From: jcowling@ophelia.UVic.CA (Scowling Jim Cowling)
Subject: Re: Superman, Superman, Everybody's talking about Superman ...
Organization: University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 07:22:50 GMT

The store I manage is selling Superman #75 for $25.00 (briskly) and PAYING
$13.00 for them (that's Canadian bucks, bucko).

Gouging?  NO WAY.

Think about it this way:  We put twenty copies in the back, "just in case".
Then, two days after release, the store across the corner from us starts 
selling them for substantially over cover, and paying $10.00 for them.  So
if we sold the books for less than $11.00 each (as we give a 10% discount to
just about everyone) whoever bought them could turn around and make a profit
from them.  Selling them for cover price would be INREDIBLY STUPID for the
retailer.

However:  Certain longtime customers and subscribers could still buy them for
cover, as could anyone who agreed to take a copy AFTER the bag has been 
removed and disposed of.  Reading copies, if you will.

It's a terrible situation.  But then, there's also 3.5 million copies out there.
There's little doubt in my mind that next Wednesday there will be even more
1st printing bagged copies available (we reordered almost 1000 of them; 
Capital says that they have them and will be allocating them -- will we
get 500?  100?  5?  Who knows?  The point is, there's more to be had).

The people paying $25.00 for them aren't the casual buyers; they're the
fanboy speculators who think it'll increase STILL FURTHER in price.  The casual
buyer looks at the price and says "What the Hell?!?"  to which we quickly assure
them that a cheaper reading copy (the second printing of the newsstand edition)
will be available in a few days, the TPB is coming next Friday, etc etc etc.
They're satisfied, knowing that they'll be able to get it at a reasonable
price.  The casual buyer doesn't give a shit about whether their copy is
bagged or not.  Those that do say "I want to hold onto it for a few years"
and get the 45-second Cowling Claw Synopsis on "Microeconomics and the Comic
Book Speculator".  This is enough to change their minds and keep them in good
moods.

-------
Scowling Jim Cowling
Creative Writing Department, University of Victoria
-------
In article <21NOV199223205987@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov> sewon@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov (WAYNE WONG) writes:
>I've been to three different comics shops this week and Superman has 
>everyone in an uproar.  I have never seen the shops as busy as they have 
>been this past week.  The phones were ringing, literally, off the hook.  Two 
>of the shops left their phones off the hook for a while just to get some 
>peace.  One owner was afraid to run my credit card through, because he would 
>have to use his phone line.  Sure enough - *RING.*
>
>I think most people underestimated the impact the media would have on the 
>Superman/Doomsday storyline.  All the news coverage has drawn in a LOT of 
>non-comics people into the shops.  More than anyone expected I think.  Quite 
>a few people said that the Doomsday storyline would be of no speculative 
>value; millions of copies of Superman #75 were printed.  It's all supply and 
>demand.  Very true, but right now, the demand is much higher than the supply.  
>Overnight, the book is already being sold for at least triple cover price.  
>People on the net have quoted amounts as high as $25 (I'm in shock).
>The "value" of the book may drop within a few months, but right now, the 
>entire storyline is making some serious money for the speculators.
>
>The thing that bothers me, and apparently many other netters, the most is 
>that the story was substandard rubbish.  I hate to think about how much the 
>creators and DC are going to rake in with this little fiasco.  We have 2nd, 
>and 3rd printings already, we have a TPB on the way, we have trading cards, 
>we have T-shirts, we have limited edition signed and numbered comics ... did 
>I miss anything?  On such a high profile project, I would have expected the 
>creators to put in a little more effort and to produce something a little 
>more worthwhile.
>
>Oh well, watcha gonna do,
> - Wayne.
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>    W     A     Y     N     E     .     A     .     W     O     N     G
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>                                                SEWON@LIMS01.LERC.NASA.GOV