Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

Posted: **Tue Mar 24, 2020 4:57 pm**

You read that title right; due to COVID 19, Diamond, the company that has the monopoly for distributing comic books, will no longer be sending books to comic shops or anywhere else. There is very little more anyone knows, the big one being if the release dates change or not, meaning whether or not these books will still be released digitally. But for print copies, there is currently no date for when any book that should be released next week will be made available.

Here is the actual press release:

Product distributed by Diamond and slated for an on-sale date of April 1st or later will not be shipped to retailers until further notice. For the time being, however, we have been able to develop procedures with our teams at the distribution center in Olive Branch, MS to safely continue fulfillment of direct ship reorders for the retailers who are able to receive new product and need it to service their customers. It’s unlikely that orders will be filled on the same day they are placed, and these plans are subject to change if any point we no longer feel that we can safeguard our teams while fulfilling orders.

Product distributed by Diamond UK and slated for an on-sale date of March 25th or later will not be shipped to retailers until further notice. Further updates with regard to reorders and other Diamond UK-specific information will be communicated directly to their customers as information becomes available.

This of course concerns anyone reading the Transformers comics. IDW, who publishes these comics, also had a statement, which you can read below.

To Our Partners Throughout the Comics Industry,

Last week, we sent out a statement to the comics community in which we pledged our support for the Direct Market during the current health and economic crisis. We’ve been keeping a very close eye on the public discussions taking place in forums and on social media, and the sentiment from retailers is abundantly clear:

It’s time to take action.

In light of Diamond’s statement today, our immediate steps to offer relief for our retail partners are:

For the next three months, IDW will be offering 60-day no-fee returnable terms for all items on Final Order Cutoff (FOC) corresponding to the weekly on-sale dates from March 18th to June 24th.
IDW is announcing the suspension of May releases corresponding to OSD dates from May 6th to May 27th.
IDW will reduce its overall publishing line for products originally scheduled through July, with a focus on releasing our biggest projects in special editions to help drive traffic to stores through the summer.
With these measures, our hope is that we can lessen the immediate financial risk that retailers face for IDW products, and give retailers a much-needed break for their monthly budgets.

These are first steps. As the situation continues to unfold, we’re certain to initiate additional programs to help our retail partners. It’ll take insight from and coordination with shop owners, Diamond, and our publishing peers to shape a comprehensive strategy for the industry to move forward.

As a special note to our Creative Partners:

We know that you’re likewise feeling the pain of the current circumstances. Trimming our line through the summer in support of the Direct Market retailers will undoubtedly impact creative workflow for the short term. We fully appreciate the difficulty that this presents to freelancers. It’s our expectation that — in the long term — the Direct Market will bounce back as a result of these steps, and we can all continue the good work of making quality comics on the other side. Our Editorial team has been reaching out to creators and licensors with these latest updates, and we’re here to help in any way we can: answering your questions, listening to your ideas, etc.

The IDW team is committed to working with retailers and creators to get through the coming weeks and months. As I mentioned in our previous statement, we’re here to listen and help. We invite you to contact us directly (ryall@idwpublishing.com, rosalind@idwpublishing.com, dirk@idwpublishing.com) and we’ll field your questions as best as we can.

Wishing you health and security,

Chris Ryall

Posted: **Tue Mar 24, 2020 5:15 pm**

Just to be clear, does this include onnline orders as well? Like, can I still get new comics from Amazon and other places, or did they shut down distribution to everyone, not just comic shops?

Posted: **Tue Mar 24, 2020 5:27 pm**

Rodimus Prime wrote:Just to be clear, does this include onnline orders as well? Like, can I still get new comics from Amazon and other places, or did they shut down distribution to everyone, not just comic shops?

They shut down total distribution. No new books in print until further notice.

Posted: **Tue Mar 24, 2020 5:32 pm**

Subtitle: "Nobody noticed"

Posted: **Tue Mar 24, 2020 10:25 pm**

william-james88 wrote:
Rodimus Prime wrote:Just to be clear, does this include onnline orders as well? Like, can I still get new comics from Amazon and other places, or did they shut down distribution to everyone, not just comic shops?

They shut down total distribution. No new books in print until further notice.

Well this should be interesting for the Seibertron Store, as well as the entire comic book industry.

Apparently, it will be time to work through listing the backlog of non-Transformers comics from my childhood as well as collections of Transformers comic books that I have purchased, as well as Masters of the Universe Classics and the other pile of inventory that I never have time to list!

The Seibertron Store will still be in operation as long as the US post office is open. Stay healthy and safe everyone.

Posted: **Tue Mar 24, 2020 10:33 pm**

I just received an email from my local CB store tonight. Tomorrow they are going to have drive up hours in the afternoon. Your subscription issues will be pulled and you can add on if you know what you want but you cannot come in the store. You call inside and either provide payment info over the phone or they will take cash and bring the books out to you. Especially with 2 Transformers books coming this week and with Diamond ceasing distribution this will be my last chance to get new issues of my regular books for some time.

