As the Diamond bankruptcy process reaches an important milestone, the auction for its assets, I’ve run across some strange reporting. Before we go on I would like to stress one thing: If you want more accurate, well sourced information about the Diamond bankruptcy, I recommend Milton Griepp at ICv2. He’s the gold standard on this story.
Bankruptcy proceedings are a complicated business, involving legal and financial procedures mandated by law. The Diamond case is a huge one, striking at the heart of multiple fandoms and businesses. All the more reason to report carefully. Court filings are confusing and full of legalese. So it’s not an easy case to report on.
Still. Let’s look at this story from Screen Rant: As Diamond Comics Faces Bankruptcy, Pokémon Is Left With a Big Problem. The idea of Pikachu and Sprigatito being dragged into bankruptcy court is indeed an alarming one, and Pokémon is super popular right now, partly explaining why Screen Rant, a Valnet content farm, might be reporting such a matter.
The story is based on another report, based on filings, which show the Pokémon Company International, Inc. (TPCI) disputing the $531,000 amount owed and stated in filings. TCPI says that they are also owed attorney fees, citing legal precedent. TCPI also asked for immediate reclamation of all goods received since 11/30/24.
And what does Screen Rant makes of all this:
Diamond’s Chapter 11 filing has sparked a financial dispute with Pokémon’s legal team, who claim that the distributor owes $531,000 for inventory sold on credit; this debt stems from Pokémon manga distributed by Diamond in partnership with Viz Media and TPCi. Pokémon’s legal team argues that Diamond should also cover attorney fees, citing precedents from similar legal cases. These claims are part of a broader issue in the comic book world, where publishers like Viz Media and TPCi try to ensure they are fully compensated for the goods distributed through Diamond.
The situation becomes more complicated when considering that Viz Media typically avoids distributing its titles through Diamond, as it doesn’t focus on single-issue comics. However, the Pokémon comics and manga were an exception due to the unique split between Viz and TPCi. As Pokémon’s legal team pushes for a resolution, the uncertainty surrounding Diamond’s bankruptcy further complicates the future of comics. The claims filed by Pokémon could have significant consequences as the company navigates its options for recovering the outstanding debts.
The problem here is that this is all total bullshit.
Diamond does not owe TPCI $531,000 for Viz manga. As stated right the filing, Alliance Games owes TCPI $531,000. Another filing states “The Notices both list a “Pokémon TCG Terms of Sale – CIP” (“Terms of Sale”) as a possibly executory contract that may be sought to be assumed and assigned.”
Pokémon TCG means Pokémon Trading Card Game. Alliance Games distributes games. The amount in question is for A COLLECTIBLE CARD GAME not manga. The card game in question is hot, the cards are occasionally rare and valuable (Logan Paul’s Charizard, anyone?) hence TPCI wanting the cards in question set aside and not lost in the shuffle. (The inevitable Reddit link includes a report that Pokémon TCG shipments were also late to stores over the end of last year, resulting in player anxiety.)
While people have been rightly concerned with Diamond’s comics business, as they are the sole distributor for many publishers, they actually owe more money for toys and games. Alliance Games was the profitable arm of the company, as CCGs are hot these days. How hot are Pokémon collectible card games? Well, the APP version, Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, took in $500 million in revenue within a few weeks of its launch in October 2024. Gotta catch em all indeed.
As for the Screen Rant story I won’t embarrass the listed author – if it’s even a person who exists. The “Viz Media manga” angle sounds like something AI came up with, and the story seems to have been AI generated. And it’s all wrong. But you would have had to do actual research to know that.
Another story – actually two- involves a rumor that Todd McFarlane will buy Diamond. I won’t quote the stories but they go on about how Todd might want to own a distribution arm, and he and Steve Geppi go way back and maybe the Toddfather is a knight in shining armor. The rumor sparked a wave of YouTube videos wondering the same thing.
I haven’t heard this rumor myself, but without watching hours and hours of people yapping on YouTube, it strike me that no one has considered that….maybe McFarlane is interested in buying DIAMOND SELECT TOYS and not a comics distribution company? McFarlane owns a toy company. Diamond owns TWO toy companies (DST and Gentle Giant.) All of them produce comics and pop culture collectibles. Wouldn’t that make more sense? Diamond is being sold off in chunks…and people will be bidding on separate chunks, not the whole kit and caboodle.
McFarlane Toys is privately owned, so we have no idea of its revenue. One site guesstimates $19.8 million in revenue. That is way less than the $39 million stalking horse bid just for Alliance Games Distributors. Just looking at numbers, there is no way McFarlane could absorb the massive infrastructure needed to ship copies of Man Goat & The Bunnyman: Beware the Pigman #3 to two thousand comics shops. (I downloaded a list of products currently offered by Diamond and there are more than 40,000 of them.)
But buying a boutique collectibles company on the cheap? That makes more sense, doesn’t it? Of course, there is a deeper level to the McFarlane rumor: as we recently reported, the DC toy license recently went back to Mattel, but McFarlane Toys is trying to find a way to carve out their high end license. DST/Gentle Giant also has a DC license, so bringing both under one roof might add to their bargaining power.
Just my speculation. And labeled as such. We’ll find out who’s right on Monday.
Why did I just take the time to point out these reporting errors and likely red herrings? The reason I’m running this site is I try to put out good information. Covering a story like Diamond’s bankruptcy is important to the comics, toy, and game industries, and it’s important to get it right. I’m not a lawyer and there are many things I don’t understand in all these filings…but I don’t make up bullshit when I don’t. A Diamond employee told me that I had gotten one thing wrong (that Diamond had already paid for their Toy Fair booth) and I sincerely hope that is the only one.
Thus, it bugs me when bad, incomplete information gets out and spreads. It should bug you too. But that is not how the world works any more. And so, I wrote this story – I had to give it a snappy title so you would read it, but I hope that was my greatest sin.
English (US) · 