Common Sense Consulting: Car industry/dealerships

http://consumerist.com/2013/05/15/enough-people-can-afford-teslas-70k-electric-car-to-beat-sales-of-audis-bmws-mercedes/


The above article has an interesting bit of info in it:

Tesla’s sales could get an even bigger bump, if not for states like North Carolina actively legislating to ban direct-to-consumer sales of the cars on their turf. As the Washington Post points out, it’s illegal in most states to allow customers to order up a car like they would a computer, have it built to their specifications and delivered to their doors. Tesla is currently pushing the state of Texas to allow such a model within its borders, and let consumers buy from the company directly.
North Carolina voted to pass a bill outlawing the direct sale of autos, and others are sure to follow as car dealerships fight to keep themselves relevant. And of course, relevancy here translates to the almighty dollar bill.

Many state politicians rely on backing from car dealerships for political campaigns, making the industry’s lobbying efforts mighty effective thus far. But as consumers continue to demand that retailers cut out the middle man, it could be only a matter of time before your dream car shows up at your doorstep, honking and happy to see you.

Why have the car companies not just gone ahead and pushed forward with direct sale? I mean i remember ordering my 1st computer from gateway, i was able to choose every aspect of the machine personally, with price and performance explained to me as i went. This was 16 years ago. The fact that this experience is not available to people making the life altering decision to buy a car is baffling to me.

Tesla seems to be doing well with it. Mind you, they are a premium niche brand, but the plan seems to be working. What the traditional car companies would need to do is a mix of what Tesla does and some of the groundwork they have already laid. Corporate owned show rooms, supplemented by franchised show rooms (formerly known as dealerships). Instead of being a high pressure hellhole where everyone feels scammed and cheated, they could be corporate controlled business with ethics standards and common practices. Instead of having to move vehicles off that lot that were ordered on spec, they could provide customers with what they actually want. Go for a test drive, check out various options, etc. Hand out codes that are needed to access the website to actually order the vehicles, thus providing franchises and/or individual salesmen the ability to earn commission. It is common sense really. Factories would make only cars for specific clients, increasing efficiency and decreasing waste. I believe sales would increase, as buying a car would not require the chore of dealing with high pressure salesmen.

It would be a better experience for the consumer. It would be a better business model for an industry that needed to be bailed out due to their poor business model. It would only adversely affect the professional car dealer. Commonly known as horrible scum people hate dealing with. So, y'know, no surprise that the various governments are doing whatever they can to protect them.

Why did you make me have to be an asshole to you?

Having a good time talking to a couple of friends and my girlfriend at the boysetsfire show last night. Some guy reaches into the group arm first and stops. "Is that supposed to be some kind of an 'excuse me'?" i say. "Nah, man i just wanted to say that's an awesome beard."

Ok. 1)Fuck you for interrupting a group of friends conversing for such bullshit. 2)I don't care about your approval with your ed grimley looking head. 3)You see, when a girl wants to talk to me about my beard, while it is odd, it is somewhat flattering as it is usually in a flirty matter. Don't get me wrong, i love my girlfriend, and would never do anything, but again the attention is nice. When a guy wants to talk to me about my beard, well, it's awkward and uncomfortable.

At this point i just turn my back to you and want nothing to do with you. My awesome friend Greg entertains me but humoring you with conversation. It was hysterical. Then you got to the point where you said you were at the show "for all the bitches." Class act there you townie fuck.

When Greg was done with you, you began to tap me on the shoulder. See, clearly the me turning away from you and ignoring you part didn't register. The me ignoring your taps should have really, really clued you in. The fact that i looked at you and said "I have less than no interest in talking to you," still nothing. Alas, this was your big trip to the big ole city from where ever the fuck pennsatucky you are from, so you really want to talk. So i slipped you this card seen above. That should have been the end of it. Would have been the end of it for most people, oh but not you.

"i just have one more question about your beard."
"Did you even read the card?!?!"
"Do you think the card has authority over me?"

was it my balled up fists or the fact i looked you dead in the eye and managed to mutter "please. stop. talking." that finally got the point across that you were about to get hit?

