What's New

Founding testers

Before: The testers page asked you to apply by Sunday, November 8.

Now: The first group is picked, and the waitlist is open for the next one. Join it on the testers page and we'll email you if you're picked.

Already a Hero? Sign in to apply

Before: If you came back to the testers page without signing in, the big button asked you to create an account again.

Now: There's an Already a Hero? Sign In button right next to it, and the steps say we email you a code, no password.

Your welcome page

Before: After joining, the welcome page described a Friday email.

Now: It says what Insiders get on Friday: our notes on the books from Tuesday's list, before Monday's ordering deadline.

Series names

Before: A few series showed up under two slightly different names, so Amphibia: Strange Voyage #1 looked like two separate books.

Now: Each series shows once, with all its covers together.

Joining as a Hero

Before: After you signed up, the order page looked like any store order, with no next step.

Now: The order page welcomes you and says the $0 order is just your sign-up, so nothing is charged and nothing ships. A Show me how button walks you through signing in and what you get each week.

Joining as an Insider

Before: After you paid for Insider, the order page didn't say what to do next.

Now: The order page welcomes you, shows how to sign in (we email you a code, no password), and says when your notes come: Friday, and again Sunday, before Monday's order cutoff.

Books that moved

Before: 22 books were listed as closing Monday, Nov 9.

Now: Each one sits under its new Monday, from Nov 16 to Dec 14. New books and covers for Nov 9 are on the list too.

Iron Man #12 and #13

Before: Iron Man #12 showed the description for #13, so it looked like Melinda May becomes Cavalry in #12.

Now: Each issue shows its own description. Melinda May's story is in #13, which closes Monday.

The Darkness at 30

Before: The article's dates went out of date after a book moved.

Now: It has the new dates, plus the new Blind Bag, which closes Monday.

Black Widow: Black, White & Red Room #1

Before: Its main cover didn't name the artist.

Now: It says Ito.

Signing up from the founding testers page

Before: Creating your free account sent you away from the testers page, and it was easy to lose your place.

Now: The free sign-up opens in a new tab, so the testers page stays open and you can finish applying.

A welcome page that explains your week

Before: Our welcome page still talked about a plan we don't offer anymore.

Now: It walks you through your week as a Hero: the list on Tuesday, Release Day on Wednesday, and our two short emails, plus how to join the founding testers waitlist.

Books that can't be ordered right now

Before: A book we could no longer order had a note added to its title, and the note replaced its description.

Now: The book stays on the list, marked No Longer Currently Available or Cancelled, with its description back under the note. It can't go in a pull box. If you had it in yours, we take it out and tell you, and we refund it if you paid. If it comes back, the mark comes off.

Incentive covers show their ratio

Before: Some IDW and Dynamite incentive covers, like TMNT #25, Sonic #93 and Galactic #3 Cover C, didn't say how rare they were.

Now: Each one shows its ratio, like 1:10 or 1:25, on the list.

One ratio corrected

Before: Forever Home #4 Cover D said 1:50.

Now: It says 1:20, its real ratio.

No more odd artist names

Before: A few covers listed the artist as "Copy" or "Fernando Blanco Copy".

Now: They show the artist's name, or leave that box out until we know it.

Only things you can get

Before: IDW's monthly catalog for comic shops showed on the FOC list like a comic, with no price.

Now: Shop catalogs stay off the list, so every book on it is one you can get.

Past Release Day weeks match

Before: Release Day weeks from July to October showed many covers as "Standard", and Hide Adult missed a few adult covers there.

Now: Every week shows each cover's real name, and Hide Adult hides adult covers on every week.

Pull box buttons read the same

Before: Pull box buttons were in capitals in the pop-out, the checkout window and the bottom bar, but not in the list.

Now: They read the same everywhere, like "Open My Pull Box".

Dropped books say "currently"

Before: A book that dropped off a distributor's list said "No Longer Available".

Now: It says "No Longer Currently Available", because a dropped book can come back.

Books open faster in the List

Before: Opening a book in the List view redrew the whole list, which was slow on a phone.

Now: The book opens right where you click it, and the rest of the list stays put.

