Why Blockbuster Movies Don’t Drive Comic Shop Sales

You are tuned in to Steve Megatron on Altered

Geek Hello and welcome to Altered Geek I'm your

host Steve Megatron Phillips and in this episode

of the podcast I am flying solo Next episode

I will be joined with Mike the Birdman Dodd to

discuss the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Avengers

Infinity War since I've kind of glossed over

and skipped a lot of that as it's gone on. So,

just a few quick updates before we get into the

podcast. Since this is my personal soapbox that

I use to record everything I want, I do want

to drop a little hint and I've kind of been...

coy with it about big things coming to GeekCast

Radio. Well, if you'll notice, I've tweaked a

few things on the website. However, that's not

the extent that I'm referring. I am currently,

we've made the move from the website moving from

Media Temple to One in One and I bid Media Temple

to do, their cost was getting too high and their

service... While great, while it lasted, we had

a lot of technical issues with the website over

the years. Part of it was stemming from the fact

that, and some of you may find this boring if

you want, I will have you skip ahead five minutes

and I'll give a brief informational on the website

anyway. When you're sitting there thinking about

the website and the transformation it's made,

just going to archive .org, you can see the various

website renditions. I get bored really easily

and change the website about every eight months.

While that's not proper netiquette, as far as

websites are concerned, it kind of ... I see

the new website designs before anybody else,

and so to me it becomes old quicker than it will

to the people that are using the website. And

I think that the current version of the website,

I like the current main page design, but I feel

like it's not, I still feel like it's too busy.

There's a lot of busyness on on just about every

one of our sites other than like the early stuff

and I Feel that's the problem with a lot of the

internet now is a lot of it's just way too busy

and a lot too cluttered There's a lot going on

on the website. I am striving towards cleaner

more uniform designs. I am In a Kind of a state

where I'm redoing certain graphics. I'm redoing

pages from the ground up I'm trying to Make the

site leaner and with a lot less clicking and

a lot less sections. So like the interviews all

be one page in a certain capacity the The the

podcast like the current in the archive will

all be in one vicinity It was just way too much

baggage and clicking. I know it's going to screw

up the SEO a little bit but ultimately I think

that it needed to be done. I've learned quite

a bit in the last nine years that we've had the

website and I think that it was due. Now granted

it wasn't as messy as like say Twig when I took

that over and cleaned it up in the back end and

the website but it's still, I'm finding issues

that I created nine years ago in this entire

move, in this getting the site renovated. And

so with that being said, I'm building an all

new website completely from the ground up, importing

the posts, and that's about it. Like everything

else I'm intending on pulling is going to be

fresh. So yeah, some of the posts will still

link to some of the old server files, but...

There's a new plan in effect for the new site

to hopefully help us not only make a little revenue

to pay for added bonuses of going to conventions,

having materials for those conventions, having

maybe the site pay for us to go to conventions

in some capacity, rather than having to rely

necessarily on the vicinity or like for instance

we could probably send somebody to like C2E2

or San Diego Comic -Con if you know that we got

enough revenue built up And that's kind of my

goal is that we we get it to that point It kind

of pays for itself right now, but it's still

a lot of it's been coming out of my pocket for

years and I'm I'm not making any more money,

so it just makes it more difficult as cost of

living goes up Not trying to make this into a

giant sad soapbox on on the podcast here But

that's just that's reality and I understand everybody

else is having a rough time with this too Some

that have lost their jobs unfortunately some

that have gotten knocked down to part -time some

that have had Unfortunate issues like that, and

I totally sympathize because when I started this

network, it was with TFG One Mic, of course.

But when we started this endeavor, I was working

at a car lot and a Little Caesars and was working

pretty much 7 .30 in the morning until midnight.

And then I would come record podcasts until two,

three in the morning because I was crazy. I still

stay up till two in the morning on some nights,

but I don't necessarily record that entire time.

I've kind of taken a more relaxing role now that

I'm a parent and I'm a homeowner and I work.

