Bubbles Burst

 We have seen the current state of the trading card game market before.  At least twice.  After Magic released in 1993, 1994 and 1995 saw a huge number of trading card games hit the market. None of them are widely played today and  players either buy extremely limited print runs that are one and done or play with digital cards.  We saw a second run in the early 2000s with the success of Pokemon and Yu Gi Oh. Once again, no games from that era have survived to the current day.

The big difference between those runs and the current one is that people played those games. Most of the people buying current TCGs are looking at them at investments, rather than games. Wonders of the First,  with its NFT versions of card is making the resalability of the cards a selling point. Unfortunately, the one time we ran a demo session of the game, no one showed up.

Buy TCGs if you want to play them, not as an investment  vehicle.

Games Workshop New Releases

Releasing Oct 17.  If you want any pre-order with us by noon Sept 29th.

 The Adeptus Custodes.

The apex of the Emperor’s genetic achievement.

His Aquilon Terminators, more akin to battleships than infantry, arrive brand new in plastic for the first time.

Also releasing are a number of Adeptus Custodes kits that were previously only available in Adeptus Custodes Support Battle Group.

Codex: Adeptus Custodes, hitting the shelves with new lore & rules. Available in a new battle focused format, fine tuned for battlefield action.

The new Adeptus Custodes Combat Patrol joins the ranks of our current range. Combat Patrols are customer favorites due to their thematic contents and added value. Be sure to ask us how to best stock these popular items

Pokemon Investment

Peter Levin, co-founder of Geffin Gaming Partners, according to the September 2026 issue of Fortune Magazine, has collected Pokemon, sports cards, bobbleheads and comics since he was 4 years old (this year was his 31^st time at San Diego Comic Con) and has a deep love of them but also views them as an investment vehicle, though like Scaramucci, he has no plans to liquidate his collection anytime soon. Both men believe investing in these differ from investments in things like cryptocurrency, NFTs and memecoins as, unlike those items, cards and comics are tangible and the average person knows what a Pokemon card or bobblehead is, a non-fungible token, not so much.

This concerns me because most of the buyers of collectable card games today focus on the collectable aspect and not the game aspect. We like to stream video related to the products we sell and while we can comparatively easily find video of people playing Magic the Gathering, Disney Lorcana and even Yu Gi Oh, almost all the video that comes up for Pokemon shows people opening packs and calculating the “actual” versus “expected” value of the box. Most of our Pokemon sales go to people who have never played and never plan to play the game and will only keep buying as long as they can find a customer. Eventually the market will run out of people willing to buy. What happens then?

Pokemon Investment

 The valuation of high-grade and vintage Pokemon cards since 2004 has grown, according to CardLadder by over 3400%. Compare that to the Standard and Poor 500 stock market index, which has grown by a “mere” 483% over the same time period. The overall value of Pokemon cards has grown this year 28%, compared to “only” 13% by the S&P 500. AJ Scaramucci of Treasure Trove.com says he has already turned down an offer of over $3 million for the Tales of Suspense #39 and, though Treasure Trove has no plans to sell the comic or the Pikachu Illustrator card, he believes these sort of collectibles are vastly undervalued and expects the Pikachu Illustrator card due to the same type of rarity as that of artworks by masters from the 18^th and 19^th centuries to reach a valuation of $100 million sometime in the future.

