The Comic Speculation Trend (and What Videogames Could Learn From It)
I fell in love with comics during the late 80s. My best friend at the time showed me his small comic collection and I remember listening to Jean Michel Jarre and reading them. The art, stories and dynamism shown on the page blew me away ; it's interesting how such seemingly different art forms can intertwine and create such a powerful impact. For me, the sound of Oxygene combined with late 80s/ early 90s Iron Man, creating a truly immersive experience my head.
I remember vividly going to bed excited to visit our local comic book store, Rodney's Books and Games. The makeup of the shop was strange but cool, at the top was Rodney who sold second hand books and in the basement was Ian, the mid-30 pony tailed guy who sold the comics and manga. I'd been visiting this place to get the books as I was really into the Fighting Fantasy series of books by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. I'd never really ventured downstairs as that was where the men and older teenagers hung out.
There was a connecting space as at the top were rows of comic book boxes with grab bags, £1 a piece, which contained about 4 to 5 comics. The corners were snipped off but it was a cheap way to read loads of comics really easily. Sure, you'd never get a story arc but back then it was a great way to be introduced to a wealth of comics.
I loved visiting every Saturday morning with my best mate and spending our pocket money. However, the early 90’s were when I stopped collecting comics, this was when the comics boom started. I had only a little amount of pocket money and the possibility of getting a girlfriend, socialising with friends by going to the cinema or Pizza Hut buffet whilst collecting all the variants and crossovers made it all too hard for me to keep up with everything. Also, factor in the price rise in comics (from about 80p to about £1.50 to some being over £2) and I was out of the game. Speculators made it hard to collect the comics I wanted and when I could get it, the comic seller had usually jacked up the price. The biggest example I have of this is I was a huge Iron Man fan, who I'd followed since reading a mate’s issue of #250, which I bought and still have. I'd buy monthly issues but the Death of Tony Stark was the next issue (#284 for those who are interested) and I couldn't find it for love nor reasonable money.
I moved onto Flair Cards and loved them for their stunning artwork, interesting facts and good quality card and foil effects but then they became a speculative bubble. I knew this was happening when my group of equally geeky friends suddenly saw many more of our student peers collecting the cards in the playground, it became a phenomenon. Then, after my young cool uncle lent me VHS copies of Akira and Devilman, I got into manga and that was my thing for the next couple of decades.
I know I sound like a hipster but I'm not- I like the stuff I like because I genuinely like it. When things get speculative I get priced out and that's annoying. I loved comics and felt sad that I had to step away however, when I got my first proper paid weekend job in Peacocks, as well as saving some, I'd buy CDs, DVDs but also graphic novels. I found that with graphic novels you'd usually get a whole story arc and the prices wouldn't be speculated on. I've amassed a sizable collection of over 700 and have continued collecting, getting only the stuff I want to read. I don't follow trends or hype cycles but follow the creatives or characters I want. I dropped out of comic collecting because it became prohibitively expensive. I only get a few issues a year and usually they are for the big events like the death of Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) or the first appearance of Spider Boy, and even then I don't stress about variants, foils etc... life's too short! I find that the indie scene is exciting and I enjoy supporting new creatives as there are genuine innovations and a refreshing ideas. I buy several graphic novels each year as the price is quite expensive buy I do get a few single issues too.
As a lifelong videogamer, I’ve been surprised and thankful at how game prices had remained relatively low. It's incredible how much the market has changed over the years. The early 2000s were definitely a golden age for bargain hunters, especially those with a penchant for older systems like the NES, Gameboy, Master System, Megadrive and SNES. However, the internet and nostalgia (as well interest heightened during Covid) have driven up prices for retro games.
When you want to buy a game you don’t expect to look at a table to consider your purchase.
The comic book industry has shown that offering too many different versions of a product can confuse consumers and lead to decreased sales overall. Thus the videogame industry should heed the lessons learnt from that industry and not over-saturate the market with different editions of games or Day One DLC, microtransactions or season passes that are not considered worthwhile for the customer. It’s been a real bloodbath over the past couple of years and I hope the industry recalibrates itself.
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