Posted in: Comics | Tagged: bag and board, Comics, comics shop, delays, lunar

Now The Comics Industry Is Running Out Of Bags And Boards

Published Thu, 21 Oct 2021 10:28:10 -0500

Last updated Wed, 27 Oct 2021 06:06:45 -0500

Bleeding Cool has previously reported that the comics industry in the USA is running out of paper. And around the world, there are serious shipping, distribution, and transportation issues kicking in. Delays to schedules have been evident from publisher to publisher to publisher, which also resulted in a rather minimal comic book shipment this week across the board. And as Penguin Random House begins increasing packaging protection for the Marvel Comics titles they ship, there are issues regarding packaging from other distributors as well.

Lunar Distribution, the comics distribution wing of DCBS, with exclusive distribution rights to DC Comics into the direct market of comic book stores, send high tier variant covers bagged and boarded to comic book stores. A sheet of cardboard in a think transparent comic book bag, to help protect specific issues that retailers have to buy many copies of the standard comic to get one of. While the more common ones are 1:10 or 1:20, big launches often have 1:50, 1:100, 1:500, or even 1:1000, and these copies can be sold for many multiples of the cover price and can justify buying the excess copies of the issue. Indeed, Penguin Random House, when dealing with many reported shipping damages for comic book shops, have replaced damaged copies – but not damaged high-tier variants – which for some was the point they ordered so many in the first place.

Now Lunar has told comic book retailers that they can't bag and board those high-tier comics going forward. Telling shops that "due to a supply line issue and the paper shortage, we are currently unable to obtain the supplies to bag and board ratio variants. Unfortunately, ratio variants will not be bagged and boarded until the necessary supplies are back in stock. We apologize for this inconvenience. We will continue to do all we can to uphold the highest possible packaging standard."

Penguin Random House Lost Their First Marvel Comics Shipment To DCBS — Comics, from Mike Beyer.

Anyone else having difficulty getting bags and boards for their comic books? What Lunar's mail-order service DCBS, the biggest direct market comic book retailer in the world? Can't Lunar even get stock from DCBS?

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