Posted: **Tue Mar 24, 2020 10:41 pm**

figureguy wrote:I just received an email from my local CB store tonight. Tomorrow they are going to have drive up hours in the afternoon. Your subscription issues will be pulled and you can add on if you know what you want but you cannot come in the store. You call inside and either provide payment info over the phone or they will take cash and bring the books out to you. Especially with 2 Transformers books coming this week and with Diamond ceasing distribution this will be my last chance to get new issues of my regular books for some time.

If your local comic book store doesn't come through for you, please feel free to see what we have in stock at the Seibertron Store. I take good care of my customers and have super fast shipping, which you can see from the feedback my customers have left.

https://shop.seibertron.com/

I should have Transformers vs Terminator available later Wednesday night for those of you who are interested in it, along with a dozen or so other titles that I order.

Posted: **Wed Mar 25, 2020 5:00 am**

you all do realize that this could kill all remaining comic shops right? Numerous shops have closed for good because of the virus closing them to the public now this could kill the few left that are relying on online orders and curbside pickup. Trust me vintage books and back issues are NOT enough to keep a store afloat through this. If any of you have anything on hold at at local comic shop please go pick it up, it literally could mean the difference between the store surviving this or going under.

Posted: **Wed Mar 25, 2020 12:22 pm**

Megatron Wolf wrote:you all do realize that this could kill all remaining comic shops right?

But most remain closed anyways. Which is no different than retailers who sell clothes, toys and other non essential items in times like these as well as fine dining restaurants. these shops will have the same resources as other local businesses suffering and it's a good thing no one is getting new comics since it doesnt mean that people wanting their print copies will get them shipped from elsewhere instead, and leaving their LCS for an online shop. This is just a halt on the market and anyone not deemed essential is affected equally.

Posted: **Wed Mar 25, 2020 3:10 pm**

william-james88 wrote:
Megatron Wolf wrote:you all do realize that this could kill all remaining comic shops right?

But most remain closed anyways. Which is no different than retailers who sell clothes, toys and other non essential items in times like these as well as fine dining restaurants. these shops will have the same resources as other local businesses suffering and it's a good thing no one is getting new comics since it doesnt mean that people wanting their print copies will get them shipped from elsewhere instead, and leaving their LCS for an online shop. This is just a halt on the market and anyone not deemed essential is affected equally.

No, they're not. And to say otherwise is incredibly out of touch.

A local comic book shop is in a niche market. They'll have a set amount of customers. A portion of those customers will still want their comics, so they're likely to resort to digital (be it legal or illegal). They might even like it so much that they decide this is the way they're going to go from now on.

Comic shop re-opens, but some customers don't return because they're happy with digital.
Don't bother arguing that. Many book chains have collapsed over recent years because people have shifted to reading books on their devices. Physical books are now a niche market. Comic books were even more of a niche market.

Collectors outside of the US will also be rethinking their pull list as their countries currency plumets pushing up the price of comics.

Clothing? People are going to go back to those stores because they're a physical thing, people will go back to them.

What's happening now will change how we conduct our lives, for you to sit there and say everything is fine, comic book shops will survive is incredibly out of touch. Some will, some won't, but the landscape of the comic book industry will change.

Posted: **Wed Mar 25, 2020 6:16 pm**

Burn wrote:Comic shop re-opens, but some customers don't return because they're happy with digital.
Don't bother arguing that.

Where did you read that the digital releases will still be happening? So far there is no indication that they are. We got the reverse message instead from IDW, saying they will be spacing out releases once diamond can distribute again, instead of dumping it all at once.

Once again, if there has been news that digital releases will be keeping the same release dates, please indicate to the news staff so that we can front page asap.

Posted: **Wed Mar 25, 2020 7:26 pm**

william-james88 wrote:
Burn wrote:Comic shop re-opens, but some customers don't return because they're happy with digital.
Don't bother arguing that.

Where did you read that the digital releases will still be happening? So far there is no indication that they are. We got the reverse message instead from IDW, saying they will be spacing out releases once diamond can distribute again, instead of dumping it all at once.

Once again, if there has been news that digital releases will be keeping the same release dates, please indicate to the news staff so that we can front page asap.

You highlight a small section of my post and try to use that to negate my entire point. You really are a piece of work.

Only IDW, Dark Horse, Archie and AWA have made any real announcements but nothing in regards to digital. There's been no major announcement regarding digital releases, until such time it's a case of Schrödinger's Digital Pull List so please, stop trying to tell people it's fact when it's not that clear cut.

Posted: **Wed Mar 25, 2020 8:29 pm**

Burn wrote:stop trying to tell people it's fact when it's not that clear cut.

Is that not what you did? You assumed facts.

Plus I never spoke of digital in my original post. I just said that since some shops are staying open (like online stores), they won't get the edge over other shops that have to close and thus people who want print comics wont be changing their habits. None of this was about digital releases.

This tirade of yours is unbecoming. With all that is going on right now, I am surprised you don't have anything better to do than make fun of your colleagues on the internet.

