Pat Thompson of 8th Street Books & Comics in Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), Canada read the recent comments on the start of Day-Early Release and the secret shoppers (see "Barry Branvold of Barry's Collectors Corner on Day-Early Delivery") and had this to say.

I pretty much have to agree with Barry about the sheer coolness of getting comics a day early.

As far as the secret shopper incident I would like to share my experience.  Around 5 p.m. on Tuesday a woman came in looking for comics for her son.  She was from a city about 2-1/2 hours South of here in town for a meeting.  We had a great conversation but I couldn't sell her the Spawn, Amazing Spider-Man and Batman & Robin she wanted as it was a day early.  She, of course, would come back on Wednesday to pick them up.  They are still here.  Perhaps, considering Barry's experience, I should just put them back on the shelf.

This woman had a great cover story and we spoke for quite a while about all sorts of things.  I don't know where Diamond hired this undercover shopper but she was very good at her job.  I wonder if Diamond has any plans to tell us how many stores failed the test?

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