Received the June/July 2025 issue yesterday
Haven’t had time to read it, but the cover celebrates the Peanuts gang

Excellent editorial as always. Nice to see a RA promo as well.

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Excellent editorial as always.

Too kind, Hammer.
~Alan

I looked for it at Barnes & Noble but it isn't there yet - usually on the shelves within 3 weeks of someone announcing it here.

The local comic store got it this week.

Mine arived on time.

I went to my usual B&N on Saturday and it hadn't arrived and am beginning to wonder if the chain still carries it. I went to another B&N about a half-hour away but pulled up in front of an empty store on its way to becoming a Sports Basement.

When Borders went out of business in 2011, I knew Barnes & Noble management wasn't cheering. A B&N not far from here closed a year later.

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Originally posted by catskilleagle:
I went to my usual B&N on Saturday and it hadn't arrived and am beginning to wonder if the chain still carries it. I went to another B&N about a half-hour away but pulled up in front of an empty store on its way to becoming a Sports Basement.

When Borders went out of business in 2011, I knew Barnes & Noble management wasn't cheering. A B&N not far from here closed a year later.

I hope it eventually shows up, Jess. It's definitely taking a while as our Aug/Sep issue should be out in a few weeks.

How can it be so difficult to send a few magazines to a shop. It seems to happen every month here or there.

Are there good reasons for it, be intresting to know.

There was a large Barnes & Noble less than 30 minutes from us, which was there for many years.

We noticed that in 2024 it moved a few minutes away to a much smaller location, maybe 1/2 the size. What could that mean ? Books are not selling ?

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
I went to my usual B&N on Saturday and it hadn't arrived and am beginning to wonder if the chain still carries it. I went to another B&N about a half-hour away but pulled up in front of an empty store on its way to becoming a Sports Basement.

When Borders went out of business in 2011, I knew Barnes & Noble management wasn't cheering. A B&N not far from here closed a year later.

Sometimes a successful store goes out of business due to circumstances beyond its control. We had a Barnes and Noble in Crystal Lake a few years ago, a beautiful store, very successful. My daughter worked there too. I went there frequently.
When the time to renew the lease came due, the landlord decided he could make more money if he had a different kind of store there. So B & N closed, and now we have a big honkin' Binnie's Liquor Barn, in a town where you can buy liquor at almost every store. The B & N eventually was moved to a smaller location several miles down the road. And no, they do not have NSU there, even though the Asst Manager talks to me about WWE and Star Wars cards when I go there.

I read elsewhere that Barnes & Noble is actually doing well as a chain. They are said to be opening over 60 new stores this year alone. People meet up and hang out around the cafe and buy drinks/snacks and buy a book or two.

I have noticed that books are noticeably more expensive. My mom just bought three trade paperback novels and the total came to just over $55. They aren't much cheaper on Amazon. Some books are full-price. I've been buying some books for her on Ebay. Some are as low as $3-5 with free shipping and they're in good shape most of the time.

I stopped at B&N again on Sunday and there they were - several issues of the latest NSU.

I liked the editorial on the widescreen technique of presenting movies followed in the 90's by "widevision" cards. I still think those are great. When I first saw the Star Wars cards in late 1994, I wasn't really collecting much but those cards got me back into it.

I read the article about Fanatics opening a store in London. It sounds like a great idea and I wonder why Topps didn't try that before.

Nice cover article on the Peanuts 75th anniversary and the new set by Crytozoic. It mentions the few older sets that have come out. That Tuff Stuff factory set also included two prototypes and the set was also distributed in Canada but in packs with French text on the card backs. I remember the late Rod Motonaga also having uncut strips of 3 or 4 cards that had variation text. I should've bought one of those when I had the chance.

I liked the article on the 1991 Star Trek cards by Impel.

It was also interesting to read about the guy behind Wizard magazine (and Toy Wishes and Inquest Gamer) and how he adapted to a changing world.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
I stopped at B&N again on Sunday and there they were - several issues of the latest NSU.

The B&N closest to me never gets it. I still need to track this issue down - my subscription lapsed and I missed this one - good grief!

When I wasn't seeing it in the store, I checked Ebay and saw copies for a couple of bucks more than cover price plus shipping. I decided to wait and it worked out for me. You can try asking at B&N if you can special order the issue. If it's not selling at another store, maybe they can send a copy over.

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Originally posted by Ted Dastick Jr.:

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
I stopped at B&N again on Sunday and there they were - several issues of the latest NSU.

The B&N closest to me never gets it. I still need to track this issue down - my subscription lapsed and I missed this one - good grief!

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
When I wasn't seeing it in the store, I checked Ebay and saw copies for a couple of bucks more than cover price plus shipping. I decided to wait and it worked out for me. You can try asking at B&N if you can special order the issue. If it's not selling at another store, maybe they can send a copy over.

I did check Ebay, people are crazy what they're asking for the current issue.

I have other B&Ns I might check out. I'd call and ask before heading over, but I don't like being "that guy", especially when it comes to a magazine that I assume they can't just check on the computer, they would have to physically look.

I never even thought of having my local store check with another on a magazine, I may try that.