June/July Issue hits the stands!

June 08, 2020, 10:06 AM

harry lime

I just don't understand why the online iPad issue isn't available.

June 10, 2020, 01:50 AM

catskilleagle

I went to a local B&N today thinking this issue would be there but it wasn't - no older issues either. They rearranged a lot of the shelving to make more open space so customers couldn't get clustered together in an aisle. It was great to able to go to a bookstore (hadn't been there since early March) in any case.

Jess

June 10, 2020, 02:13 AM

hammer

quote:
Originally posted by harry lime:
I just don't understand why the online iPad issue isn't available.

I agree, you would expect it to be

June 10, 2020, 02:43 AM

harry lime

It arrived!At last

June 10, 2020, 12:15 PM

Raven

And you were worried.

So now you can judge better for the next time, but this may still be an exception. If there is reduced staff in this period because of the restrictions, perhaps that caused a delay that you won't have in a few months. Good to hear about the online subscriptions anyway.

June 13, 2020, 08:23 PM

Raven

Funny thing is, my own June/July issue has yet to arrive and its getting a bit long now.

June 14, 2020, 09:36 AM

promoking

quote:
Originally posted by Raven:
Funny thing is, my own June/July issue has yet to arrive and its getting a bit long now.

Ditto!

June 17, 2020, 03:35 PM

Heroes For Hire

My Local Comic Book Shop received their June/July issues from Diamond Distributors yesterday

June 20, 2020, 11:17 AM

Raven

For some reason I still haven't gotten my subscription copy. It may come yet, but I've given in to temptation and picked up one at my LHS. My subscription has been renewed, so if it doesn't come and I miss the issue, I will be contacting Beckett next time for sure.

So at a glance I have some comments.

I liked the cover article on The Umbrella Academy and the magazine layout remains good. I am starting to see a leaning toward greater discussion of older cards that I am not familiar with and wouldn't be buying. While it's great to see one article on such a subject per issue, I would prefer to see the majority of the coverage on more current card products that more collectors are buying right now.

I have two comments/suggestions about the price guide section. The first being, I CAN'T READ IT.

The font is too small to be comfortable. If this is what it takes to get everything in, you are going to have to throw a lot out. Put it in the annual Almanac and confine the NSU price guide to products released in the last 5 - 10 years. Hate to say that as it eliminates some iconic titles, but honestly what good is it if its unreadable? Maybe choose to leave in only older ones with established current activity as exceptions.

Finally about the pricing itself, the inscription autographs in the 2019 Twilight Zone and other similar inscription card products don't need to be listed as multiple lines when the prices are all the same for the same signer. That's wasting space. Only an inscription that warrants a different price should be separately listed.

And the 2020 Game of Thrones was added to the guide without any pricing for any of the inscription autographs and most of the Valyrian Steel autograph values were left blank. If pricing couldn't be made for everything, it probably should have waited till the next issue.

As always, just from my viewpoint.

June 20, 2020, 11:29 AM

Tommy C

The local comic shop received the new NSU this week as well but he never received the April may issue from Diamond 2 months ago

June 20, 2020, 01:26 PM

BeckettBible24

quote:
Originally posted by Raven:
For some reason I still haven't gotten my subscription copy. It may come yet, but I've given in to temptation and picked up one at my LHS. My subscription has been renewed, so if it doesn't come and I miss the issue, I will be contacting Beckett next time for sure.

So at a glance I have some comments.

I liked the cover article on The Umbrella Academy and the magazine layout remains good. I am starting to see a leaning toward greater discussion of older cards that I am not familiar with and wouldn't be buying. While it's great to see one article on such a subject per issue, I would prefer to see the majority of the coverage on more current card products that more collectors are buying right now.

I have two comments/suggestions about the price guide section. The first being, I CAN'T READ IT.

The font is too small to be comfortable. If this is what it takes to get everything in, you are going to have to throw a lot out. Put it in the annual Almanac and confine the NSU price guide to products released in the last 5 - 10 years. Hate to say that as it eliminates some iconic titles, but honestly what good is it if its unreadable? Maybe choose to leave in only older ones with established current activity as exceptions.

Finally about the pricing itself, the inscription autographs in the 2019 Twilight Zone and other similar inscription card products don't need to be listed as multiple lines when the prices are all the same for the same signer. That's wasting space. Only an inscription that warrants a different price should be separately listed.

