For those concerned about their local comics shops

[Hector]

Comic relief was Rory Root's store right? I made a point of visiting there and digging around whenever I was in town. It closed because he passed away I heard.

Yes...the one and only.

Saw him a few times in the past....he was always with this huge cup of coffee...he loved his coffee...lol.

That's were I bought my Superman #2...like 20 years ago.

Sad...both his death...and the closure of Comic Relief...one of the best known and influential comic shops in the country....

Wikimedia Error

Some say Root was one of the inspirations for Matt Groening's Comic Book Guy...




Hey...you from the Bay Area?

[MIB41]

I think Amazon would be a great alternative.

[samurainoir]

Yeah, a first printing is sitting on my shelf, which makes the WIKI quote more misleading.

It's simple - Toy Biz products peaked with Hulk Hands, but they had enough movies in the pipe that prototype toys were in development through '05. Here's what not in the book...

Perlmutter never holds a company for long and wanted to sell since '04. Arad wasn't for it because he was afraid of losing his position as chief if they were bought by a media conglomerate. Around '07, a guy named Maisel was brought in whose specialty is prepping companies for sale. Perlmutter had enough of Marvel/Toy Biz, Arad fought it and got booted. Action figures, en totale, had gotten smaller in profit, but especially for Toy Biz. More money was made licensing the toys, paring down Toy Biz, and selling Marvel as a character library. Perlmutter now sits on a Disney/Marvel board.

No baby was killed. No one was shanked. Toy Biz was no longer profitable because the industry has been contracting steadily, like comics, since the 90's peak.

The only thing we seem to be disagreeing on is my turn of phrase... We both agree that Toy Biz is no longer a toy producing entity ("killed" a bit too extreme a phrase? Marvel Select figures aside?) We both know that Arad and Perlmutter came to Marvel from their ownership of Toy Biz ("baby" might be too precious a term for you?). We both agree the fact of the matter is that marvel chose to devote resources to licensing and film production instead. So what exactly is the disagreement?

[samurainoir]

I know he can be a bit of a controversial figure, but I was mildly acquainted with him from the old Warren Ellis forum and he was very warm and gregarious when the wife and I first visited his store ten years ago. Pointing out the music shops where my spouse could keep herself amused while I took to the task of digging for treasures in Comic Relief. Then giving us the lay of the land for vegetarian dining in Berkeley as well as recommending some mind blowing used bookstores.

My mother's side of the family is based out of California (where I spent most of my summer's as a kid). I have family in the Bay area, and business has also taken me to silicon Valley. San Francisco is probably the only American City that I might consider living in.

Yes...the one and only.

Saw him a few times in the past....he was always with this huge cup of coffee...he loved his coffee...lol.

That's were I bought my Superman #2...like 20 years ago.

Sad...both his death...and the closure of Comic Relief...one of the best known and influential comic shops in the country....

Wikimedia Error

Some say Root was one of the inspirations for Matt Groening's Comic Book Guy...

http://www.comicsbeat.com/wp-content/2008/05/comic_relief_rory_lg.jpg

Hey...you from the Bay Area?

[hedrap]

The only thing we seem to be disagreeing on is my turn of phrase... We both agree that Toy Biz is no longer a toy producing entity ("killed" a bit too extreme a phrase? Marvel Select figures aside?) We both know that Arad and Perlmutter came to Marvel from their ownership of Toy Biz ("baby" might be too precious a term for you?). We both agree the fact of the matter is that marvel chose to devote resources to licensing and film production instead. So what exactly is the disagreement?

Because nobody got screwed in the Toy Biz takeover. If anything, they were the ones who stopped Marvel from being sold in pieces. IIRC, the book describes the scene of DC lawyers waiting for the judge's ruling, ready to swoop in and gut the core characters for a song.

I don't care for how Marvel operates now under Feige, but back then, especially with Blade, Arad and company deserve a good deal of respect. If he didn't persevere, we would literally not have had a Marvel for the past decade.

[samurainoir]

Because nobody got screwed in the Toy Biz takeover. If anything, they were the ones who stopped Marvel from being sold in pieces. IIRC, the book describes the scene of DC lawyers waiting for the judge's ruling, ready to swoop in and gut the core characters for a song.

I don't care for how Marvel operates now under Feige, but back then, especially with Blade, Arad and company deserve a good deal of respect. If he didn't persevere, we would literally not have had a Marvel for the past decade.

I never said anybody got screwed in the Toy Biz takeover... Check what I've said carefully.

The most fascinating part of the battle for Marvel is the fact that once the Toy Biz faction got controlling interest in the company, they eventually put their baby... Toy Biz, to the knife in favor of turning themselves into a licensing company ( marvel characters), and movie studio.

What don't you agree with?

