5 and a Half Questions Answered

Two weeks ago I posted a column listing 7 questions I wanted to try to get answered at the upcoming Alliance Open House. I forgot about the one I had for Steve Jackson Games, sorry about that guys, and only part of my WizKids’ question came up during the hour long conversation I had with Justin Ziran of WizKids on Saturday night. Also, I forgot to ask Chris Parmas of Green Ronin Publishing about the possibility of signed copies of Titansgrave, so if anyone from either Steve Jackson Games and/or Green Ronin Publishing reads this and wants to send in answers, I and ICV2 will happily take them. On with the answered questions

1. WOTC--What about your catalog of boardgame titles? When I asked this at the WOTC booth, they introduced me to the Avalon Hill brand manager, whose product portfolio is most of the back stock of boardgames the company owns, and said WOTC did have plans to revitalize and revisit the Avalon Hill catalog in 2016 but were vague on what those plans actually were. So, at least the company will look at them.

 

2. Fantasy Flight Games—Was there anything in the X-wing Core Set sold exclusively at Target to drive customers to game stores?  The FFG rep during their workshop did not know but another retailer said that the box had a flyer inside showing other ships and indicating they were available. Unfortunately, despite the popularity of their products, Fantasy Flight Games does not have a retailer locater on their website, so no way to include one in the box.

 

3.General in-stock of games from companies like Fantasy Flight Games, Days, of Wonder, Z-man Games and Plaid Hat Games over the upcoming holidays. All of these companies have a track record of running out of product midway through the holiday season. This year, they assured me, enough product is in the pipeline to make certain stores will have enough stock for everyone. Huzzah


4.WizKids Organized Play software?  Forgot to ask about this during the conversation mentioned above. However, Ziran did indicate WizKids had no plans to put a earlier date into place for stores to sell off older OP support. However, he did say nothing in the agreement stores have with WizKids precludes them from using the OP product for other purposes, such as prizes for casual events or as a premium for purchasing other product, say buying a Star Trek Attack Wing ship and getting one of the OP tournament blind booster boxes as a premium. Stores just cannot sell them outright.

 

5. Plaid Hat Games—Out of stocks and expansions?  See the answer to question 3 for the answer to the out of stock question. As far as expansions, I gathered no plans for any at this time.

 

 

6.       Steve Jackson Games—As noted above, I forgot to ask about the Evil Stevie plushies, but it did come up in other conversation that the Guest Artist Munchkin sets would come out in celebration of the fifteenth anniversary of the game, just in case those who bought a copy 15 years ago might find their copy just a wee bit worn out.



7.       And finally, Green Ronin—Fantasy Age? Titansgrave? Both games sold out at GenCon but stores should see them coming through distribution in late September. As noted above, I forgot to ask about a signed limited edition of Titansgrave but, Green Ronin, that would be tres cool.

 

7 Questions for Publishers at the Alliance Open House

With the annual Alliance Open House coming up this weekend in beautiful Ft. Wayne, I came up with a list of questions I would like to ask a number of the attending publishers:

1.        WOTC--The focus on Magic and Dungeons & Dragons is great and I know that is where your bread is buttered, so to speak but what about your catalog of boardgame titles? TableTop gave a nice boost to sales of Betrayal at House on the Hill but are there any plans to promote other backlist titles such as RoboRally, Guillotine, Great Dalmuti, Risk 2144 or Diplomacy? All still sell slowly but I would sure like to see what they could do with the sort of promotional push Magic and D&D get.

2.       Fantasy Flight Games—Congratulations on getting the X-Wing Core Set included as part of Force Friday. I haven’t seen a copy of the game yet so could you tell me if there was anything included in it that sent purchasers to the LGS to buy additional ships for the game, those ships that Target doesn’t carry?

3.       And while we’re at it, Fantasy Flight Games, Days of Wonder, Z Man Games—You have track records of running out of your best selling titles during the holiday shopping season. Have you made any plans to build up inventory this year in order to avoid a repeat?

4.       WizKids—You have really started pushing Organized Play registration this year, so any plans to create OP software that we can download to the computer to make uploading results easier? It can be a bit of a pain to handle reporting when the internet is running slow. Also, you finally announce that stores with remaining boosters of War of Light could start selling them without violating our agreement with you. When will you post a date allowing us to sell off old Organized Play products from Star Trek Attack Wing and D&D Attack Wing? OP for both games has died off here and we have months old OP materials sitting in backstock that we would like to liquidate.

5.       Plaid Hat Games—Will Dead of Winter return to stock in time for the holiday selling season and will you have enough product to supply sales through the season? Do you have any plans for expansions and if so, when?

6.       Steve Jackson Games—Any more releases planned for Evil Stevie’s Toys? The ducks didn’t do that well but I can always sell more Cthulhu plushies. Do you have any research showing demand for the guest artist versions of Munchkin?  I can understand guest artists on new versions of Munchkin (Munchkin Kitchen, anyone?) but do you have anything indicating that Munchkin has a strong enough fan base that a player will want another copy of Space Munchkin that only differs due to the art?

7.       Green Ronin—Fantasy Age? Titansgrave? Will we get these while there is still a buzz from the first season of the web series? Any chance for us to get a limited edition signed by the Titansgrave group?