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Disney To Stop Marvel Comics? Someday?3991

Collector neyko private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by JLS_Comics
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Originally Posted by X51
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Originally Posted by JLS_Comics
Nope ... won't happen. The author of that article doesn't understand the business relationships that Marvel has with various companies regarding rights and IP ownership.


Publishing comics is an investment. Explain where their investment as a publisher is producing profits. The IP ownership and net worth of the Marvel characters is a separate entity from actually publishing them. Marvel can license their characters out to IDW, incur no financial risks and make straight profit off of the same intellectual properties. Disney didn't buy Marvel so they could tediously publish comics for low profit margins. They bought Marvel because they appealed to a demographic audience that was lacking in their intellectual property portfolio. Before buying Marvel, their movies appeal to small kids and parents of small kids. They were losing their audience in-between. Marvel bridged the gap and gave them intellectual properties that could hold an audience during their teens and into young adulthood. By that time, their audience gets married and Disney is selling movies to parents of young kids again. It's about the life cycle of retaining their customers. Disney doesn't care about publishing comics any more than they care about printing "Guardian of the Galaxy" cups for "Dairy Queen". They care about revenue and profits.


I didn't say anything about publishing in my comment

Then what does it have to do with the post? I think I missed something.
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Collector X51 private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by JLS_Comics
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Originally Posted by X51
Quote:
Originally Posted by JLS_Comics
Nope ... won't happen. The author of that article doesn't understand the business relationships that Marvel has with various companies regarding rights and IP ownership.


Publishing comics is an investment. Explain where their investment as a publisher is producing profits. The IP ownership and net worth of the Marvel characters is a separate entity from actually publishing them. Marvel can license their characters out to IDW, incur no financial risks and make straight profit off of the same intellectual properties. Disney didn't buy Marvel so they could tediously publish comics for low profit margins. They bought Marvel because they appealed to a demographic audience that was lacking in their intellectual property portfolio. Before buying Marvel, their movies appeal to small kids and parents of small kids. They were losing their audience in-between. Marvel bridged the gap and gave them intellectual properties that could hold an audience during their teens and into young adulthood. By that time, their audience gets married and Disney is selling movies to parents of young kids again. It's about the life cycle of retaining their customers. Disney doesn't care about publishing comics any more than they care about printing "Guardian of the Galaxy" cups for "Dairy Queen". They care about revenue and profits.


I didn't say anything about publishing in my comment



That's what the article is about. Publishing.
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Collector willieCPA4646 private msg quote post Address this user
"Marvel almost went bankrupt in95"

Dan Raviv, CBS Reporter, wrote an excellent book about MARVEL's plunge into bankruptcy: clickable text

It's a wonder MARVEL came out of bankruptcy.
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COLLECTOR JLS_Comics private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by X51
That's what the article is about. Publishing.


I'm well aware, thanks.
Post 29 IP   flag post
COLLECTOR conditionfreak private msg quote post Address this user
I know absolutely nothing about publishing or movie making, or even toy selling.

But common sense tells me some ink, some cheap paper, some passable artists and writers. All the sundry expenditures for filing copyrights, and distributing, etc. Do not add up to $5.00 per copy.

They have to be making money.

Now what they claim and what they make are probably different animals (as with many business's). But surely comic books put out by DC, Marvel and a couple of other larger companies make a profit.
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Collector det_tobor private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by willieCPA4646
"Marvel almost went bankrupt in95"

Dan Raviv, CBS Reporter, wrote an excellent book about MARVEL's plunge into bankruptcy: clickable text

It's a wonder MARVEL came out of bankruptcy.


Can't get the link, but I am aware of why Marvel had problems. OWNERSHIP. Marvel was owned by a guy who had a perfume co.
Before then, Marvel was doing pretty well.
I owned stock in Marvel at the time. The stock reports might have been considered collectables because of the use of characters in them. Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Jim Shooter...these people did not hurt Marvel. In the 60s, they went from comics to cartoons and then later TV shows and tv movies. Toys were helping out a whole lot.

Marvel is neither STAR WARS nor THE MUPPETS. Disney went out of its way to get the total ownership of all 3 as well as A.B.C.network.

Marvel has learned from DC, not only movies but long term building with tv series just like Smallville, Arrow, Flash, Supergirl and so on. The Superman and STAR WARS movies started this "new age" of multi media growths. They proved how many people out in the public can be or are fans.
They have to maintain quality or lose their meal tickets, the buyers-- people like us.
Keep in mind, constant publicity is important also, so they don't get pushed out out minds of fans. Wonder Woman made over 400 million?
DC AND MARVEL ( aka Disney) see that the market is still strong. It's just a question of giving them good products.
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He sounds like a vegan who wants real mayonnaise to be vegan friendly. Instant_Subtitles private msg quote post Address this user
I am surprised this is still being talked about. There was an older guy who was pissed off that Disney had successfully purchased Marvel. He ranted on how they are going to phase out comics and focus on producing movies, animated series, and merchandising. When I went as far as pointing out that Disney stated that their ownership of Marvel Entertainment would not result in any changes, he simply scoffed at it. I was even willing to show him where Disney states that they have no intention to phase out the publishing of comics, as well as the parts that explained why they chose to purchase Marvel Entertainment in the first place.

