Jun 9, 2009
Ok, it appears that maybe this has been an issue for months, and other people have already made some comments about it, but the new paper that Tokyopop is using for their manga books sucks! I just noticed it for the first time when I read Future Diary Volume 1. Are they getting it from a toilet paper company? And the nerve they have to raise the price of their books by a dollar??!! Decrease quality and increase price? At least keep the paper the same. This mess about how they have to buy it from a certain mill is just mess. Felt like I was reading the newspaper.
Viz. What can I say. I love the company. But they want to raise prices too. Want? They ARE raising prices. Why?
“VIZ Media made the decision to stay consistent with the pricing in the marketplace for this industry, which in some cases might be a slight increase from previous years."
So what they are saying is that they are raising prices simply because they CAN. Not because they NEED to. Greed. That's what this is about.
I guess we should thank Del Rey for starting all this about 5 years ago when they were the first to start selling their books for $10.95. They started us down this road. But I have to admit that they operate on a higher level than the other publishers in terms of presentation so I really can't complain. I cannot picture them using this sorry paper. They are too high class for that.
Hopefully, the rest of the industry will stay away from the Tokyopop model of costcutting even though it has been reported that other graphic novel publishers are thinking about using this paper as well. I bet it's CMX. The other companies are probably waiting to see the fan reaction before they convert over. Please let Tokyopop know if you're upset about this issue.
There's a good article over at Sporadic Sequential about the issue:
http://sporadicsequential.blogspot.com/2009/06/gee-thanks-for-more-expensive-lower.html