The same labels everywhere

Before: When you clicked a cover, the window that opened said WRITER and SPEC INTELLIGENCE in capitals, while the List said Writer.

Now: Both say Writer, Artist, Publisher, Covers and Spec Intelligence the same way.

Founding badge moved

Before: Founding members saw their Founding badge floating in the middle of the page header.

Now: It sits right next to your membership badge, on a phone too.

Empty boxes left out

Before: When we didn't have a book's writer or artist yet, its details showed a dash in that box.

Now: That box is left out, so the details show only what we know.

Series length reads plainly

Before: In your pull box and at checkout, a book could read "Axon Infinity #4 (5 Issues)", which looked like five copies.

Now: It reads "Axon Infinity #4 of 5": issue 4 of a five-issue series.

No more doubled covers

Before: A few books showed the same cover twice, once under an old barcode.

Now: The old copies are gone, so each cover shows once.

Ratio covers say their ratio plainly

Before: Some ratio covers had a store code in their name, like "Cover E INC 1:50 Justine Frany Virgin Variant".

Now: They read "Cover E (1:50) Justine Frany Virgin Variant", the same way as every other ratio cover, on the list and in checkout.

Vault ratio covers show one ratio

Before: Vault's ratio covers had two numbers in their name, like "Cover E INC 1:1 (10) Katie Cook Variant".

Now: They read "Cover E (1:10) Katie Cook Variant", with the cover's real ratio, the same way as every other ratio cover.

IDW incentive covers have a real name

Before: IDW's incentive covers were called "Cover Ri", a store code.

Now: They're called "Incentive Cover", and the row of covers under the book says Incentive.

Four more adult books marked

Before: Four Seven Seas books rated 18 and up didn't have the Adult tag yet.

Now: They have it now, and Hide Adult hides them.

Prices on 99 more covers

Before: 99 covers on the FOC list had no price yet, so they couldn't go in a pull box.

Now: They show their price now, and they can.

Amazing Spider-Man: Symbie #1 price fixed

Before: Three of its covers showed $5.99, the price of an earlier Symbie #1.

Now: All six covers show $4.99, this book's price.

Show or hide adult books

Before: Adult books sat on the FOC list and Release Day with everything else, and there was no way to hide them.

Now: Both pages have an Adult choice: Include Adult, Hide Adult or Adult Only. Hide Adult also hides a book's adult covers when the book has regular covers too. Your pick stays the same on both pages next time you visit.

Adult covers are marked

Before: You couldn't tell a cover was adult until you opened it.

Now: Every adult cover has a small grey Adult tag. A line under the Adult choice says what counts: explicit content or nudity. Mature-rated books aren't counted as adult.

Notify Me on adult books

Before: Earlier today adult books had an I Want This button, and the page said we don't email about adult books.

Now: Adult books have Notify Me, the same as signed books. We can't take orders on adult books yet. Click Notify Me so we know you want one, and if that changes, we'll email you.

Every cover's full name

Before: Many covers showed a short label like "Standard" or "Virgin Variant", so different covers of the same book looked alike.

Now: Each cover shows its full name, like "Cover D Nimit Malavia Card Stock Variant", on the FOC list, Release Day and in checkout.

Fixed on the books still coming

Before: Older FOC lists still had the short cover labels, and some covers had the wrong adult tag.

Now: We went back and fixed the cover names and adult tags on every book from the Oct 12 FOC list on, and on every book coming out Nov 4 or later. Covers that aren't adult lost a wrong adult tag, and adult books that were missing one have it now.

Release Day shows covers

Before: Release Day was a long list with one row per cover, so a book with ten covers took ten rows.

Now: Release Day opens on a grid of covers, one card per book, like the FOC list. Click a book to see every cover, its spec intel and the details, then step to the next book. Prefer a list? Click List for one row per book. Your pick holds on both pages.

Every cover on its own book's card

Before: A few variant covers showed up on the FOC list as a book of their own, with the cover's name stuck on the end of the title.

Now: Those covers sit on their book's card with the rest of its covers, so you find every cover for a comic in one place.

A new guide: Road to Secret Wars

Before: Marvel's five Incursions one-shots were spread across three months of FOC lists, with no one place to see them together.

