Aspen Print Thread

[Glennfett]

damn those Century editions!!!
Just seen more of the DeBalfo prints...i love the last one on the Aspenstore page!!
dayum.....that WHOLE page is full of awesome.
and now there are bottle top openers!!!Woot Woot.

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by renketsu

Century editions are listed on Aspenstore, but not available yet.

$80 each... Not sure I can run to that for a comic, no matter how limited - don't have enough free cash!!

Yeah that's pretty pricey. I could see that price on the 2nd hand market but actually selling it out the gate at 80? Whew, that means prices on eBay are going to be at least 150-200 a book.

By the way, it all starts tomorrow so best of luck to everyone in here that's hoping to get in on the limited items. Hopefully some people get lucky, me included!!

OMG, now they have a 3 book sketchbook set for 99.99 and they just listed up on eBay the first of the daily prints and its the one I was hoping for, the cover of the Kiani Century Edition. Aspen just wants all my money. Not just some of it but ALL of it.



Damn is that a stunning print.

[ssurfer23]

80 for the ACE....think i will pass on the comics and just stick with the prints

[renketsu]

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

Damn is that a stunning print.

Different colouring to the test print prototype I have too:



Green replaced with almost brown on clothing.

Sorry for poor image - wasnt on a flat surface and poorly lit room.

Hope to have a daily print to go with this one and take a shot side by side

[Bobfrog]

Yeah that's a cool Kiani print. Hopefully I can get my hands on at least a few of the ones they've got listed.

Don't know what everyone else thinks but I really don't understand Aspen's (or for that matter certain other comic retailers') motivations for setting the prices and the print runs for such items...from a business perspective it seems to defy all logic for most of the stuff they have ready to sell for SDCC (only the century editions seem to make sense i.e. low print run = high price)
i.e. imho they have a virtually guaranteed market at a guess for at least a few hundred (and I reckon that's being conservative) of each print yet they set them at 30 or 100 and they don't even put a premium price on them (they're $50 or less, particularly if you attend the con).

If they are aiming to create a buzz around the company by severely limiting the print runs then I'd say they've got it all wrong as its lose-lose situation for the company and the fans. The way it stands very few fans will get the chance to own and enjoy the prints and the pre-con buzz will just be replaced with disappointment after the dust has settled for the large majority.

They should be asking themselves who it's benefitting as all it seems they're doing is losing revenue for themselves and creating a higher demand on the second hand market. If that's their aim then great but I would have thought they should be aiming to get as much revenue as possible from all angles and promote the company through existing and new fans by enabling as many people to buy and enjoy what they are selling. They don't need to limit the print runs so much to create buzz. The art speaks for itself.

Anyway, rant over. I love what they put out and hope everyone enjoys the con who is going...best of luck in getting what you want.

[jollyskeleton]

Can someone help me pick up prints? Please?

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by Bobfrog

Yeah that's a cool Kiani print. Hopefully I can get my hands on at least a few of the ones they've got listed.

Don't know what everyone else thinks but I really don't understand Aspen's (or for that matter certain other comic retailers') motivations for setting the prices and the print runs for such items...from a business perspective it seems to defy all logic for most of the stuff they have ready to sell for SDCC (only the century editions seem to make sense i.e. low print run = high price)
i.e. imho they have a virtually guaranteed market at a guess for at least a few hundred (and I reckon that's being conservative) of each print yet they set them at 30 or 100 and they don't even put a premium price on them (they're $50 or less, particularly if you attend the con).

If they are aiming to create a buzz around the company by severely limiting the print runs then I'd say they've got it all wrong as its lose-lose situation for the company and the fans. The way it stands very few fans will get the chance to own and enjoy the prints and the pre-con buzz will just be replaced with disappointment after the dust has settled for the large majority.

They should be asking themselves who it's benefitting as all it seems they're doing is losing revenue for themselves and creating a higher demand on the second hand market. If that's their aim then great but I would have thought they should be aiming to get as much revenue as possible from all angles and promote the company through existing and new fans by enabling as many people to buy and enjoy what they are selling. They don't need to limit the print runs so much to create buzz. The art speaks for itself.