In the end, his use of the "The less I know, the more I am sure I was right" mentality back then has me wonder if he still thinks that way today... Or not.

Either way, I highly doubt Disney will phase them out. Warner Bros. has owned DC Comics long before they re-branded it as DC Entertainment and moved their base of operations to California. And from what they have stated, it sounds like they went from the age-old practice where advertisements covered their production costs to both advertisements and a portion of the profits coming from merchandising covering all of this. Along with both digital and collected edition sales, which might end up replacing physical comics for many series... Or overall since the North American market is far different than what I have seen/experienced in numerous portions of the Japanese sale/resale of manga.
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Collector moodswing private msg quote post Address this user
Are sales at an all time low? I haven't touched a modern comic in a long time.
Post 33 IP   flag post
Collector det_tobor private msg quote post Address this user
"Along with both digital and collected edition sales, which might end up replacing physical comics for many series... Or overall since the North American market is far different than what I have seen/experienced in numerous portions of the Japanese sale/resale of manga."

no humbleness here. I tried digital. a rip off. WHY?
The book sold was not the original, but a tradebook SECTION. Confirmed it when I got a reader's copy of it.

Want to trade a digital? good luck.
Want to sell your copy? good luck.
What happens to your library if the company goes out of business?
Wanting a collection that's safe and not taking up lots of room, understandable. Want a collection that won't downgrade over time?
I agree. Being able to carry everything in a tablet? Great.

Have real MARKET value? I don't think so.
Want a refund on your library? gooood luck.
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Collector vabchgent private msg quote post Address this user
How would you hang a digital copy on your wall and display it?
Post 35 IP   flag post
Collector moodswing private msg quote post Address this user
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Originally Posted by vabchgent
How would you hang a digital copy on your wall and display it?


You would have to hang your ipad.
Post 36 IP   flag post
Collector vabchgent private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by moodswing
Quote:
Originally Posted by vabchgent
How would you hang a digital copy on your wall and display it?


You would have to hang your ipad.


Bet there's a Command Strip for that.
Post 37 IP   flag post
Collector det_tobor private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by vabchgent
How would you hang a digital copy on your wall and display it?


printout??
Post 38 IP   flag post
Collector Rafel private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by moodswing
Are sales at an all time low? I haven't touched a modern comic in a long time.


How long is a "Long time" on your world? I haven't bought a new comic book since 1982. Now I only buy pre-1982.
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He sounds like a vegan who wants real mayonnaise to be vegan friendly. Instant_Subtitles private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by det_tobor
no humbleness here. I tried digital. a rip off.


No arguments here! Because I am the kind of guy who prefers only prefers digital for albums, songs, and games I want to enjoy but hate carrying around. But I also had a horrible experience with Sony's PSN service that has helped make me wary of buying anime and comics in digital format.

BUT -- and I say this with a hint of Mel Brook's use of justifiable sarcasm -- publication sales are slumping thanks to those who spend more time arguing in forums than their own comic shops!

Along with shifts in practice on how certain comic publications choose to publish series. Which also annoys me because it has prevented me from owning an issue of Super Street Fighter that introduced Dark/Evil Sakura -- A version of Sakura Kasugano that debuted in Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter.

Plus, the basis of my point also annoys me simply because they have what we losing: Newsstands, book stores in malls, and that occasional reason to get off the internet and visit a shop that offers us something we want. Which also has me miss visiting Mandarake in Nakano Broadway.

But all I can say is that it might be a good plan to keep it. They just need a better excuse than to just do what they are doing, which is do what it takes to make sales on collected editions.
Post 40 IP   flag post
He sounds like a vegan who wants real mayonnaise to be vegan friendly. Instant_Subtitles private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rafel
Quote:
Originally Posted by moodswing
Are sales at an all time low? I haven't touched a modern comic in a long time.


How long is a "Long time" on your world? I haven't bought a new comic book since 1982. Now I only buy pre-1982.


I'm hoping that it was not long enough that there are numerous remakes that eventually resulted in the last having him shoot Greedo at the same time Greedo shoots.
Post 41 IP   flag post
Collector moodswing private msg quote post Address this user
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Originally Posted by Rafel
Quote:
Originally Posted by moodswing
Are sales at an all time low? I haven't touched a modern comic in a long time.


How long is a "Long time" on your world? I haven't bought a new comic book since 1982. Now I only buy pre-1982.


I didn't start collecting til 1988 so you got me beat there ha.
Post 42 IP   flag post
Collector Lonestar private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by conditionfreak
I know absolutely nothing about publishing or movie making, or even toy selling.