A) Toy Biz faction took control of Marvel (Perlmutter and Arad)
b) marvel under Perlmutter and Arad put Toy Biz to bed to focus instead on licensing and movies

Toy Biz is their "baby", under their oversight, Toy Biz ceased functioning as a competitive toy company... "killed" not someone... Toy Biz the entity.

Why does someone need to get screwed for the phrase "kill your own baby" to apply here? Why does that metaphor even need justification that it doesn't apply to an actual person?

Why is this worth debating?

[Hector]

I know he can be a bit of a controversial figure, but I was mildly acquainted with him from the old Warren Ellis forum and he was very warm and gregarious when the wife and I first visited his store ten years ago. Pointing out the music shops where my spouse could keep herself amused while I took to the task of digging for treasures in Comic Relief. Then giving us the lay of the land for vegetarian dining in Berkeley as well as recommending some mind blowing used bookstores.

My mother's side of the family is based out of California (where I spent most of my summer's as a kid). I have family in the Bay area, and business has also taken me to silicon Valley. San Francisco is probably the only American City that I might consider living in.

Ah...Berkeley's bookstore institution, Cody's (also its sister store in San Francisco)...also closed down for business.

The world has gone mad, I tell ya...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cody's_Books

P.S. That second picture where a sign says DRUG FREE ZONE...lol...yeah right...this is Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley we are talking about...

[hedrap]

"To the knife"

http://targetstudy.com/knowledge/idi...the-knife.html

Did you mean something more like "under the blade"?

[samurainoir]

"To the knife"

http://targetstudy.com/knowledge/idi...the-knife.html

Did you mean something more like "under the blade"?

That's the phrase "War to the Knife" if we're going microscopic to this.

To the Knife can also mean cutting off an appendage or cutting something out in sawbones terms.

If you need some kind of human suffering out of this to justify the term, then there was definitely workers that were laid off at Marvel during that period of transition. Folks are always made redundant when divisions are downsized.

[samurainoir]

That's a real shame! Bookstores are my favourite part of the Bay Area.

I've lost entire days to Green Apple Books.
Welcome To Green Apple Books | Green Apple Books

I really hate to see used bookstores go away... I know I can find many rare books online now, but a big part of it for me is the hunt. And I just love browsing and discovering new old things as well.

A big part of most contemporary comic stores I find rather unfortunate is the fact that everything is out of the Diamond catalogue, so what is there that really differentiates one store from the next? That was a big part of what made Comic Relief so unique... Rory went out of his way to try to find stuff that wasn't necessarily on the beaten path and cater to more eclectic tastes.

Ah...Berkeley's bookstore institution, Cody's (also its sister store in San Francisco)...also closed down for business.

The world has gone mad, I tell ya...

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/197/502598696_c3632f5f44.jpg

http://alyoung.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/codys-on-telly.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6082/6075596438_c312e0806d_o.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cody's_Books

P.S. That second picture where a sign says DRUG FREE ZONE...lol...yeah right...this is Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley we are talking about...

[Hector]

I really hate to see used bookstores go away... I know I can find many rare books online now, but a big part of it for me is the hunt. And I just love browsing and discovering new old things as well.

Not only that...but how the SMELL of used books?

I know the library has a similar smell...but the ambiance is so different there...it's just not the same.

[hedrap]

That's the phrase "War to the Knife" if we're going microscopic to this.

To the Knife can also mean cutting off an appendage or cutting something out in sawbones terms.

If you need some kind of human suffering out of this to justify the term, then there was definitely workers that were laid off at Marvel during that period of transition. Folks are always made redundant when divisions are downsized.

I wasn't microscoping. I was going by your choice of words. "War to the knife" is the origin for terms like "put to the knife", which still means somebody or something is being cutup or stabbed.

As I said, there is "under the blade", which is your second definition. It can also be "under the knife", but that is not "to the knife".

It's semantics. You used the wrong phrase which lead me to view your comment as hyperbole over what actually happened. If you had written "under the knife", I wouldn't have jumped in.

they eventually put their baby... Toy Biz, under the knife

they eventually put their baby... Toy Biz, to the knife

As for human suffering...I was a shareholder at this time. The company wasn't downsized under Ike and Avi. It was expanded. Avi wanted to stop monthly publications, but he was talked out of it and ended up expanding the number of titles. Everything grew under them.

[samurainoir]

Everything grew under them.

Except Toy Biz... which was downsized. Which is my point in the first place and the one I keep returning to that you do not seem to disagree with. "killed", "knifed"... it does not exist as a toy producing company to the extent that it did in the nineties. Why is this a sticky point?

documented layoffs...
http://www.personal.psu.edu/mpm15/C%26IChapter2.pdf

pg 32.

200 folks during the reorg 1996-98.