Tariffs

 Starting to see some effects from tariffs, especially in supplies. Arriving restocks of Ultra Pro Standard 2.5” x3.5” Soft Sleeves, commonly referred to as “penny sleeves”, will now cost $1.22 per pack, quite a jump from the previous price of 54 to 57 cents a pack, a price increase of about 125%, certainly rendering the penny sleeve designation as moot.  Now the question is:  raise the price on supplies to a figure whereby the store makes its standard margin, or add the tariff amount to the current retail price and treat it as a tax?

Cryer from the Castle May 13

Brandon with this week's events at the store

GW Releases for May 31

 Here are the GW releases for May 31. Let us know by 3 p.m. on the 13 if you want any:

BATTALION: WOOD ELF REALMS

ARCANE JOURNAL: WOOD ELF REALMS

WOOD ELF REALMS: GLADE GUARD

WOOD ELF REALMS: GLADE RIDERS

WOOD ELF REALMS: ETERNAL GUARD

WOOD ELF REALMS ARALOTH LORD OF TALSYN

HIGH ELF REALMS: SILVER HELMS

HIGH ELF REALMS: HIGH ELF LOREMASTER

THOUSAND SONS: WARPFLAME THRALLBAND

CODEX: THOUSAND SONS (HB) (ENGLISH)

DATASHEET CARDS: THOUSAND SONS (ENGLISH)

COMBAT PATROL: THOUSAND SONS

Tariffs Having More Impact

 

Although claims have been made that container ships have stopped unloading at ports on the West Coast, including one widely shared photo stating ships have stopped unloading at the Port of Seattle, such claims are, shall we say, overblown to say the least. For the first quarter, the number of ships unloading at the Port are actually slightly up in numbers from 2024 for the first quarter, although in some cases, the amount of freight unloaded can run up to 30% less than expected. Of course, given the two to four weeks it takes for a freighter to cross the Pacific from China, those ships arriving now may have left pre-tariff and we may see a significant drop in shipments arriving if more companies take their cue from The Op and Cephalofair Games and send shipments back to their point of origin (See “The OP May Send Fifteen Containers of Games Back to China”). If tariffs do not get reverted soon, the holiday season, which accounts for some 40% of retail sales and accounts for the majority of profits for the toy and game industry will see a significant drop in sales and lots of empty spaces on the shelf.

Cryer from the Castle 5/6/2025

Cryer from the castle for this week.

soulblight Gravelords on Pre-order

 The new Soulblight Gravelords are on pre-order now.  We need pre-orders for the Battle tome, Age of Sigmar Soulblight Gravelords Prince Vhordrai

Age of Sigmar Soulblight Gravelords Blades of the Hollow King

Age of Sigmar Soulblight Gravelords Cursed Speulchre

Deathrattle Skeletons

Vampire Lord on Nightmare Steed

etc. by 3 p.m. this Tuesday May 6th 

Economics Lesson from Ferris Bueller

 I never thought I would see the day when people started looking to Ferris Bueller for lessons on economics but these are the times that we are in. People are using this as a quick explanation of what tariffs are and how the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act helped deepen the Great Depression. We have historical record of what overtly high tariffs did last time and yet the administration has decided, as of this writing, to keep going ahead with them. I want to emphasize “as of this writing” because no-one is quite sure where the administration plans to go with tariffs in the immediate future. Case in point, Portal Games. This email discusses some of the actions the company plans to take in response to American tariffs and notably, advises American customers who want to back their upcoming release Race for Berlin to put in a $1 placeholder pledge until the company determines if the administration will change its mind about how much tariffs should be:

Castle Short 4/10 #comics

Brandon looks at IDW's Godzilla Vs. Los Angeles

Crier from the Castle 4/29

This week's events including Free Comic Book Day and Star Wars Day. If you purchase a copy of Godzilla vs. Los Angeles, IDW will donate proceeds to victims of the Los Angeles wildfires. 

