The Energon Pub

Transformers has always been a part of my life, since my first Optimus Prime back in the late 80's. I have a sizeable toy collection, stacks of DVDs, etc. But now, a facet of my passion must come to a halt. You see, IDW comics puts out intriguing and faithful Transformers stories. Unfortunately, they release EVERYTHING in limited print. Now, during the recession, I had to cut back on my collecting, but I was relieved to see that I would fill in the gap with the "IDW Collection" Volume 2 compilation. It was a short while after this was released that it fell out of print. The price on a used copy is now reaching the range of $400. A Hollywood movie increases the market value of our beloved franchise, and IDW steps right up and creates a commodities market. Well, thank you IDW for robbing me of my fandom. I don't know if others have spoken up about this, but I can assure you, we first-generation TF fans are losing out on this. And it's not right.

And that's why I stopped collecting Transformers comics.

Do you mean Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume 1? Volume 2, according to Amazon.com, hasn't been released yet. I pre-order everything from there so I'm guaranteed not to miss out and that I don't have to spend a whole bunch of money trying to fill in the gaps.

Oops, yeah, I did mean Volume 1. How ridiculous is that? A lot of us old-school fans don't always have the money to dole out at pre-sale time. You would think that IDW would take a lesson from the near-collapse of the rest of the comic industry during the 90's as a result of building a commodities market. While it's true that in the meantime this trend will allow them to up the prices on variants as well as standard-issue, it won't last. Eventually, they'll lose fans (like myself), it will snowball, and ultimately hurt their sales if not implode them.

Furman & Co. need a serious rehash on their geekonomics!

I would have stopped collecting IDW TF comics because Mr. Milne makes all his characters fade into the background. Literally. I can't tell the backgrounds from the characters. There is nothing bright, colorful, or typically "Transformery" about these comics. The Wreckers miniseries is the only readable thing they've put out.

Granted, I'll take bland artwork over marshmallow fun Pat Lee Dreamwave Transformers any day.

About a year ago, I got back into Transformers and comic books in general. While trying to pick up back issues - well, mostly trade paperbacks - so I could get familiar with what was going in in TF over the last 20 years, it was very expensive in many cases to purchase out of print stuff that was no longer available at Amazon. Occasionally I'd get lucky and run across something I "needed" at my local Barnes and Noble - Maximum Dinobots was one - and not have to spend the $60 or more asking price for one on eBay or other online retailers. Megatron Origin was one I just couldn't get my hands on for a decent price so I waited for the IDW collection. When I was looking for All Hail Megatron, the first TPB was outrageously expensive, but I waited it out, and finally got one under the retail price. I've spent a lot of money updating my collection of comics and TPB's, but I've saved a lot too by pre-ordering. I understand your concerns, I really do. But there are ways...yes, there are ways...