Now: One guide puts all five in order with each one's last day to order, where to start before Secret Wars, and the film dates. It's the newest guide on Collector Guides.

Three ways to add a book, with a picture

Before: How Your Pull Box Works didn't show the three buttons or say when to use each one.

Now: A new section near the top shows Add This Issue, Add as Ongoing and Add to Checkout, and says which one to click for one book, a whole series, or paying today.

Refunds go out within one business day

Before: A refund you asked for went out "within a day or two".

Now: A refund you ask for goes out within one business day. Our refund policy, How Your Pull Box Works and your emails all say the same thing.

When we come up short on a copy

Before: Our refund policy said we refund any copy we can't send, and didn't mention Any Regular Cover Is OK.

Now: If you ticked Any Regular Cover Is OK, we send another regular cover of the same issue instead when we have one. You never pay more, and if it costs less, we refund the difference.

A covers view for the FOC list

Before: The FOC list was a table, and a book with 8 covers took up 8 rows.

Now: The list opens as covers, one card per book. Click a card to see every cover for that book and pick the one you want. Click List at the top to switch back to rows.

One row per book in the list view

Before: Every cover had its own row, so it was hard to tell how many covers a book had.

Now: Each book gets one row with a bigger cover and a chip that says how many covers it has. Click the row to see them all.

A post about our preorders

Before: Nothing on the Long Box explained the preorders we're building.

Now: A new Long Box post explains them: every book ships the week it comes out, billed one week at a time, and a small group of founding testers tries it first. Apply by Sunday, Nov 8.

A new homepage tile

Before: The homepage tile said "Pull Box, Built From the FOC List."

Now: It says "One late book shouldn't hold up your whole order." Click it to apply to be a founding tester.

Clearer words on the testers page

Before: The testers page said we pick a small group each month and email you when your spot opens.

Now: It says we pick a small group from the waitlist and add more people as we need them. If you're picked, we email you.

More results when you search

Before: A search of the shop showed 8 products a page.

Now: It shows 48 a page, so you scroll more and click less.

The homepage countdown, on any screen

Before: On some laptop and tablet screens, the blue "days to FOC" box on the homepage covered part of the words beside it.

Now: The words make room for the box, so the headline, the three days and both buttons are easy to read at any screen size.

Browse every article type

Before: To find every FOC Drop or every Spec Watch, you had to scroll the whole Long Box feed.

Now: A Browse menu on the feed and on every article opens All FOC Drops, All Spec Watch, Industry Intel, Collector Guides, the free FOC list and Release Day in one click.

Cleaner article pages

Before: Articles ended with a row of tags, a comment box, and a row of other posts that slid by on its own.

Now: The tags and comment box are gone, and the row of other posts stays put until you scroll it.

Collector Guides, up to date

Before: The Guides page said an Avengers #1 guide was coming next.

Now: The Holiday Specials Top 10 is the latest guide, and the DNX reading order leads the list of more guides.

FOC countdown on the homepage

Before: To see how long you had left to order a book, you had to look up the FOC date on the list.

Now: The homepage counts down the days to the next FOC, the last day a shop can order a book. On FOC Monday it says the list closes today, and after noon it shows the next Monday.

Button names stand out

Before: Button names inside a sentence looked like any other words, so they were easy to miss.

Now: Every button and section name starts with capital letters, like Add to Checkout, and shows in bold when a sentence tells you to click it.

Try Preorders First

Before: To find our founding testers page, you needed the link from our email.

Now: It's in the menu under FOC Intel as Try Preorders First, on the homepage Pull Box tile, and at the bottom of every page. We're now taking applications.

Easier to apply

Before: If you were signed in, the founding testers page went straight to the questions.

Now: The page explains the test first: what you get, what we ask, and how it works. Then the Apply button opens the 10 short questions.

Clearer pull box emails

Before: After you paid a pull box bill, the email said your order was getting ready to ship.

Now: It says your payment went through and that each book ships on its date in My Pull Box. The bill email's button now says Pay Your Bill.

Our current policies, one click away

Before: The links at the bottom of the site opened older copies of our refund, privacy and terms pages.

Now: They open our current policies, which now cover how the pull box works. Shipping Policy is there too.