And the 2020 Game of Thrones was added to the guide without any pricing for any of the inscription autographs and most of the Valyrian Steel autograph values were left blank. If pricing couldn't be made for everything, it probably should have waited till the next issue.

As always, just from my viewpoint.

Some very good points made here about the price guide section. I've been trying to make adjustments as I go when doing this but it seems I'm facing the same problem that sports analysts face with the Beckett publications. That is, too many products and not enough room. I have been formulating a plan to change the format to the price guide and cutting out sets that are past five years old. I have also decided to bite the bullet and put all the sets in chronological order. It makes things way easier for a monthly/quarterly publication that isn't an almanac. These adjustments will not take place until the Dec 20/Jan 21 issue so no worries. There will be plenty of time for more discussion and suggestions (I wholeheartedly welcome them).

Also, in regard to the inscription autographs, you'll be happy to know that we have been making adaptations to those checklists to include just a common listing in the header. So, if it's a Trek set and they are Nichelle Nichols cards, there would be a line in the header that reads COMMON NICHOLS and then it will list the price range.

I've been trying to get to what I can when I can. However, I also cover wrestling, MMA, all of the multi and miscellaneous sports, action figures/Funko and all of the gaming properties. I just spent the duration of the quarantine doing a complete overhaul of the Magic The Gathering database. With that out of the way, I'm now concentrating on the Non-Sport Almanac and I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised with the plans we have for that publication.

Please know, though, that I read and consider every suggestion that is left here and on our other social media outlets. In fact, I pride myself on putting into action what the collector/dealer may want to see in the future. It's what will keep the publication fresh and everlasting.

Thank you for the continued suggestions.

June 20, 2020, 01:59 PM

Raven

Thanks so much for your reply Mr. Bible and your assurance that our feedback on Card Talk is read and considered. I completely understand your difficult position. The card sets keep coming and the price guide can only hold so many. Plus its not your sole focus, when it probably could be a full time job on its own.

So I know it's easy to make suggestions and quite another thing to effect change within staff and budget limitations. The difference between a good idea and the practical implementation of that idea. Also suggestions always tend to be on the negative side, as nothing has to change when everyone is satisfied with it.

Anyway thanks for acknowledging and it would be good to read about your plans for both the next Almanac and future NSU issues.

June 27, 2020, 08:16 PM

catskilleagle

I went to a local B&N today - still no new NSU issues (not even the old one). I see open spots on the rack and at least one magazine was still represented by the April issue.

July 07, 2020, 08:02 PM

catskilleagle

The nearest B&N still doesn't have the current NSU. I went today and looked at some of the other magazine dates. The store still has the "Winter" issue of Prehistoric Times and the February-April issues of a few others. They have a few for June-July. It's been about a month since it reopened. I'm surprised it's taking this long to update their racks - must be a problem at the distributor.

I worked in bookstore back in the late 80's. Then and now, stores want the shelves to look close to full even if it is with the help of back issues. Near-empty magazine racks usually means the store is closing.

July 07, 2020, 09:23 PM

Raven

There is a general newspaper/candy/Lotto store by me that normally has a number of monthly and weekly magazines. They closed for awhile, but have been open about 6 weeks now. Besides daily papers, almost none of their magazines are current, just what they had before they shut down in March.

I don't think its just distribution. I think some of these publications closed down too and maybe haven't put out new issues yet.

And I never did receive my June/July NSU by mail. Good thing I picked it up at my LHS when I saw it.

July 28, 2020, 04:09 AM

catskilleagle

Yeah, another magazine I read, "Natural History," hasn't published an issue since March.

I went to a B&N today. The magazine racks were more sparsely-populated than before on some of the shelves and there was still no NSU. I assume they are not getting the June/July issue now that I see this site is already advertising the August/September issue.

There were fewer employees and customers.

Jess

quote:
Originally posted by Raven:
There is a general newspaper/candy/Lotto store by me that normally has a number of monthly and weekly magazines. They closed for awhile, but have been open about 6 weeks now. Besides daily papers, almost none of their magazines are current, just what they had before they shut down in March.

I don't think its just distribution. I think some of these publications closed down too and maybe haven't put out new issues yet.

And I never did receive my June/July NSU by mail. Good thing I picked it up at my LHS when I saw it.