This is my fault. I forgot about the concentrated autism here on Kiwi Farms. Let me try again.
I couldn't disagree more. If risking their entire $200k bankroll on securing a deal with Walmart and shipping them the product instead of their backers in the hopes of turning that $200k into $2+ million isn't gambling then nothing is. I would argue that the blackjack table would've given them better odds too.
And yes that $200k was put at risk --- probably lost. Otherwise the guy wouldn't have had a mental breakdown on his livestream last night accusing you of causing a thousand dollars in IGG refunds.
This might surprise you, but check this out:
It's EASY to get a deal with Wal Mart. Wal Mart doesn't discriminate all that much. All the Breitweisers had to do is get a meeting with one of the newsstand magazine distributors that furnish puzzlebooks to Target and WalMart, and agree to their terms. It cost them nothing, and the answer was a quick yes. I was there for that meeting.
The reason why Marvel and DC aren't in Wal Mart with their REGULAR periodicals now is because of their prior exclusive deal with DIAMOND and the Direct Market, which used to be a good arrangement for them, (Local Comic Shops only, but NO RETURNS) but now isn't such a good deal, because there aren't as many comic shops.
DC and Marvel got around this policy by creating exclusive magazines made up primarily of reprint comics.
And now DC Comics has used CoVid as a way to get out of their exclusive with Diamond, so you'll probably see more DC Comics at Wal Mart.
Let me repeat: It didn't cost the Breitweisers ANYTHING to get this deal. There was no risk of IGG backers money, because...
How can you of all people say that??? The purpose of the RED ROOSTER crowdfund was to produce a fucking comic book for the fans who paid for it! Are your IGG campaigns just a vehicle to establish a value for your CF IP, not to actually deliver a product to your fans who think that's what their money is for? Do your backers know that?
...they used the money they got from INVESTORS, an amount gambled by the investors (not the IndieGoGo backers) which was based on the believed VALUE of RED ROOSTER, which was determined by what the IGG backers gave to the Breitweisers to make the comic. This was their plan all along.
When I say this was THEIR plan, I'm not at all saying this is also MY plan. (That's where the tism might have confused you.)
My plan is to be quite happy with the money IGG backers are giving me to make CYBERFROG comics. It's plenty. I can even invest some of the profits making toys, and only worry about breaking even on the toys, because the comics are doing so well. I am NOT looking for investors. I've turned down investment capital. I am not looking to be in WALMART. At least not right now. I'm happy with my current situation of shipping 10,000 or so packages myself and keeping half a million in profits after shipping, taxes and printing costs.
But I am not the Breitweisers. They wanted a publishing empire and worldwide distribution. That's where we differed, and that's why I went my own way.
You obviously didn't listen to his breakdown from last night. He lost his shit because you cost him a thousand dollars in IGG refunds. People with million-dollar IP's raking in cash from Walmart don't act like that, especially if the initial IGG money is safe in a lockbox untouched. Hell, why is such a high-roller doing a drawing livestream for 13 people in the first place? The Walmart venture is failing, that's why. He's going to end up owing them money, not the other way around and the stress of that reality is hitting home.
I didn't listen to his breakdown, and I didn't cost him any refunds. He's wrong about that. He cost himself refunds.
I don't know if the Wal Mart deal is working or not. You could be correct that it isn't, and that's why Mitch is stressed out.
It's more likely though that Mitch put the proverbial (not literal) cart before the horse, and didn't place a priority on actually producing the single comic book that was the seed
of ALLEGIANCE ARTS and the Wal Mart deal. He let that $200K, which was mostly raised not to spend, but to show investors a PERCEIVED VALUE, sit around until the backers that gave it
to him got frustrated and angry, and began demanding refunds.
You could be right that now, after all, the Breitweisers need that money in the end.
That would be unfortunate.