Hey, Folks!
I finally remember why I stopped doing these weekly Editorial notes for a couple of years. I have been sitting in front of my computer for the last 10 minutes trying to think if there’s anything that I need to desperately communicate to you this week and I’m coming up blank. Blank…as blank as the computer screen that is staring back at me waiting expectantly for me to spin out some beautiful prose coupled with amusing factoids and sales pitches. You’d think typing up a page or two of local comic news and commentary would be easy, but it’s really a lot harder than it looks.
I guess I could start out with this amazing discovery I made over the weekend. Did you know that you could <gasp> sell things on the internet!?! I know, I know…I was stunned as well. As you may already know, I’ve been slowly bringing in comics from home in order to restock the sorely depleted back issue boxes. Every Saturday morning, usually while Hill is finishing his breakfast, I venture out into the garage at Stately Katschke Manor and stumble around looking for random comic book boxes. I fish out two or three that look like good prospects and then drag them out onto the back porch where my trust Hill then picks them up and puts them in his trunk. I usually take a quick look before choosing them to make sure that they have things that I actually want to sell, but otherwise it’s all been pretty random. For instance, I found a box filled with old overstock prestige books from the 80’s that are only fit for a dollar box and since we currently have more dollar books than I can display I left that one behind for the time being. I also found one of my boxes of Cerebus comics and I even if I did have customers interested in such a thing I wouldn’t give up my Cerebus’ any more than I plan on parting ways with my Nexus, Grimjack, Dreadstar, or Badger comics.
Well, last weekend I hit upon my Batman Adventures box. There was nearly a complete run of all of the various iterations of Batman Adventures that were released during the 90’s which was rather thrilling as I loved those comics and they had quite surprisingly gone up in value considerably. I was feeling rather excited as I pulled out different key early Harley Quinn appearances and was pleased to see that they had all survived deep storage. I decided to post some fun pictures of them on the store’s Facebook page so that I could let folks know what we got in stock. Imagine my surprise when most of the pricey books, including Batman Adventures #12 featuring the first comic book appearance of Harley Quinn, sold almost immediately. Seriously, I didn’t even have time to put the books on wall display before they were snapped up by excited collectors.
I also pulled out a bunch of 90’s era Batman prestige one shots, including a bunch of the popular Elseworlds stories. I didn’t want to dollar box them, but I was sure that as soon as they went into the back issue bins they would completely disappear from sight. So, just for funsies, I posted some pics of them as well and I was surprised at the amount of attention they got. I mean, half of the books that I filed away in the back issue bins were quickly snapped up!
So I am now convinced. The internet is a most excellent tool for drumming up back issue business! As a result, as I slowly make my way through the 150 odd boxes of my personal collection I will make it a point to post pics of my wares on the Facebook page. I’ll eventually start sharing them on the website as well just for maximum saturation. So if you see a coveted back issue appear on the page don’t hesitate to message me…I’ll be glad to hold on to the title until you can come in to pick it up.
Hey! I just remembered something to mention! Regular customers are also aware that due to the Covid-19 situation we’ve been dealing with various issues with Diamond and UPS. As I’ve explained in the past, Diamond is having difficulty with its workforce between social distancing measures in the warehouse and a Covid hotspot in the area where their primary reorder warehouse resides. UPS is apparently dealing with holiday levels of packages moving through its system and it is causing delays as well as increases in damaged boxes. This is affecting us in a myriad of ways and it is all I can do to try and stay on top of it. Part of the problem is that pre-Apocalypse I had a rock solid knowledge of how long it would take reorders to reach me depending on the day and time of day I sent orders in to Diamond. Because of the warehouse and UPS problems, however, that information is sadly useless. Pre-Apocalypse I could put an order in on Sunday and know that it would be here by Wednesday. These days I put my Sunday order in and it could show up on Thursday or Friday or Monday or Tuesday. I just have no way to predict it. Additionally, a lot of the reorders that I’m putting in are getting cancelled despite their confirmation at the time of the order. All this means is that at the time of the inventory pick Diamond’s workforce is at such a low ebb that they often don’t always have the ability to grab an ordered item and stick it the shipping box in a timely manner. This means I have to place the order again and wait even longer to receive it in the store.
I’m mentioning this because many of you order items on the weekly subscription form that we don’t normally carry, but are still available for order. Because of the current situation I can’t always guarantee the shipment because of the problems outlined above in a timely manner. I just wanted to be as transparent as possible with this process and to hopefully help you understand why there is a sudden discontinuity in our special order service. I’ve been trying to remember to mention any delays as special order customers wander in, but please do not hesitate to ask if you’ve special ordered something and it isn’t in your pull box. Just make sure you direct your questions to me as Steve will most likely have no idea what you are talking about and it can be physically painful to watch him try to figure it out.
Another issue that I’ve been dealing with this week is another missing box from UPS. I knew there was missing box on Tuesday when they were delivered, but it took until this morning to get it straightened out. Fortunately the only thing in the box was 20 copies of the latest Previews catalog. Unlike my last Diamond customer service rep experience which I discussed with you over the course of several EDitorials, this time I have been dealing with a supervisor and I do believe the problem has been handled. Apparently the box was again completely destroyed by UPS and we have to wait for an emergency replacement shipment. It “should” be here by Monday and I am living in a World of Hope. So if you normally pick up a Previews and find it out of stock this week just know that we will be getting the balance of our orders next week.
Another fun side effect of going through all of my old comics is stumbling upon titles that I haven’t read in years and years. Recent deep dives into the past have included Fury of Firestorm and Suicide Squad (both penned by the incomparable John Ostrander) and now I am about halfway through the original run of Birds of Prey. On a lark, I started choosing random issues that I’m reading and posting little mini-reviews and commentary as well as the cover art. It seems to be somewhat popular and it is nice break from simply sharing memes and shipping information. In any case, I’ll continue with my little trips down memory lane and I will be sharing the journey with you as well. It feels like I’m getting a book club vibe starting so please jump in and share your own opinions and memories about whatever title I’m currently making my way through at the time.
That’s it for me today! I think I’ve rambled on enough for one Thursday morning and now I really need to concentrate on getting the shipping list/subscription form up and running! I hope that everyone has a great weekend!
Eddie