ComicBase 10

Upgrade answers requests

I get lazy, and will often wait a month or two before entering my new issues into the database.  This can be a drag because in order to access a title, you have to type in the first couple of letters ? bat for Batman, fant for Fantastic Four, etc.  If you have a barcode reader, ComicBase 10 now allows you to scan the UPC symbol of the comic to instantly access the title without all that typing.  Yes I know this seems very lazy, but if your titles are not in order, jumping back and forth between the same title again and again gets tedious and boring.  The only thing the barcode reader won?t do is mark the issue as part of your collection.  However, since you jump to the title/issue, all you need to do is enter the number of issues you own.

What happens if you want to sell issues from your massive collection?  Currently, clicking your option is to go to eBay and manually enter all the information.  While this may work if you are selling one or two issues, the time required to enter 5,000 issues would take you forever.  Human Computing recognizes the need for collectors to quickly post their collection and get it sold, so this Christmas they will be rolling out Atomic Avenue ? a one stop shop for selling and buying your comics online. 

In order to sell comics, all you need to do is mark the issues you wish to sell in your database, and then click on a Sell button that will become active in the near future.  All of the data associated with the Sell entries will be uploaded and posted on the Atomic Avenue website (http://www.atomicavenue.com/).  If you want to buy an issue, you can quickly search the site and find the issue you want.  For example, if I am looking for Batman/Hellboy/Starman #2, I can find every person selling that issue, and see a listing of the condition, value, and cover scan.  Since this is not an auction site, you don?t have to enter a bidding war for a title.  It works very much like Amazon?s used book sales, where Atomic Avenue will pay a set fee for shipping and tell you when to ship your item.  Of course there is a small fee per transaction so the company can make some money, but being able to sell 10,000 issues with very little hassle will be worth the charge.  I predict this will be the number one site for readers looking to fill back issues.

The interesting thing that should happen with Atomic Avenue is it will finally be a definitive way of pricing issues.  Often data from collector sites and books are greatly over inflated.  After a few months of selling, it should become clear exactly what people are willing to pay for issues, and the prices should adjust.  This should mimic the way the stock market works, instead of the guessing that goes on now.  We?ll have more information on Atomic Avenue when the site launches.

With the big wants being answered, what could be missing?  I?m a bit disappointed the weekly updates do not include cover scans, but as I mentioned how else will Human Computing make money if they can?t sell program updates in the future?  The movies in the Archive Edition are reruns from previous collections.  I would really like to see Human Computing drop some money to pay a pro to go and do interviews with the big guns each year and include that in the collection. 

ComicBase 10 comes in two flavors only available on the Windows operating system.  The Standard Edition ($149) contains the entire database and a few thousand cover scans.  For those who need just the data, this is a good deal.  If you want the full blown Archive Edition, that includes all the cover scans, expect to pay $299.  Believe me the price is well worth it as there is no other application like this that is as easy to use and as complete.  Upgrade prices from ComicBase 9 are $49.95 for the Standard Edition and $129.95 for the Archive Edition.

If you are a serious collector, need to manage the boxes of comics you?ve read over the years, or just want a cataloguing system to see what your collection is worth, then ComicBase 10 is a must have program.

For more information on ComicBase 10 (or to download a demo version) visit Human Computing at www.comicbase.com.