"well, have a good evening," you said.
"I was." i replied.
"you will, thanks to God," you said as you finally, mercifully walked away.

Really? A townie christian who is out looking for bitches. It took the pure joy of a boysetsfire show to erase the rage you caused in me.

Back to tipping cows and drinking under the bleachers for you.

dick.

Top 20 From The First 20 Years #3: Sick of it All/Shelter/Snapcase/Baby Gopal 9/23/94

CMJ music marathon 1994 was the first time i would go to shows four days in a row. Would be so very far from the last. Wednesday we went to Consolidated/MC 900ft Jesus/Hole/Weezer, Thursday was top 20 contender Quicksand/Into Another/Orange 9mm, Friday however...

Friday September 23, 1994 was the first big hardcore show of my life. I mean i had been to cb's once to see a high school friend's band (and did see no redeeming social value that night!), but this was pretty much as big a show as you could get. I also remember going to this show alone. My friends, including the ones who went to the quicksand show the night before, were apparently terrified to go to this show. I was warned left and right that i would get my ass kicked just for having long hair at this show. I marched on regardless.

If you see the above ticket, there was also a pre-determined end time. Had to GTFO before the club kids came in and overdosed. Which was fine for me, an early night after a couple of shows, with more coming that weekend sounded great.

It was my first time at Limelight, and it was odd, i only got lost once, and could not figure out how to get to the balconies. Baby Gopal opened the show. Now, over the years i have had plenty of arguments about this band, but syrupy sweet girl vocal pop has always been my weakness. They also gave me a false sense of security at the show. It seemed so safe and happy.

Quick set change and the driving, pulsating, screaming joy that was Snapcase blew me away. The crowd quite literally knocked me off my feet, but was pretty quick to pick me up, made sure i was o.k. and quickly went back to the chaos. It felt great. I didn't know any of the material, but i could feel it in my bones.

Shelter took the stage. Dressed in robes. I knew nothing of Hare Krishna, let alone Krishna-core so it seemed sort of odd to me. I felt myself compelled to get closer to the stage. Ray was (and still is) a very charismatic front man, and even to a long haired metal kid, i felt like he was addressing me personally.

About a month from this show, Sick of it All would release their major label Debut Scratch the Surface, this was something of a release/preview show. I only knew a few songs, and then they went ahead and played some new stuff. I moved and danced and covered my face and fell and had people climbing all over me the whole set. I don't think i stopped smiling once. Even without my circle of friends at the show, i was still surrounded by friends, i just didn't know them yet. I felt like i belonged.

The show ended, and oh my god did we get the bum's rush by security. I'm pretty sure they just screamed "GET THE FUCK OUT" over and over again. I left, sweaty and happy, arms around complete strangers that were now sort of family. I grabbed every damn flyer from everyone handing them out outside, and never looked back...

The Walking Dead and its TV Fans

As an employee of a comic book shop, i have to deal with a plethora of eccentric personalities. It is a cross i have to bear. I am mostly fine with it. Many of them have become tried and true parts of my life.

The Walking Dead TV fan, however, is a constant source of frustration.

From "Oh wow...they even have a walking dead comic now," to "those toys are stupid, why are they in black and white?" One of my favorites was when i was at the Die Hard marathon screening i overheard "Yo, they are going to re-run the walking dead in black and white so they could get that Night of the Living Dead feel, yo." I promptly got up and changed seats.

I think though, the worst are the people who have actually started to read the comic, but do not understand basic math. You see, the comic is well over 100 issues long at this point, it is sort of a chore to catch up. To his credit, Robert Kirkman, not at all because he wishes to make as much money as humanly possible, has made it easy to catch up. There are something on the order of 18 trade paperback collections, each collecting six issues of the monthly comic. The trades come out almost immediately after the last issue contained within it is released. Because of the speed of release, we see a lot of people drop the monthly in favor of the trade. Conversely, we see almost as many people pick up the monthly because they just cannot wait the 6 or 7 months for the next paperback. Also available, again not at all because they wish to make as much money as possible, are what are referred to as "compendiums" (compendia?). These massive softcover books contain 8 trade paperbacks or 48 issues of the comic. These customers are the ones who make me crazy.

