Buying Habits

[Mladen]

How would you describe your buying habits?
I'm putting together an editorial for an online comics site and just want to look at the types of different customers.

1: If a new series is starting up and you like the look of the reviews/previews etc, will you buy the individual issues or will you wait for the trade (or a mix of both)?

2: What percentage of trades vs single issues makes up your collection?

3: What percentage makes up the balance of the types of books you normally buy? Superheroes? Vertigo? Manga? Independant publishers? Overall percentage of all the books you own?

4: How would you describe your buying patterns?
Is there a core handful of series you always buy and then a handful of random books with that? do you buy only one publisher and nothing else?Do you selectively buy only specific books which interest you at that moment? Do you prefer the library and don't buy much at all?

5: Would you honestly say you buy comics to collect, or you buy predominantly to read? In the same vein, how do you treat your comics and trades? Do you keep them in bags on the shelf, or just throw them around your room and treat them like disposable items, or what?

Thanks

 

[Andy C.]

How would you describe your buying habits?
I'm putting together an editorial for an online comics site and just want to look at the types of different customers.

1: If a new series is starting up and you like the look of the reviews/previews etc, will you buy the individual issues or will you wait for the trade (or a mix of both)?

I usually buy the first issue, read it a couple of times, and decide whether I like it from there. If it hooks me from the start, I'll continue buying the individual issues. If not, I'll either wait for the trade or drop it.

2: What percentage of trades vs single issues makes up your collection?

Right now it's about 2/3 in favor of single issues. That does count for the tons of singles I picked up when I was a kid and didn't know about TPBs, though.

3: What percentage makes up the balance of the types of books you normally buy? Superheroes? Vertigo? Manga? Independant publishers? Overall percentage of all the books you own?

I'd say a good 50% of it is DC, 20% Marvel, 10% Dark Horse, and 10% random other stuff. Virtually all of it is superhero, and I only own 1 manga.

4: How would you describe your buying patterns?
Is there a core handful of series you always buy and then a handful of random books with that? do you buy only one publisher and nothing else?Do you selectively buy only specific books which interest you at that moment? Do you prefer the library and don't buy much at all?

I always make sure to pick up Action Comics and Detective, and I try to get at least a couple issues of other books when they're getting a new writer (ex: Simone on Wonder Woman) or in the middle of a big event (ex: Sinestro Corps War). I've been really put off by Marvel over the last year or so, so I don't buy much from them except for the occasional trade of Ultimate Spider-Man.

5: Would you honestly say you buy comics to collect, or you buy predominantly to read? In the same vein, how do you treat your comics and trades? Do you keep them in bags on the shelf, or just throw them around your room and treat them like disposable items, or what?

I buy comics to read them, though I try to keep them in at least decent condition. I move around a lot these days, so that hasn't really been possible.

 

[Mladen]

thanks andy c.

 

[Manic]

1: If a new series is starting up and you like the look of the reviews/previews etc, will you buy the individual issues or will you wait for the trade (or a mix of both)?

I usually try to buy the individual issues when they first come out. If the book falls off my radar after the previews, and I forget about it, I'll pick up the trade to catch up.

2: What percentage of trades vs single issues makes up your collection?

I'd say 10% of the book I buy are trades, and the other 90% are single issues.

3: What percentage makes up the balance of the types of books you normally buy? Superheroes? Vertigo? Manga? Independant publishers? Overall percentage of all the books you own?

60% Marvel (all superhero), 25% DC's mainline (also all superhero), and 15% independent. I only pick up one Vertigo comic (Y: The Last man in trades), and I own only one volume of a Tenchi Muyo manga.

4: How would you describe your buying patterns?
Is there a core handful of series you always buy and then a handful of random books with that? do you buy only one publisher and nothing else?Do you selectively buy only specific books which interest you at that moment? Do you prefer the library and don't buy much at all?

There are roughly 10 comics I always buy. I really don't care which publisher they come from, although I mostly pick up Marvel and DC books due to their higher exposure. Also, whenever I want to start reading a book that's been ongoing for a while, I join in purely through trades. Consequently, I'll never be up-to-date on stuff like Runaways.

5: Would you honestly say you buy comics to collect, or you buy predominantly to read? In the same vein, how do you treat your comics and trades? Do you keep them in bags on the shelf, or just throw them around your room and treat them like disposable items, or what?

My trades are neatly stacked in the corner of my room, save for the few I keep in my car to read while at work. My single issues are stored in 4 shoeboxes (I've only been buying comics since January 2006) that I keep under my bed and desk.
I'm a reader, not a collector.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

1. I'd buy the individual issues.

2. Probably 80% issues, 20% trades. That's an estimation.

3. I'd say 75% superheroes, 15% Vertigo, 10% indies, and maybe some small fraction of a percent for manga. I own far more comics and trades than any other type of book.

