I sold a 1:25 recently but I have 2 1:50 and 6 cover A
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They added 1:75 and 1:100 to Grim #1 I would stay far away means there will be about 40 store variants.
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ugh, few weeks ago it only went to a 1:50. book feels way to pumped
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It’s BOOM! acting like BOOM!. Seems like it’s been awhile since they’re last big #1 book so this one is the one they push!
The recent EIC TOP 10 New Comic Books To Buy video. Two of the books he showed spoilers (Venom, What if Miles) the centerfold detached from the top staple, and the What if Miles book was completely detached… looks like it was a good idea to pass on the Spider-Punk ratios. Every reg cvr copy I pre ordered x10 was garbage…
thanks MARVEL 
The paper looks similar to what boom used with irredeemable, for example. It’s almost impossible to get high grade copies of that. We are entering some dark territory. It feels like marvel is testing the water to see if sales numbers are affected.
Let’s hope this is a temporary supply chain issue and not a corporate money saving tactic. It’s getting tiresome seeing every single publisher having dramatically better paper stock than Marvel. Spider-Punk really set a new low.
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Was there other books that you know of last week that used the lousy paper?
If Image can print Spawn and its spin offs at $2.99 on superior paper so can Marvel.
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Spawn isn’t a good example though as that basically was McFarlane taking a loss on the comic to fund his toys and such from it. I mean, it isn’t like Marvel could take a loss on comics as a content farm for their movies. Their movies don’t make billions of dollars. Wait, I just talked myself into thinking you had a good example?
Yeah, I covered this in another topic. Comparing an indie book where just a handful of people are getting paid to a publisher that has a larger amount of people involved to pay is moot in comparison.
If you notice, the other Spawn titles that McFarlane doesn’t write are also $3.99 or higher each…
All of the Spawn titles (Spawn, Gunslinger, King Spawn, and Scorched) are all $2.99 unless they’re giant sized issues. McFarlane only writes Gunslinger.
Also, Marvel (and by extension Disney) can absorb the cost of paper that is a couple mils thicker. If a ream 500 sheets of 20lb paper cost at retail to the consumer, around $5 I can only imagine what major bulk cost is to a company like Marvel.
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How does one lose money on one project and simultaneously fund another project with said lost money?
McFarlane Productions isn’t publicly traded. That means they aren’t cucking to hedge funds and stock price. If he makes a nickle per toy but can pay his staff and makes fans happy that is what he cares about. It’s a radical idea, I know.
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That’s right, most of the #1 issues were $5.99 but they weren’t really that “giant sized” if you ask me.
But he does write the regular Spawn title still.
Bottom line is Marvel/Disney can absolutely afford better paper, and at $4 to $5 a book, they should. Shareholders are still making money off the parks, streaming and cinema.
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We can assume all we want unless they want to share their operation costs and such. I just don’t make such assumptions myself.
Spawn titles usually have 2-5 creators sharing the profits where as Marvel titles have a whole lot more, including shareholders since it is part of a publicly traded company.
It’s just not a good comparison I think, it’s like comparing a mom and pop retail store with one location that sells general goods to Amazon…
Bottom line, big corporations want to keep costs down while profits up. Does Marvel care about the shitty paper used for their comics? Probably not high on their priority since these are all “periodical” reading material to them for the most part. They’re selling them in quantity at a really low cost, probably $1 or less is what they end up with after all said and done.
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Marvel books are normally $4 each right on average. Diamond/PRH are likely buying at $1 each since they sell them at 50% off to most shops on average.
Then Marvel has to pay the writers, artists, the editors, any other misc staff involved, then they also offer just about every book as a digital version that has to be converted to be used on their Marvel App, which costs money to store on servers to be downloaded likely thousands and thousands of times every time it’s read, bandwidth costs money, etc.
So yeah, I get it. It kind of sucks but we all know what happens if they switch to better paper… we eat the costs! But they know you’ll still come back for more with the current paper cause well, it’s just like all you people who continue to use CGC with their shitty service… 
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If they intend to use this terribly prone to damage paper going forward, in a market that relies heavily on its collectible nature, it’s going to cause brand damage. That may sound like hyperbole, but if this paper were rolled out line-wide and stuck around a while, it would absolutely cause some buyers to stop or move to digital. Which may be the ultimate goal - moving people to digital.
If this mindset applied elsewhere in Disney’s portfolio, with toys that were prone to break immediately, or rides and attractions that were often broken, it makes people think again about what they’re paying for. They cheaped out on the Inhumans TV show and everyone could tell.
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