Join the founding testers

Before: You could follow the FOC list, but you couldn't preorder from us.

Now: We're opening preorders to a small group of founding testers first. Every book ships the week it comes out, billed one week at a time. Join the waitlist and we'll email you if you're picked.

New publisher slides

Before: The Marvel, DC and Image slides showed old artwork with the publisher logos.

Now: Each slide shows real books you can buy in our shop, with Venom, Batman or Spawn behind them.

Pull Box, coming soon

Before: The small tile beside the slideshow was for indie comics.

Now: That tile previews our Pull Box, coming soon: reserve the books you want right from the FOC list. Each week's books ship in that week's box. Click it to read more.

A new cart icon

Before: The cart was a plain shopping bag.

Now: The cart is a long box of comics, with a red number when something is in it.

Guides with their own banners

Before: On the Collector Guides page, the newest guide showed a plain strip of covers.

Now: Every guide on that page has its own banner.

DNX, in reading order

Before: There was no one page with every DNX book in order.

Now: A new Collector Guide lists every DNX issue in Marvel's own reading order, with its dates and every cover, plus the books that come after it.

Guides explain shop orders

Before: Guide pages said "Shop orders closed" without saying what that means for you, and some covers showed "cover not yet released" art.

Now: Each guide explains shop orders and ratio covers above its list, and a cover without real art is listed by name instead.

Using the lists on a phone

Before: On a phone, the FOC and Release Day lists ran off the side of the screen, and some buttons and prices were hard to reach.

Now: Both lists fit your phone screen. Filters, buttons and book details all fit, and an open book card stays on screen.

The sign-up box

Before: On a phone, the "10% off" sign-up box could sit on top of the filters, buttons and prices on the FOC, Release Day and Data Explorer pages.

Now: Those pages don't show the sign-up box, so nothing covers the list. It still shows everywhere else in the store.

Signing in

Before: If you were signed in with an account that isn't a Hero yet, the page still told you to log in, and logging in sent you to your account page.

Now: The page tells you you're signed in but that account isn't a Hero yet, and logging in brings you back to the page you were on.

Grey filters

Before: Some filters showed in grey with no reason given.

Now: A short line under the filters says the grey ones are for Insider members, with a link to see Insider.

Cover letters on the lists

Before: The FOC and Release Day lists showed a cover's style and artist, like "Regular · Daniel Maine", but not which cover it was, so finding the A cover took guessing.

Now: Each cover shows its letter when the publisher gives one, like "Cover A · Daniel Maine". When a book's covers have no letters, the main cover says "Main cover".

Prices on upcoming books

Before: About 1 in 3 books on the FOC list showed no cover price, mostly Marvel, IDW and BOOM books.

Now: Almost every book shows its cover price, including the higher price on special covers like foil and metal. A few will show a price once the publisher lists one.

Click a book for the details

Before: The Bad Seeds guide was a set of tables, and the covers opened in a new tab.

Now: Every book is one row you can click open for DC's description, the creators, the cover price and every cover. Click a cover and it opens full size right on the page.

Dates that keep themselves current

Before: When a book moved, the guide only changed when we rewrote it by hand.

Now: Release dates and order dates update from our list, and each guide says how its reading order was put together.

More books show the Guide tag

Before: Only the Bad Seeds specials showed the 📖 Guide tag on the FOC list.

Now: Every book in the guide shows it, including Batman, Poison Ivy, Detective Comics and the tie-ins.

Marvel Midnight works the same way

Before: The Midnight guide listed each issue's covers as text in tables.

Now: Click any Midnight issue for Marvel's description, the creators and every cover, full size on the page. The New York Comic Con news and the #4 dates are under Updates.

New guide: Batman: Bad Seeds

Before: Bad Seeds jumps across eight Bat-books and four specials, and it was hard to tell which ones you had or what order to read them in.

Now: A new guide puts every Bad Seeds book in reading order with its release date, the two books that moved, and the books that come after it. Bad Seeds books on the FOC list show the 📖 Guide tag.

Marvel Midnight guide, updated

Before: The Midnight guide covered the #1s and #2s.

Now: It adds what Marvel showed at New York Comic Con, the #3 covers, and the #4 release dates.

