Yeah, as much as a part of me would like to read every Golden Age Batman and Superman...it's just never going to happen. This is why I've never been tempted to get into DC Archives pre-Silver Age. What I'd like to see are more refined versions of the "Greatest Stories Ever Told" or "in the 40's" series that are a bit more comprehensive. I think that's the best way to enjoy Golden Age material.

That's what I was thinking. What irks me is how they released several different Batman "greatest hits" with multiple repeats. How about a version that includes ALL the issues chosen so far? Kinds of an ultimate revision.

I think we'll agree to disagree.  I think you're making business assumptions based on not much more than your feelings that fly in the face of the way that publishing has done business for over a century.  

Which ties into the opportunity costs of the model which I talked about, tying up resources in one place means those resources are not available for other projects/products/expenses, etc. What would be a better use of the resources-a third printing of a book that has had its big sales push, or a new product with untapped sales potential? Even big corporations don't have unlimited resources, and they have to explain to shareholders why they are tying up resource sin less profitable ventures when more profitable opportunities are out there.

But as Slam points out, the realities of doing business and business models are often ignored when discussing what companies should do by those on the outside looking in. 

-M

I find when I go to a book store they'll often have the 1st and last book of a series on the shelf, but none of the ones in between... I suspect that's what most stores do for comics, too... if they have any in the middle, they're simply left over from when that title was the newest.

Otherwise, they just order when someone asks.

As far as the smaller presses go, they don't have a better product.. they're trying to get as much shelf space as possible, where Marvel and DC have the space, they're trying to turn it over as often as they can.

Besides, when was the last time you saw an Usagi trade in a non-comic book store?  I did a couple years back when the Boston Museum of Science was doing a samurai exhibit (they had a deal with Dark Horse to use Usagi in their marketing), but otherwise? 

But as long as new editions continue to be released, volume one will stay in print. I'll put money on that. There would be absolutely no reason to buy volume fifteen if volumes one through three couldn't be had. Also, how do you attract new buyers to your series if the first volume is unavailable? You know, when The Complete Crumb first came out, I was not in the market for it. Now I am. Luckily it can still be bought. Same goes for the Cerebus phonebooks. Why would anyone want the fifth phonebook if they couldn't have the first?

Now, after the series is complete, that's another story. I'm talking about while the series is still in relative infancy. From what I've heard, some Marvel and DC collections are limited to as little as five hundred copies. And these aren't even "limited edition" collections. That's just the total print run for things like Captain America. Seems silly, right? Am I supposed to believe that's simply how large the market is? Even after seeing copies of the out of print hardcovers selling for five hundred dollars on eBay? And I don't believe it's a fluke, or two enthusiastic bidders making it happen, or else it would only happen once. It happens consistently until it's eventually brought back to print, which sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't.

I believe this is done for one of many reasons, none of them being business savvy. They could be pandering to speculators, flippers, and dealers. Allowing things to go out of print so those who bought for profit get a chance to profit. Maybe they think if the book remains in perpetual availability these people won't buy at all. It's possible these people are their largest accounts.

Another reason is they probably don't want to help the bookstore/amazon market along. They must know there's no stopping it, they must know the direct market is no longer going to be the exclusive source of their content. They also know they don't perform as well outside the direct market, so why would they participate any more than they have to? Even with their loss of market share outside the direct market, they're a powerhouse combined. Them ignoring a market will make a market struggle to grow, for a while. But what then? What happens when they've waited too long? I saw it in their digital participation as well, when they refused to release digital the same day as print. Why would they do that? To please the direct market of course. Not because they somehow profit more by waiting a couple months until half the market for digital already has a bootleg copy.

And Peanuts is not the exception. I'm not talking strictly newspaper reprints. I'm talking all reprints of long ongoing series comprised of multiple volumes. Outside of Marvel and DC nine times out of ten if any volumes are in print, all volumes are in print. Unless it's a creator owned series that jumped from publisher to publisher and has problems with reprint rights, or a licensed series, or a creator owned series that crossed over with another creator owned series or licensed series. Those are special circumstances though, and the reason not everything may be in print with those titles is because of legal and licensing issues, not because it makes a ton of sense to let the early volumes go out of print while you release the later volumes.