Three times in the last two weeks, I have had people come in asking if we have the third Walking Dead compendium. Each time, the conversation went like this:

Customer: do you have the third walking dead compendium...yknow...the big books?

me: Sir (it's always a guy. i know, you thought "bad at math, must be a woman." you are a monster), there have been 110 issues of the comic, and 18 trade paperbacks. Each of the books you have collect 8 trade paperbacks, which leaves you 6 shy of the next compendium. At 6 issues per book, hoping the book maintains a monthly shipping schedule, you are looking at a minimum three year wait for your next book. The compendium volumes are a good catch up, but it would be my recommendation to grab volumes 17 and 18, and get yourself on a maybe twice a year schedule if you wish to follow the story in a reasonable time frame.

Customer: oh...ok...i'll wait.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

These are not "oh, all the books have to match of my bookshelf" nerds (as i am one of those), these are just people who are reading to cool popular thing, who have such a fleeting interest in the material that they do not actually care about it. I just do not understand it.

Oh, the show is terrible and Carl gets shot in the face and loses an eye and has a gaping hole in his skull. oops...spoiler alert.

Top 20 From The First 20 Years: Side Post #1

26 Shows between December 1991 and April 1994 before one made the list. I'd like to think that you have to have some experience before you can truly appreciate anything. That many shows under my belt before i really decided that this was something i truly loved to do.

I think it's cliche to use your first show (Metallica at Nassau Coliseum) in any sort of list like this. Megadeth/Suicidal Tendencies at the Ritz didn't make the cut because i wasn't that into S.T. at the time. It was also my first general admission show that i had no business attending as i was 14 and it was a 16 and over show (i did almost die in the pit the first 3 seconds of the show).

Going through the ticket stubs for this little project, i came across an entire row (3 shows) of amazing shows, that really meant a lot to me that were disqualified because of opening acts. These shows were fundamental in my changing tastes at the time, and i feel deserve some kind of mention.

The summer of 1993 there was a bit of a dry spell, or maybe we just were not quite savvy enough to figure out about shows. I mean, we knew to buy the village voice every week (yeah, once upon a time it actually cost actual money), but for us metal head kids, it seemed like we didn't have much going on. One week we picked up the Voice and saw an ad that we just could not, for the life of us, figure out. You see, we had been to Roseland a couple of times. Danzig on the How The Gods Kill tour and Pantera on the Vulgar Display of Power tour. These were big shows for, at the time, HUGE bands. This ad had some band none of us had ever heard of headlining TWO nights at the ballroom. How could this be? Well, we had to find out what all the hubbub was about, and besides, it was only $5 (this would also be the first time i would go to the Irving Plaza box office to buy tickets. Even 15 year old Matt was not going to pay a svc charge on a five dollar ticket).

On Saturday September 25, 1993, i walked into the still black and white striped Roseland Ballroom, sat through two opening bands i did not quite understand (unrest and the spinanes), and saw FUGAZI...and i knew everything was about to change. The friends i went with were less than impressed, but i felt a door opening.

Tuesday November 4, 1993 would be the first show i ever would get in trouble for going to. You see, we bought our ten dollar tickets for the show with two bands on the bill. Each band only had one record out, how late could this show possibly go? Then when we arrived, there were two more bands on the bill. Gotta love the CMJ music marathon. I remember calling my mom from the bank of pay phone that used to be between the men's room and the pin guy in the basement of Roseland, she was pissed. As was I. At least i got an early start on the Stabbing Westward hate. After them, and State of the Nation (who were surprisingly good) was Quicksand. Now i had seen Quicksand once before, opening for Megadeth at the Ritz. I hated them. In all honesty, any band that was not Megadeth that night was going to be hated, and Quicksand being what they were, well, i was with the majority that night. My friend had talked me into giving Quicksand another chance, and coming off state of the nation, they fit really well. I became a fan that night. The headliner took the stage. They were coming off a critically lauded run on that past summer's lollapalooza tour. The Roseland Ballroom was packed to the gills (again, gotta love the cmj music marathon), and Rage Against the Machine powered through a just shy of an hour set. While i had been sweaty at shows before, this would be the first time i had to just throw away my clothes afterwards.

