Forum - View topicPhoenix... out of print?
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skaly
 Posts: 148 |
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I've been having some trouble acquiring volume 7 of Phoenix. First, I find it kind of odd that it would go out of print, because it's a pretty recent release (10 just came out), and I was able to get the previous volumes without any trouble. What's the story here, and will Viz print any more?
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jgreen
 Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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I know some older volumes of Phoenix are out of print, and while I thought Vol. 7 would still be in print, Right Stuf doesn't have it listed as such so maybe it is?
Anyway, you can still order it from Amazon so you might want to do that before it disappears. |
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Not a Jellyfish
 Posts: 539 Location: Boston, MA |
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I work at Barnes and Noble, and recently decided to track down this series myself. Actually, none of them are out of print yet, and all should be available to be ordered. However, the first few volumes may be backordered and take ages to get to you.
Or you could try Amazon, like J said. 
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digitalkikka
 Posts: 462 Location: Chicago, Illinois |
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The first volume is near impossible to find. They sell for extremely high prices used and are not even available for order at most websites. Amazon, one of the few sites that even has it listed, simply lets you sign up to be notified when it becomes available. I would love to start this series but the lack of availability is keeping me from doing so... grrr.... |
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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The first volume is kind of so-so by Phoenix standards, and since all the stories can be enjoyed individually I'd just go ahead and buy #2 (which is one of the best volumes and a great introduction to Tezuka in general). Very annoying about it going out of print though, especially after Viz went on and on about how they were committed to the book last year. At least they're releasing new volumes though. |
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Dranxis
 Posts: 591 Location: Ohtori Academy |
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Yeah, I'm up to volume 7 as well. I'm hoping that Amazon has it... Sometimes when they say '4-6' weeks they really mean it, and sometimes they don't have it at all.
As for the first volume, I was very lucky to get it. I found it hidden behind some books on a Waldenbooks shelf, and apparently it had been there for some time, waiting for me to snatch it up. But as Kagemusha said you could easily just skip to volume 2 (I like the first volume alot but it's pretty standard Phoenix fare). |
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smoochy
 Posts: 367 Location: Texas |
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I've only been able to find volume two, which is one of the best manga ever btw, but I've had about 6 volumes on order from Amazon for 3 months, and I'm starting to get annoyed with this...
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digitalkikka
Posts: 462 Location: Chicago, Illinois |
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That's good to hear. An introduction to Tezuka is exactly what I was going to use this series as. I guess I'll go ahead and start with volume 2 then, thanks  . I suppose I should also put an order in for the other volumes while I'm at it...
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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If they keep putting you on hold for the other volumes you may want to consider just ordering from an individual seller. There are usually a couple of them selling new copies. That or check the nearest comic book store. As for the actual volumes and the priorities that should be placed on them, volume 4 (Karma) is a must have and is in my opinion the finest piece of manga Tezuka ever created. 3 features a somewhat bland story that's strengthened by a brilliant piece of pop Sci-fi. 5 and 6 are both great, though not quite at the level of 2 or 4. Even volume 1 is a fine read, certainly superior to the majority of manga out there.
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Chrno2
 Posts: 6172 Location: USA |
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I find this utter BS!!!
I can't believe this crap!! WTF is up with 'VIZ' anyway? Here they go again with this ****!! They started publishing the series and then make people wait years before they even finished it. You have to kill yourself tracking down vol. after volume. Then they decided to finish and that takes f***ing forever. You don't even know if the rest of the damn series has been released even when its listed on 'Amazon.com. Now look vol. 7 was supposed to be available but of course it's not. It was "SUPPOSED" to be out this month. Hello? Where the hell is it??? Kind a hard for a book to be "out of print" when it hasn't even been released. Ok, now I got that off my chest. But I'm just pissed off. I hate when companies do this crap! Where they start a series and just toss it on hiatus for whatever goddamn reason.  Like what 'Dark Horse' did to 'Shadow Star'. I'll forgive 'ADV' for picking back up on their titles.
At my job, I have to keep watch over stuff that we have to acquire for our manga collection. We pretty mch ordered the majority of the 'Phoenix' series. It took us months to get vol. 6. So of course when I check on vol. 7 to see if it's readily available it's not. But yet the others are now. Be nice if they had released them in the order they were expected to come out. So of course I'll be asked that question "did we order vol. 7?" And of course I'll tell them "maybe, but it won't matter cause we can't get it anyway." It's nice that 'Viz' can spend so much time getting their more popular stuff out but can't get out stuff that is equally important. I guess it will be released "someday". |
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Volume 7 got released last year if I recall and 11 should be coming out soon (despite their shoddy history with the series they've been consistent in their scheduling since announcing they would complete it). My guess is that since it only really sells in the direct market to a select number of hardcore fans they aren't bothering to really push it in bookstores or make large print runs. Don't ask me why, but in reality its a miracle we're getting it at all. Of course if Viz would bother learning how to market something that doesn't have "Shonen Jump" on the cover we could avoid most of these problems (see Vertical).
But sometimes it isn't the company's fault if a series gets canceled. I mean you can't make people buy the product. Shadow Star is a perfect example since the people at DH seemed to be passionate enough about it, but its a marketing nightmare: too extreme to not shrink-wrap but with a seemingly cutesy art style that wards of much of its prospective audience. The financial problems DH had a couple of years ago probably didn't help matters either. From what an editor told me they were really hoping the anime did well, but when that quickly faded into obscurity it pretty much doomed the manga, at least for the time being. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15700 |
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If Princess Knight gets a real release outside of Shojo Beat, it might help create a larger audience for Tezuka.
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Brand
 Posts: 1029 |
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While I'd like to believe that, I don't think it will happen. A lot of fans are not interested in older titles, no matter how good they are or how important they are. If the art style looks old then they just don't want it. Even stuff dated back from the late 80's early 90's looks to old for a lot of newer fans who I've seen say things like everyone from BubbleGum Crisis looks fat. I do think better marketing on Viz's part would help, aiming for an older more mature audience and perhaps not just anime fans, but to general comics fans also. |
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population_tire
 Posts: 576 |
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In my Half-Price books they had a ton of them as one of their special manga things. It was a few months ago, so I don't know if they have any left though.
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