4. I buy whatever I find myself enjoying primarily. The only real sacred cow I have is Thor--I'll buy anything with him. But everything else depends on the creative team, the story, and whether I enjoy it. Publishers don't matter to me; I've been buying indies without even looking at the publisher marking lately. I've borrowed a few trades from the library, but I like to own my comics.

5. I buy comics purely to read, then I just keep them. I treat them as well as I can without putting them in bags and boards, although I have a few hundred in bags and boards in about 8 longboxes. The rest are strewn all over my room in piles because I'm too lazy to actually organize them. I don't consider them disposable, and I don't fold the cover back or anything. The trades I've read are all on 3 shelves of a bookcase.

 

[November Rain]

How would you describe your buying habits?
I'm putting together an editorial for an online comics site and just want to look at the types of different customers.

1: If a new series is starting up and you like the look of the reviews/previews etc, will you buy the individual issues or will you wait for the trade (or a mix of both)?

2: What percentage of trades vs single issues makes up your collection?

3: What percentage makes up the balance of the types of books you normally buy? Superheroes? Vertigo? Manga? Independant publishers? Overall percentage of all the books you own?

4: How would you describe your buying patterns?
Is there a core handful of series you always buy and then a handful of random books with that? do you buy only one publisher and nothing else?Do you selectively buy only specific books which interest you at that moment? Do you prefer the library and don't buy much at all?

5: Would you honestly say you buy comics to collect, or you buy predominantly to read? In the same vein, how do you treat your comics and trades? Do you keep them in bags on the shelf, or just throw them around your room and treat them like disposable items, or what?

Thanks

1.I'll wait for trade, unless something awesome is about to happen and then i get a sneak peak of an issue.

2.I used to collect a sort of trade book in the uk called 'Astonishing spidernman', 'essential x-men', 'wolverine unleashed' where they collected two current story arcs and one classic into a lil collector's monthly book. I stopped that a while ago and now only collect random trades and ultimate timeline stuff in trade.

3.pretty much all superhero stuff.

4.most marvel, mostly ultimates now but wanting to persue some classic dc trades as marvel has been putting me off. Will return to get world war hulk in trade and see what the big fuss was all about.

 

[Norman Osborn]

How would you describe your buying habits?
I'm putting together an editorial for an online comics site and just want to look at the types of different customers.

1: If a new series is starting up and you like the look of the reviews/previews etc, will you buy the individual issues or will you wait for the trade (or a mix of both)?

2: What percentage of trades vs single issues makes up your collection?

3: What percentage makes up the balance of the types of books you normally buy? Superheroes? Vertigo? Manga? Independant publishers? Overall percentage of all the books you own?

4: How would you describe your buying patterns?
Is there a core handful of series you always buy and then a handful of random books with that? do you buy only one publisher and nothing else?Do you selectively buy only specific books which interest you at that moment? Do you prefer the library and don't buy much at all?

5: Would you honestly say you buy comics to collect, or you buy predominantly to read? In the same vein, how do you treat your comics and trades? Do you keep them in bags on the shelf, or just throw them around your room and treat them like disposable items, or what?

Thanks

1/ I buy the individuals....I never wait for trades....

2/ I have a couple of dozen trades, that's it...99% + of my collection is individual

3/ 100% superhero.....probably 70-30 Marvel vs DC All time....as of right now it's probably closer to 50/50

4/ Like most, I have a pull list and two suppliers.....I deviate from the pull list for special minis et al "Silver Surfer Requiem"...but not often. I buy from both Marvel and DC

5/ I buy comics to read, not collect. If a series I'm currently reading tanks (ASM for instance) I have no problem taking it off my pull list and waiting till it gets better...I'm not a so-called completionist. I bag and board all my comics.

 

[Themanofbat]

1: If a new series is starting up and you like the look of the reviews/previews etc, will you buy the individual issues or will you wait for the trade (or a mix of both)?

I pick up the comics... the only time I get trades is if I heard of a series too late and then I get the series in that format.

2: What percentage of trades vs single issues makes up your collection?

I have over 30 long boxes of comics (approx. 300 issues per box)... so about 10 000 comics (98%), and I probably have about 150 trades (2%).

3: What percentage makes up the balance of the types of books you normally buy? Superheroes? Vertigo? Manga? Independant publishers

I get 37.5% Marvel Comics, 25% DC Comics, 12.5% of Image Comics & 12.5% of Dark Horse Comics, and 12.5% Independants.

Of that, 55% are superhero books and about 20% are Vertigo style comics.
I do not own nor buy any manga comics.

4: How would you describe your buying patterns?