New Comics for 9/23/26

 A MISCHIEF OF MAGPIES #2

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #24

ABSOLUTE FLASH #19

ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #24 CVR A HAYDEN SHERMAN

BISHOP #4

BLACK STAR #3

BLACK TOWER THE RAVEN CONSPIRACY #2

BUG WARS THE COMING OF THE WARDOOM #2

CONAN THE BARBARIAN TIDES OF THE TYRANT KING #1

CORPSE KNIGHT #6

CRIMES AGAINST NATURE #1

DC W.I.P. BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #1

DEAD ACRE #3

DISNEY TIM NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS: ALL HAIL THE PUMPKIN KING  ISSUE #3

DISPATCHED #3

DO A POWERBOMB BLACK AND WHITE #3

DORC #8

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK ESCAPE FROM CHICAGO #1

EXQUISITE CORPSES RASCAL RANDY #3

EYE COLLECTOR #4

EYRIE MAGAZINE #14

FERAL #26

FLASH #37

FORGED #13

FORT PSYCHO #2

GAMBIT GONE #1

GENERATION X-23 #8

GHOST OF A GHOST #1

GHOST PEPPER #15

GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #110

GREATEST AMERICAN HERO #3

GREEN LANTERN #39

GUN HONEY DOUBLES DOWN #4

HARLEY QUINN #66

HELLRAISER: RESURRECTIONS – HELL’S COUNCIL #1

INFERNAL HULK VS. WOLVERINE #1

INVINCIBLE UNIVERSE CAPES #11

JUNK PUNCH #4

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #23

LAST DRIVER #2

LAST STARFIGHTER #3

LAZARUS ORDER #2

M1 MONSTER RACING LEAGUE #4

MADAME TARANTULA MAGAZINE #3

MARVEL MANGAVERSE: GHOSTLOCKE #1

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: LEGENDS OF ETERNIA  ISSUE #2

MEGA MAN GEAR MASTERS #1

MIKE HOFFMANS TIGRESS MAGAZINE #1

MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #2

MUPPETS TAKE THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #1

POWER RANGERS GREEN #2

PUNISHER VS. SPIDER-MAN #3

ROCKETFELLERS #14

SMILE: ANY GIVEN SMILE #1

SOLOMON KANE THE LION ERRANT #3

SPAWN SCORCHED #55

SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY #5

SPIDER-MAN/HULK: FIRE AND BRIMSTONE #2

STAR TREK (2026) #1

STAR WARS: THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT #2

STREET FIGHTER MASTERS JURI #1

SUPERMAN #141 FACSIMILE

SUPERMAN #42

SUPERMAN FATHER OF TOMORROW #5

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: SATURDAY MORNING ADVENTURES #41

TERMINAL #3

THAT TEXAS BLOOD HELL COMES TO ALLISON RANCH #1

THE DOGSITTER #3

THE FOUNDRY #2

THE ROCKETEER: INFILTRATOR! #3

THOR #801

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS BLOOD OF THE WOLF MAN #4

V FOR VENDETTA #1 FACSIMILE

VAMPIRELLA (2026) #6

VOID RIVALS #34

WATCHMEN #1

WOLVERINE #28

YUMI 00EX #2

Pokemon Valuation

 

Remember Logan Paul’s Pokemon card which sold for over $16 million (See “Logan Paul’s Pokemon TCG Pikachu Illustrator Card Becomes Most Expensive Trading Card Ever Sold”)? It went to AJ Scaramucci, who calls himself a “venture collector” and is, according to the September 11, 2026 issue of The Hollywood Reporter, a partner in the Treasure Trove website, which bills itself as “a holding company structured to hold and compound elite culturally-significant real-world collectibles” and spent $2 million in cash on a CGC 9.8 copy of Tales of Suspense #39 (first appearance of Iron Man) earlier this summer. Like many other Pokemon collectors, Scaramucci got interested in collecting the cards during COVID though he apparently had no interest in the game when he was younger and, like many of today’s collectors, has no interest in playing the game but sees the cards, comics and other epherema as artistic and cultural items he expects to grow in value over time.

Murloc Figure

 to move more World of Warcraft D&D merchandise to the customer, stores ordering at least one of each SKU of the assorted D&D World of Warcraft products, which means at least one of each of the covers,  the DM Screen,  Icecrown Citadel Adventure Map Pack, Miniatures Horde Pack and  Miniatures Alliance Pack, will receive an assortment of unpainted Murloc miniatures to give away with the purchase of D&D World of Warcraft products.  Although the promotion does not dictate how the miniatures are to be given away, it recommends giving one to each customer buying both a book and one other related D&D World of Warcraft product. I hope WotC puts some effort and additional promotional dollars into not only the World of Warcraft promotion but also letting people know about it, making the Murloc figure a rare and hard to find item.  Too often, and this is not only Wizards but most other game (and comic) publishers, companies come up with promotions and then rely on social media or word of mouth to get the word out about them.  In the case of most recent promotions, the customer comes in, makes a purchase or qualifies for the promotion but has no idea about it and is surprised when we give them the item for which they qualified. We and other stores make in-store signage but if a company decides to go to the effort to design a promotion, also go to the effort to let the target market know about it.