And I sit in front of the computer for nine hours

a day, five days a week. So it just, it makes

it difficult to sit here longer than is needed.

I record when I can and then I do the website

stuff. As I was saying, there's going to be a

new organization to the menu. There's going to

be a lot cleaner, leaner design. A lot of extra

baggage is going to be removed. I'm looking forward

to how that's going to turn out. Hopefully have

some things to offer people that will garner

... new attention and I'm also renovating the

interview section because honestly like a lot

of the graphics are missing anymore. A lot of

them aren't the right uniform size and with the

way I've designed them now I need them to be

in a certain specific style to show off who it

is you're even looking at because it doesn't

show up properly otherwise. So. All that being

said, that's what's going on with GeekCast Radio.

So I plan to launch it when it's ready. I'm not

giving a timetable. And it'll be just as simple

as swapping over, deleting the current design,

and sliding over to this new one. And it should

be pretty seamless. I've done this kind of thing

before. It doesn't take much effort to switch

it from a subdomain to a domain. You won't know

what it is, so don't even try. So anyways, getting

into the podcast, I was trying to talk about

something, trying to find something that would

be entertaining, and I remembered I had this

email. It's been out a while, and I apologize

to Scanner51 for this. I've had this since...

beginning of March and I feel bad for not getting

to it till now but some of my co -hosts had really

nothing to contribute on the subject and with

Mike Booth Ninja out I haven't heard from him

in a while but I'm just going to tackle the topic

and he says the topic was brought up at a local

comic shop out there in the Bay Area, the lack

of sales bump to comics when a movie comes out.

The owner said that despite the records of Black

Panther, he's seen no sales bump. This is not

the only movie. Justice League, nothing. Thor,

nothing. Avengers, nothing. Batman v Superman,

Ant -Man, no, no, no. In fact, he said the only

two times since 1999 there's been any type of

sales bump was during Watchmen and Walking Dead.

So he asked, what are your thoughts on this?

Why don't these movies bring people into shops?

And he says his best friend takes his kids to

all these movies, yet he won't take them to a

comic shop a half a mile from his house. He even

asked him why should he? Hope this generates

something. Scanner 51. So, kind of jumping into

that pretty loaded topic, I think there's a difference

between a comic fan and a movie fan. And I think

that it kind of boils down to one is a one -shot

purchase as opposed to a subscription model a

monthly fee as it were and I think that it's

easier to maintain it while I don't gonna be

wrong I love comics they hold a special place

in my heart I don't collect them anymore and

that boils down to I don't want the space taken

up into half the time I don't care for the stories

or I never read them again I read them once and

then that's it like it's in my head I'm done

There are occasions where I'll go back and read

something, but 90 % of the time I never return

to a comic. When I was a child, when I was younger,

yeah, I used to read those things ad nauseam.

I used to go back and I used to read them and

read them and read them and then I would read

full, you know, 350 page chapter books based

on Star Trek and what got me into that was I

read the Trek comics and then I read the William

Shatner Ashes of Eden comic, the trade, which

I still have that, thankfully. That's still one

of my favorite Trek comics that I have. But that

got me into the William Shatner universe, and

being that I loved the character of Captain Kirk,

and I still do, because even when I play Star

Trek Online, I create... Captain Kirk, Scotty,

McCoy, and Spock. And then I attempt the holographic

doctor, and I make Wharf. But other than that,

I don't really attempt anybody else. So, the

main thing with that was it got me into reading

big chapter books. And it was kind of the bridge

into reading regular books. Because then I was

hooked on all the Shatner books as they came

out. Good or bad, I enjoyed the story and I liked

the fact it was centered on Kirk. So, in the

next generation 24th century model. And you got

the Mirror Universe with TNG, which had never

been done to that point. Other than maybe like

one book that was out during the 90s. And now

we're getting comics of the Mirror Universe.

