Elfsar Comics & Toys Blog

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2008 WAS A BLAST!

On May 3rd, Elfsar Comics & Toys gave away over 8,000 comics to a count of over 800 people in only 8 hours. 

Thank you everyone who helped support the Vancouver food Bank.
With your help we overloaded 17 boxes full of food!  A major increase from last year’s (5 boxes) Way to go!

 A very Special Thank you to:
Steve Sadowski, Team Epic, Zeroes 2 Heroes, The Scotiabank Theater (900 Burrard St), CTVNEWS, Electric Playground,
Ryan Doell, Carlo and Julio Turcinovic, David Ingram, Laura Wilson, Candice Low, Brian Miline, Elizabeth Bakker,
Miret Rodriguez, Thomas Tan, Rob Barazzuol, Patricia Lam & Ben Hives!
The day would not have been the same without your help!

Check the updates and raffle winners at: http://www.elfsar.com/FCBD/FCBD_2008.htm
See a short video of FCBD here: http://elfsar.com/FCBD/2008_Comics/FCBD08long.avi
Check out the display at the Scotiabank Theatre and win a $250.00 Shopping Spree at Elfsar:
http://www.elfsar.com/FCBD/FCBD_Iron_Man_Promo.htm 

See the FCBD 2008 Facebook Event page here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11497988863

Check out the after party here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=28960066192

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SHOULD ELFSAR WIN A HARRY KREMER AWARD?

2008 marks the 4th Annual Canadian Comic Book awards and you only have up until MAY 28th to vote and nominate your favorite store.
Last year we were in the final 3 and our good friends at Happy Harbor (Edmonton) won the 2007 award.
Did you have fun at FCBD?  Do you feel that we did more than other Canadian Stores?
If you did, and you think we should be recognized for our efforts please take 5 minutes to nominate us to the Shuster Awards.  
If we don’t get nominated, we can’t win. 
Plus the Shusters are a great way for your vote to be heard as to which Canadian Comic Creators are most deserving of praise.
http://joeshusterawards.com/content.asp?URL=8
It is all in your hands and we Thank you in advance.
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IMPORTANT ODERING REMINDER! -Did you get your May order in?
Did you forget to look through this month’s Previews Catalogue?
Tisk, Tisk… but never fear, Elfbytes http://www.elfsar.com/Elfbytes%20Articles/Elfbytes.htm is here!
Not sure yet about a series, give us a chance to help you decide. You can find this months review here:
http://www.elfsar.com/Elfbytes%20Articles/May_2008.htm

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Hothead Games is proud to announce that Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One will be available worldwide both via Xbox Live® Arcade (except Korea) and via the Greenhouse digital distribution platform (http://www.playgreenhouse.com/) for the Windows®, Mac®, and Linux® versions on Wednesday, May 21.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is an RPG-Adventure game set in the deranged 1920s universe of New Arcadia, delivered to gamers via accessible episodic releases.  Players join Gabe and Tycho, the crime-solving team of the Startling Developments Detective Agency, to combat savage enemies and solve mysteries hidden deep in the sinister heart of New Arcadia. 
The game is the result of close collaboration between Hothead Games and Penny Arcade, featuring distinct artwork and characters designed exclusively by Mike “Gabe” Krahulik, story and dialogue by Jerry “Tycho” Holkins, both brought to life by the Hothead team.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is expected to offer players six to ten hours of gameplay, and is priced at $19.95 for the Windows, Mac, and Linux versions and at 1600 Microsoft points via Xbox Live® Arcade.  The game has been rated “M” for Mature by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board for all platforms.

 CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FCBD 2008 RAFFLE WINNERS!

See more updates from the day here: http://www.elfsar.com/FCBD/FCBD_2008.htm

In case you missed its premier on all the Time/Warner-owned TV stations, here is a look at the Star Wars: The Clone Wars trailer. 

The film opens nationwide on August 15th, 2008.

Star Wars Clone Wars Trailer

Marvel, Dark Horse and Image have new prices but the latest news…

DC COMICS Press Release:

Please note that beginning with items arriving in Direct Market stores on March 19,

 DC Comics periodicals will feature a single price for both U.S. and Canada.