Games Workshop New Releases

 These will release October 3rd. let us know by 3 p.m. Sept 15 if you want any.

The Emperor’s Angels have finally arrived! The 11th Edition release of our most iconic faction, includes new miniatures, new variations, and a new format codex.

Codex: Space Marines is designed for gamers to react rapidly in the most tense encounters and comes in a new format with updated lore, rules, and hobby inspiration. 

 This release contains multi-purchase Astartes kits that have an answer for all the horrors the galaxy will throw at them. Hobbyists will collect multiple kits to fulfill all battlefield roles.

Keep the tide at bay with new heroes such as Kaius Konorius, who stands ready to sacrifice all in their dedication to their Chapter and the Emperor.

Fluxx as a Gift

 

Fluxx is always number one on my list of recommendations to people coming into the store looking for gifts (as long as they are not looking for Magic, Pokemon or something specific). With dozens of different versions of the game, a staff member can usually find one which fits into the parameters the gifter has set. Although Looney Labs has fewer licensed versions than in the past (I believe Monty Python and Star Trek are the only two current ones), the addition of Wonderland, Oz and Pooh, I mean Hundred Acre Wood, appeals to older gamers and, although there is Mystery Fluxx, given the characters continued popularity and its presence in the public domain, I would  certainly stock a Holmes and Watson themed deck.

One Piece TCG

 We are unable to secure a steady supply of English One Piece cards but have found a source for Japanese packs, the same place we are getting our Japanese Pokemon cards. We should start getting in some next week.

GW New Releases Sept 26

 Releasing Sept 26

Two Gargants bashing heads? Sign us up! This new two player box sets the stage for a titanic bash up with two Gargants and all new terrain. With a great added value, this will be a highly sought after box for more than just Age of Sigmar collectors.

The foundations of the Mortal Realms shake as the Sons of Behemat dominate the battlefield. Boasting a full line of new re-imagined Gargant models, Battletome and play accessories, the Sons of Behemat will be in higher demand than ever before. Ma Maegran, Chooser of the Mighty, accompanied by her two pet Ancient Ghyrochs, leads the new Boss-Stompers kit that can also build the Rock Hurlers.