Is there a core handful of series you always buy and then a handful of random books with that?
do you buy only one publisher and nothing else?
Do you selectively buy only specific books which interest you at that moment?

I buy core titles and tend to stick with them unless they get extremely bad... and I'll wait out bad times because after 33 years of monthly comic buying, I've come to realize that good times are just around the corner.

Do you prefer the library and don't buy much at all?

I buy all the books I need and only use the library for reference material whenever it's required (I don't use it for comics)

5: Would you honestly say you buy comics to collect, or you buy predominantly to read? In the same vein, how do you treat your comics and trades? Do you keep them in bags on the shelf, or just throw them around your room and treat them like disposable items, or what?

I buy everything to read... nobody should buy them to collect... collect only what you want to read. I bag all my comics (very few of them are boarded) and put them in boxes afterwards, and I keep my trades on shelves, and I take more liberties with them, meaning I'm not as carefull with them as I am with my comics.

 

[DoomRulz]

1: If a new series is starting up and you like the look of the reviews/previews etc, will you buy the individual issues or will you wait for the trade (or a mix of both)?

I'll buy the individual issues.

2: What percentage of trades vs single issues makes up your collection?

99.9% singles. I have 6 Essentials. I'm not too fond of trades only b/c they're pricey and more often than not I find it's easier and cheaper just to buy the singles.

3: What percentage makes up the balance of the types of books you normally buy? Superheroes? Vertigo? Manga? Independant publishers? Overall percentage of all the books you own?

99.9% Marvel, with a little DC and DH mixed in. Currently I'm only reading Marvel. My DC and DH stuff was all given to me, and they're old.

4: How would you describe your buying patterns?
Is there a core handful of series you always buy and then a handful of random books with that? do you buy only one publisher and nothing else?Do you selectively buy only specific books which interest you at that moment? Do you prefer the library and don't buy much at all?

I only buy Marvel b/c that's where my interest lies. Right now I'm reading Ghost Rider, Captain America, and Thor. I read any extra books associated with said characters. As far as random titles go, I may pick up Cable & Deadpool every now and then. I don't go to the library much.

5: Would you honestly say you buy comics to collect, or you buy predominantly to read? In the same vein, how do you treat your comics and trades? Do you keep them in bags on the shelf, or just throw them around your room and treat them like disposable items, or what?

I buy comics for both reasons. I read them, and anything valuable I put in mylar. I treat my comic with the utmost care. Everything is always bagged and boarded. I never leave them sitting unprotected. I keep them in boxes like the ones found in dealers' shops.

 

[Cosmic]

How would you describe your buying habits?
I'm putting together an editorial for an online comics site and just want to look at the types of different customers.

1: Individual issues.

2: I buy 10-15 comics each month, and probably average one trade every two or three months.

3: Usually about 50% DC, 20% Dark Horse, 20% Marvel, and 10% other.

4: I have my mainstays, like BPRD and Action Comics, which I always buy. Then I have traditional favorites which I'll buy if I like what I see. And then others which interest me at the moment, but I keep buying if I'm satisfied. I don't buy late books, and I'm less inclined to buy stuff that crosses over into a bunch of different titles. I do occasionally check out trades from the library.

5: I read everything that I buy. I have sold comics or given them away, but for the most part, I keeMost of my books are bagged and boarded. If they're not stored in some kind of box, they might temporarily be stacked in a small pile, somewhere.

 

[Mladen]

Andy C, Manic, Corpulent1, Norman Osborne, November Rain, Themanofbat, Doomrulz, Cosmic, thanks guys for your helpful comments so far.

 

[Aviator]

1) Usually single issues. I'll buy the trade if I only have a moderate interest, or if I forget about the series for a few months.

2) Around 70% single issues.

3) A good 75% of my collection is DC. Dark Horse is another 10%, and Top Cow is 5%. The last 10% is random independent publishers. I was surprised when I found out that I don't own anything published by Marvel.

4) I'm very selective in what I buy, it's usually only a couple series a month. Occasionally I'll try out another series if it catches my interest. I like reading book from issue #1, so I tend to pick up the trades first before I get the current issues. Specific characters or genres are my main factors in buying books, much moreso than publishers, writers, or artists.


5) I read everything I buy. I like collecting them too, so I bag/board everything and store them in comic boxes.

 

[Max J Power]

1: Wait for the trade, unless I think I'll love the new series.

2: Issues--60% Trades--40%

3: All the ones I buy monthly are superheroes, and most of the trades I own are superheroes. I own about 85% Marvel and 15% DC/Dark Horse.

4: I usually collect 4 or 5 series. Two or three are monthly, one is not monthly, and one is a mini-series.

5: I'd say I buy them to read, but I do keep the single issues in bags. I don't bag the trades, but I take good care of them.