TCC Timelines #6 to have 16 new pages of Allspark Almanac content!

Ah, got it. So the mouse is a prize for the winning store and also a prize for the first runner-up in the contest. For some reason I wasn't interpreting that correctly the first time.

Yes, first runner up gets mouse and gaming pad.

Shop owner gets Mouse, Fisitron and signed book.

I see demand for Animated, but not that much, especially for an $8 book... It's a cool concept, but as someone stated it'll increase sales on the book that won't have nearly as much demand behind it... that said, I'm still going to order it, and encourage my store to order a few for the shelves, but I know they won't order enough to win in the end.

I'm still stoked to get this comic though, just wish this contest was maybe a random drawing from any store who orders 10 or more, instead of biggest order... I've got all the other years Diamond Edition's as well, except 05 (but there wasn't a Diamond version that year, IIRC)

which issue of Previews will this be in Pete?

September Issue... Hits newsstands on 8/31

Thank you for the suggestions. Some good points...

Cool, i'll be sure to look for that next week and get my order in.

That sounds like a great way to do it, and probably way more effective.

So here's how it breaks down, and someone please correct me if I'm off somewhere.

Comic shops can order books at roughly 50% of cover price. (For indies and low-print-run books like Timelines #6 it may be less, but I'm just ballparking all of this anyway.) So for Timelines #6, let's say they can get them for $4 per copy. They could therefore order 50 copies at a cost of $200, the stated value of the comic store prizes. If that's enough to win them the contest, they receive the mouse, the signed copy and Fisitron, which they will obviously resell. If they can get $200 for these items, they break even. Any sold copies of the 50 books they ordered is icing.

Where this goes hazy is the value of the prizes. A quick eBay check shows the mouse going in the $60 range. Fisitron, as an item never sold at retail, technically has a retail value of $0. The store can put whatever price it wants to on the figure. Most eBay sellers seem to want $100-$150, but of course those are all Buy It Nows and not a reflection of the figure's actual value. And the signed comic, again, technically has a retail value of only $7.95. The autographs will bump it up, but by how much? Again, the store can put whatever price it wants to there. Is it worth $40? $40 being the minimum price the store would have to sell the issue for, assuming they sell the mouse for $60 and Fisitron for $100, to make back the $200 they spent on 50 copies of Timelines #6.

And then, of course, a store owner will surely guesstimate how many copies of the book he can sell. 10 copies sold will net him $40 (remember he spent $4 per copy, so he's in the hole by half of the issue's cover price). If he runs a large, urban comic store, 10 or even 20 copies might be a reasonable guess. If his store is rural, probably not. Now if he can make $200 by selling his prizes, and another $40-$80 for the copies he can sell, he may not care that he's left with 30-40 copies he can't sell. But in my opinion, $40-$80 is a pretty slim profit margin for this prospect. And this is if he wins. If he loses, he's out $160-$200 unless he can miraculously unload at least 25 of the issues he ordered.

I'd love for some store owners to chime in, here. Is this a fair evaluation? Would you be likely to take this gamble? What about other wrinkles, like the fact that just because you have a $40 signed copy of Timelines #6, a $60 TF3 mouse, and a $100 Botcon-exclusive toy for sale in your store doesn't mean they'll sell before the end of the month, thus messing with your budget? Would the prizes be of more value to you as prizes for your own in-store contests?

I applaud TFCC for coming up with something original for a contest but I don't think a lot of shop owners are going to increase their order numbers for this book. Comic book stores are closing up left and right. Between the economy, rising comic book costs, and the push for digital content; there isn't a market for this type of contest.

that's pretty right on... i don't have a store, but i've worked for almost every local comic shop in town. if i was an owner, and had enough money in the bank, i'd probably try to win just to keep her for myself, and sell the other prizes... and most likely just try to sell the books for $5 to get them to move quicker... but i'd also have to make sure to set an extra stack of the books near the counter so that it grabs more eyes... but again, all of that is hypothetical as i don't own my own store...

Great, addig stuff I'd have bought even as a stand-alone comic into some TFCC material I'd had to be prescribed into for a long time to get, not to mention their horrible international shipping methods and timelines.

It'd have been better if they made this into some Botcon comic that everyone could buy at Botcon... or even pre-order. Without paying a prescription fee.