Ten days later. The New York Coliseum. A building that, at the time was already a relic, being used as a flea market every other weekend, and now is long gone with the Time Warner Towers on that sight. A general admission venue out of need for a building bigger than Roseland to fit the crowd that Nirvana would draw that night. Imagine seeing Nirvana in a giant sized version of your high school cafeteria. The people who designed and built the New York Coliseum, clearly built all the public schools in NYC. Even the clocks were the same! (also when the hell have you been to a venue with multiple analog clocks on the walls?) The breeders opened and were the one hit wonders they were at the time, Half Japanese was the first band on that day and were just terrible, noisy in the not good way, squandering their prime slot playing before 7,000 people. Seeing nirvana live was a treat, I'm very glad i had the opportunity, i didn't know it would pretty much be my last. This show is most meaningful less because of the bands, and more because of the friends i made that night. We would somehow run into another group of kids from our school and sort of merge cliques for the night. After that i spent more and more time with these slightly punkier kids, who introduced me to more and more bands outside of my sphere, and pretty much got me into hardcore. They would, years later, move on...but i'm still here.

Show number 3 on the list...later today or tomorrow.

Top 20 From The First 20 Years #2: Metallica/Danzig/Suicidal Tendencies 6/8/94

(i am incapable of taking a straight picture)

This show!

The open air on the water vibe of the Jones Beach Amphitheater combined with METAL!

I'm pretty sure this is the first show with top to bottom repeats. This was my third time seeing Metallica (i think i would go on to see them only twice more.), my third time seeing Danzig (i would go on to see them/him countless times, actually i'm still waiting for the 25th anniversary show announcement for nyc), and my second time seeing Suicidal (i would see them a week later and then not again till like two weeks ago.). So i was familiar with everyone and knew exactly what to expect. Then i had all of those expectations blown away.

Suicidal played a quick intense set, totally ignoring the fact that the amphitheater was less than half full, with a ton of people just chilling in the parking lot. The parking lot i'm pretty sure you can see from the stage. Mike was crazy and full of energy, taking full advantage of the giant stage. This was suicidal with both Trujillo and Rocky, classic lineup.

Danzig. Danzig in 1994. Danzig at the absolute peak of their popularity. The re-release of 'Mother' from the Thrall:Demonsweatlive EP was still in ridiculously heavy rotation on mtv and on the radio. This was the last go around for the original Glenn/Christ/Eerie/Biscuits lineup. The amphitheater was mostly full by the time they took the stage, as they were quite the draw at the time. A ten or eleven song 40 ish minute set that was all hits, opening with 'Brand New God' which was at the time a new song from their forthcoming record, 4P. Performing 'Mother' smack in the middle of the set as opposed to the tradition of closing out the set with the biggest song, came as no surprise as Glenn, the non-conformist, is actually quite predictable. The crowd was alive and headbanging the entire time (the fully seated venue was kind of a downer, but the atmosphere of the beach almost always makes up for it), singing along with most of the songs, but obviously 'Mother' was the moment. The biggest surprise was the fact that Danzig, the opening act, came out for an encore. Yep, he's that much of a dick.

The amphitheater was filled to the brim. The parking lot was full of people who couldn't get in. You could see the stars, you could see the stars reflecting in the water around the stage. The intro music hits, the people go crazy, Metallica takes their places, and BANG open with fucking "Breadfan." This was Metallica having fun. This was their "we're stir crazy in the studio and just need to get out on the road" tour. This was before all the psychiatrists and all the "coping with success" nonsense. They had released a monster record, toured the world, achieved more than any of their contemporaries, and were working on the follow up. This was their break. The set was a good balance from all the records (they played 'disposable heroes'!!) and they genuinely looked like they were having fun. Maybe it was the last time they had fun. It was all disappointment and over-thinking for the band from here on out.

