3 ms·

I saw someone pointing out they are doing exact same things comic companies did leading to their crash. The comic companies started to sell a ton of variants,

I saw someone pointing out they are doing exact same things comic companies did leading to their crash. The comic companies started to sell a ton of variants, foils, collector editions. They also started to do attention grabbing but bad quality storylines. And also they started to try to cut middlemen and sell more directly to the consumer. The end result was that readers eventually noticed quality was crap, with comics being poor products as story medium. And collectors noticed that they had a problem of no readers to buy their stuff, and that x-men #1 os worthless since it had millions of copies, unlike for example action comics #1. This led to stores losing losing money and then going belly up, then suddenly the comics companies themselves were losing money.

busterarm 3y ago
It may not have worked in the comic book industry but the same tactic has proved an enormous boon to the sports card industry in the last decade and that's absolutely booming.
- grogenaut 3y ago
  Is it still booming or is it coming down like many other things post pandemic free cash flow and ability to do things with people again?
- isk517 3y ago
  It works in the sports card industry because owning the rare card is the entire point of the hobby. The vast majority of people buying comic books plan to read them and the majority of the people buying WotC products want to be able to use them to play some sort of game.
  - busterarm 3y ago
    Except not true. Every trading card game where the cards are just game pieces and there's no secondary market around the game has died hard. The mystique and value in the cards is necessary to keep the game alive. I say this to you as somebody with hundreds of thousands of dollars in MtG cards in his collection and I still consider myself a player first. Comics are a complicated mess but in the 90s it was largely gimmick variants that nobody wanted -- the industry has done better in recent years with variant covers by desirable artists but in general nobody is reading comics anymore and the trade paperbacks are doing even worse. Marvel and DC just aren't connecting with their customers anymore and imported & translated manga is eating their lunch.
    - isk517 3y ago
      >>I say this to you as somebody with hundreds of thousands of dollars in MtG cards in his collection and I still consider myself a player first. You are just proving my entire point by saying you consider yourself a player first. I didn't say that the cards should be valueless, I'm stating that with comic books and card games the value is created by the readers/players and in order for there to be value the product needs to service it's purpose (a story that is enjoyable to read, a game that is fun to play). Sports cards just need to exist, the window dressing IS the product and owning a particular variant of some card is the end goal. Sports cards are booming by releasing tons of variants and gimmicks because it just gives the collectors more to speculate on. It isn't as effective in the comic book and trading card industry because all of the windowing dress is meaningless if the stories aren't interesting or the game isn't good.

busterarm 3y ago

It may not have worked in the comic book industry but the same tactic has proved an enormous boon to the sports card industry in the last decade and that's absolutely booming.

grogenaut 3y ago
Is it still booming or is it coming down like many other things post pandemic free cash flow and ability to do things with people again?
isk517 3y ago
It works in the sports card industry because owning the rare card is the entire point of the hobby. The vast majority of people buying comic books plan to read them and the majority of the people buying WotC products want to be able to use them to play some sort of game.
- busterarm 3y ago
  Except not true. Every trading card game where the cards are just game pieces and there's no secondary market around the game has died hard. The mystique and value in the cards is necessary to keep the game alive. I say this to you as somebody with hundreds of thousands of dollars in MtG cards in his collection and I still consider myself a player first. Comics are a complicated mess but in the 90s it was largely gimmick variants that nobody wanted -- the industry has done better in recent years with variant covers by desirable artists but in general nobody is reading comics anymore and the trade paperbacks are doing even worse. Marvel and DC just aren't connecting with their customers anymore and imported & translated manga is eating their lunch.
  - isk517 3y ago
    >>I say this to you as somebody with hundreds of thousands of dollars in MtG cards in his collection and I still consider myself a player first. You are just proving my entire point by saying you consider yourself a player first. I didn't say that the cards should be valueless, I'm stating that with comic books and card games the value is created by the readers/players and in order for there to be value the product needs to service it's purpose (a story that is enjoyable to read, a game that is fun to play). Sports cards just need to exist, the window dressing IS the product and owning a particular variant of some card is the end goal. Sports cards are booming by releasing tons of variants and gimmicks because it just gives the collectors more to speculate on. It isn't as effective in the comic book and trading card industry because all of the windowing dress is meaningless if the stories aren't interesting or the game isn't good.