Alliance Impact Premiere

 Alliance Impact Premiere event this weekend.  $25 gets you packs and entry into the 1 p.m tournament on Saturday.

Store Walkthrough

 In case you would like to take a look at the current layout of the store, we did a walkthrough video to maintain our Ravensburger OP status.

Crier from the Castle for 4/21

Tariffs and dice

 Spoke with the owner of a small dice company last night who stopped by the store on his way north.  He says that, unless the tariffs are drastically reduced, he will likely have to shut down his company by the end of 2026. There is just no way for him to stay in business in the face of 145% tariffs.

Interview with the Owners of Runaway Parade Games

 Interview with the owners of Runnaway Parade Games on the effect Trump's tariffs are/will have on their boardgame company. It's not positive.

Tariffs Effect on Boardgame Companies

 

If the tariffs continue, things will get bad for the hobby game industry. A tariff of 10% could be absorbed, even a 20% one with some stress. A 35% tariff inflicts serious damage on the industry but a 146% one is devastating. In this interview, Price Johnson of Cephalofair Games says his company may have to quit distributing its games in the US due to the tariffs. One shipment costs $840,000 to manufacture and Cephalofair has to pay another estimated $873,000 in taxes to bring it into the country, effectively doubling the cost, with no additional benefit to the company.

Crier from the Castle 4/13

Brandon discussing this week's events at the store.

Games Workshop New Releases for May 3.

 Games Workshop has new figures for Legion Imperialis and Warhammer Old World High Elves listed for May 3 release.  Let us know if you want any so we can put an order 

Disney Lorcana Pricing

 

I am seeing sealed booster boxes of Disney Lorcana’s Into the Inklands selling for as low as $30 at some bargain outlets. From what I have heard, Ravensburger heard complaints about the scarcity of First Chapter and Rise of the Floodborn booster boxes and decided to give players (and stores) what they had asked for, a print run of Into the Inklands sufficiently large enough that no orders would need allocations.  Stores apparently did not believe this and played the allocation game, putting in large ordered with the expectation allocations would occur and the store would receive some number close to the quantity wanted. Instead, stores got just what they ordered and either had to pay on receipt or, if they have good credit, on 30 day terms. Given the amount of Into the Inklands hitting the market, supply and demand says the industry will see drastic price cuts to move the product, below cost in many cases, merely to recover some of the money invested in the set.

Tariff Impact on Jobs and families

 

Given the recent announcement of two  10% tariffs on imports to the US from China, the game industry is looking at 20% minimum price increases on the items we import from China, which is a whole lot of products. The idea, as the administration has said multiple times, is that foreign governments pay the tariff, billions of dollars flow into the US treasury and, to avoid tariffs, companies flock to move their operations to the United States. None of which is going to happen. Remember the tariffs put into place during the first Trump administration? They resulted in fewer jobs in the US, reduced GDP by a full 1%, cost taxpayers about $900,000 per job saved, cost the average household just over $1200 per year,  cost the American workforce about 245,000 jobs, and did nothing to reduce the national debt.

Crier from the Castle 4/7

Tariff Impacts

 Tariff Impact:  It isn’t Pretty

Given the recent announcement of two  10% tariffs on imports to the US from China, the game industry is looking at 20% minimum price increases on the items we import from China, which is a whole lot of products. The idea, as the administration has said multiple times, is that foreign governments pay the tariff, billions of dollars flow into the US treasury and, to avoid tariffs, companies flock to move their operations to the United States. None of which is going to happen. Remember the tariffs put into place during the first Trump administration? They resulted in fewer jobs in the US, reduced GDP by a full 1%, cost taxpayers about $900,000 per job saved, cost the average household just over $1200 per year,  cost the American workforce about 245,000 jobs, and did nothing to reduce the national debt.

