Funny as it is, and perhaps it's for most folks here, I gauged my initial plunge into Marveldom (and some DC) by the comic pricing. I solidly went in at the 20cent phase, and so when I'm buying up comings now, I tend to gravitate towards most Marvel titles with the 20cent price; it's like 'home', taking me back to a wonderful time in life.
Most of my 'vintage buying' has been the '12-15 centers' for value, but if you were to really place me in the Marvel Universe at a particular time, it was that period ('72-74).
As for economics though, overall, I was quite surprised at the Bronze price hiking after 20cents. It really seemed to increase a nickel everytime I thought to buy a comic.. Some of the last comics I bought 'back in the day' were at 35cents, until I came back into it during college at 60cents (mid-'80s).
We must be really close in age, because your experience pretty much exactly mirrors mine. I bought a few fifteen-centers, but the 20 cent ones were my highlight yrs.
You're quite right, J.A.; when the "still only" blurbs appeared you knew the price would be rising soon.
The increase in comics prices really hit me when they went from 50 cents to 60 cents. Now you could only get one book for a dollar, making it much more challenging to collect a wide array of titles. Of course, now getting one comic for a dollar would be a bargain ( love those garage sales and flea market boxes)!
Speaking of pricing, it's interesting how current comics have basically held steady for nearly a decade. 2.99 has been the price for some time. When prices went to 3.99 there apparently was some resistance, as when gas topped 4 dollars. Now some books are at 3.99 but I believe those have larger page counts.
I think a tremendous difference in the way the advertising departments do their craft has influenced price. Think about in the Silver and Bronze Ages how many small ads there were in the books. Dealers had little 1"x1" ads, there was the "X-Ray Specs" ads, and of course there were the full-pagers for "Why is this man smiling?" Nowadays it seems like all comics have are full-page house ads -- sure there are other ads, but it doesn't seem like as many as in years past. So I have to wonder how much of the pricing burden falls on the consumer, where it used to fall on advertisers.
When I think that I could get 4 books for $1, it makes me both smile and sad. Those were the days...
Bronze Age prices never mattered that much to much to me, so long as the titles were less than a dollar. The bike ride to the drug store and all of the hills I had to climb to get there was the bigger obstacle.
By the time the prices climbed above $1 I had a car and needed the money for gas ... and the comics were getting worse and worse ...
I remember when DC began selling their dollar comics with all new stories - World's Finest, Superman Family, Batman Family (later Detective), Adventure Comics. As a kid I thought it was great. I also remember when they drop the Dollar comics for a more traditional format. That was about the time I quit buying comics for the rest of my childhood and teens. Dind't get back into it until I was an adult.
God I miss the sight of that price tag. Paying anything over 75 cents-1.00 for a 22 page pamphlet with ads and a story so decompressed it reads better in trade anyway is basically ridiculous. You might as well be paying full price to see only 10 minutes of a movie and then be told by the usher you can't see the next 10 until a month later and oh, you have to pay full price again. Plus your 10 minutes will be constantly interrupted with lame ads.
Either floppies need to be made affordable again or they need to be done away with. Perhaps do individual issues as digital media and then have a physical trade with gobs of extras as a print equivalent to a DVD or Blu-Ray.
I started collecting comics regularly about a year after they went up to 20 cents (and a penny tax at the convenience stores where I bought them while living in Salt Lake City). I remember what a big deal it seemed when they went up to a quarter each -- Marvel included a big 2 page spread explaining the reasons they had to incrase the price in all their issues for that month - I believe it was in 1974. Then about every other year after that the price kept going up, initially by a nickel, until after 40 cents it next started going up by dimes, and then by 15 cents -- I think most regular size issues were still at 75 cents when I stopped collecting them regularly in the mid-80s when it finally hit me that I was spending a lot of money, maybe close to $100 a month, buying a bunch of comics I was no longer enjoying. Actually, a few years later I did start collecting Neil Gaiman's Sandman, but otherwise I mostly get the collections of whatever strikes my interest.
Besides the "still only" blurbs, you knew prices were about to go up when an editorial began, "In 1939, comics were ten cents and price of admission to a movie was ten cents. Today, a movie ticket costs seven dollars..."
In the early 1970's, DC raised prices from fifteen cents to twenty-five. They tried to compensate by increasing the page count to 48. (The extra pages were reprints.) Later, they reduced the price to twenty cents, and reduced the page count to 32 or whatever it was before. The effect, of course, was a net price increase of five cents. Like when a store raises prices ten percent, then marks everything down to what it was before, and advertises that they are having a "sale," and everything is "10% off."
"So I have to wonder how much of the pricing burden falls on consumers, where it used to fall on advertisers." Today, most comics only have in-house ads. Their circulation is so small that there is no point in advertising in them. It would make more sense to advertise comics on TV than vice versa.
High prices bad!
ReplyDeleteFor a more articulate view, check out this:
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/08/26/minimum-wage-price-of-comics/
depressing.
Funny as it is, and perhaps it's for most folks here, I gauged my initial plunge into Marveldom (and some DC) by the comic pricing. I solidly went in at the 20cent phase, and so when I'm buying up comings now, I tend to gravitate towards most Marvel titles with the 20cent price; it's like 'home', taking me back to a wonderful time in life.
