| topic for discussion; -fair weather fans | |
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| Topic Started: Jul 27 2009, 06:01 PM (42 Views) | |
| Dominic Guglieme | Jul 27 2009, 06:01 PM Post #1 |
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the human MICROscope!!
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Topic for discussion: A few days ago, I was at the local comic shop, and the owners were complaining about the 80s properties, (TF, GI Joe, He-Man, etc), as well as the fans. The old chest-nuts about said properties being, or at least starting off as, toy commercials were tossed about. (The normal defense here is that the properties with staying power actually did develop their intellectual property. Of course, the counter-arguement is that such stories are not legitimate as they did not come completely first.) I have defended the narrative merits of TF and other properties. But, the jab at the fans struck me. We were characterized as "fair weather fans" but the owners. The basis for this is that we "do not have any characters that we love through thick and thin". We are opportunists who are too quick to add and drop books. Along similar lines, the complained that TF fans were cheap, as we try to haggle. (Mind you, these guys also have broken TFs in their display case priced at $20 and up, for example, a roofless Prowl for $30.) Granted, the obvious reason for these complaints is that they want to sell comics, and would prefer we buy the same books consistently, and that there not be so many books in the same category that we buy selectively from. And, hey, who would not want to sell broken toys for obscene amounts of money? But, for whatever reason, the accusation has really stuck with me. Thoughts? Dom |
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Keep it local. The healthiest leper in the colony is still very very sick. www.theanimalrescuesite.com | |
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| andersonh1 | Jul 27 2009, 07:03 PM Post #2 |
 
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Sounds like snootiness to me. These guys having the discussion do work in a comic book shop, correct? An establishment which largely sells comics based on spandex-clad men and women with various superpowers? And they look down on Transformer fans?  It's all just escapist fantasy. As for marked up G1 toys, a broken toy is a broken toy. There's nothing cheap about trying to talk it down. Nostalgia only goes so far. |
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------ My Doctor Who reviews | |
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| WWCD | Jul 27 2009, 07:58 PM Post #3 |
What Would Cap Do?
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We don't have alot of comic shops around here, at least not the part of pennsylvania I'm in. You'll have to ask Apoc and Mac about their areas, but even Wyse's area is basically the same as mine. Back home in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, though, we had them all over the place. Really one of the few things I miss about the area. (Come to think of it, that's about all I miss.) And I remember the same conversation in the ones there. It seems to me that people who run comic shops aren't actual comic fans. They might have been when they started, but they tend to exchange their Fan-Boy hats for their Shopkeeper ones at some point and the former just ends up in a drawer somewhere never to be seen again. But on the same coin, they tend to do alot of complaining about those of us that are still fans. They say we're not "real" fans or that we're just in it for the money, when in honesty it seems that's exactly what's happened to them. Honestly, I'll agree that even I have abandoned a title if it has gotten too dodgey or hard to keep up with. or if I have decided it was just total crap to begin with and wonder why I ever invested in the first issue. We've all done it. Collector or no, why would you buy something that doesn't in some way or form give you pleasure and satisfaction? Personally, I'd rather drop a bad title for a new one with a better story than keep spending money on something I don't like. So yeah, Dom, I agree with you wholeheartedly. It's somewhat of an insult to the fans to be called such things and labeled such by the people who's pockets we are lining, no matter which titles or products we buy. -Jim |
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| Dominic Guglieme | Jul 28 2009, 12:13 PM Post #4 |
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the human MICROscope!!
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It was not so much the fact they looked down on the franchises that bugged me. I have long since stopped caring. (By any objective standard, old Marvel "Transformers" and "GI Joe" comic are no worse than most of 80s Marvel. And, Hasbro paid money to have the properties developed by a comic company, rather than just crank out in-house material. This is the reason "Transformers" beat "Go-Bots". What annoyed me was the "fair-weather fan" accusation. Like Onslaught6 (over at TFV) put it, they want to sell comics, so of course they want people to consistently buy recognizable books. It is the almost clubbish "not good enough fans", or "do not love the hobby enough" accusation that really bothers me. How does being selective about what one reads/buys make one less of a fan. The whole thing strikes me as kind of elitist, which given the general views of comic readers, is kind of....sad. I am probably making too much of this, but I have seen it enough before that it bothers me now. Dom |
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Keep it local. The healthiest leper in the colony is still very very sick. www.theanimalrescuesite.com | |
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11:31 PM Jul 31