But common sense tells me some ink, some cheap paper, some passable artists and writers. All the sundry expenditures for filing copyrights, and distributing, etc. Do not add up to $5.00 per copy.

They have to be making money.

Now what they claim and what they make are probably different animals (as with many business's). But surely comic books put out by DC, Marvel and a couple of other larger companies make a profit.


In a previous thread about Marvel's announcement that they might cancel some titles that were poor sellers, we had a lot of discussion about this. Specifically about a break even point of sales on a title. For Marvel/DC, it appears to be somewhere around 15,000 or 20,000 on a given comic book in a month. Less for Image or others that have a different business model.

I agree with your overall point that they are making money, but with recognition that they do need to sell at least a minimum number of copies to do so.
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Collector Rafel private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by moodswing
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rafel
Quote:
Originally Posted by moodswing
Are sales at an all time low? I haven't touched a modern comic in a long time.


How long is a "Long time" on your world? I haven't bought a new comic book since 1982. Now I only buy pre-1982.


I didn't start collecting til 1988 so you got me beat there ha.


I do have you beat, but I'm sure you have some great early titles.
Post 44 IP   flag post
Collector neyko private msg quote post Address this user
They are making money. They're switching over to digital. You notice there's a digital sticker with every comic book he buy? Kids are reading digital. I know none of your old Krusteaz want to hear it. But, books are going digital and your local comic book shop won't be there in five years. Just like your local record shop wasn't going to be there in five years once Napster got going
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Collector det_tobor private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by neyko
They are making money. They're switching over to digital. You notice there's a digital sticker with every comic book he buy? Kids are reading digital. I know none of your old Krusteaz want to hear it. But, books are going digital and your local comic book shop won't be there in five years. Just like your local record shop wasn't going to be there in five years once Napster got going


regarding digital RIPOFFS, look at my post #34.
comic shops will be around for back issue interactions at the very least.
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He sounds like a vegan who wants real mayonnaise to be vegan friendly. Instant_Subtitles private msg quote post Address this user
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Originally Posted by neyko
Just like your local record shop wasn't going to be there in five years once Napster got going


For the record, my local record shop is still going strong after 51 years in the business.
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Collector DocBrown private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by neyko
They are making money. They're switching over to digital. You notice there's a digital sticker with every comic book he buy? Kids are reading digital. I know none of your old Krusteaz want to hear it. But, books are going digital and your local comic book shop won't be there in five years. Just like your local record shop wasn't going to be there in five years once Napster got going


I used to love Krusteaz. I discovered it as a kid, and loved it. Pancakes used to be a pain to make, but with Krusteaz, you just added water, and BLAMMO! Instant pancake batter! (and no, that is not a euphemism for pressing "recipes", I mean actual pancakes.)

That said, I'm saving this post for posterity. I suspect you may be right to an extent, but I'm not so sure that printed comics are going away for a while...
Post 48 IP   flag post
Collector X51 private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by conditionfreak
I know absolutely nothing about publishing or movie making, or even toy selling.

But common sense tells me some ink, some cheap paper, some passable artists and writers. All the sundry expenditures for filing copyrights, and distributing, etc. Do not add up to $5.00 per copy.

They have to be making money.

Now what they claim and what they make are probably different animals (as with many business's). But surely comic books put out by DC, Marvel and a couple of other larger companies make a profit.


The thing to understand about manufacturing is that setup and preproduction costs are where most of the expense originates. The volume produced and sold has everything to do with the cover price. The setup and preproduction costs are fixed whether you publish 100 copies or 100,000 copies. If you produce and sell 100,000 copies, the fixed expenses are divided by 100,000 copies vs. 100 copies. That's a big difference. The paper stock isn't really all that relevant to the cover price if you aren't producing enough copies to pay for the art and the writing. Publishers should be making money at $5 a copy. I think comics are $5 a copy because the distributor was only making pennies per copy and they were paying employees dollars per hour to sort out 5 of one comic and 7 of another every week. The handling costs and business costs were chewing up any of Diamond;s profit. It's not like the 90's when stores were buying comics by the case. I think the prices increased drastically to save the distribution chain, not the publishers. If titles were selling in larger numbers, the industry would not have had to increase their prices. When comics were selling millions of copies, the publishers could have reduced prices but didn't. It was costing them pennies to produce copies back then an production costs were divided by a million rather than being divided by 30,000 which is what print runs look like today.
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Collector det_tobor private msg quote post Address this user
X51, I've seen comics go from being at 10 cents for a long time to 12 cents, then 15 cents then to a roller coaster of prices over the years..even get cheaper on very rare occasions.

Comics have been losing audience to growth & evolution of video games more than anything else OTHER than real life situations. But a different problem is that a lot of the audience doesn't believe in heroes any more thanks to real life.
.....Now, it seems people want STRONG emotional stimulus more than almost anything else.. comics will have a hard time competing with that. Comics will always have readers but will they have enough readers to satisfy publisher's financial needs?
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