pay retail, when you can pre-order from Hero Hunt and save 20% or more!
Gentle Giant has added a new Star Wars line of busts called ‘Classics,’ which are about 5 inches tall, do not have sculpted arms and have a lower price point.
Also, we have added a new category for pre-orders to help you find the latest pre-orders easier, although you can still find these on the home page and under each item’s category.
— March 15, 2007
Everyone agrees that Gerard Butler’s just gave a star making performance in ‘300.’ But where did he come from? While I was sitting there watching ‘300,’ I couldn’t help but feel that he looked very familiar. I also detected a Scottish accent, which I thought was funny, since he was playing a legendary Greek King.
So as soon as I got home I searched for his profile on IMDB. It turns out I had seen him before… in ‘Tomb Raider 2.’ He also played Dracula in ‘Dracula 2000.’ Really?
Yep. It’s not really that surprising though. Everybody knows, “you have to do a lot of crap before they put you in anything good.” And, while he was phenomenal as Leonidas, I actually liked him in ‘Tomb Raider’ as well. I don’t think ‘Tomb Raider’ did well at the box office, but I liked it. And I liked his character a lot in that movie. And for him at that time, starring opposite Angelina Jolie was probably a freaking big deal.
Anyway, I don’t think he will have any problem landing roles now. He just needs to worry about choosing the right roles. ‘Tomb Raider 3′ anyone? Not likely… his character was killed at the end of the last one.
— March 13, 2007
Got this little note in my e-mail today that Wizard World is offering Diamond retailers free admission to Wizard World LA.
Wizard Entertainment is offering Diamond customers free admission to Wizard World Los Angeles, which will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA from March 16-18!
That’s this weekend, in case you didn’t know. Thanks for the advance notice guys! If I was planning on going and had already paid for tickets, I’d be pissed.
— March 8, 2007
Okay, Marvel is really trying to pull a fast one on comic books fans here. It’s really nothing new if you are a comic book fan however. If this is news for you, on Wednesday, Marvel released Captain America #25 where Cap is shot on the steps of a court house.
The result of this is that it is being reported that Captain America is dead. This has created a media and collector frenzy. The media jumped all over the story, which is why Marvel did this in the first place, and the issue was impossible to find in comic book stores yesterday, except on eBay.
Marvel knew this was coming, but retailers did not know, so they did not prepare for this. As a result, comic book stores all over the US immediately sold out of the book once this story hit the press. The problem is comic fans are not buying the book. Instead, speculators are buying the book in hopes that it will bring them a nice return on investment.
As of last night, there were 300 results on eBay for “captain america 25″ and there was not one auction available for less than $10. Most were between $30 and $60 with the highest auction I saw at $66 for both books ending soonest. Oh yes, that’s right, I forgot to mention there are 2 covers for this book, making 2 collectibles, not one. Not to mention, that Wizard already has another variant issues planned as a Wizard World LA exclusive which starts next weekend!
SPOILER ALERT!
There is a spoiler alert coming. If you are reading this, you have been warned. The clincher in all this has to be the fact that CAP IS NOT DEAD YET! In the “Civil War: The Initiative” which was also released yesterday, readers find out that Cap is not dead, but he survived the shooting and they are keeping him alive in a hidden location.
Is anyone shocked yet? I am not. I did not know about any of this until yesterday, but as a comic book reader and a skeptic, I know that comic books deaths are rarely final. They do them from time to time to generate sales and publicity as they have done here. These characters are money machines for them and they cannot kill them off permanently. Instead they will bring them back after a while and generate more sales and publicity. So yes this is nothing new, but seems that Marvel is sinking to a new low here. The truth is though this is not the end. This is only part of the cycle of life as a superhero. So to that I say, Cap, Rest in Peace?
Update: It gets better. Diamond Comic Distributors issued a press release to comic book retailers today. It turns out that creating a national media frenzy was Marvel’s plan all along, in order to drive demand for Marvel books. According to the press release:
“While Marvel regrets having to withhold any solicitation information from retailers, we had no choice,” said Marvel Comics Senior Vice President of Sales David Gabriel. “The media would never have picked up the story unless it was an absolute secret… so we had no choice. Instead, we made sure to have the healthiest overprint ready to fill reorders for as long as possible.”
To ensure maximum exposure in the media, secrecy about Captain America’s fate had to be ironclad. Many retailers were understandably caught off-guard by the surprising developments of Captain America #25, resulting in rapid sell-outs at the retail level and quickly escalating prices in the aftermarket. However, as Gabriel stated, a significant overprint of this hot issue is now being shipped to Diamond, which will fill all backorders placed as of press time. Marvel fully supports the specialty market, and appreciates storeowners’ patience in this unusual circumstance.
So it appears that Marvel planned for the book to be scarce initially, but overprinted so that the book would be widely available later. Well, at least they were smart about that. Take that people paying $60 on eBay! But wait, there’s more!
The aftermath of Steve Rogers’ assassination continues in a number of upcoming comics, many of which are undergoing title changes to reflect the hero’s death. To keep the incredible ending of Civil War a secret, Marvel solicited five Jeph Loeb-written books in the February and March Marvel Previews with bogus titles and partial information.
Well, at least it’s only 5 more new books about Captain America’s death. What’s that, another one?
In addition to these five Fallen Son specials, Marvel also revealed that the March-solicited Marvel Spotlight: Civil War Remembered would be retitled Marvel Spotlight: Captain America Remembered. Looking back on Steve Rogers’ storied career and paying tribute to the life and legend of The Star-Spangled Avenger, this 32-page, full-color issue carries an FOC date of Thursday, May 10 and arrives in shipments May 30.
Be sure to see your local comic book retailer of choice to get both covers of Captain America #25 that you missed this week because of scalpers, as well as both covers of all five new books remembering Captain America, plus the Marvel Spotlight: Captain America Remembered book.
And don’t forget, Cap’s probably not all dead. He’s only mostly dead.
— March 7, 2007
We are taking pre-orders again for the Spider-man 3 mini busts from Diamond Select with sculpts by Gentle Giant . Also, we are finally allowed to show the photography for these busts so each product has been updated with the images. At the pre-order price, these won’t last long so get your orders in. The cut off date for pre-orders on these is March 11.
Update: Pre-orders are closed.
