Star Wars Destiny

Just talked with one of our distributors yesterday and was told that they had heard from Fantasy Flight Games that it would be about a month before we see any restocks of Star Wars Destiny. The last time I remember similar demand and shortages of a product was WizKids Dicemasters.

Decisions at the Point of Purchase

In most cases, research shows that customers go to a store (or a website) with only a general idea of what they want to get. "I want to buy a game" or "I want to check out this week's comics" or "I want to look at Magic/Yu Gi Oh/Pokemon cards". 65% of the time, in fact, a customer will go to a store or a website with no more specific an idea of what they want than that. 65% of the time, the customer makes the actual decision once they are in the store,w hcih is why you see all of the cool looking merchandise out on display, in order to temp them into picking up something that fits the vague criteria they had when entering the store.

Holiday Hours

Just a reminder that we will remain open until 10:30 tonight (Christmas Eve), then close so Scott can go to Midnight Mass.  We will open Christmas Day from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ad then have regular hours the rest of the week. We will close at midnight New Year's Eve and have regular hours New Year's Day.

Three Reasons to Shop Local

This week's ICV2 column looks at three reasons to shop at your local FLGS (or other local stores for that matter).

Rogue One Ticket Winner

Congratulations to Seth Thomas, winner of our drawing for 2 tickets for a showing of Star Wars:  Rogue One.  If you would like to be among the first to know about future drawings and events, follow the store on Facebook or sign up for our weekly email newsletter.

GenCon Staying in Indianapolis

Through at least 2021.  There has been some concern by the convention that it is getting too big for the Indianapolis facilities to handle but apparently that concern has been dealt with.  

Stocking Stuffer of the Year

Since 2014, the store has selected a Stocking Stuffer of the Year. The games winning this honor have to meet three criteria:

1) cost less than $20
2) easily fit in a stocking
3) Be a lot of fun to play

2014's Stocking Stuffer of the Year was Asmodee's Timeline

And 2015's was AEG's Love Letter

This year we chose Antidote from Bellwether Games because it fits all three criteria. On several occasions, we have played the game at the store and players wanted to start another game as soon as they finished the first one. Add in the fact that the publisher, Bellwether Games, is located here in Carbondale and you can see why Antidote is our choice for Stocking Stuffer of the Year

Store Layout

This week's ICV2 column looks at the importance of store layout on sales. Where things are placed has a subtle but important impact on your purchasing behavior.

New Yu Gi Oh Set

Here is information on the next Yu Gi Oh set, Duelist Saga, releasing on March 30 at Official Tournament Stores, like our's:

Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. is proud to bring you this exciting new product offering, Duelist Saga.  As the Duelists of Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V begin their journey across dimensions, step back and look at the entire history of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise with Duelist Saga, a special set featuring new cards from all five incarnations of Yu-Gi-Oh!  The 40 new cards in Duelist Saga are a mix of cards from the manga series, the animated series, and cards inspired by some of the coolest monsters and concepts from each series.  Some of the new things you can look forward to include:

·         New cards used by Mai and Bakura in the original series, including the often-requested Diabound Kernel from Bakura’s Duel against Kaiba.

·         The power to unleash any of the Sacred Beasts from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX in any Deck and draw an extra 2 cards per turn if you do!

·         Yusei’s secret ace Synchro Monster whose existence was revealed in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, but was never called to action in our timeline.

·         The terrifying influence of Don Thousand, the ultimate foe from Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL!

·         Perform death-defying Dueling feats and get rewarded with extra draws every time you do with a card that brings the excitement of Yuya’s “Dueltainer” style of Dueling from Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V.

·         Brand new “attack” Spells! Spells like Dark Magic Attack that represent the signature moves of famous monsters have always been a hit with fans, and more are on the way in Duelist Saga covering monsters from every series.

Because these new cards come from every era of Yu-Gi-Oh! they work with other cards from every era of Yu-Gi-Oh! as well.  They also enhance Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum Summoning strategies, so these cards go great with High-Speed Riders, Wing Raiders, Dragons of Legend -Unleashed-, Destiny Soldiers, and Fusion Enforcers.

Duelist Saga also has 60 more cards that span the entirety of Yu-Gi-Oh!’s history, featuring memorable cards from the various series, the tournament scene from each era of Yu-Gi-Oh!, and sometimes both!  Each Duelist Saga box contains 3 mini-packs with 5 cards each, for a total of 15 cards.  Appearing for the first time in Duelist Saga, all cards in the set use an all-new, all-different Ultra Rare technology, and each mini-pack will contain 3 of the 40 new cards and 2 of the classic cards for a total of 15 cards per box: 9 new, and 6 classic!

End of Semester

Just a reminder that if you are looking to clear out your closet before leaving town for Christmas break, we do trade for complete boardgames and RPGs. We also pay cash, but much less than we offer in trade.

Supply and Demand

This week's ICV2 column looks at the effects of the laws of supply and demand on sales of items like the recently released Planechase Anthology

The Power of Pre-orders

We have sold through our initial order of Star Wars Destiny of 10 starter decks and 4 displays of boosters but almost only brought in one of each due to the lack of pre-orders or interest in general until just a few days before the release.

Pre-orders and customer queries allow us to judge the depth of interest in an upcoming release and to determine how many to bring in or whether to stock it at all. Each month between 100 to 200 new products release and it is impossible for us to keep up on what people want without feedback. Pre-orders allow us to stock the products that you would like to see in the store and avoid the products no-one has an interest in (like Days of Wonder' Quadropolis).