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NEWS: Trigun Manga Sells Out


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crazychild



Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Posts: 79
PostPosted: Tue Oct 28, 2003 5:36 pm Reply with quote
Well that explains why I couldn't find a copy anywhere...
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lianncoop
Past ANN Contributor


Joined: 28 Jul 2003
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 28, 2003 5:43 pm Reply with quote
Hmmm...guess I should have picked up a copy when I was at B&N a couple days ago. They had like 8 copies on display.
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crazychild



Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Posts: 79
PostPosted: Tue Oct 28, 2003 6:10 pm Reply with quote
None of the stores near me got any copies, but I think it might be a problem with the store because they still haven't gotten the 2nd volume of Yu-Gi-Oh! or the 1st volume of Yuu Yuu Hakusho
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Ataru



Joined: 04 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 28, 2003 8:54 pm Reply with quote
I guess I'm lucky I order mine over the internet. Razz
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
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Location: Maine
PostPosted: Tue Oct 28, 2003 10:06 pm Reply with quote
When something sells out it means the supplier or distributer has sold out, not that it is no longer available in stores. Don't give up hope yet, the books are still out there, it's just going to be a whole lot harder to find with the next supply not coming until mid November.

Emerje
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animaniac



Joined: 06 May 2003
Posts: 246
Location: Idaho
PostPosted: Tue Oct 28, 2003 11:38 pm Reply with quote
wow that was pretty fast Shocked I wonder how other manga compare in sells? Anyway yeah theres more so thats good in fact I say order or I will order from animecastle cheapest I've seen it online. can't/couldn't find locally
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Tempest
I Run this place.
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Joined: 29 Dec 2001
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 29, 2003 2:15 pm Reply with quote
Fact is Dark Hose played it very conservative with thie publication, and still are.

Similar titles from other companies like Tokyopop have, according to Stu Levy, sold over 200 000 copies. Even though Trigun isn't at the height of its popularity, 30 000 copies was very concervative, in fact too concervative IMHO and it may have hurt their sales...

-t
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Ryuko



Joined: 03 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 29, 2003 2:23 pm Reply with quote
I thought that must have been it. Dark Horse is just having a hard time because they haven't really released anything new manga-wise in a while. They don't know what the market's like anymore.
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radicaledward



Joined: 02 Mar 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 29, 2003 3:35 pm Reply with quote
Tempest wrote:
Fact is Dark Hose played it very conservative with thie publication, and still are.

Similar titles from other companies like Tokyopop have, according to Stu Levy, sold over 200 000 copies. Even though Trigun isn't at the height of its popularity, 30 000 copies was very concervative, in fact too concervative IMHO and it may have hurt their sales...

-t


I'm inclined to agree, I managed to grab the last copy of Trigun where I found it (Very good manga BTW) but the store owner said that more copies were on back-order and that he didn't know when he would be getting more. There is probaly a good chance that alot of people will not be seeing the first volume until after the second volume comes out (January 2004), this is mostly due to the fact that there are not enought copies to spread around and the time it take to do the second run, and distribute it might be awile.
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wallcrawler86



Joined: 06 Sep 2003
Posts: 1
Location: New York
PostPosted: Thu Oct 30, 2003 6:32 am Reply with quote
Perhaps it's for the best for me, anyway. After the last time I went to my local Walden Books and found the shelves of Inuyasha, the new special 3-pack Card Captor Sakura boxes, the t-shirts, and FLCL manga, I left with a much lighter wallet. Maybe if I can wait until Janurary, I can actually have a decent amount of funding.

But it does sound a bit like Dark Horse printed far too little. Trigun might not be at the "peak of its popularity," but it's still one of the most widely known titles in America. If Tokyopop can sell 200,000 copies of other shows, Trigun should have had about the same amount...
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Kidotai



Joined: 29 Oct 2003
Posts: 138
Location: one of those islands in the pacific
PostPosted: Sun Nov 02, 2003 2:52 am Reply with quote
I think some info needs to be made before people jump to conclusions.

For starters, Dark Horse is a Comic Book Company. It would be prudent to think that seeing their a comic book company, they will used sale models in-line with comic books. Manga, even thought they are selling well to both young and old, has only recently seen a surge of sales due to the efforts like Viz, Tokyopop, Comics One, and CPM to market such titles. It would be a realistic theory that DH took their past sales data of their manga (Shadowlady and Gunsmith Cats for example) and based their print run on that asessment.

Also, with many publishers, the first title of any new series, unless the title is done by a well-known author like R.A. Salvatore or Stephen King, or even tied to a popular property like Terry Brooks Shannara Universe (not spelling this right...damn Jolt Cola...) or D&D, the publisher doesn't want to risk alot of money on a possible failure. Many authors don't have bona-fide hits the first time around unless it's thru pure luck, some hyped or unique marketing strategy, or even buzz from a celebrity or some other well-known figure.

I'm gonna push out a wild theory here, but what if the small initial print run was a clever marketing ploy? We're talking about the small print run, and now anyone who didn't get the book are now either actively looking for the book, or are buzzing about the next release date, mulling on why didn't they get it earlier.

Again, just a few facts that need to be told and addressed.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 02, 2003 3:32 am Reply with quote
Tempest:
Quote:
Similar titles from other companies like Tokyopop have, according to Stu Levy, sold over 200 000 copies. Even though Trigun isn't at the height of its popularity, 30 000 copies was very concervative, in fact too concervative IMHO and it may have hurt their sales...


Yeah, but Trigun made more money in a shorter period than most Tokyopop titles.

Ryuko:
Quote:
Dark Horse is just having a hard time because they haven't really released anything new manga-wise in a while. They don't know what the market's like anymore.