Here is what the game industry can expect to see in terms of price changes this year as a result of the tariffs.  Publisher manufactures a game in China.  Why? Because it takes 2-4 years to create a new supply chain. Companies cannot shift their channels of distribution within a month or so. Ergo, publisher bringing the product into the US has to pay a tax of 20% on the imported product. A game that cost $10 to manufacture and ship will now cost $12, with $2 of that going to the US government. Distributor margins are about 10-15%, at least they were when I worked in distribution decades ago. If anyone in distribution wants to share more recent margins my email is at the end.  Distributors will have to sell the game to retailers for about $18. If retailers want to keystone the game’s price to make a 50% margin, the price goes to about $36 when sold to the consumer, about $6 more than the game would sell for without any tariffs. 

Another problem is the general uncertainty regarding the imposition of the tariffs. The Trump administration has said it will impose tariffs on Canada, the European Union and Mexico than changed its mind almost the next day, pushing back the start day. Although we probably won’t see any roll back, absent negotiations, of tariffs on Chinese imports, it could happen What do manufacturers do, absorb the cost of the tariff in the hope/expectation that the Trump administration will roll them back or figuring them into the cost of good sold as a fact of doing business, keeping higher prices which could reduce the number of price sensitive customers buying? If the tariffs get negotiated away and manufacturers increased prices, do they roll back the price and leave other members of the channel holding products with tariff inflated prices?

From what I have read, expecting increased tariffs after Trump won the presidency, a significant number of manufacturers chose to ramp up production runs during the last quarter, opting to warehouse product brought into the US under the previous tariff structure and have enough inventory on hand to avoid tariff fueled price increases through the end of Q2 or beginning of Q3, with the hope that the Chinese tariffs get negotiated away and the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports never get imposed but it does not look promising.

Cryer from the Castle for April 1

Castle Short 3/31

Ajay discussing Tsuro

Castle Short for 3/27

Lily talking about he Warhammer 40,000 Novel Horus Heresy

Crier from the Castle for 3/25

Brando with this week's Crier from the Castle 

Cryer from the Castle 3/18

This week's events and new releases

Store Championship

 March 15 is the Aetherdrift Store Championship which Starts at 1 p.m.   Entry fee is $10 and we will play 3 rounds with booster packs and promo cards to all players.

National Pi(E) Day

 Since it is March 14 or 3/14 etc. we are celebrating with free pie. Come on in and enjoy a slice of pie on us. Also take 10% off any Disney Lorcana items or Looney Labs Math Fluxx.  It's Mathmatical.

Cryer from the Castle March 12

This week's Cryer from the Castle. Brandon looks at our events this week.

Comics

 all of this week's comics hit the shelves in time for New Comic Book Day.  Hopefully this is a trend that will continue. Not sure what will happen with Diamond's bankruptcy filing though and we will not know what is happening with it until later in the month.

Archazia's Island

 Disney Lorcana Archazia's Island goes on sale tomorrow. We have booster boxes and packs, playmats and gift boxes and troves. No decks as we are saving them for next week's sealed tournament

Cryer from the Castle 3/4/35

Brandon with this week's Cryer from the Castle

GW Release for March 22

 Here are the GW releases for March 22. We need to know if you want any of these by 4 p.m. On March 4

GLOOMSPITE GITZ: DOOM DIVER CATAPULT

GLOOMSPITE GITZ: SNARLBOSS ON WAR-WHEELA

SNARLBOSS & WOLFGIT RETINUE

BATTLETOME: GLOOMSPITE GITZ (FRE)

BATTLETOME: GLOOMSPITE GITZ (ENG)

AGE OF SIGMAR: GLOOMSPITE GITZ DICE

GLOOSMPITE GITZ: SNARLPACK CAVALRY

GLOOMSPITE GITZ: SUNSTEALA WHEELAS

CALLIS AND TOLL (PB)

Castle Shorts 2/28/28

Devon discussing Pirate Borg in this week's Castle Short

Gary's Last Day

 Gary Smith, who has been with the store since 1990, has decided to retire. his last day will be March 6 for Gaming with Gary from 6 p.m .to 9 p.m. so stop by and say good bye.