As an example, the price on the cover of ACTION COMICS #863,

scheduled to arrive in stores on March 26, reads “$2.99 US/Can.”

Hurrah!

Marvel as of last weeks trades with a Jan08 code have new adjusted prices.

It is yet unknown if they have done the same with Hardcovers (i’ll find out later today).

At this point, the Canadian dollar is basically hovering at par with the US and for the past couple of months various publishers of comics, magazines, books choose to adjust or not adjust their cover prices.  Some simply did nothing more than remove them all together, putting the responsibility yet again on the Retailer. 

In Vancouver about 5 months ago, it did not look like the publishers were going to do anything so we took it upon ourselves to adjust the price by offering an extra 15% off on any book that seemed unfairly adjusted.  Quite honestly, it made for a great Christmas and post holiday season at Elfsar.  We then had our January Buy 2 get 1 Free sale and then continued the slashing of books and giving basically a partial sample to the public of what our comic Saver files enjoy every week.  However, a lot of these books had to be manually price changed and as you can imagine, it created a large amount of extra work for our humble little store.

I am happy that the publishers are finally paying attention and dropping the price… the savings in labor alone are worth it.

 But I ask… what will happen when the dollar rises?  Will we be treated like a yo-yo when the dollar is not as strong?

IMPORTANT ODERING REMINDER! -Did you get your February order in?

Did you forget to look through this month's Previews Catalogue?

Tisk, Tisk... but never fear, Elfbytes is here:

http://www.elfsar.com/Elfbytes%20Articles/Elfbytes.htm 

Not sure yet about a series, give us a chance to help you decide.

You can find this months review here:

http://www.elfsar.com/Elfbytes%20Articles/February_2008.htm

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EMPLOYMENT OPPERTUNITIES AT ELFSAR!

Do you love comics?  Do you want more people to read them? 

Do you feel that you could add to our team? 

If yes, send us an email at www.elfsar@shaw.ca or apply within.

We are looking to expand our team with both full-time and part time positions.

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WORLD OF WARCRAFT EVENTS AT ELFSAR!

With WOW is picking up steam,

Elfsar has added weekly WOW events to its list of weekly Games that we are hosting.  

Every Friday at 6pm drop by for a game. 

Interested in learning how to play? Just curious?

Check it out.  http://www.elfsar.com/Gaming/Gaming.htm

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RETRORAMA CARD & COLLECTIBLE SHOW IN SURREY!

This show features all kinds of collectibles.

Sportscards, Toys, Comics, Records, Magazines and More!

New and Vintage. Special Autograph guests at every show.  

It is the only collectible show of it kind in Surrey.  

Pop culture and retro items of the past and present.

Check out the show website: http://www.retroramashow.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8411693461

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JOIN THE US ONLINE!

Join up with us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5515647817

Visit us on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/elfsar

Read our Blog: http://www.elfsar.betweenthestaples.com/

Message Board: http://www.canadiangeek.org/forums/

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FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2008 IS COMING SATURDAY MAY 3rd 2008

Wow this event is coming up fast. 

What do you want to see more of this year? 

We want to hear from you. 

www.elfsar@shaw.ca 

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See that was painless. Until next month,

-The Big Elf

Six or so different takes from assorted directors and writers of both anime and comics.  Batman Gotham Knight is to Batman The Dark Knight as The Animatrix is to the Matrix sequels.

Check it out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuSwj5ok24k

Wolverine or Hawkeye?   Who do you trust?    The Marvel marketing machine is kicking things into high gear for the upcoming Secret Invasion series.  Check out the larger shots here on CBR:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=13069

Well Columbia Pictures has picked up The Boys to be made into a movie. 

 More here:
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=147572

Well at the latest action figure convention they showed off action figures for the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, and well… as you can see, the character looks alot like Deathstroke the Terminator, a Teen Titans villain and not commonly associated with Batman’s rouge gallery. This movie is picking up a great deal of leaked geeky tidbits!

Newsarama has more here on the Toy Fair - some wicked news is DC has a new upcoming The Question figure:
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=147537

Bigger photo of the action figure is here:
http://www.newsarama.com/superarticulate/TF08/Mattel/Picture108.jpg