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  1. #1
    Extraordinary Member superduperman's Avatar
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    Default The beginning of the end of floppies?

    So this article caught my eye:

    https://www.newsarama.com/48607-imag...s-to-ogns.html

    Is this a sign that floppies are on the way out? This is an issue that fascinates me because I feel it's inevitable. Between young people no longer picking them up and prices going up, I think that floppies will be phased out sometime in the next 10-20 years.
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  2. #2
    Astonishing Member mathew101281's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by superduperman View Post
    So this article caught my eye:

    https://www.newsarama.com/48607-imag...s-to-ogns.html

    Is this a sign that floppies are on the way out? This is an issue that fascinates me because I feel it's inevitable. Between young people no longer picking them up and prices going up, I think that floppies will be phased out sometime in the next 10-20 years.
    They really only sticking around out at habit at this point anyway. I’d bet sometime in the next decade. Marvel and DC are going to go pure digital, and probably reboot their universes in the process. Going digital doesn’t help if you have to wade through 20 years continuity to make sense of everything.

  3. #3
    Invincible Member Kirby101's Avatar
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    I like how floppies look more than digital. Digital also causes more eye strain than floppies. emitted vs reflective light. But I am a dinosaur.
    There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!

  4. #4
    Fantastic Member
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    If I'm not dead before then, that would be the perfect opportunity to get out of comics altogether.

  5. #5
    Latverian ambassador Iron Maiden's Avatar
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    Floppies? the 5 1/4 floppies have been obsolete for a while.

    No one really uses this term for comic books. You'd get the skunk eye if you used that term at the LCS I go to. That term was in vogue for about 5 minutes.

    I think you are still going to see people interested in the collectibility of the printed comics. You can still sell variants etc on eBay. Can't do that with digital.

    I have a comic book autographed by Stan Lee, a sketch cover by Jonathan Hickman he did for me at C2E2...again no can do with digital. I think they still will be around considering the sales figures. The Star Wars #1 relaunch is getting a 2nd printing for example. The top comic of 2019 was Detective Comics #1000 at sales est. 574,279 at $9.99 per issue. Granted that figure represents what the comic shops order but they must have had a lot of requests (or pull lists) to order that much. So the collectors are still out there buying.
    Last edited by Iron Maiden; 01-14-2020 at 11:35 PM.

  6. #6
    Fantastic Member ERON's Avatar
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    The beginning of the end for floppies happened a long time ago, when you could no longer get them at grocery stores, gas stations, etc. The end has been creeping up slowly over time, but it is inevitable.

  7. #7
    Latverian ambassador Iron Maiden's Avatar
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    There's still some life in the comic books as evidenced by the sales figures. But eventually they may fade away. We still have a lot of people that want to read an actual comic book or a book from Barnes & Noble. Floppies however are pretty much obsolete since those hard disks are of no use in Ipads, notebooks or PCs

  8. #8
    Silver Sentinel BeastieRunner's Avatar
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    I bet if one of the big 2 or even a smaller company pushed to have them up in the quick pick or endcap of a grocery store, sales out go up again.

    I miss spinner racks ...
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  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Iron Maiden View Post
    Floppies? the 5 1/4 floppies have been obsolete for a while.

    No one really uses this term for comic books. You'd get the skunk eye if you used that term at the LCS I go to. That term was in vogue for about 5 minutes.

    I think you are still going to see people interested in the collectibility of the printed comics. You can still sell variants etc on eBay. Can't do that with digital.

    I have a comic book autographed by Stan Lee, a sketch cover by Jonathan Hickman he did for me at C2E2...again no can do with digital. I think they still will be around considering the sales figures. The Star Wars #1 relaunch is getting a 2nd printing for example. The top comic of 2019 was Detective Comics #1000 at sales est. 574,279 at $9.99 per issue. Granted that figure represents what the comic shops order but they must have had a lot of requests (or pull lists) to order that much. So the collectors are still out there buying.
    Are kids buying floppies though? If kids are not buying them, they will eventually decline, Marvel and DC cannot rely on the same aging fan base forever.

  10. #10
    Astonishing Member mathew101281's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BeastieRunner View Post
    I bet if one of the big 2 or even a smaller company pushed to have them up in the quick pick or endcap of a grocery store, sales out go up again.

    I miss spinner racks ...
    Not likely, Print Media (Newspapers, magazines etc.) are in decline across the board. Even compared to other products on the magazine stand comic floppies aren't really a good value for money.

  11. #11
    Mighty Member Javasaurus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Iron Maiden View Post
    There's still some life in the comic books as evidenced by the sales figures. But eventually they may fade away. We still have a lot of people that want to read an actual comic book or a book from Barnes & Noble. Floppies however are pretty much obsolete since those hard disks are of no use in Ipads, notebooks or PCs
    I see what you did there. Lol.
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  12. #12
    Mighty Member Enigma's Avatar
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    I rarely buy floppies these days, just an occasional Image mini series. I buy physical prints but almost exclusively in collected editions. I don't really like reading digitally, but in reality I would get used to it if it was my only reasonable option.
    “We have a saying, my people. Don’t kill if you can wound, don’t wound if you can subdue, don’t subdue if you can pacify, and don’t raise your hand at all until you’ve first extended it.”

  13. #13
    Latverian ambassador Iron Maiden's Avatar
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    I don't mind reading from my IPad and the pages are larger. When I do buy a comic I always redeem the digital code so that I can read it on the Ipad too. I like being able to buy variant covers as long as they are reasonable.

  14. #14
    Mighty Member jb681131's Avatar
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    Floppy's are only dying because of their prices.

  15. #15
    Latverian ambassador Iron Maiden's Avatar
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    Now that is a legitimate concern. It seems to me that Marvel is creeping up on the $4.99 plateau. You see it with debut issues of new comics or a new mini series. There is a few more pages for that extra dollar but I don't know if I will be as willing to try out new stuff at those prices.

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