Guides, right from the list

Before: Our Marvel Midnight guide lived on its own page, and you had to know it was there.

Now: Any book that's in one of our guides shows a 📖 Guide tag on the FOC list and on Release Day. Open the book and click "Read the guide."

Collector Guides

Before: Our articles covered big launches, but the dates and covers for a new series were spread across the FOC list and articles.

Now: A new Collector Guides page puts each big launch on one page: every cover, the release dates, and the last day to order the next issue. The first one is Marvel Midnight. Find it under The Long Box in the menu, or on the homepage.

New pictures for Hero and Insider

Before: The Hero and Insider pages showed older pictures, and the Hero one still had an old name on it.

Now: Both show new pictures in our current look, with what each one gets in plain words.

Your welcome email shows you your badge

Before: The welcome email said you're one of our first members.

Now: It also tells you where to find your gold Founding badge: at the top of the FOC list when you're signed in.

My preorders says what's true today

Before: The My preorders page talked about limits and invoices before preorders were open.

Now: It says preorders are coming soon, and it will fill in once they open.

Preorders are coming soon

Before: The FOC list showed the books, the covers and the spec, and that was it.

Now: Open any book and you'll see that preorders are coming soon, right from this list. We'll tell you the day it opens.

The Founding badge is back

Before: The Founding Hero and Founding Insider badge had gone missing from the FOC list.

Now: It's back, next to your tier badge. Only you see it.

A few emails to help you settle in

Before: New members got one welcome email when they joined, then nothing until the weekly emails.

Now: Heroes get three short emails over their first three weeks, and Insiders get three over their first ten days. Each one explains one part of the week: the Tuesday list, the Release Day notes, the Friday and Sunday notes, and how to check our work.

A clearer welcome email

Before: The welcome email used some of our own shorthand.

Now: It says plainly what you get on each day of the week.

Real covers replace "cover to come" images

Before: Hundreds of books on the FOC list and the Release Day page showed a "cover to come" image, even after the publisher had shown the real cover.

Now: 775 of those books show their real cover, and we check for new covers before every list update and swap them in.

Our own card for covers not shown yet

Before: A book with no cover yet showed a plain gray or black placeholder.

Now: It shows a Multiverse of Heroes "Cover coming soon" card until the publisher shows the cover.

Weekly videos have their own music and a new ending

Before: Our weekly videos ended on a plain card with the web address.

Now: Each one plays a cleared music track, ends with the week's real book count and "The full list is free," then our logo.

What "Hot Spec" means

Before: The flag guide in Spec Watch said Hot Spec meant a confirmed potential first.

Now: It says what the flag actually covers: a confirmed potential first or a confirmed origin story.

Special copies show the real publisher

Before: When one company sold a special signed or graded copy of another company's book, our list showed the seller as the publisher. A signed Absolute Batman #15 (a DC book) sold by Dynamic Forces showed up as a Dynamite book.

Now: It shows DC Comics as the publisher, with a note saying it is the Dynamic Forces signed or graded copy.

The hot list is only new books

Before: Those special copies of books already in stores could be marked as hot new books and added to the weekly counts.

Now: Only new books get hot marks, and the weekly counts no longer include the extra copies.

Spec filters ask you to sign in first

Before: On the Release Day page, anyone could click 1st Apps or Has Spec Intel, and spec tags showed for everyone.

Now: Those two buttons are greyed out until you sign in as a Hero (free), and spec stays with Heroes. Heroes see everything work the same as before.

This week's picture on every article

Before: Each Long Box article had the same banner every week with only the date changed.

Now: Each banner shows real covers from the books in that article.

Homepage FOC slide stays current

Before: The slide on the homepage could show last week's order deadline for a few days.

Now: It updates every Tuesday with the new deadline and that week's covers.

Signed items are easier to find

Before: Autographed toys and signed comics only showed up on the Autographed page.

Now: They also show on All Toys, All Star Wars and Raw Comics, right next to everything else.

Cleaner toy filters

Before: The Line filter on some toy pages listed the same line under different names.

Now: Every toy is filed under one clear line name, so filtering by line shows everything in it.

A clearer name for the top section

Before: The Spec Watch's main section was called Priority Picks, which made it sound like we were telling you what to buy.

