Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection discussion thread

[Klegg Bait]

As a collector of The Case Files, I love having Dreddverse stories to buy in these volumes.

[Tjm86]

Again, I'm in the dark here, what is Crusade?

I still think they should print Pirates of the Black Atlantic and the whole Robot Rebellion.  Granted these are older stories, but so what.

Consider yourself very lucky.  Not often it is suggested that Tooth strips are avoided but this and Millar's Robo-Hunter stories (oh, and Fleischer's work) come under the heading of 'just don't'.

I would agree wholeheartedly with Pirates and Robot Rebellion.  Both are integral early stories, one that is part of the build up towards Apocalypse, the other to Doomsday.  As AbelardSnazz suggests, Something Abnormal about Norman should be in there somewhere.  In fact I would vote for a whole Cam Kennedy volume.  (an Ian Kennedy volume would be criminally short)

[abelardsnazz]

Issues with the volume 80/81 spine image continuation have been answered on Facebook - a new version of volume 80 will be issued or packaged with issue 84 for current subscribers/store shoppers. Presumably this will include Murd on volume 80 behind the Brit-Cit judge.

[robert_ellis]

It's good they sorted out the spine. Praise to hachette for sorting this out so quickly. I still wish they'd sell us an index. I wonder if the series will be further extended or if future Dredd volumes will all end up in the 2000ad Ultimate Collection.

[abelardsnazz]

I still wish they'd sell us an index.

Hold that thought - I've compiled an index of all issues to date, of info on Volume,   Series, Story, Originally Published,   Writer, Artist & Page Count. I'll put it on here when the collection's complete.

[IndigoPrime]

Fair play on the reprints. But good grief, this must be costing them a small fortune. It's amazing how a bit more effort in production and packaging could have dealt with almost all of the objective problems people have with this series (bar some iffy print runs, which are to some extent unavoidable).

[Tomwe]

Issues with the volume 80/81 spine image continuation have been answered on Facebook - a new version of volume 80 will be issued or packaged with issue 84 for current subscribers/store shoppers. Presumably this will include Murd on volume 80 behind the Brit-Cit judge.

Wow I did not expect that. Kudos to them. They always seem more fussed when it's a spine or other cover related error.

[Arkady]

Prediction: The Ultimate Collection Vol 80 will not be issued until a decision has been made about an extension (it's currently billed to be issue 77, so that's perhaps a given).

[abelardsnazz]

Fair play on the reprints. But good grief, this must be costing them a small fortune. It's amazing how a bit more effort in production and packaging could have dealt with almost all of the objective problems people have with this series (bar some iffy print runs, which are to some extent unavoidable).

I wonder what the numbers are like for the Mega Collection reprint - I would assume less than the 2000AD one, as I haven't seen JD on shelves in any shops for a couple of years now, and some subscribers may have quit after 80 issues.

[Tomwe]

Prediction: The Ultimate Collection Vol 80 will not be issued until a decision has been made about an extension (it's currently billed to be issue 77, so that's perhaps a given).

extending that spine will be a whole different kettle of fish!

[IndigoPrime]

I wonder what the numbers are like for the Mega Collection reprint - I would assume less than the 2000AD one, as I haven't seen JD on shelves in any shops for a couple of years now, and some subscribers may have quit after 80 issues.

I have absolutely no idea about the scale required for print viability these days. I've heard some truly staggering numbers regarding some print magazines (one title selling in the hundreds yet still being on newsstands for baffling reasons). Books based around subscriptions are a different kettle of monkeys, but even so I imagine these series always have drop-offs during the runs, and so at this point are probably catering to relatively small numbers. Regardless, any reprint is money that would otherwise have been profit. But as I said, almost all of the objective cock-ups in this line (spine errors; incorrect text; damaged issues due to shoddy packaging) were down to production screw-ups that were entirely avoidable.

That all said, this is the second time Hachette has – to my mind – not only done the right thing, but gone beyond what you'd expect (free newsstand editions bundled in). And although I know some people have been frustrated by the company, I've found them to be pretty good via Facebook, not least when you outline very specifically what you want.

[abelardsnazz]

Issue 44, which is volume 80, is now showing as out of stock on the Hachette site - presumably if any more are put up for sale they'll be the new version of the spine.

[The Legendary Shark]

I wonder if they have cock-up insurance for hiccups like this?

[IndigoPrime]

Unlikely. The only things that they could conceivably get money back in is botched printing. For the most part, though, the issues are production errors – people copying and pasting stuff incorrectly (or not doing the pasting bit, in several cases).

[The Legendary Shark]

I think it's possible, even if unlikely, that some form of errors and omissions insurance is available for this kind of thing (possibly moreso in the U.S.A.). Imagine an error in spine printing led to people to sue for the full cost of the entire collection because the error "ruined" the collection or wasn't what was advertised. Insurance would rather pay out for the reprinting of one volume than a great many lawsuits. Unlikely, as you say, but in this litigious world I wouldn't be surprised if this was an insurance job.