Games Workshop New Releases

 Scheduled for release March 15. If you want one, need your order by 4 p.m on 2/25

COMBAT PATROL: AELDARI  $170.00

EMPEROR'S CHILDREN ARMY SET (ENGLISH)  $230.00

EMPEROR'S CHILDREN ARMY SET (FRENCH) $230.00

Zenoscope Livestream

 The store is the guest on Zenoscope's retailer Livestream on March 3 at 4 p.m.

Castle Shorts

 See Sydney talking about Delta Green Handlers Guide in this week's Castle Short

CryerFromCastle2 Feb 18 2025

Brandon discussing this week's events at the store.

GW Releases

 Here are the GW releases for March 8. We need your wants by 4 p.m. on Feb 18th

ASTRA MILITARUM: MINKA LESK: HELL'S LAST

DAUGHTERS OF KHAINE: MALENETH WITCHBLADE

HH: MECHANICUM HEAVY SUPPORT FORCE

MALENETH WITCHBLADE:SHADE OF KHAINE (HB)

GOTREK & MALENETH: THE OMNIBUS (PB)

MINKA LAST: HELL'S LAST (HB)

BLACK LIBRARY:THE ART OF WARHAMMER 40000

FIFTEEN HOURS (ANNIVERSARY EDITION)

BLOOD OF THE IMPERIUM (PB)

GREY SEER (PB)

TITANICUS (PB)

ASTRA MILITARUM: MINKA LESK: HELL'S LAST

DAUGHTERS OF KHAINE: MALENETH WITCHBLADE

HH: MECHANICUM HEAVY SUPPORT FORCE

MALENETH WITCHBLADE:SHADE OF KHAINE (HB)

GOTREK & MALENETH: THE OMNIBUS (PB)

MINKA LAST: HELL'S LAST (HB)

BLACK LIBRARY:THE ART OF WARHAMMER 40000

FIFTEEN HOURS (ANNIVERSARY EDITION)

BLOOD OF THE IMPERIUM (PB)

GREY SEER (PB)

TITANICUS (PB)

Toy Sale

 to celebrate out 35th year in business, we are taking 35% off all toys today. This includes Palm Pals, action figures and Squishables, as well as Gundam and Godzilla figures.

35th Anniversary RPG Special

 To celebrate out 35th anniversary, buy $35 or more of any RPG items (books, miniatures, dice) on Feb 13 and get a free dice set. We have only limited quantities of the free dice sets so stop by early

Disney Lorcana Pack Rush

 As part of our 35th Anniversary Celebration, we will hold a free Disney Lorcana Pack Rush on Feb 12 starting at 5 p.m.  the first 16 players will receive 6 packs of Lorcana. Round one they will open two packs and play their opponent with the contents, then repeat the process with the other 4 packs.  Players will receive 1 prize pack for each round they win. Thanks for helping us celebrate 35 years in business

Games Workshop New Releases

Here are the GW new releases for March 1. If you want any, we need your orders by Feb 11 at 4 p.m.

ARCANE JOURNAL: HIGH ELF REALMS

THE OLD WORLD: HIGH ELF REALMS DICE

BATTALION: HIGH ELF REALMS

HIGH ELF REALMS: SWORDMASTERS OF HOETH

HIGH ELF REALMS: LORD ON DRAGON

HIGH ELF REALMS:EAGLE CLAW BOLT THROWERS

HIGH ELF REALMS: WHITE LIONS OF CHRACE

Aetherdrift

 

Aetherdrift now in stock with a pre-release tonight at 5:30, Saturday the 8th also at 5:30 and a Two-headed giant at 1 p.m. on the 9ths.  All tournaments cost $45 to enter.

