Oy vay. Well, this is basically an update to our previous Rockeeter blog, where we eagerly anticipated the release of IDW Publishing’s complete collection of the classic Dave Stevens series — in standard and deluxe formats.
I had the deluxe edition on my radar since it was announced back in March ’09, and then pre-ordered it from Amazon.com to secure my copy. I just sorta sensed it’d be a hot “chase” item once it was released, so made sure to PRE-order it, months in advance. There weren’t yet pics of the actual book up anywhere…
…then finally, IDW Publisher / EIC Chris Ryall received his hot-off-the-press copy, and promptly posted pics. The deluxe edition exceeded expectations, what a beautiful book. There was a lot of talk about it on the various comic book fan / news sites.
Man, was I glad I’d pre-ordered it, after seeing those pics. So, I anxiously kept an eye out for that Amazon email, alerting me that my copy had shipped and was on its way…the publication date of the book had been pushed once or twice towards the end of the year, so it was f’wesome when I DID get that Amazon email that it was finally being shipped.
A week goes by, then two. No book. Even with Amazon’s free super saver shipping, some things ship lightning fast so it seemed odd not to have received it yet…but it was still within their shipping estimate, so was okay for the time being.
Then another week goes by…I finally track the thing. The USPS tracking number showed that it had left the Amazon facility, but no info thereafter…it vaporized somewhere / somehow in transit. (The work of Dr. Manhattan?)
Yep, lost in the mail, as confirmed by an email exchange with Amazon. Have never had it happen before.
Normally, Amazon would expedite ship a replacement copy, but as forecasted, the Rocketeer deluxe edition sold right out, and is now selling on eBay for well above the $75 ticket price!
Oofa, of course of all the things I order on Amazon, the one I pre-ordered to make sure I got my copy is (currently) irreplaceable, and gets lost in the mail.
Well, anyway, for now I’ve placed a new order for the deluxe edition (my original order was credited back to me), and I’m crossing my fingers that IDW receives enough back orders to warrant going back to print on it. However, according to this John Mayo / Chris Marshall podcast, it don’t look good.
I’ll give it some time…if no luck, then I’ll go for the standard edition. Though my best recommendation to you, if you’re after the deluxe edition (hey, like me!), is place those orders with your local comic shop or Amazon, so that the numbers are feasible for the great guys at IDW!
