Bargain Subscriptions to Comic Books

Post by **JohnMayo** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 12:14 pm

ctowner1 wrote:[I was happy w/the delivery time, too - didn't Bat #13 come out Weds 12/10?

Yes, Batman #13 was released on October 10th, 2012.

boshuda · Post by **boshuda** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 12:56 pm

BobBretall wrote:
boshuda wrote: Many of my subscribed comics come in a bit damaged. Personally I don't mind. The resale value of the comics is less than I paid for them anyway, and as long as I can read them I'm cool with it. I would be annoyed if they were folded to fit them in the mailbox. That's what I remember happening years and years ago.
As I said, the condition is fine for a $1 comic, I'm more annoyed by the street date +12 it took to arrive at my home.

I hear ya' about the condition being acceptable for the price.

For just a few cents more you could have a book that comes out closer to on time and would most likely be in much better condition. Or for almost triple the price you could pick it up on the Wednesday it releases. Man, that's crazy -- as much as three times the price for the exact same product depending on the method of distribution selected.

I'm so far behind on all but a few titles I don't mind the delay.

These are all important observations for someone deciding if they want to subscribe to some comics as opposed to picking them up in a store or some other outlet.

Maybe I don't mind about any of it because I would not be collecting half of my subscribed books if I hadn't been able to get them for that price.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 4:07 pm

ctowner1 wrote: I was happy w/the delivery time, too - didn't Bat #13 come out Weds 12/10? I had it at my house by Thurs 12/11

Given how fast you get the book in NY, I'm guessing they're mailed out of somewhere close to you (isn't the printer somewhere in the NY state area? Or maybe Canada near there?)

I think I'm just falling victim to the standard "it takes a long time for media rate mail to make it all the way to California" problem.

ctowner1 · Post by **ctowner1** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 5:15 pm

BobBretall wrote:
ctowner1 wrote: I was happy w/the delivery time, too - didn't Bat #13 come out Weds 12/10? I had it at my house by Thurs 12/11
Given how fast you get the book in NY, I'm guessing they're mailed out of somewhere close to you (isn't the printer somewhere in the NY state area? Or maybe Canada near there?)

I think I'm just falling victim to the standard "it takes a long time for media rate mail to make it all the way to California" problem.

Sounds that way -but you'd think as big a company as Warner/DC would print from multiple locations around the country? Perhaps you can complain to them about the lag time and they can change something up?

e
L nny

Post by **JohnMayo** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 5:41 pm

ctowner1 wrote: Sounds that way -but you'd think as big a company as Warner/DC would print from multiple locations around the country?

Printing costs usually get lower with a larger print run. Splitting the print run across multiple locations would increase costs. That seems like it would be a very questionable business decision to make.

boshuda · Post by **boshuda** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 7:05 am

I thought they printed many of the comics in China now. Particularly from the Big 2.

My uncle lives near a place where they used to print a ton of comic books. As a UPS guy he picked up and delivered stuff to them and saw the presses doing their thing. I remember they used to have the logos of the companies they printed for on the side of the building. I vaguely remember something about the Image boys listing where there books were printed also. But several years ago those places closed up and they moved just across the border to Canada. You could actually see the buildings from the US side.

Regardless of where they're printed I would expect they probably first get delivered to a warehouse near the headquarters in NYC, then dispatched to the Mayo homestead from there. I doubt the printers are willing to distribute the individual books to subscribers or even deliver them to Diamond.

Post by **JohnMayo** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 7:11 am

boshuda wrote:I thought they printed many of the comics in China now. Particularly from the Big 2.

I thought most of the Marvel and DC comics were still being printing in Canada at Quebecor World, now Worldcolor owned by Quad/Graphics.

boshuda · Post by **boshuda** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:10 am

JohnMayo wrote:
boshuda wrote:I thought they printed many of the comics in China now. Particularly from the Big 2.
I thought most of the Marvel and DC comics were still being printing in Canada at Quebecor World, now Worldcolor owned by Quad/Graphics.

Your information is most certainly better than mine. I thought I remembered someone in a podcast or something mentioning comics still requiring long lead-times partly because it takes a while for the print run to arrive from China. But that might be a bad memory, and/or bad speculation on the part of the person making the statement. Since I have no source I may have completely fabricated the entire memory. I prefaced everything with 'I think', so I hope it doesn't confuse anyone.

I sent an e-mail to the media relations person at Quad/Graphics asking if they can tell me if they print Marvel or DC comics. Since you're actually in the media you might get more traction there.

torchsong · Post by **torchsong** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 4:01 pm

I don't know why I keep thinking "Texas" but it seems I read somewhere that that was one of the distribution areas. My knowledge goes no further than that, though. Seems like it was mentioned on their site or here or something.

Hell, I'm just happy the books have started showing up!

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 8:57 pm

boshuda wrote: I thought I remembered someone in a podcast or something mentioning comics still requiring long lead-times partly because it takes a while for the print run to arrive from China. But that might be a bad memory, and/or bad speculation on the part of the person making the statement. Since I have no source I may have completely fabricated the entire memory. I prefaced everything with 'I think', so I hope it doesn't confuse anyone.

There are a variety of TPBs and HCs that may be printed in China (or other overseas locations), but monthly comics are printed nearby. Quebecor sounds right, and that is close enough to NY to explain the shipping times.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:01 pm

torchsong wrote:I don't know why I keep thinking "Texas" but it seems I read somewhere that that was one of the distribution areas.

You're probably thinking of the return address which is "Big Sandy, TX", but that's not where it's mailed from.

ctowner1 · Post by **ctowner1** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 7:53 am

Received my JL #13 yesterday. Did that come out this week? If so, I'm pretty impressed. Although the flimsy shipping really has me kind of worried. Just a thin/soft advertising insert backing the book, and it's mailed in a thin clear bag - not even a stiff envelope.

e
L nny

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:23 am

ctowner1 wrote:Received my JL #13 yesterday. Did that come out this week? If so, I'm pretty impressed. Although the flimsy shipping really has me kind of worried. Just a thin/soft advertising insert backing the book, and it's mailed in a thin clear bag - not even a stiff envelope.

e
L nny

Yes, it came out on 10/17.

I am convinced those books probably hit the mail on Tuesday from the NE US or Quebecor...... Maybe a truck drives them over the border & they mail them from the US.

torchsong · Post by **torchsong** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 3:24 pm

Haven't seen my JL yet. I'll keep an eye out. I think we all ordered around the same time.

boshuda · Post by **boshuda** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 5:18 pm

Just got Batman & Robin 13 in the mail. I live about 6 hours drive from NYC. There are probably 3 or 4 mail stopovers/distribution centers/whatever (pure, unresearched speculation) before they get here. That's assuming it comes out of NYC. I also looked in the credits and that book was printed in Beauceville, QC, Canada on 9/28/2012

I also noticed in that end-blurb that Canadian subscribers must add $12 postage to their subscription. Ouch.