New Comics Releasing 9/9/26

 ACTION COMICS #1102

ALADDIN #2

ARCHIE #1

BARBARA GORDON BREAKOUT #5 CVR A KARL KERSCHL

BATMAN #251 FACSIMILE

BATMAN & ROBIN YEAR ONE DYNAMIC DUOS #2

BATMAN BAD SEEDS GOTHAM CENTRAL #1

BLACK CAT #14

CHACHU #2

CHALLENGES OF DOOM: SPIDER-MAN #1

CLAYFACE CELEBRITY DIRT #3

COMICS THE MAGAZINE #7

DEADLY TALES OF THE GUNSLINGER SPAWN #18

DEATH VIGIL (2026) #2

DOCTOR STRANGE #10

DOOMQUEST #4

EMPEROR AQUAMAN #21

EVENT HORIZON: INFERNO #5

FIRE AND ICE DARKWOLF #3

FIXATION #1

FOLK OF DOONEY HOLLOW #1

FOREVER HOME #1

FURY OF FIRESTORM #6

GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #332

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #20

HELLRAISER: RESURRECTIONS – THE ONANISTIC RITUAL #1

HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: THE WINGS OF FATE #3

HONOR AND CURSE ETERNAL #6

INGLORIOUS X-FORCE #9

IRON MAN #9

KARMAN BLADE #1

MAGIC: THE GATHERING: UNTOLD STORIES–JACE #4

MARVEL GOLD ’76 #1

MARVEL MANGAVERSE: IRON KNIGHT #1

NANO #2

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH #5

OF THE EARTH #5

OMEGA BOOK #2

PUNISHER #8

SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT DARK WINTER #2

SIX OF US #1

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #89

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG X GODZILLA #2

SPAWN 77 #1

STAR TREK: 60TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

STAR TREK: DEVIATIONS–EVERMORE

STAR TREK: RED SHIRTS–GHOST OF THE 21ST CENTURY #2

STAR WARS: THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT #1

STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES–PATHFINDERS #5

STARHENGE BOOK TWO A KISS FOR ATTICUS #3

SUPERGIRL #17

TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: COASTAL CHAOS #1

TANK GIRL BLUE HELMET SUMMER SPECIAL #1

TANKERS VS ANCIENT ALIENS #4

TARZAN BEYOND #3

THUNDERCATS CHEETARA #1

TMNT: JOURNEYS #13

TRANSFORMERS #36

VALIANT BEYOND: ALL-NEW HARBINGER #8–RISEN #2

VALIANT BEYOND: BLOODSHOT #5

WOLVERINE #27

YOUNG HELLBOY: THRILLING SKY ADVENTURES #3

ZORRO #3

Don Reents Retirement

 

I want to  congratulate Don Reents on his announced retirement from Chessex Manufacturing (See “Chessex Owner Donald Reents Retires”). Don has been a fixture in the industry and Chessex was the first national distributor to compete with The Armory, eventually merging the two companies in 1998 (See “Chessex Founder Don Reents”). Chessex was also the first company to greatly expand the varieties of dice stores offered to the hobby game customer as well as related items such as Battlemats, tokens and markers.  However, the thing I most remember about Reents was sitting down with him at Ft. Wayne Pentecon back in the late nineties and pelting him with questions about baseball and his thoughts about various aspects of the sport and its fans which I incorporated into my dissertation. So Don, happy retirement, thanks for the help and to paraphrase Douglas Adams “So long and thanks for all the dice”.

D&D World of Warcraft

 

Wizards of the Coast is making a big push to make sure its first Gameplay Expansion for Dungeons and Dragons sell successfully (See “Wizards of the Coast Reveals Product Line Details for Dungeons and Dragons:  World of Warcraft”) offering stores incentives tied to the quantity of books purchased. For the first time, a D&D book will release with three covers:  Standard cover, Alternate/WPN Store cover and a Collector Edition cover with an MSRP of $99.99.  Ordering 6 copies of any cover gets a store a metal display rack similar to the one given out with the release of the 2024 updates for the Dungeons and Dragons core rulebooks. Order 12 copies of any cover in any combination and the store receives the metal display rack and a free copy of the Standard cover book.  To encourage stores to really push their orders, a store ordering 24 copies of any combination of covers will receive a large display holding 12 to 15 books and a free copy of the Collector’s Edition cover.

Pokemon

 We currently have Pitch Black, Chaos Rising, Perfect Order and destined Rivals booster packs in stock, as well as a limited quantity of Japanese Pokemon packs. We also have a few Destined Rivals ETKs left and expect to get in more First Partner Series 3 boxes later this week.

We do play Pokemon from 6 to 8, generally a tournament, on Wednesday night and 1 to 3 on Saturday afternoon.

Games Workshop New Releases

 Releaseing Sept 19th 

Your descent into the new edition of Necromunda continues as House Escher and House Goliath get new characters and new rules in a series of Underhive Journals.

The Underhive Journals are new format, soft cover books that add new gang-specific content for campaign play, so players can fight over territories that reflect their gang, take appropriate side jobs for their skills, and draw from a whole new list of Gang Tactics.  

These new gang characters are bringing backup in the form of the Goliath Forge Bosses & Sumpkrocs and Escher Gang Matriarchs & Phyrr Cats gang boxes, available separately for the first time.

Point Salad

 If you would like to Play Point Salad, Ajay will run a session of the game at 6 p.m. on August 31.  Great way to wrap up the month.

