Pictures Surface of DC’s Walmart Comic Holders

Over on Facebook, Dan DiDio was hyping the cardboard holders for those DC 100 Page Giant comics that will be exclusive to Walmart.

Let’s have a look, shall we?

Not bad.  Personally, I wouldn’t have used a New 52 Superman headshot with that ridiculous collar.  They’re not reprinting any New 52 Superman in the Superman title, but that costume will appear in the Justice League reprints.  Pick your poison, I suppose, but I’d have opted for the non-discontinued costume for the trade packaging.

The sold out message is definitely cute.

But why does that box look so familiar?  Hmmm…

It’s a slightly better branded version of the current box they’ve had in the trading card aisle at Walmart for several months now.  (Note that Showcase was on clearance.)

This *probably* means the comics are going to be in that trading card aisle.  I hope I’m wrong, but that box isn’t going to fit in the book section, based on what I’ve seen.

Now let me explain in a bit more detail why I don’t think being in that aisle with the trading cards is a good thing.  That aisle is usually on the edge of checkout.  You don’t see it unless you’re looking for it.  In the Walmart I visited this weekend, that aisle has been remodeled and shrunken a bit.  It’s opposite an active checkout line.  I had a little bit of trouble browsing because someone was checking out while riding in one of those scooter carts that Walmart provides and the aisle wasn’t really wide enough to accommodate both that scooter and someone browsing without a bit of squeezing by.  The goods in that aisle are parallel to the cash registers and scanners in checkout.  If the comics are not placed near the end of the aisle, you will not see them without entering.  And you might only see them passing by AFTER you’ve checked out if they’re on that end of the aisle.  That’s a bit of a destination aisle and, at least where I was visiting, the aisle is not always going to be accessible.  If you go looking for these comics, that’s where you should probably look first, though.

I also don’t think that box is going to be holding 40-50 copies of each issue, as I’ve heard some people speculating about stocking levels.  I’d guess more like 10-20 copies.  Possibly less if they need to get all 4 titles in a single box.  Walmart is big on reordering, so there could be more in reserve, but I think everyone might be getting a little too excited prior to seeing evidence of how deeply this is stocked and how it sells through.  Then again, I suppose 30K is an upper mid-list circulation in the Direct Market these days… and that’s still operating under the assumption that these aren’t returnable.  (Not a bad bet if Showcase was on clearance for 1/2 off.)