Daily Mutterings: The Death of the Comic Book Store?

[neverchris]

We used to have an anime store around here that closed down a couple years ago. Sad but the store was really bizarre too. They refused to sell CCG's due to a grudge against certain players, hardly restocked their manga/comics, sold pirated merchandise at really high prices, and tried to sell oldschool Super Famicom games at like 80 bucks each. I also overheard them give a customer a lecture on how the Japanese version of Naruto is pronounced "Nar-roo-tay". x_x

[sitbunnynow]

It is really sad. I wish I had a comic shop within, oh, I don't know, THREE hours away. XD

We should open one together.

[MyProfileIsGreat]

@sitbunnynow I'm sure there's probably a comic shop within three hours of where I live. Maybe I should count that as a blessing.

I can see it now. The Sit Bunny Chain of Comics! Actually, that does have a ring to it.

[lopez3486]

It's a good thing that my anime store is not out of business. My town is full of anime fans.

[MyProfileIsGreat]

@lopez3486 That's great! I wish I lived in a small town with nothing but fellow nerds, but somehow I don't think there's a place like that in the entire Earth... short of a comic convention of course.

[lopez3486]

@MyProfileIsGreat So my towns all alone D:

[marsgreekgod]

Well comic stores are dead, but game stores are doing ok. Check out portland. There are lots there. I saw a massively full game store that was doing well and making lots of money. There are even ones with in a few miles of me. So to have a geek store, you need more then comics, you need comics, and games, and board games, and books...

[MyProfileIsGreat]

@marsgreekgod Yeah, a lot of the game stores near my house seem to be doing just fine, particularly the Gamespot chain. Video games and movies seem to be the least affected by the economy it seems.

[mpartic]

I’ve never seen a place to buy comic's in Scotland. I get all my nerdy stuff from the internet.

[MyProfileIsGreat]

@mpartic Ahhhh man, that stinks. From what I've heard Scotland is a lot more scenic than California though. So at least you're living within a gorgeous place.

[dannythesage]

I know what you mean, I live in a small town and there are a lot of things I would love around here, a video game shop, a mall, an otaku/geek/comic shop, it would be fun. And it's not like this town is really that small, I mean they're building a water park/fun center thing and it's gonna have an arcade room so that's win.

[MyProfileIsGreat]

@dannythesage Do you have a Barnes and Noble or Borders near where you live? I know that's the place where I read most of my comics and manga, and while it isn't quite as nice as having a full-on store dedicated to all of that, it's close enough.

A water park though! That will be awesome. I want one!

[dannythesage]

@MyProfileIsGreat

In other towns they do, but they are all at least 1 hour away. And yeah that water park thing is gonna be cool.

But anyways, thank God for online shopping.

[matman125]

There is a comic/toy store chain going on in the east coast. They seem to doing well. Hopefully, they'll expand out west.

I do most of my shopping for figures and anime/manga online. It's just cheaper for me :/

[MyProfileIsGreat]

@matman125 It is cheaper. And nicer. And most convient. I just like the human touch, I suppose.

Buying online does mean that you get to avoid all of those cranky as hell store owners though. Grrrr~ Those guys can really tick me off.

What is the name of this chain? If you don't mind my asking, of course. I should investigate further...

[matman125]

@MyProfileIsGreat It's called " The Toy Vault". There's actually a video of it on YT. It looks pretty simple, but nerds (e.g. myself!) would love to see one in a nearby location. No cranky manager in sight, either!

You know, where I live, there are (or were) a couple anime shops. One closed due to selling pirate/bootleg copies. Ah, that place was a goldmine for me, though, just looking at what -were- legal imports, though.

[PrimeSonicYT]

Well, I still buy all my anime figures and Magic the Gathering stuff in our local geek stores. There's probably only 3 or 4 in the entire city, but they still exist.

Now if you had your own hobby shop or the like, just add an online purchase element to it and things could still work out. (Mostly, I just want an excuse to be able to buy from you directly when the time comes)

[MyProfileIsGreat]

@PrimeSonicYT Well, I'll tell you what, when I finally get that book published I'll let you in on it. That'll be five or six bucks towards whatever my next publication will be (if any).

It just seems like all the shops around me have been swiftly dying away. The manga shop where I used to get all my stuff is completely out of business... I had a theory that I was the one thing keeping them going, and once I ran out of money, so did they. But that's silly. XD

[GrayLemons]

"Kalebs Comic Shop" what a wonderful dream... I think I'm getting used to the new style of videos and I like it!

We're going to lose comic shops, and then all of the comics will be digital, and then they'll have devices that download movies and books directly into your ocular nerves, and then we'll eventually be 100% machine!... ...

I'm glad that you love me! lol =3

[MyProfileIsGreat]

@GrayLemons Well, considering the fact that I just bought a ton of PS1 games and put them all on a memory card for Playstation Portable, I can understand the appeal of that. I suppose it's nostaliga for a simplier less automated time in my case.

Kaleb's Comic Shop... we'll see. I'll try to conquer some other smaller dreams before I go on to that one.