Anyway, rant over. I love what they put out and hope everyone enjoys the con who is going...best of luck in getting what you want.

I gotta disagree. If they did this with a significant portion of their prints then I would agree wholeheartedly but these daily prints are really the exception. Most of their print runs are usually in the ballpark of 50-150 prints and with a lot of the prints that just have 50, they release a separate online edition (The OP prints) with 50 more. I think those are near perfect numbers given the size of the market. If they release too many it actually would cause the prices to stagnate or drop and if they don't release enough (on a regular basis), people would end up walking away and would start collecting other things. The fact that you see the demand you do on eBay suggests that Aspen is really right on the mark in regards to their edition sizes and I have to give them credit for that as its really not an easy thing to gauge at all.

As for the Daily prints, again I look at those as the exception as they really only do the 30 edition size with a few prints a year. I actually like that they release super rare prints every now and then. It makes it that much more interesting trying to get them and you cherish them that much more when you do get them. Sure, not everyone can get them all but that's the whole point. They are prints that you know not many other collectors have. They are releasing 7 new regular prints for the SDCC, plenty to satisfy most of the collectors. The Daily prints are for the collectors that like the really rare stuff and again I like the fact that Aspen is doing their part to try and satisfy the people that like the really rare stuff, on top of the regular collectors. Its like the Century editions with the comics. Those are obviously for the collectors that gravitate towards the really rare stuff. They still have the normal variants and the regular editions as well. I see it as Aspen trying to satisfy all the different types of collectors out there.

[renketsu]

Can see both sides of the argument here - I want all prints and I like that they can go up in value. I never got one of the Lady Mech VIP print and am gutted that I had no way to get one that wasn't for $300 on ebay

Fans should be able to get prints without having to pay people stupid amounts of money on ebay cos they got there first...

I like the OP idea, they are less desirable than original prints but give you a second chance at the print if you have no chance of getting it. I have a few OPs where the original print was sold out before I could get it.

[coolandwarm]

Originally Posted by renketsu

Can see both sides of the argument here - I want all prints and I like that they can go up in value. I never got one of the Lady Mech VIP print and am gutted that I had no way to get one that wasn't for $300 on ebay

Fans should be able to get prints without having to pay people stupid amounts of money on ebay cos they got there first...

I like the OP idea, they are less desirable than original prints but give you a second chance at the print if you have no chance of getting it. I have a few OPs where the original print was sold out before I could get it.

Yeah but just cuz you missed it, doesn't make it cool for those that got the original and aspen makes a OP of the same print, its exactly the same print just that is say OP. I don't think that it should be like this I think if they are going to do a OP it should be with a little different color to distinguish it from the original and not just by the OP label. I have missed some too in the past and had to buy the OP witch i feel that it was the exact same print there for instead of being 100 out there of that image now there is 200 that is what I am talking about and I like to collect items that are rare and that i like, I see the whole point of second chances for those that missed the original but at the same time we cant just think of our selves and forget about those that bought the original.

[renketsu]

Originally Posted by coolandwarm

Yeah but just cuz you missed it, doesn't make it cool for those that got the original and aspen makes a OP of the same print, its exactly the same print just that is say OP. I don't think that it should be like this I think if they are going to do a OP it should be with a little different color to distinguish it from the original and not just by the OP label. I have missed some too in the past and had to buy the OP witch i feel that it was the exact same print there for instead of being 100 out there of that image now there is 200 that is what I am talking about and I like to collect items that are rare and that i like, I see the whole point of second chances for those that missed the original but at the same time we cant just think of our selves and forget about those that bought the original.

Yeah, I see your point.

Works both ways for me:
If you need something an OP is useful.
If you have the original you feel the OP dilutes the rarity of your original print.

OPs are different enough for me to be a substitute until an original turns up.

I did that for Fathom Dawn of War Beginnings (red one) - I got the OP and then when the original showed up I bought that as an "upgrade" and am selling the OP to someone else.