Pokemon Destined Rivals

 We should have a restock of Pokemon Destined Rivals ETKs out on the shelf Friday.  Price will be $89.99

Cryer from the Castle 8/25

 Brando with Cryer from the Castle for the week of 8/25/26

https://youtu.be/Xrc9knpvF4w

Discord Server

 We finally have the store Discord server up and running.  Here is the invite link, should you so be inclined.

https://discord.gg/JK5dDdF7SD

Diamond Bankruptcy

 

The announcement of a settlement in the long running Diamond Comics bankruptcy case may bring a less than satisfactory ending to the affair (See “Settlement with Some Diamond Consignment Vendors Proposed”). Companies that consigned product with Diamond now get access to their products, Sparkle Pop has to charge reasonable fees to ship out companies consigned products or allow a third party company to do so but it appears the consigned products sold by Diamond are gone, leaving the owners of the consigned products missing some $800,000 in products.

Star Wars D&D

 

Choosing to publish a Star Wars version of Dungeons and Dragons is an interesting choice to put it mildly. Although WotC had significant success with its d20 Star Wars RPG and later the Saga Edition, both have been out of print for well over a decade, with the gap filled by Edge Studio’s set of Star Wars RPGs. Star Wars in the table top gaming field, with the exception of the Star Wars Unlimited trading card game, has seen a marked decline in interest over the past 5 or so years. Going up against an already existing product line using a brand that has seen a significant drop in engagement in recent years does not make a lot of sense so I hope WotC has done its research on this.  I do have high hopes for the announced Dark Sun and Greyhawk launches in 2027 though.

Conludo

 

Conludo—A strange choice for the name of a new boardgaming streaming series but I am already seeing a lot of interest from tabletop gamers about the announced return of Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton to a table top gaming series. I consider the pair’s TableTop series of a decade ago one of the most important events to happen to the gaming industry in the past fifty years (See “Talking About TableTop”) and while a lot of tabletop web series have launched since then, thousands of people credit TableTop with introducing them to the fun of boardgaming. Currently, it looks as if 10 episodes are planned and Wheaton and Day have the name recognition from Geek & Sundry, the Guild and TableTop to get people to watch.

Cryer from the Castle for 8/19/26

 Brandon with Cryer from the castle for 8/18/26

https://youtu.be/9A2pomaw0Xs

new Games Workshop

 Releasing Sept 5th 

Da boyz are back!

The hordes of Gork and Mork flood your shelves with amazing new rulz and models!

The new Codex: Orks is the first codex in 11th edition to hit the shelves. The new compact format is great for bringing your rulz to any tabletop. The code at the back of the Codex now unlocks regular updated content in more languages than ever before! Releasing alongside the new codex is the Command Pack: Orks.

Rulz are great, but what about all those amazing models! Blazing out of the telaportas comes an amazing range refresh. New Boyz, Bikerz, Trukks and Wartracks will be eagerly sought after in multiple numbers by all Ork collectors.

The boyz can never get anything done without a good ‘ead bashing from the bosses. The reimagined new Nazdreg, Warboss, Mek and Weirdboy will make sure the boyz stay in line.

