Perth's Quality Comics closing/selling

[Kyle]

Received this news about a week ago. Been a regular customer for more than 10 years so I have some mixed feelings. They haven't been what they used to be for a few years now, after the original owner left, then the manager. (Shane McCarthy used to be an old staff there too.) The old shop has seen a couple of new owners come and go (some nice, some not so nice) but the staff still served me very well and I have always been a happy customer there. About a year ago, the old owner and manager opened a new shop together. The two were very very nice people and I thought about switching to the new shop from time to time, but never ended up doing it. Really wanted to support the new shop but I also felt crappy leaving the old shop. Now comes the news and it is sad to see the old shop go. Personally I see this as the time for myself to stop collecting comics for a while. Over the years this "hobby" has grown out of hand and I think I really have accumulated waaay too many hobbies. Anyway, best wishes for the current owner and staff. I hope they manage to find a buyer soon.

[1orion2many]

:)I've seen how many comics you buy Kyle, you could fund a small nation with what you spend on them:p:D.

[roller]

is that the one that is underground?

[1orion2many]

:)Yes it is young roller.

[llamatron]

is that the one that is underground?

Yeah it's the one near The Empire.

Are they having a big going out of business sale?

[Kyle]

:)I've seen how many comics you buy Kyle, you could fund a small nation with what you spend on them:p:D.

I look at what I have accumulated over the years and all I can think about now is "WTF?" :o


is that the one that is underground?

Yes.

[roller]

bah! good riddance

They have nothing

Family friends over here in WA know all the people who work there and apparently McCarthy as well. I met someone who once worked there

[Kyle]

Yeah it's the one near The Empire.

Are they having a big going out of business sale?

I didn't ask them. But my friend did and he reckons there'll be one.

[Kyle]

bah! good riddance

They have nothing

Family friends over here in WA know all the people who work there and apparently McCarthy as well. I met someone who once worked there

Well, I feel sorry for the families of some of the staff members. It's always hard to find a new job and they have young kids to feed.

[roller]

maybe they should ask the Government for a rescue package like the Americana car industry

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Can't say I will miss them.

They managed to consistently bollocks up my comic pre-scriptions time and time again for the past couple of years. Thats why I swapped.

STill, sucks to lose a job, but there ya go and cest la vie

[Lint]

To be honest the only thing I ever dug about the place was its location :P

[Kyle]

The friend who first informed me of this, actually told me to take a seat and handed me a box of tissue before breaking the news to me... :o

[Firecracker]

I could never accept the fact that a dedicated comic shop charged more for thier comics (bagged) than Empire (bagged and boarded). Also, the price stickers Quality used when I bought from them needed some form of magic to remove them. :rolleyes:

[roller]

hopefully i can bargain some cheap posters

i think the only downside of its closure is, that the availibilty of old second hand comics will decrease.

[STL]

It does make me sad when a comic shop dies. Good or bad, there aren't many of them around any more. In Melbourne, we're still pretty lucky with about 5 outlets but it just means that the medium is quickly fading into irrelevance. In the US, a friend of mine in the industry has told me about a few failures too recently. And yes, it doesn't help those who have jobs there either.

And I know about your loyalty, Kyle. I feel that with a comic place that I try to visit once a month nowadays even though I barely buy old stuff anymore. His shop's in Coburg, no the greatest location but he was quite friendly and all. I should pop down before Christmas. :o

[Kyle]

I could never accept the fact that a dedicated comic shop charged more for thier comics (bagged) than Empire (bagged and boarded). Also, the price stickers Quality used when I bought from them needed some form of magic to remove them. :rolleyes:


hopefully i can bargain some cheap posters

i think the only downside of its closure is, that the availibilty of old second hand comics will decrease.

I'm also good friend with Kristina from the Empire. Back when they were running the Nexus Fair, I used to give them an extra hand setting up the tables on Friday night before each fair. Between 2000 and 2007 I bought most of my Japanese Transformers from them. I preferred being able to walk into a nice and friendly shop and just pick them up, hassle free. At the same time I relied on Hong Kong friends to help me get the more obscure and exclusive stuff. I started relying on my friends more and more last year, but I still pop into Empire or their sister shop Freaks and Geeks and buy Transformers if I see the ones I want on shelf.

To be fair, Quality does indeed have higher prices than Empire. But knowing their different shipping arrangements with Diamond I wasn't too surprised at the difference. To be fair, Empire is also not the cheapest for buying Transformers, if you have the option to buy online. But they helped me hunt down many Transformers I was after and often gave me discounts. They have also been a lot better in recent years and I consider their prices relatively reasonable compared to some other import stores in the country. One thing they do that is definitely better than Quality is their support and participation for Free Comic Book Day. But running *any* shop is always more difficult and expensive than most would think, so I could also understand Quality not participating. I'm still THANKFUL both Empire and Quality were there when I had no other avenue to obtain the toys and comics I wanted (and love now).

It used to be comics from Quality and toys from Empire for me. And I know some of you might think I'm a little dumb or silly for buying from them. But I was thankful that these shops existed in Perth at all and was happy to support them when I could. When Owen and Andrew started Comic Zone, I really wanted to support them too. At one point I was seriously thinking about beginning subscriptions of some new titles with them, and buying from both them and Quality every month. But budget was a big issue. And I felt crappy if I were to cancel some subscrptions with Quality.


It does make me sad when a comic shop dies. Good or bad, there aren't many of them around any more. In Melbourne, we're still pretty lucky with about 5 outlets but it just means that the medium is quickly fading into irrelevance. In the US, a friend of mine in the industry has told me about a few failures too recently. And yes, it doesn't help those who have jobs there either.

And I know about your loyalty, Kyle. I feel that with a comic place that I try to visit once a month nowadays even though I barely buy old stuff anymore. His shop's in Coburg, no the greatest location but he was quite friendly and all. I should pop down before Christmas. :o

Definitely the same feeling here STL. I hope the staff from Quality Comics can find good (and better) jobs.

[roller]

I went there today

got a hell of a bargain!!!! Spotlight optimus and Star trek the Last generation #1 both for $9.00

optimus was mean to be $12 and star trek $7.60

they have 50% off every comic, excludes dvds

Nothing much TF wise, 2 copies of spotlight blurr and alot of Animated episode/comic books.

No tf posters

i also got a reasonably priced Green lantern comic for a christmas present to a l l l l l l l l lady friend