Posted: **Wed Mar 25, 2020 9:55 pm**

william-james88 wrote:
Burn wrote:stop trying to tell people it's fact when it's not that clear cut.

Is that not what you did? You assumed facts.

I suggest you go back and re-read my post, I spoke of ifs and possibilities.

william-james88 wrote:Plus I never spoke of digital in my original post. I just said that since some shops are staying open (like online stores), they won't get the edge over other shops that have to close and thus people who want print comics wont be changing their habits. None of this was about digital releases.

The original article may not pertain towards digital, but my response discussed how what's happening right now could lead to more people taking up digital which will make it harder for small comic shops to survive, which is what Megatron Wolf said, which you quoted, which I then replied to. See the train of discussion now?

william-james88 wrote:This tirade of yours is unbecoming. With all that is going on right now, I am surprised you don't have anything better to do than make fun of your colleagues on the internet.

Wow. Just wow. I'm not making fun of you at all. I'm simply disagreeing with what you're saying. So because my opinion differs from yours it's a tirade?

You truly are an arrogant individual. I see it every two weeks in your Top X lists, as soon as someone disagrees with it you talk down to them, and now this. Wow. I can see any further discussion with you about this is pointless. So go ahead, have the final word. I'm done.

Posted: **Thu Mar 26, 2020 9:10 am**

Burn wrote:
william-james88 wrote:
Megatron Wolf wrote:you all do realize that this could kill all remaining comic shops right?

But most remain closed anyways. Which is no different than retailers who sell clothes, toys and other non essential items in times like these as well as fine dining restaurants. these shops will have the same resources as other local businesses suffering and it's a good thing no one is getting new comics since it doesnt mean that people wanting their print copies will get them shipped from elsewhere instead, and leaving their LCS for an online shop. This is just a halt on the market and anyone not deemed essential is affected equally.

No, they're not. And to say otherwise is incredibly out of touch.

A local comic book shop is in a niche market. They'll have a set amount of customers. A portion of those customers will still want their comics, so they're likely to resort to digital (be it legal or illegal). They might even like it so much that they decide this is the way they're going to go from now on.

Comic shop re-opens, but some customers don't return because they're happy with digital.
Don't bother arguing that. Many book chains have collapsed over recent years because people have shifted to reading books on their devices. Physical books are now a niche market. Comic books were even more of a niche market.

Collectors outside of the US will also be rethinking their pull list as their countries currency plumets pushing up the price of comics.

Clothing? People are going to go back to those stores because they're a physical thing, people will go back to them.

What's happening now will change how we conduct our lives, for you to sit there and say everything is fine, comic book shops will survive is incredibly out of touch. Some will, some won't, but the landscape of the comic book industry will change.

Burn is right. Look I live in Indianapolis and there was a time I could name over 20 different local comic book stores in this city and now it's down to 5 and four of those are a local chain. The LCS I go to is closed and is going to use curbside and eBay to sell products. Physical comics are very niche market and chances are even if COVID-19 didn't kill them just good old time would.

To say that LCS are going to come out of this be fine and dandy and comparing them to local cloth and toy stores and fine restaurants is just plain stupid. Small/local toy stores will be hit just as hard as LCS because physical toys aren't what kids are into these days.

While small and local clothing stores and boutiques will be hurt badly by this they won't end. Sure I can order cloths off Amazon, I mean hell I ordered my current winter coat off Amazon, it wasn't where I wanted to buy a coat I wanted to buy it at a local coat store but I couldn't find a coat that I liked or wanted. Also the only cloths I wanted to order online was pull over t-shirts because I can order large and XL size and there is a very good chance that will fit, but the coat I ordered off Amazon fits but is tight around my shoulders and I had a chance to try it on in a store I wouldn't have bought that particular coat.

Posted: **Thu Mar 26, 2020 2:28 pm**

Agreed with a lot of the above. The physical comic industry is pretty weak right now, and this just might help do it in.

It's a similar story over at Gamestop, which is trying to sell itself as essential, cause if it closes down, it will probably be for good.

There are a lot of niche or small industries that might go out thanks to this. This has the potential to destroy a lot of business and some industries, and unfortunately, comics are amongst those.

Posted: **Thu Mar 26, 2020 6:10 pm**

This is an existential threat to the entire industry.

In Ireland the biggest store - forbidden planet - closed its doors for the foreseeable and I don't see the smaller fry surviving.

The problem is about 50% of the stores exist on a week by week basis. If this lasts like how it's going to last - 3months or so- they're gone.

And without them the remaining shops aren't enough to make diamond profitable. So it may not reopen at all.

I can't emphasise how big a deal this is. We're lookin at the death of the direct market here.

Pretty much everyone In The comics field has lost their job and your lookin at many companies goin to the wall. Hell dc could be in trouble. They're printer shut down "for 3 weeks" too so they can't even manufacture the books now to flog later.

The next month is gonna be crucial as to how this all pans out.

Posted: **Tue Mar 31, 2020 6:15 pm**

PLOT TWISTS!

After announcing that DC will look at a multi-distributor model, Diamond have now announced that they can't pay publishers this week.

Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

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