SALES TO ASTONISH #47 - JULY 2026.

This one’s later than I expected it to be.  But with good reason

There is a song by the band Ride (that people of a certain age will remember) called Drive Blind, and for the past seven years it feels like I have been driving blind somewhat when it comes to the Unreality Store.

I noticed last month that another company that sells back issue comics also has the same problem - namely what do people actually want? 

I’ve covered this topic before, and in a little more depth once or twice, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that outside of the more popular titles such as Spider-Man and Batman introducing other back issues on a Thursday or a Saturday of what used to be called second or third tier characters is potluck. 

The Driving Blind during July was the comparison between Matt Murdock and Luke Cage.  Daredevil, and in particular the Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jnr run sold particularly well, but no one wanted poor old Power Man.

Now to be fair this does create some fun trying to second-guess your audience but equally it is invariably not a good use of time when you consider the process of sorting, photographing, grading and listing issues only to find that once they dropped onto the website there’s no interest. 

Or I should I say no immediate interest. Because that’s slightly unfair as I am immediately assuming there is an audience ready and waiting with cash burning a hole in their (Apple) wallets.  And therein lies another piece of work which I may be able to do which looks at just how long it might take something to sell after it’s been put up on the website.  In some instances this could be years in others it could be 30 minutes so that’s one for the to-do list.  With all that said, and whilst I love the song Drive Blind, I really wish I wasn’t, every week, trying to figure out what people want. 

Given the customary summer slowdown, July was a good month not only for sales but website traffic and other opportunities.  I’m pleased to report that in August I will have stock in another location in Northamptonshire which I’m very excited about and it gives people the opportunity to search through some back issue bins and pound comic boxes in real life rather than virtually on the website. More on that next month…

One of the interesting things that happened in July wasn’t a tall sales related but concerns or concerned a blog I had written. Blog or article? I prefer article but I guess  blog is the favoured word these days. Anyway, I a couple of months back I had written something on what I felt were the Top 5 Dark Horse Aliens comics.  

I’d always been a fan of these from the day first black-and-white series was introduced or released. I remember managing to get hold of a second or third print in a comic shop in Leicester (Another World?) which is now Forbidden Planet, and that Mark Nelson with his black-and-white art has done the franchise proud. It was a perfect follow-up to what still remains one of my all-time favourite films.  This was followed by Dennis Beauvais four issue fully painted miniseries and then countless one shots, mini and maxi series until they eventually lost that license and the Predator one in the early 2000’s.

I decided that I’d put my thoughts down and write something about my top five favourite Aliens series by Dark Horse Comics and put it up on the website.  A few people initially read it until mid-July. 

it must have appeared in a Reddit thread or something similar as during July the page saw over 500 hits which was fantastic. Ironically it didn’t lead to any sales of Aliens comics largely because I hadn’t got any in stock because they’re still Immensely popular to this day!!  I’m in the process of finalising a Punisher one as I am still amazed that every month I sell between 10-20 Punisher back issues to different buyers.

For the start of the summer July 2026 was a surprisingly busy month in comparison to many of the other ones that I’ve experienced. Website traffic was good and sales where equally pleasing.  I’m not sure whether I’m starting to see orders come through via Agentic shopfronts like Gemin,i ChatGPT and other AI platforms but certainly there are and have been newer buyers searching for certain titles such as Spider-Man that have visited the store and bought some issues, which is absolutely fantastic.

This was always going to be a short Sales To Astonish this month because I didn’t write it during the month as I normally would. I’d start it at the beginning of the month and add to it but certain factors determine that I’m playing a bit of catch-up with this. So I’m gonna call it a day now and would just like to say a big thank you to everyone that takes the time to read this column and even if you don’t read the column anyone who’s bought from the store or liked a post, shared it, mentioned The Unreality Store in a conversation or indeed was one of those few hundred people that read my the Dark Horse Aliens blog. 

All these things help and keep me determined to want to make The Unreality Store the best place to buy back issue comics and vintage role-play games online in the UK.

Thanks & Excelsior!!