You mean a market oversaturated with copy-cat titles? A market which is fragile, because it depends on a demographic whose tastes can change at any minute(Tweens)?

wallcrawler:
Quote:
Trigun might not be at the "peak of its popularity," but it's still one of the most widely known titles in America. If Tokyopop can sell 200,000 copies of other shows, Trigun should have had about the same amount...


Believe me. I see more manga in stores which isn't sold out(*cough* Yu Gi Oh *cough*) than which is sold out. It's better that Dark Horse checked to insure there was a demand, than risk losing money. Lone Wolf and Cub vol. 1 sold out too, and that hasn't hurt them one bit.
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Kidotai



Joined: 29 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 02, 2003 5:13 am Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
Tempest:
Quote:
Similar titles from other companies like Tokyopop have, according to Stu Levy, sold over 200 000 copies. Even though Trigun isn't at the height of its popularity, 30 000 copies was very concervative, in fact too concervative IMHO and it may have hurt their sales...


Yeah, but Trigun made more money in a shorter period than most Tokyopop titles.


But, it means untold # of potential customers are now spending their money elsewhere...or paying higher prices from comic book dealers and "scalpers" just to get their fix. Dark Horse doesn't profit from the aftermarket sales of their manga. And who knows if the second printing is even gonna make DH money; they lost business the first time, and they cannot recoup that lost time. I'm willing to bet they lost half of that profit from the first printing due to such "conservative" attitudes.

Quote:
Ryuko:
Quote:
Dark Horse is just having a hard time because they haven't really released anything new manga-wise in a while. They don't know what the market's like anymore.


You mean a market oversaturated with copy-cat titles? A market which is fragile, because it depends on a demographic whose tastes can change at any minute(Tweens)?


Alot of the "customers" (and I use the term rather loosely) are people under the age of 20. Most grew up on showings of DragonBall, Pokemon, and Gundam, and now because of such influences, they flock to anime and manga.

I agree with the fact that many Manga titles at the local bookstore are copycats, but then again, american consumers are one-sided and rarely go for change. Heck, you tell a kid that there is a world beyond DBZ and Inu-Yasha, and they'll either give a snottish and elitist attitude (heck, even with "Die-hard" anime fans as well, but that's another topic for another day), or their parents will accuse you of "poisoning their little angel's minds" all because you showed them a copy of Newtype.

I should know: I work in one of the "big-chain" bookstores for a living. One of the sections I keep watch on is Manga. Most of the customers are kids, teenagers, and college students.

I also ahve my share of parents attitudes towards anime and Manga. I had a parent go ballistic on me because of Love Hina's Leaf Bikini on #10, claiming I was sending messages to her little girl. Another accused me of being a Wiccan Whore because I was holding a copy of Dragon Arms that I was trying to shelve.

Like I said, people can act snottish and elitist, and it does hurt. Both for the society at large, and the genre iteself.

Quote:
wallcrawler:
Quote:
Trigun might not be at the "peak of its popularity," but it's still one of the most widely known titles in America. If Tokyopop can sell 200,000 copies of other shows, Trigun should have had about the same amount...


Believe me. I see more manga in stores which isn't sold out(*cough* Yu Gi Oh *cough*) than which is sold out. It's better that Dark Horse checked to insure there was a demand, than risk losing money. Lone Wolf and Cub vol. 1 sold out too, and that hasn't hurt them one bit.
[/quote]

It's partly the fault of higher-ups in Bookstore Chains and smaller specialty stores that makes the choices for us, not the store level. The publish has no control over what the stores will buy. In many cases, stores even refuse to purchase said copies for any reason. If a publisher gets a request for 10,000 units of XYZ manga, it doesn't represent a demand for 10,000 paying customers.

Take for example the bookstore I work at. I have 15 extra copies of Chobits #8 (not counting the copies in that box with the figurine) stuck in overstock, enough Love Hina that meant the death of a Giant Sequoia, and I still can't get them to order several titles people want. Even with my love of Anime and manga, the people with MBA's are still gonna thing that DBZ is the "hot" title in Anime and Manga, when it's more than just DBZ.

Those 10 copies of Yu-Gi-Oh on your local B&N or Borders shelf represents what soemone higher-up decided, not what you or the fans or the publisher decided.

"Dumb people get the good jobs," was a quote one of my college professors said once. Oddly enough, it was during my Political Science 105 class...
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 02, 2003 6:04 am Reply with quote
Kidotai:
Quote:
But, it means untold # of potential customers are now spending their money elsewhere...or paying higher prices from comic book dealers and "scalpers" just to get their fix. Dark Horse doesn't profit from the aftermarket sales of their manga. And who knows if the second printing is even gonna make DH money; they lost business the first time, and they cannot recoup that lost time.


The people who bought Trigun and who will buy the second printing are loyal customers who will help Dark Horse stay in business. That's all that matters. And Dark Horse doesn't have to be stuck marketing their manga to one demographic to get a better share of sales.

Quote:
Those 10 copies of Yu-Gi-Oh


I can top that. There were 20-30 copies of vol. 1 at the B&N I went to.

Quote:
"Dumb people get the good jobs," was a quote one of my college professors said once. Oddly enough, it was during my Political Science 105 class...


*smirks* I've got a degree in Poli Sci, so I don't think it's so odd.
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Kidotai



Joined: 29 Oct 2003
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Location: one of those islands in the pacific
PostPosted: Sun Nov 02, 2003 6:48 am Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
The people who bought Trigun and who will buy the second printing are loyal customers who will help Dark Horse stay in business. That's all that matters. And Dark Horse doesn't have to be stuck marketing their manga to one demographic to get a better share of sales.


Huh? Wait, why would the people who bought the first printing of Trigun wanna buy the second printing? That would mean either a moot point, a waste of money, or just a bad attempt to get money for the first printing.
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