Pokemon 151

 Since we only got in two Blooming Waters sets, we decided to open them for packs instead so now we have about 2 dozen Pokemon 151 packs available at $14.99 each.

Monster Manual 2024

 the last of the 3 updated core rulebooks came in this week and will go on sale Feb. 4. If you pre-ordered a copy, we have it on hold for you and you can pay for it and pick it up at your convenience.

GW Releases for Feb 22

Here are the new Releases from Games Workshop for Feb 22, If you want any of these, we need to know by 4 p.m. on Feb 4. 

 ASTRA MILITARUM: KRIEG COMMAND SQUAD

A/MILITARUM: KRIEG HEAVY WEAPONS SQUAD

ASTRA MILITARUM: DEATH RIDERS

A/MILITARUM: KRIEG LORD-MARSHAL DREIR

ASTRA MILITARUM: KRIEG ARTILLERY TEAM

A/MILITARUM: DEATH KORPS OF KRIEG

COMBAT PATROL: ASTRA MILITARUM

ASTRA MILITARUM: KRIEG COMBAT ENGINEERS

NACHMUND GAUNTLET CRUSADE CAMPAIGN BK FR

NACHMUND GAUNTLET CRUSADE CAMPAIGN BK EN

CODEX: ASTRA MILITARUM (FRE)

CODEX: ASTRA MILITARUM (ENG)

DATASHEET CARDS: ASTRA MILITARUM (FRE)

DATASHEET CARDS: ASTRA MILITARUM (ENG)

WARHAMMER 40000: ASTRA MILITARUM DICE

SIEGE OF VRAKS (PB)

INTERCEPTOR CITY (HB)

DOUBLE EAGLE (HB)

Old Magic Packs

We have gotten in a limited quantity of older sealed Magic booster packs:  Modern Horizons 2 Set boosters, Oath of the Gatewatch , Return to Ravnica and Khans of Tarkir

D&D Slate

 Here is the slate of scheduled Dungeons and Dragons releases for 2025. Let us know if you want to pre-order any or all of them.

Monster Manual: February 18, 2025

Dragon Delves: July 8, 2025

Eberron: Forge of the Artificer: August 19, 2025

Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set: September 16, 2025

Untitled D&D Book: October 2025

Forgotten Realms Player's Guide: November 11, 2025

Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide: November 11, 2025.

35 Anniversary

 Local Artist Isaac Hicks will join us on the 16th of February for our 35th anniversary party. He will be doing sketches and selling his art and independent comic book

35th Anniversary

We are celebrating 35 years in business next month and would like to offer local creators, artists, writers, cosplayers an opportunity to set up and talk about your projects with our customers. If interested, please send us an email at castleperilousgames@gmail.com

Big Rig

First appearance of the Post Malone co-written comic book. Intro comic at Free Comic Book Day.

THEY PRAYED FOR A MIRACLE. THEY GOT 25 TONS AND 18 WHEELS OF HOLY WEAPON.

 

BIG RIG, created by Post Malone.

 

The Dark Ages…Demon hordes plague Europe as Hell invades Earth. The Six Petals, a secret sect of The Knights Templar, are in desperate need of a means to drive back the scourge and turn the tide of the onslaught. What crashes to earth is The Rig, a fully loaded tractor trailer. In the aftermath of its arrival, the only man left standing is an enigmatic former priest excommunicated from The Six Petals. He will become Trucker and lead the fight against Hell behind the wheel of a demon-slaying machine.

 

Written by Post Malone and Adrian Wassel. Drawn by Barbaric co-creator and Dark Knights of Steel artist Nathan Gooden.

 

Drive easy.