new Comics for 8/19/26

 ABSOLUTE FLASH #18

ABSOLUTE GREEN ARROW #4

ADVENTURE TIME (2025) #16

ALADDIN #2

ALIEN: KING KILLER #5

ALTERED STATES WARLORDS #3

ARCADIA #7

AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON #3

BATMAN SUPERMAN WORLDS FINEST #54

BATWOMAN #6

BISHOP #3

BUG WARS THE COMING OF THE WARDOOM #1

CALEXIT SAY GOODBYE TO HOLLYWOOD #2

CAPTAIN MARVEL: DARK PAST #5

CATWOMAN #90

DAREDEVIL #5

DARK KNIGHTS OF STEEL II #2

DARKNESS #7

DEAD ACRE #2

DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR #6

DISPATCHED #2

EC SHELLSHOCK #1

END OF LIFE #7

GI JOE #25

GUNSLINGER SPAWN #57

HORNSBY & HALO #15

IF DESTRUCTION BE OUR LOT #4

INGLORIOUS X-FORCE #8

INVINCIBLE UNIVERSE BATTLE BEAST #12

JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #493

JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #494

JUNK PUNCH #3

KAYA #36

KILLER INFLUENCES #2

LADY MECHANIKA THE MECHANICAL MENAGERIE #4

LAST DRIVER #1

LAST STARFIGHTER #2

LAZARUS ORDER #1

LIMITED COLLECTORS EDITION #25

LOBO #6

LUCKY DEVILS #9

M1 MONSTER RACING LEAGUE #3

MAD MAGAZINE #601

MISTER NEMO #2

NEW TITANS #38

NIGHTWING #141

OLYMPUS SAGA MEGALITH #3

ONLY THE SAVAGE ARE LEFT #3

PHANTOM VS THE SINGH BROTHERHOOD

POOH BEAR ADVENTURES CHRISTOPHER ROBIN & HIS NEW FRIEND THISTLE #1

POWERS 25 #12

PUNISHER VS. SPIDER-MAN #2

QUEEN IN BLACK #3

QUEEN IN BLACK: DEFENDERS OF LIGHT AND DARK #2

REDCOAT #19

SILVER SURFER #6 FACSIMILE

SKATE ALI #3

SLEEPY HOLLOW: THE WITCHES OF THE WESTERN WOOD #4

SOLOMON KANE THE LION ERRANT #2

SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY #4

SPIDER-MAN/HULK: FIRE AND BRIMSTONE #1

STAR TREK: THE LAST STARSHIP #10

STAR WARS: GALAXY’S EDGE – ECHOES OF THE EMPIRE #5

STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES–PATHFINDERS #4

SUPERMAN UNLIMITED #16

TALESPIN #1

TANKERS VS ANCIENT ALIENS # 3

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #21

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: SHREDDER #11

THE HARROWERS FACSIMILE

THOR #800

ULTIMATE IMPACT: REBORN #4

UNCANNY X-MEN #34

VAMPYRATES! #2

WALKING DEAD DELUXE #143

WHAT IF…? RUNAWAYS #1

WITNESS POINT #2

WONDER WOMAN #36

Pokemon

 For those of you looking for boxed Pokemon sets, we still have a few First Partner St 3 in stock as well as several of the Battle Decks. Limit 1 per purchase please.  We also still have booster packs in stock as well.

Trades

 In order for us to process shipments and comic book subscritptions, we no longer take trades on Monday.  We will also no longer take trades before 2 p.m. on Weekdays. Saturday or Sunday or an hour before close.  We also strongly recommend you contact us before bringing items in so we can tell you if we would be interested in them .

Cryer from the Castle for 8/11/26

 Brando with Cryer from the Castle for 8/11/26

New Games Workshop

 We need orders for these by Noon August 11

Fed by their insatiable hunger, the Ogor Mawtribes continue fighting and feasting as they wreak havoc through the mortal realms.

This week sees reinforcements flood onto the battlefields of Age of Sigmar, led in their cravings by Morga the Mighty Overtyrant. This week's new releases fleshes out this reimagined army allowing collectors to expand their forces with a glut of new miniatures.

With everything that was in the Army Set also released individually it allows hobbyists to buy multiples of key units. Alongside this, units such as the Hunters on Saberfangs allow players to set cunning traps for unexpecting prey.

Last but not least the Battletome is now also available individually for collectors to start their Ogor collection.