Top to bottom an excellent show, metal head matt loved it, hardcore kid matt was still in his infancy...but he would be breaking out soon...three months or so from this show...

Letters from the editor 2

To the easily riled up adult black men of nyc,

I do not, for one fucking second, believe that you or anyone else im likely to come in contact with in my life, have paid anything close to $6000 for a fucking bicycle. If you did, my first question would be: was $35 for a lock and chain just too much? 2)do you really think you should just walk into whatever store you wish while carrying your mode of transportation? And 3)considering the fit of rage you just displayed over being "disrespected", do you really need the new issue of the hulk?

Warmest regards,
Matt-

Movie RantView: Iron Man 3

Finally found a chance to see the latest film in the "Marvel Cinematic Universe." While everyone seems to think this is the kickoff to "Phase 2," i think, pretty clearly, this is the cap off to "Phase 1." We'll get back to that.

In one of the box office reports after the opening weekend, one of the many entertainment sites seemed aghast at the amount of money Iron Man 3 made. The said Iron Man 3 was "performing more like a sequel to Avengers than to Iron Man 2." Well yeah, dummies, because it is a sequel to the Avengers. The movies are not tangentially linked...they are directly linked. The previous Iron Man films fed directly into Avengers, and clearly Iron Man 3 follows on that. To further the point, when Regal Cinema did their Iron Man marathon, it was Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, and Iron Man 3.

Onto the movie itself. Iron Man 3 is, without a doubt, an enjoyable movie that lives up to the high standards set by the other Marvel movies. Tony Stark, suffering from PTSD from the events at the conclusion of the Avengers, tinkers and twitches through the first half of the movie. Robert Downey Jr. is charismatic and quick witted and carries this well. There is something about soldiers who are injured who decide to volunteer for a procedure to heal them or maybe make them blow up, the ones who don't blow up, apparently forget what it is like to be a good guy and just decide to be weird nuclear mercenaries. Oh, and they can breathe fire, i guess, sometimes?

Blah blah blah...the cast is fantastic from top to bottom. Guy Pierce is clearly in a career renaissance. They find, literally, every reason in the book to keep Robert Downey Jr. out of the armor, which is awesome since there is that set piece with something on the order of 30 pieces of armor. Did Don Cheadle show up on set in a Fred Perry polo and no one decided to "costume" him? Why would a soldier, wearing Stark Tech Iron Patriot armor be wearing a polo and some dockers inside? Gwenyth Paltrow clearly did some serious ab work and they found a way to make sure that was showcased. Former director Jon Favraeu returns as Happy Hogan and, as always, is just delightful. Was there any doubt about the greatness of Ben Kingsly? If you had any, his performance in this will totally eradicate it. He is ridiculous in the best possible way.

My biggest complaint with the movie is probably part of its success. I would love to know how all of the events of this movie happen without there being even a mention of the Avengers, of SHIELD, there is a terrorist bombing the U.S. and threatening the president and there is not even a passing reference to Captain America? You spent all this time building this cohesive universe, you cannot just ignore it as you see fit. I'm not saying every movie has to have a team up, but you can't just pretend they are not out there. The next Thor movie will have Thor in yet another of the 9 realms, thus negating the need for explanation. The next Captain America movie will feature Black Widow, but even at that, with it being the Winter Soldier, that makes it a personal mission for Steve. He must handle it alone. It's his responsibility, etc. Iron Man 3 needed to at least address the situation.

The ending, the resolutions, even the credit sequence all have a bit of a finality to them. I doubt we will see an Iron Man 4. This movie acts almost like an epilogue to the Avengers, it certainly does not set up anything for Marvel's "Phase 2", it just seems to float between what has happened and what we know is coming. Apparently it is not even confirmed that Iron Man will be in Avengers 2. (Although Downey made 50 million dollars on the back end of the first Avengers...so i'm sure something will be worked out.}

It's fun. The post credit sequence, like the Avengers, goes for cute as opposed to hooking into the next movie. I still believe we will see Iron Man, in fancy new armor to boot, in Guardians Of The Galaxy next year, rushing back to earth after getting his ass handed to him by Thanos, to rally the Avengers to kick some ass.