Aeldari Pre-release Numbers

 These are the GW Releases for 2/8.  If you want to pre-order any, we need your numbers by 5 p.m on Jan 21. Thanks

AELDARI: WARP SPIDERS

AELDARI: FIRE DRAGONS

AELDARI: SWOOPING HAWKS

AELDARI: PHOENIX LORD LHYKHIS

AELDARI: ASURMEN

AELDARI: PHOENIX LORD BAHARROTH

AELDARI: PHOENIX LORD FUEGAN

AELDARI: WAR WALKERS

AELDARI: WAVE SERPENT

CODEX: AELDARI (FRENCH)

CODEX: AELDARI (ENGLISH)

DATASHEET CARDS: AELDARI (FRENCH)

DATASHEET CARDS: AELDARI (ENGLISH)

WARHAMMER 40000: AELDARI DICE

Players Wanted

If you are looking for a RPG to start playing, we have notices for 3 games in the area. There is a 1st edition AD&D game starting up in the Carbondale area as well as a 5E game. Over in Murphysboro, someone is looking for players for a Marvel Multiverse RPG. 

In addition, the SIUC Strategic Gaming Society meets every Saturday in the Student Center Renaissance Room

A Gentle Rain

We got in a Gentle Rain this week. It is a $20 cooperative tile laying game in which players lay tiles linking flowers in order to create a spot for one of the flowers to bloom on the lake. The object to to cause all 8 flowers to bloom. Good for 1+ players and takes about 15 to 30 minutes to play.
 

Hack!

Hack! is a card game based on the long running Knights of the Dinner Table  comic, which we also carry. Players play cards from the deck to explore the Tomb of Vectra and either find the Hand of Vectra or exit before the other players do. Published back in 2001 and for sale either here or in our eBay store.
 

Klondike Big Inch Title

 We picked up these titles as part of a collection awhile back. The Klondike Big Inch Land Company deed gave the possessor "ownership" of one square inch of Klondike land. This was a promotion by Quaker Oats tied into its sponsorship of "Sargent Preston of the Yukon" in 1955. Anyone who sent in a box top from a Quaker Oats product would receive one of the above deeds. Unfortunately, the State Department determined that Quaker Oaks was engaging in the sale of foreign land without registering as an agent to do so. To avoid the registration process, the company started enclosing the deeds in packages of their products.

Since Quaker never registered the deeds, the recipients never took legal ownership of the inch of land and, when Quaker failed to keep up with property taxes on the land in the 1960s, the Canadian government repossessed the property in 1965 and the Big Inch Land Company dissolved in 1966. The land is now part of a Dawson City golf course. If you want to buy one of the ones we have in stock, here is the listing on eBay

Apiary

 We just got in Apiary, a resource management game from Connie Vogelman, the designer of Wingspan and Wyrmspan, so if you like her game designs, you will probably like this one. In the far future, sentient honeybees have taken over the planet and you must manage their resources and workers in order to build the strongest hive. $79.99.

Diamond Files Bankruptcy

 Diamond Comics, our supplier for our comics except for Image and DC, filed for bankruptcy today. The company's FAQ list should answer most of the questions you might have:

1. Why did Diamond Comic Distributors decide to file for Chapter 11?

The unexpected loss of certain exclusive publisher relationships, compounded by an overall contraction in consumer spending, increased inflation, and a loss of margin on key print product lines contributed to this decision. After exploring all available options, Diamond determined that filing for Chapter 11 is the best course of action to restructure its operations and secure the most favorable outcome for all stakeholders.

2. What were the contributing factors in the industry that led to this decision?

Post-pandemic, the comic book industry at large has seen a decrease in consumer activity paired with rising operating costs, and Diamond is no exception. Shrinking margins, growing expenses, and a decline in sales, as well as the desire to achieve the best possible outcome for the majority of our vendors, customers, and employees all contributed to this decision.

3. What is Chapter 11? Does this mean the company is closing?

A Chapter 11 filing is generally an action a company takes to protect its ongoing business from financial claims while it continues operations. During Chapter 11 proceedings, the company typically reorganizes financially and manages its operations to best meet the claims of those to whom it owes money. Diamond has received funding from its lender to enable it to meet post-filing obligations and continue to operate while it goes through this process.