Now: It's called Priority Books. It lists the books our research flagged, and you decide what to do with them.

Cleaner book cards in our videos

Before: Some book cards in the weekly videos started with a stray colon or cut off mid-sentence.

Now: Every card starts clean and ends on a full sentence.

Less scrolling to reach the shelves

Before: Our articles sat above the product rows, so you scrolled past them before you saw anything for sale.

Now: The newest toys, comics and more come first. The Long Box articles are now at the bottom of the page, right above the footer.

Ask an AI shopping assistant about us

Before: If you asked an AI shopping assistant about our shipping, discounts or how to reach us, it often had no answer.

Now: It can now tell you how our multi-item discount works (5% off 2, 10% off 3, 15% off 4 or more), which faster shipping options we offer, how to reach us, and that buyers outside the US can order from our eBay store.

Shop by line

Before: To find a toy line, like the Vintage Collection, you had to dig three steps deep into the menu.

Now: Big toy pages show picture buttons for every line at the top, starting with "All". Click one to jump there, and hop between lines from the same spot.

A simpler menu

Before: The Toys menu opened four levels deep with long lists.

Now: The menu stops at the maker, like Hasbro or Kenner. Each maker's lines live on its own page.

New Marvel, McFarlane and Transformers sections

Before: Marvel Legends, Spawn and most Transformers had no spot in the Toys menu.

Now: Each has its own menu entry and page, with Spawn, Wetworks and Youngblood inside McFarlane.

Toys up front

Before: The homepage opened with comics, and toys showed up far down the page.

Now: Toys have their own slide, and the newest toys are the first row on the homepage.

More toys per page

Before: Each page showed 28 toys, so big groups ran 8 pages long.

Now: Each page shows 48 toys, so you scroll and click less.

Filter by brand

Before: The side panel could only narrow by price and what's in stock.

Now: You can also pick a brand, like Hasbro or Mattel, to see only theirs.

Board games have a home

Before: Board games like HeroQuest had no spot in the Games menu, and "All Games" showed only two items.

Now: Games has its own Board Games section, and "All Games" shows every game we have.

This week's books to watch, up front

Before: The FOC slide on the homepage showed the same four covers since spring, and phones saw a different picture than computers.

Now: It shows four books people are watching before this week's order cutoff, with the cutoff date, and it looks the same on your phone. It changes every week.

Every shop page has matching art

Before: Smaller shop pages, like Dark Horse comics or Star Wars Hasbro figures, all shared one plain store banner.

Now: Each one wears the art of the section it belongs to, so comic pages look like comics and toy pages look like toys.

Every section has its own banner

Before: Shop pages like Toys and Graded Comics opened straight into a grid of products, with nothing at the top saying where you were.

Now: Each section opens with a comic-book-style banner showing some of the best things we've had, from CGC slabs to carded figures.

The multi-item discount is easy to find

Before: Buying 2 or more items saved you money, but nothing on the site said so.

Now: Every page shows it at the top, and every product page shows it under the price: Buy 2, save 5%. Buy 3, save 10%. Buy 4 or more, save 15%. It comes off automatically at checkout.

The same deal on eBay

Before: The eBay discount never worked on our one-of-a-kind items.

Now: It works on everything in our eBay store, and our listings show it above the photos.

The Star Wars toy menu shows every line

Before: On the FOC Intelligence and Release Day pages, long menus like Toys > Star Wars > Hasbro got cut off partway down.

Now: The whole menu shows, all the way to the bottom.

The FOC list and Release Day are easier to read

Before: The words in the list were tiny. A lot of you had to zoom in to read them.

Now: All the text is about 40% bigger, so you can read it at normal size.

The home page schedule is easier to read

Before: The Tuesday, Friday and Sunday boxes on the home page used small print.

Now: Those boxes use bigger text now.

Our videos are easier to read on your phone

Before: The red note under each comic was small, and there was empty space above the cover.

Now: The red note is much bigger, and everything moved up so your app's buttons don't cover it.

Video notes start the right way

Before: Some notes under a comic started in the middle of a sentence, like "carries the week's..."

Now: Every note starts with the comic's name or a full sentence, so it makes sense on its own.