Posted by Chopper3 at dis.ncr-css.co.uk on October 19, 1999 at 05:51:52:
I do not expect that anyone cares, but I just wanted to air an opinion or two of mine regarding the recent "J&SB#4" episode and VA's products in general.
1. VA produce and/or sell two types of product; "blind" products and "non-blind" products;
"Blind" products are the films and publications that we pay for "blindly" without being in a position to judge for certain the quality of the products before we pay for them.
"Non-blind" products are the T-Shirts, figurines etc. that we can examine and make a well-considered judgement about before we pay for them.
2. The "non-blind" products are easy, you might examine them and if you want and can afford them then you may choose to buy them.
3. The "blind" products, like any such product, can disappoint, either because our expectations have not been managed accurately or because the product is just not competitive.
4. The VA "blind" products usually cost less than 10USD, sometimes significantly less.
5. Buying a "blind" product is a risk, but it is the buyers' risk. I'll say that again, it is the buyers' risk.
6. Did VA advertise "J&SB#4" as being the best of the four? I do not believe that they did.
7. Did VA charge more for "J&SB#4" than the previous three, therefore suggesting that that issue has more value? I do not believe that they did.
8. Did VA force or coerce anybody to buy "J&SB#4" before reading reviews of the book? They did not.
It's only a relatively cheap comic book and you have the right not to like it. But we do have to deliver on the responsibility that we bare as consumers.
If we buy a product "blindly" and are not satisfied with it on a purely content-related basis then certainly we have the right to voice our opinions to it's producers. But in the tone of your complaint we should always bear in mind that it was our responsibility to use our money how we chose and to live with the consequences. In this case I do not believe that the consequences (a couple of dollars) outweighed the potential benefits (a consistent set of quality books).
One last point; was the total cost of all four comics justified by the quality of the four-book series. I suspect that many people would agree that it was. In my opinion "J&SB#2" alone was worth the cost of all four.
Thank you.
PBM.