4. Is there another company taking over?

As part of the restructuring process, the Company has received a stalking horse bid from Universal Distribution for Alliance Game Distributors and signed a letter of intent with the same company to buy Diamond UK. We are also actively pursuing offers for additional Diamond Comic Distributors assets and lines of business, including our comic, toy and collectible distribution, Diamond Book Distributors, Collectible Grading Authority, and Diamond Select Toys.

5. How will I be impacted as a customer?

Diamond Comic Distributors will continue to fill orders and operating business as usual during this process. We are currently in discussions with companies inside and outside of our industries to acquire parts of Diamond. Our goal is to minimize any potential impact on retailers and ensure the continued, uninterrupted flow of products.

According to our customary practice, we will continue to invoice once a product ships.

Product cannot be returned once it has been shipped except in the case of publisher return programs and our standard defective product replacement policy.

6. What happens to my pending orders? How can I confirm their status?

Pending orders will be processed as usual unless otherwise communicated. You can confirm the status of your pending orders by visiting the Reports section of the Retailer Services Website. This section will continue to provide up-to-date information on Orders, Shipments, and Invoices.

7. Will there be any changes to how credits or refunds will be handled?

Credits for returns will continue to be processed on the usual schedule. If you have prepay credit terms, orders for products that are canceled will be credited to your account. No cash refunds will be issued and all credits must be used toward future purchases.

8. Should I continue paying my outstanding invoices to Diamond?

Yes, all outstanding invoices, back debt payments, and payment plans remain due and payable under the usual terms and schedule and should be paid. For specific questions regarding your account, please open a support ticket on the Retailer Services Website.

9. Will my retailer discount tiers or terms (e.g., payment terms, credit limits) remain unchanged during this process?

At this time, all credit terms and retailer discount tiers remain unchanged.

10. Will Diamond still facilitate Free Comic Book Day this year? If not, are there contingency plans?

At this time, Diamond remains committed to supporting Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) as planned. We understand the importance of this event for retailers and fans alike and will be working closely with participating publishers to ensure the event proceeds as smoothly as possible.

However, as we navigate the restructuring process, there may be changes or adjustments. In the event Diamond is unable to fully facilitate FCBD, we will be actively exploring contingency plans to ensure that stores can still receive materials and participate in this critical event.

Updates will be provided as more details become available.

11. Are my Alliance Game Distributors orders impacted?

Alliance Game Distributors will continue operating as usual throughout this process. Your current and future orders with Alliance will not be impacted.

13. What will happen with ComicSuite and Pullbox?

Retailers using ComicSuite and / or Pullbox will receive further communication about these tools as more information becomes available.

14. What will happen with the PREVIEWS catalog?

As this process moves forward, we will announce any changes to PREVIEWS as more information is available.

Games Workshop New Releases 2/1

 Here are the new releases from Games Workshop for Feb 1.  If you want anything on the release date,

Let us know by 4 p.m. Feb 14

HORUS HERESY: ARVUS LIGHTER

SOLAR AUXILIA: VALDOR TANK DESTROYER

SOLAR AUXILIA: MALCADOR INFERNUS

DEREDEO DREADNOUGHT BOREAS CONFIGURATION

EMPIRE OF MAN: EMPIRE STATE TROOPS

EMPIRE OF MAN: STATE MISSILE TROOPS

EMPIRE OF MAN: FLAGELLANTS

EMPIRE OF MAN: GREATSWORDS

HELBLASTER VOLLEYGUN/HELSTORM BATTERY

EMPIRE OF MAN: ARCHERS

GROMBRINDAL: ANCESTOR'S BURDEN (HB)

THE DARK COIL: DAMNATION (PB)

Hours

 We expect to be open regular hours tomorrow, January 11 with the Yu Gi Oh can tournament at 1 p.m., pokemon at 1 p.m., Jr. Magic at 3 p.m. and D&D with Brandon at 5:30, assuming Brandon has recovered their health.