Trek so it of TNG so it kind of just works out

that way but going back into the the comic and

the movie thing I like for instance I'm not a

Marvel fan I'm not a Marvel comic fan I do not

read Marvel comics if it's a choice between Marvel

or DC I will choose DC every time I enjoy the

characters of Marvel do I like spider -man Wolverine

Captain America and Iron Man yeah I did as a

kid Do I enjoy their films? Yes. Would I buy

their comics? No. And it boils down to I'm a

DC fan. If I was going to buy any comics that

were superhero related, they would be DC comics.

And that's because I enjoy the character of Batman

and the Flash. Those are my main two go -get

characters. And then... I enjoy Superman. I like

Wonder Woman a lot. I like the Green Lantern,

but then when you get into the whole core thing

and then the multi -universe thing, I just lose

it. I like them as the Justice League itself,

but then you kind of branch off and I'm kind

of, meh. And then the fact that comics, once

you buy a comic, there's that issue of it connects

to other comics, which isn't a bad thing. but

when you have every issue that comes out connecting

to like say Batman because Batman has usually

like two to anywhere from two to five different

comics going at any given time and The stories

all connect and then you've got you know Red

Hood and the Outlaws and you've got Nightwing

then you've got Superman then you've got Justice

League and everything is kind of touching everything

and In order to understand the entire story and

the entire scope, yes, you can get most of it

just by getting that one line, but you need them

all to actually collect that entire storyline,

unless you buy the trade and then it comes with

all of them in the correct order and how they

place in that timeline. And even that can be

expensive if you don't want the giant book. And

while I like digital, I don't trust it entirely

because if that business goes away, your comment

goes with it. Yeah, there'll be another one that

replaces it, but they're not gonna grandfather

you in. You'll have to pay for the comic again.

So that's the benefit of having a physical copy

of the comic. Now, for me, I don't... I don't

collect them because I just don't have the space.

I don't collect comics, and I don't read barely

anything other than what's on my computer screen

anymore. I just, I don't have time. And when

I do have time, I'm tired. I just I don't want

to I don't want to do that half the time I sit

down and veg and watch shows half the time I

don't even turn on the TV anymore it's getting

really hard for me to do that I don't even go

to the movies barely anymore because I Either

a don't care about the film coming out or B because

I don't have time to leave and now we're gonna

be going down to one car because of my lease

being up and can't afford a second car so it's

yeah there's really no leaving the house for

me anymore but my general thought is is that

people are either a comic fan and if you're a

comic fan you're gonna spend the money on the

film anyway but if you're not a comic fan and

you're a movie fan and you just want to go to

be entertained you're not gonna pick up the comic

Just like when Batman v Superman came out. I

didn't pick up any of the merchandise. I saw

the movie in the theater I didn't pick up any

merchandise. I don't buy toys. I don't buy comics.

I It's just nothing registered for me. I didn't

even buy t -shirts. I For one and this is a totally

different unrelated topic. I'm I'll touch touch

on it at a future point of Collecting things

I just I don't want my kids really into this

and that's it's more so because of how Rabid

the fan bases are it's because of just how wrong

some of it is and then the fact that I just I

don't I Don't know it's I see it as like a money

pit Kind of like buying a house except when you're

into a fandom this hard it becomes a money pit.