And i will still be first in line.

Top 20 From The First 20 Years #1: Anthrax & Fight at Roseland 4/20/94

It takes two and a half years and twenty six shows before the first one makes the list, odd.

This was Anthrax on the sound of white noise tour, arguably (by me mostly) their best record. If memory serves me correctly this was the last show on this part of the tour, and this was the last leg of the SoWN tour. Before the record came out in may of 1993, Anthrax did a run of extremely small shows. They played at the Grand in NYC, it was the record release show the day before it came out. I remember walking into the local video store (tyler video in Woodhaven, Queens) with my friend to get a pair of tickets. There was literally only one left. I bought the ticket under the agreement that we would go down and scalp another ticket and split the cost. Then i had to have knee surgery the week of the show...and had to skip it. Damn. (I remember making my mom drive me to the record store on crutches to buy Sound of White Noise the day it came out.)

The first leg of the tour later in 93 i somehow missed...i can only imagine it was on the same day as a show i was already attending. Being that it was Anthrax/white zombie/quicksand...well...clearly i must have had something MUCH BETTER TO DO.

To say my anticipation for this show was high is a complete understatement. I had eleven months to digest that record, at that point they had a number of videos on headbanger's ball from that album. Just ridiculously amped for this show.

Then you have to take into account that FIGHT was announced as the opening act.

War of Words was a record that hit me like a ton of bricks. I mean, i was familiar with Rob Halford, i liked Judas Priest as much as required by the metal head community, but FIGHT was a whole new ballgame. That record was far ahead of its time.

The show itself was amazing. Fight hit the stage like a wrecking ball. Im pretty sure they played the entirety of War of words, the crowd knew every word...moved to every song...in all honesty, when they were done, that would have been enough to get this show on the list. Then came Anthrax. The hometown conquering heroes. They had spent the previous year supporting their biggest commercially successful record ever. Had proved that replacing their singer would not only not be the death of the band, but instead infused new life and energy into their act. This was Anthrax at the absolute top of their game. If you needed to pinpoint the absolute PEAK of their career, I would be convinced it was this show. They played a shortish set 12-15 songs...but it was all go! If i recall, there was also a cover of "lookin down the barrel of a gun". John Bush absolutely killed the older material, and just shined on HyProGlo and the other "new" material. When it came down to the end of the set/encore part, they were just like "screw it, we arent going to pretend to walk off and come back...lets just do this." and continued through the end. For such a large show it seemed so intimate and small. Like everyone knew each other and everyone had a good time. The only downside was that the three friends i went with and i all bought the same shirt...we had to coordinate attending school for awhile. (it was the fight war of words tour shirt with all of the words maxi-printed on the front. I actually wore that shirt up until a few years ago, i remember wearing it to the gym when a guy struck up a conversation with me about how he knew rob halford when he lived in San Francisco. I had no idea i was being chatted up. i am a little clueless all the time)

Anthrax/Fight was the first show i went to where i had no complaints, had a good time throughout, and obviously to this day, still talk about.

The Top 20 Shows From The First 20 Years: An Introduction

Recently I finally got around to arranging the last year and change worth of ticket stubs. Put them all in a new binder...then rolled some out of the last binder into this one. Essentially dividing the first 20 years of concerts from what i hope will be the next 20.

I go to a lot of shows, always have. I decided last summer that i should put together a top list...top 10 did not seem enough, 20 certainly seemed like a possibility. So i gave myself some parameters. First being they had to fall within the first 20 years. That gives us December 18, 1991- the same date 2011. That is still a lot of shows. In order to help me narrow it down, and of course because i like to give myself ridiculous rules, the ENTIRE show had to be worthy. Opening acts, the bill from top to bottom. This made it more challenging. Made it a little more fun for me. The order will be chronological. I mean seriously, it was hard enough to pick 20, and as I sit here getting ready to do this, even the 20 I picked might not be set in stone.