Magic Netflix Series

 Announced this past weekend at Magiccon is an upcoming Magic series on Netflix, featuring Chandra and Ajari, and co-starring Jace, who appears right at the corner of the promo shot for the series.

The series will be helmed by Terry Matalas, who was co-showrunner on Season 2 of Picard and sole showrunner on season 3.

Statement from Diamond Comics

 statement from Diamond Comics, who supplies most of our comics from Marvel, Boom, IDW, etc. regarding the delays in shipments over the past months:

DCD Customer Status Update for January 7 from Chris Powell, Chief Sales & Service Officer

I hope you've entered the new year safe and healthy, ready to tackle 2025. Over the holidays, our focus was on making as much improvement on the issue of timeliness as possible. Since there was no truly new information to share in that period, I was pleased to receive a status update from our Operations team yesterday and to learn of some forward momentum going into this new week.

This week, nearly all US retailers were scheduled to receive their product by Wednesday. That's particularly good news considering we lost a day each week due to the holidays. There are some pockets of disruption due to a winter storm, but the shipments leaving our warehouse were on a better pace than they had been in December.

This still does not meet our internal goals or retailers' expectations, but we continue to work with the Operations teams to identify changes that may allow us to ship products more consistently.

Our Distribution Process

Following the recent changes, many of you have had questions about why things haven't shipped from the distribution center as quickly as we or you need them to.

Periodicals that we don't receive directly from the various printers (periodicals from publishers who sell to us through other wholesalers) arrive to us over the weekend or as late as Monday for the following week's releases. We deal with a much wider selection of products, both print and non-print, than other distributors and that leads to delayed or misrouted deliveries that must be dealt with before the picking and packing of orders can begin.

Retailers who are furthest way from the center are picked first, then the next furthest, then the next, etc. As they are picked, they are packed and then handed off to trucking companies for delivery. Then the process begins again ...

This process is not working as it needs to, obviously, but modifying it takes time. Ideally, changes would have been planned and tested while we continued to operate as we had been at Plattsburgh. With that no longer an option, we must make changes and test them with live data and shipments while trying to minimize the impact on retailers.

We are considering many options, and they will almost certainly involve additional changes from the way we have operated in the past. I assure you, this is still the primary focus for our Operations, Purchasing, and Retailer Services teams and we will keep you in the loop as there are further developments.

Thank You

We appreciate how difficult these changes have been for our retailer partners, and wish very much that we did not have to go through this with you at the busiest time of year. Your patience and positive attitudes throughout this process are very much appreciated and I will continue to reach out as there are changes or progress to share with you.

Catan 6th Edition

 A new edition of Catan releases later this year. From the press release, there is no fundamental change to gameplay but has new art and redesigned components and rulebook.

Release Dates

 Good grief!  Not sure who is handling the release schedule at WotC but good lord.  Innistrad Remastered releases on January 24, the D&D 2024 Monster Manual releases through WPN stores on Feb. 4th and Aetherdrift pre-releases start on Feb. 7th. That is a lot of product to pump into the channel within a two week period. WotC may view Magic and D&D players as two different market segments but appears not to remember that most of them get their product from the same source.

Dice

 For you dice goblins, we recently received a large shipment of dice and have both restocked the loose dice as well as the polyhedral and d6 sets. Loose dice are 75 cents for plain opaque, $1 or translucent and $1. for speckled/marbled.

Holiday Can Tournament

 Since we still have plenty of OTS Yu GI Oh packs, we will host one more Yu Gi Oh Can tournament on January 11 at 1 p.m. Your entry fee is 5 usable food items. Each round, the winner will collect a can from the loser. After 3 rounds, all players may turn in their cans for 2 OTS packs.

Innistrad Remastered

 Innistrad Remastered Releases January 24. We will have boosters and singles available for the set that day and a draft on the 25 at 1 p.m.