Picture found on google with my caption
Besides the rise in comic book prices to $3.99 at Marvel for many books and mini-series, one thing that slipped under the radar and didn’t get much attention is that Marvel raised the prices on their collected editions.
I was in the comic shop recently just to observe the prices on paperbacks and hardcovers and they have increased quite a bit. Also page count appears to be reduced.
The Essentials line went from $17.99 to now $19.99 an issue. And page count seems thinner on some recent volumes then in previous issues.
Still it is a good deal for the price.
The Hardcover line, books like Ultimate Spider-Man went from a then standard $29.99 to now $39.99. And the last volume 11, was very thin and cost $39.99.
It’s not such a good deal anymore. Almost $40 for about 10 issues.
Marvel Omnibus line took a drastic increase. The normal big books cost $99.99. But their recent volume of Golden Age Marvel Comics cost $125.00. And seeing it in the store I was surprised how thin it was. Past volumes that were much thicker cost only $99.99.
There really was no justification for a $125.00 price tag for a book so thin.
In fact the whole Omnibus line seems to be having smaller page counts and sizes then in the earlier volumes. And sometimes Marvel’s price points make no sense at all.
For example Secret Wars Omnibus cost $99.99 for only 12 issues.
Yet Secret Wars II Omnibus cost $99.99 for more then 30 issues.
Paperbacks that were $19.99 went to $24.99.
Overall, you can still find discounted prices online in places such as Amazon. Lines like the Essentials are still great deals with the discounts. While other series such as the Omnibus line which seems to be having a new price tag of $125.00 just don’t seem like good deals anymore. Because even with an online discount you are still paying close to $80 and the volumes are not as big as before.
So the next time you are at the store, take a minute to look at the recent Marvel collected trades, and try to find earlier volumes in the series and compare the price changes.