I can't tell you the amount of money I have thrown

away on comic books that I've later sold for

a fraction of what I paid for them. I had two,

well, probably three or four of the long boxes

at one point. Of comics and I've sold them all

down to a short box that I have left not even

a short box It's like a quarter of a short box

that's left and they're transformers comics and

a couple of Batman comics that are left That's

it. I don't have any other comics and it's it's

sad because I spent This money I could have saved

and poured into something else more constructive

like geek cast radio And I don't know, I'm having

like a lot of buyer's remorse on things I bought

over the years, including like the toys. And

I think it's because I'm getting old. I just,

I don't see the value in paying for this stuff

anymore. And that's kind of part of it, for me

at least. And now you talk about junk food that

you buy from the store, I've probably spent more

than that. of what I've spent on collectibles

and comics, specifically when I buy pop. But

that's a story for another day. But yeah, I think

it does, I think it overall boils down to the

fact that if you're a movie fan, you're not really,

I mean, you may pick it up out of interest if

there's like a prequel comic or a sequel comic

to the movie. But... Or if you're trying to create

a jumping -off point for you or your family or

your kids Then it's then it's a perfect opportunity

but with with the advent of digital and the fact

that Modern -day kids don't watch TV That's why

they did away with Saturday morning cartoons

and our generation were losing it because they

did away with Saturday morning cartoons the modern

-day child doesn't watch traditional television

They watch a streaming service, they watch Netflix,

they watch Hulu, they watch Amazon, and whatever

other services out there. They don't play traditional

games most of the time. They play on their phones,

they play on their tablets. They don't, like,

everything's changed, like the paradigm is completely

switched at this point, and that's, and I think

it just kind of ripples down the board. I don't

think people go into comic shops because, for

the same reason, people don't go to bookstores.

or don't go to comics or buy magazines. You can

get everything digitally now. Why go into the

actual store? Now, I love going into a bookstore.

I may not buy anything, but I love going in there

to kind of look and see if there is something

I want to buy. I want to see the book. I want

to feel the book. I want to be able to skim it

so that I can know if I want to read it. And

then the other thing is the price. Price of things

keep going up and yes, I'm not blaming you know

people trying to make a living that's That's

completely warranted. It's the fact that We don't

make enough with that Like for instance raises

are a dime a dozen in today's world You you're

better off switching companies than expecting

a raise from any company. That's just the way

things are And you know just just like trying

to get minimum wage up to like 15 an hour for

McDonald's worker They'll replace you with a

machine. There's no point. They're already doing

that because people are throwing such a hissy

fit You know you order your own food at the drive

-thru with a touchscreen or you do it at the

you know the counter now on some of them and

they've actually started implementing them in

a lot of places and It's it's sad, but that's

just the way things are going because it's cheap

The development isn't, but the implementation

is much cheaper than paying an hourly employee

when you can pay one that has to go around between

a district and fix the machines themselves, instead

of having multiple people that have to work.

So it's this whole big circle of things that

are just contributing to each other. Like I said,

I enjoy... comics for what they've done for me

over my life. But it's a completely different

world now. Kids don't pick up the traditional

way that we all grew up with. And we were around

during the, you know, advent of the early internet

of, you know, the dial -up era of where websites

started actually coming to fruition. And so we're

a totally different generation. And thinking

things differently than than what the current

one is and so I think that that's why we don't

see people going to movies from movies to comic

shops or Purchasing these things I think it's

just because people just go to be entertained

Then they they kind of that's it like they're

they're done that that's their their their moment

of entertainment And then they just they whatever

they have at home. That's that's what they have

I think the day of people going into shops isn't

over. I think that we're gonna start seeing more

of it come back. But I don't think that we're

gonna see a big boom in comic shops or in toy

shops. That's why Toys R Us closed down. I mean,

let's just be real. That's why comic shops, magazines

have closed down. Toy stores have closed down.

That's why KB went away a while back, and now

they're coming back, and then Toys R Us is going

under right now. I mean... you know you got to

contribute the high price and then the the fact

that kids just don't get into the same stuff

anymore people don't spend the money on it and

the kids don't care like that that's a lot of

it like we're we're i think we're the last like

collectible era i think we're the last generation

that cared about collectibles to this degree

and i think yes with youtube and and all these

influencers from our generation creating new

collectors Think that it's still out there, but

I don't think it's ever gonna hit the same that

it was back then That's why a lot of these like

loot box things that are out That that are just

filled with stuff Like you get a shirt and then

you get a couple of like crapshoot items and

then you get like one good item in the box or

maybe two That's that's just my opinion on it.

That's that's kind of why it's It's difficult

for me to get on board with spending money on

something especially when you're paying 40 bucks

for a lot of crap that If I wanted some of an

individual I could probably get a better deal

I don't know if that's just that's just my thoughts

on it. So what do you guys think? Let us know

in the comments. Let us know email Feedback at

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