New Comics for 8/12

 2000 AD PROG #2493

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #23

ACTION COMICS #1101

ADVENTURE COMICS #247 FACSIMILE

ADVENTURE TIME QUADRUPLE FEATURE #2

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #100 FACSIMILE

BARBARA GORDON BREAKOUT #4

BATMAN & ROBIN YEAR ONE DYNAMIC DUOS #1

BLEEDING HEARTS #7

CLAYFACE CELEBRITY DIRT #2

DEADLY TALES OF THE GUNSLINGER SPAWN #17

DICK TRACY #19

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT MIMI GREEN #3

DIE LOADED #8

DOCTOR STRANGE #9

DORC #7

DYING DAYS #3

EMPEROR AQUAMAN #20

ESCAPADES OF PONCHI PANDA #1

EXQUISITE CORPSES RASCAL RANDY #2

FIRE AND ICE DARKWOLF #2

FURY OF FIRESTORM #5

GARGOYLES (2026) #1

GASTRONOMIQUE #1

GENERATION X-23 #7

GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #331

GODZILLA’S MONSTERPIECE THEATRE PRESENTS: ROAR OF THE WORLDS

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #19

HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE #6

HELLO KITTY AND FRIENDS: HELLO WORLD! #1

HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #6

HONOR AND CURSE ETERNAL #5

INFERNAL HULK #10

INNARDS #3

JEFF THE LAND SHARK: SUPERSTAR #2

LAUGH #166 FACSIMILE

MALEVOLENT #6

MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #1

MURDER HOBO #2

NICE HOUSE BY THE SEA #11

OF THE EARTH #4

POWER RANGERS UNLIMITED #2

PUNISHER #7

QUEEN IN BLACK: THOR #1

REGICIDE #1

SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN REFORGED #6

SEVEN WIVES #3

SHAOLIN COWBOY: STAYING A.I.LIVE #2

STAR WARS: THE FALL OF KYLO REN #1

STARHENGE BOOK TWO A KISS FOR ATTICUS #2

SUPERGIRL #16

THE BEAST OF BORIKEN #2

THE DOGSITTER #2

THE FOUNDRY #1

THE TWILIGHT ZONE #10

TRANSFORMERS #35

TRILLION DOLLAR KID #2

VENOM #260

WITCHBLADE #24

WOLVERINE #25

X-MEN #35

X-MEN ’97: SEASON TWO #3

X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE OMEGA #1

X-MEN UNITED #6

YUMI 00EX #1

World of Warcraft for D&D

 

Wizards of the Coast finally announced the third hardback release for Dungeons and Dragons this fall.  For Realm of Champions, WotC will release the first in what the company calls D&D Gameplay Expansions:  Dungeons & Dragons World of Warcraft. Following it up in 2027 with a revised for 2024 D&D Dark Sun, Greyhawk and most surprisingly, at least to me, Star Wars.

I do not play video games so I have no idea how much popularity World of Warcraft still has but, according to my much younger and video game playing staff, currently the game is playing on the nostalgia of players from 15 to 20 years ago by rereleasing classing WoW adventures targeted at those older player but updated to take advantage of the technology available today.  This, of course, is not the first time a tabletop RPG version of Warcraft or World of Warcraft has released.  Sword & Sorcery Studios, an imprint of White Wolf Publishing, released 3.5 edition versions of both under WotC’s OGL, which sold well but not enough for Sword and Sorcery to keep them in print for more than a few years but prices on them now range from cover price to well over $100 a book so there is demand. However, the store will order far fewer copies than it will the Arcana Unleashed books. Unverses Beyond works as a collectible card product for Magic the Gathering and pulls in a lot more collectors for the sets than they do players. With a book, you can get the most important item with one purchase and it does not generate any subsequent sales like TCGs do.

Cryer from the Castle

 Cryer from the Castle for the Week of August 3 2026

https://youtu.be/9wJ39a2qOAU

New Comics for 8/5

We will not have all of the titles below.  Let us know what books you want and we will make sure you get them.