Starting tomorrow and continuing over 20 posts (obviously), I will list the top 20 shows i have attended over those first 20 years. I reserve the right to make additional "honorable mention" posts, as well as particular break out sets that don't qualify because of poor openers or what have you. Who knows how long this will take, I am, obviously easily distracted by things. Lets have a little fun and talk about music for a bit.

Free Comic Book Day...What to do about this in the future.

Another FCBD came and went. Tons of people flood through the door to grab their freebies and leave. 90% of them never to be seen again. Every year they tout it as a huge success story, but is it really?

I assume everyone knows how FCBD came about, but just in case, here is a quick refresher. Joe Field of flying colors comics in California noticed a huge line at the nearby ice cream shop (i believe it was a Ben & Jerry's), discovered it was "free scoop day," said to himself, "why don't we do something like that?" and free comic book day was born. On the face this sounds like a great idea. In practice it works insofar as it does, indeed, get a lot of people into the stores. Who then go on to buy nothing.

Free scoops just deplete the stock of the standard product of the ice cream shop. Hell, it might even be done to address the over production from the previous slow winter season. I am fairly certain that any comic shop, if they wanted, could run a free comic book day promotion with just their back issue overstock. FCBD, however, requires the purchase of special comics. Sure, they are subsidized by the publishers to a degree, but they still cost the retailer money (between $.15 and $.50 each). Then there is the concept of being REQUIRED to purchase x amount of comics from x amount of publishers to even be permitted to participate in the event. Also a lot of retailers plan elaborate parties and bring talent in for signings and the like. It can be a lot of fun! It is, however, a medium to large investment for what is often little return. How can this be fixed?

Lets look at our comrades in arms over at the record stores. Have...have you been to Record Store Day? RSD is pretty much the greatest thing since sliced bread. Hundreds of people line up hours upon hours before the stores open cash in hand to PURCHASE limited edition product that is either a)brand new and special for the day or b)STUFF THEY ALREADY OWN BUT WILL BUY AGAIN BECAUSE IT IS ON A DIFFERENT COLOR VINYL!

The comic book industry was suffering, floundering, and they came up with free comic book day as a way to draw attention to the product. The record store industry was suffering, more so even, they deal in media that is all but dead, that an entire generation has decided that paying for is optional at best, came up with record store day as a way to draw attention to the STORES and to put actual money in the cash registers of the aforementioned stores. What have we taught our customers? We have taught them that our product is worthless, to be given away for free in piles. RSD has taught people that record stores are awesome places, independent businesses that are worthy of our support. The people who ONLY come to a comic shop on FCBD, spend nothing, the ones who go to a record store ONLY on RSD, well they made some money off that one person (actually RSD is now twice a year).

There is no way to wean these people off of their free comics. You give them something for free once and they expect it every time, it is the American way. That being the case, abolishing FCBD is not an option. Although, looking at the RSD example again, if that event can sustain two days, why not a Comic Shop Day?

Record Store Day is all about the limited editions. We are like THE industry for limited editions. We have comic con limited product for like 30 shows a year, retailer exclusive covers, etc. Why would we not be all over this? Limited CSD hardcovers (which would, more than likely, amount to a variant dustjacket), special CSD covers of recent books, perfect day to launch that new event book. Hey, you know how absolutely no one likes movie tie-in comics? Make the graphic novel prequel to the movie opening on the same weekend as CSD a CSD exclusive product and BANG instant sell out. CSD variant edition of the $200 IDW artist edition? two per store limited, guarantee it sells out in the first half hour. Seriously, it can be the artist's edition of fucking YOUNGBLOOD and it would sell.

Monetizing the big industry event is not impossible. We seemed to mess it up the first time around, but i think it can still be saved. At the very least i think it is a conversation worth having. Maybe it's just me, but i like the thought of making money, and comic shops still being around in 10 years.