I agree. I gave up store variants a long time ago. Recently stopped buying ratio variants (for the most part) spending my money in other sectors of the market.
1 Like
weird diamond isnt on the list
I’ve had my own terrible experiences with Unknown in the past. I see them going down this same exact road in the future. The owner was on Facebook last year praising his shop for having X amount of variant covers for the year. It was i believe around 250 or so. Thats 5 per week on average. To me that is absurd, and really not something to be proud of. Quality > quantity should be the goal. And obviously selling out
3 Likes
I’m surprised the amount is so small. They’re into Titan $32,900 and PRH $200,000.
1 Like
Diamond might have already moved them to COD if they were already struggling instead of a net 30 or net 90 payment
1 Like
We’ve got publishers entering bankruptcy (AfterShock) we’ve got stores entering bankruptcy (Frankie’s) and it is all quite worrisome. Things will only get worse before they get better, I fear.
Two small toy retailers going belly up over the past two weeks as well.
Wonder how many key books owned by Frankies (and other companies that go bankrupt) find their way out the back door and into the personal collections of the owners, never to be counted as company assets.
5 Likes
That is why you keep your personal collection separate that your business assets. And do not count personal purchases as business purchases. Also, do not buy personal books with business funds. Do not mingle funds.
1 Like
Comic shop: “I have no assets to pay these poor unsecured creditors! I declare BANKRUPTCY!!!”
Bankruptcy court: “Well what about this…let me check my notes…. ‘Amazing Fantasy 15 CGC 4.0?’ Bought with company line of credit. That can be sold at auction.”
Comic shop: “oh no no no no, that’s not a an llc asset, the owner bought that off the llc for $20.”
6 Likes
“I really don’t know how any company doing a zillion store exclusives as their primary business model make any money.”
I mean this kind of shows that they probably don’t a lot of the time…
I’ve said it for years. Exclusive-focused retailers are shops built on a house of cards, and once the short boom on exclusives wore out it’s welcome they’d have nothing left.
2 Likes
I don’t mind calling it. Bankruptcy up ahead:
There are rumblings some big boys are going down this year. Bed, Bath, & Beyond, who have been on the bankruptcy watch list for years, are rumored to file in the next 60 days. Apparently there are some out-of-the-ordinary negotiations going on in the industry with them right now. Not directly related, but I think there will be some retail victims this year.
5 Likes
Will Frankie’s store variant be rare or worth $$$ after they close? Or would it be like all the other lootcrate like variant that worth …
No more so than they were before they closed. They’re still as abundant as they were before.
3 Likes
now is when all those limited to 800 marvel books, have the other 2200 copies start showing up
8 Likes
If there is a bankruptcy and they seize the assets and sell them off, who knows it could happen.
1 Like
Funny like a few weeks ago someone on instagram posted a rumor Unknown was facing bankruptcy and Unknown highlighted it and said its true 
I was using them as my monthly pre-order spot for the past 3 years, but they stopped the 30% off pre-order bonus a few months ago and I switched. Someone commented on my previous post about it, they were going down soon.
When you are sending out 4+ emails a day about “warehouse finds” or “clearance sales”, you’re financially in trouble…
4 Likes