Publishers Get the Win When it comes to Consigned Goods Inspection with Sparkle Pop

Two settlements with publishers in the fight over consigned goods and the Diamond chapter 7 case were settled this past week. One settlement was with 13 publishers and the other settlement was with 15 publishers. It was a big step in wrapping up the situation that has dragged out for over a year. Part of what led to one of those settlements was Sparkle Pop dropping its objection.
Sparkle Pop is one of the companies that purchased assets of Diamond’s and currently houses the consigned goods that are at the center of the dispute. Sparkle Pop had objected to the want of publishers to do an inspection over the inventory being help and generally not being included in the settlement negotiations.
On Friday, the “motion to compel discovery” was approved for a dozen publishers involved. Ablaze, Avatar Press, Zenescope, Paizo, Living the Line, Herman & Geer Communications, Green Ronin Publishing, Fantagraphics, BOOM!, Battle Quest Comics, American Mythology Productions, and Action Lab Entertainment all had their motion to “compel discovery” approved by the court.
The motion is interesting with some new nuggets of information:
- The inspection of the inventory was performed on October 26 and October 27
- Each day the inspection lasted for eight hours
- It was performed by Shawn Hamrick with an assistant. Hamrick worked for Diamond Comic Distributors for almost 32 years and was the Vice President of Operations & Chief Logistics Officer.
- The plaintiff, aka publishers, are responsible for the fees and costs.
- Sparkle Pop was able to accompany Hamrick and the assistant during the inspection.
- It’s a visual inspection and identification of the consigned inventory, but Hamrick and the assistant weren’t able to move any physical items. So, we’re not sure how you really dive in and count and confirm the inventory without being able to do so.
- Sparkle Pop will pay any fees it incurs during the process (so their staff is on their dime).
So, based on all of this, it sounds like the inspection of the inventory was completed earlier this week, before either settlement was approved… It’s an interesting twist and might explain why Sparkle Pop dropped their entire objection to the settlement. But, there are a lot of different scenarios that we aren’t privy to regarding the specific details of this side quest. If nothing else, it confirms a lot of negotiations occurring behind the scenes that aren’t being made public.
Check out the full court document below:
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