ReplyDeleteMost of my 'vintage buying' has been the '12-15 centers' for value, but if you were to really place me in the Marvel Universe at a particular time, it was that period ('72-74).
As for economics though, overall, I was quite surprised at the Bronze price hiking after 20cents. It really seemed to increase a nickel everytime I thought to buy a comic.. Some of the last comics I bought 'back in the day' were at 35cents, until I came back into it during college at 60cents (mid-'80s).
We must be really close in age, because your experience pretty much exactly mirrors mine. I bought a few fifteen-centers, but the 20 cent ones were my highlight yrs.
DeleteSorry, buying up 'comics' not 'comings'. ARRG, need more coffee..
ReplyDeleteI'll start by saying that price tag will be my new blogger profile photo.
ReplyDeleteI quit buying comics not because they were too expensive, but because the 'Clone Saga' and 'Age Of Apocalypse' sucked.
I remember being mad as a 6-7 year old when the "still" price tags showed up a month or so before raising the price.
You're quite right, J.A.; when the "still only" blurbs appeared you knew the price would be rising soon.
ReplyDeleteThe increase in comics prices really hit me when they went from 50 cents to 60 cents. Now you could only get one book for a dollar, making it much more challenging to collect a wide array of titles. Of course, now getting one comic for a dollar would be a bargain ( love those garage sales and flea market boxes)!
Speaking of pricing, it's interesting how current comics have basically held steady for nearly a decade. 2.99 has been the price for some time. When prices went to 3.99 there apparently was some resistance, as when gas topped 4 dollars. Now some books are at 3.99 but I believe those have larger page counts.
I think a tremendous difference in the way the advertising departments do their craft has influenced price. Think about in the Silver and Bronze Ages how many small ads there were in the books. Dealers had little 1"x1" ads, there was the "X-Ray Specs" ads, and of course there were the full-pagers for "Why is this man smiling?" Nowadays it seems like all comics have are full-page house ads -- sure there are other ads, but it doesn't seem like as many as in years past. So I have to wonder how much of the pricing burden falls on the consumer, where it used to fall on advertisers.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think that I could get 4 books for $1, it makes me both smile and sad. Those were the days...
Doug
Bronze Age prices never mattered that much to much to me, so long as the titles were less than a dollar. The bike ride to the drug store and all of the hills I had to climb to get there was the bigger obstacle.
ReplyDeleteBy the time the prices climbed above $1 I had a car and needed the money for gas ... and the comics were getting worse and worse ...
I remember when DC began selling their dollar comics with all new stories - World's Finest, Superman Family, Batman Family (later Detective), Adventure Comics. As a kid I thought it was great. I also remember when they drop the Dollar comics for a more traditional format. That was about the time I quit buying comics for the rest of my childhood and teens. Dind't get back into it until I was an adult.
ReplyDeleteGod I miss the sight of that price tag. Paying anything over 75 cents-1.00 for a 22 page pamphlet with ads and a story so decompressed it reads better in trade anyway is basically ridiculous. You might as well be paying full price to see only 10 minutes of a movie and then be told by the usher you can't see the next 10 until a month later and oh, you have to pay full price again. Plus your 10 minutes will be constantly interrupted with lame ads.
ReplyDeleteEither floppies need to be made affordable again or they need to be done away with. Perhaps do individual issues as digital media and then have a physical trade with gobs of extras as a print equivalent to a DVD or Blu-Ray.
I started collecting comics regularly about a year after they went up to 20 cents (and a penny tax at the convenience stores where I bought them while living in Salt Lake City). I remember what a big deal it seemed when they went up to a quarter each -- Marvel included a big 2 page spread explaining the reasons they had to incrase the price in all their issues for that month - I believe it was in 1974. Then about every other year after that the price kept going up, initially by a nickel, until after 40 cents it next started going up by dimes, and then by 15 cents -- I think most regular size issues were still at 75 cents when I stopped collecting them regularly in the mid-80s when it finally hit me that I was spending a lot of money, maybe close to $100 a month, buying a bunch of comics I was no longer enjoying.
ReplyDeleteActually, a few years later I did start collecting Neil Gaiman's Sandman, but otherwise I mostly get the collections of whatever strikes my interest.
Besides the "still only" blurbs, you knew prices were about to go up when an editorial began, "In 1939, comics were ten cents and price of admission to a movie was ten cents. Today, a movie ticket costs seven dollars..."
ReplyDeleteIn the early 1970's, DC raised prices from fifteen cents to twenty-five. They tried to compensate by increasing the page count to 48. (The extra pages were reprints.) Later, they reduced the price to twenty cents, and reduced the page count to 32 or whatever it was before. The effect, of course, was a net price increase of five cents. Like when a store raises prices ten percent, then marks everything down to what it was before, and advertises that they are having a "sale," and everything is "10% off."
ReplyDelete"So I have to wonder how much of the pricing burden falls on consumers, where it used to fall on advertisers." Today, most comics only have in-house ads. Their circulation is so small that there is no point in advertising in them. It would make more sense to advertise comics on TV than vice versa.
ReplyDelete