 100 BULLETS THE US OF ANGER #2

2000 AD PROG #2492

ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN #17

ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #22

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN BOOK OF EL #11

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #100 FACSIMILE

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #34

BABYLON COVE #3

BATGIRL #22

BATMAN #12

BEN 10 #4

BLADE RUNNER TOKYO NEXUS TO LOSE IS TO WIN #4

BLUDWIRE #2

CAPTAIN AMERICA #14

CHACHU #1

CIVIL WAR: UNMASKED #4

COMICS THE MAGAZINE #6

CONAN AND DRAGONERO #4

DC X SONIC THE HEDGEHOG METAL LEGION #4

DEAD TEENAGERS #5

DEADMAN #3

DEATH VIGIL (2026) #1

DETECTIVE COMICS #27 FACSIMILE

DISNEY VILLAINS GASTON #5

ENDEAVOUR #3

EVENT HORIZON: INFERNO #4

FANTASTIC FOUR #15

FANTASTIC FOUR: 65 YEARS OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST COMIC COVERS! #1

FORT PSYCHO #1

FRANKENSTEIN: NEW WORLD–THE SPEED OF DARKNESS #4

GATCHAMAN RED IMPULSE #4

GHOST MACHINE THE OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK #5

GOTHAM ACADEMY FIRST YEAR #6

IRON MAN #8

JSA #22

JUGHEAD PIEMAGEDDON

MARC SPECTOR: MOON KNIGHT #7

MARVEL TOKON: FIRST STRIKE #1

MARY JANE: FACE IT  TIGER #1

MASK #3

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: GENESIS #1

MEGA MAN X #5

MINOR ARCANA #17

MURDER DRONES #6

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH #4

OMEGA BOOK #1

ORIGINS OF THE HOOD: MARVEL RIVALS #1

POWER RANGERS GREEN #1

QUEEN IN BLACK #2

QUEEN IN BLACK: VENOM UNCHAINED #1

REALLIGATOR #1

RED SONJA SHE DEVIL WITH A SWORD #4

RIPCORD #5

ROYALS #5

SHE-SPAWN #4

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #88

SUPERGIRL SURVIVE #3

SUPERNATURAL SPECIAL CASTIEL #1

TANK GIRL SUMMER LOVE SENSATION

THE SMART DIVISION #1

TMNT: JOURNEYS #12

TRANSFORMERS THE MOVIE 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION #3

UNCANNY X-MEN #33

VAMPIRELLA VS RED SONJA RED CITY #1

WADE WILSON: DEADPOOL #7

WALKING DEAD DELUXE #142

WHAT IF…? CAPTAIN AMERICA #1

WHITE SKY #5

X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE OMEGA #1

Season of Magic

 Wizards of the Coast has provided details on what stores and players for the upcoming Season of Magic organized play program, designed to promote the Arcana Unleashed and Arcana Unleashed:  Deadfall books (See “Wizards of the Coast Offers New Deets on D&D ‘Season of Magic’ Organized Play”) Much like the Season of Horror, this one comes with a scenario taking players through 6 weeks of play as well as premiums for participating players.  Unfortunately, what it lacks, at least as far as I can tell from what I have read and based on what the Season of Horror kits contained, are any in store promotional materials for the event, signup sheets et cetera.  I know we can create these but it seems a missed opportunity for Wizards to send out materials promoting Arcana Unleased and encouraging customers to pre-order it from stores  in order to have it in hand before the start of the Season of Magic. 

DCC Day

 

The store hosted Goodman Games’ annual Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC) Day a couple of weeks ago and the results were underwhelming (See “DCC Day 2026 Retailer Kit is Currently On Pre-order”). We did have one person waiting to get in for the items when we opened the store and a second showed up within the hour for them as well but they were only interested in the free Adventure Pack and the foil etched adventure. As usual, we saw zero interest in the limited edition core RPG rules but usually we have some buyers for the annual adventure Goodman Games releases for the event but, as I am writing this, nothing. Not even players for the DCC Game we had scheduled for the day Not sure if it is the heat and air quality ( I know people in Wisconsin and Virginia staying inside during the day because of the smoke drifting into the area from Canadian wildfires) or if it was the lack of variety compared to last year’s offerings but those two customers were the extent of interest locally. Given that over 150 stores participated this year in both the US and overseas, the event is popular enough and I always want to emphasize that what happens in our store is not emblematic of retailers as a whole. I appreciate Goodman Games putting on DCC Day, wish more companies wanted to celebrate their product lines with events like this and will certainly sign up again next year.