DecK of Many Things

 Accordign to this notice from WotC, the Deck of ManyThings is now scheduled to release on January 5. Appears there were problems with the quality of the first production run. If you would like to purchase one of these as a Christmas present, you may pay for it at the store and we will give you a card and gift receipt with a note giving the bearer the right to pick up a copy of the set upon release.

Alta Fox

 Venture Capital company named Alta Fox is pushing Hasbro to spin off the WotC Division of the company. Essentially, Alta Fox thinks WOTC is more valuable on its own than as part of Hasbro and that the value of the company will increase if freed from the strictures of Hasbro. Doubtful that will happen in the near future as Alta Fox just started pushing for the spin off a couple of months ago and Hasbro's boards is quite set against it.

Double Feature

 

Innistrad:  Double Feature and Commander Collection Black both released  to an overwhelming “Eh” here at the store. https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/49777/wizards-coasts-releases-more-info-magic-the-gathering-innistrad-double-feature From what I have read online, most store have had similar results, posting they have only sold a handful of packs or less. However, a couple did reports great sales, primarily to casual players. As of this writing, we have sold more packs of Commander Collection Black than we have of Innistrad: Double Feature, which is saying something given the price discrepancy. I have also heard of some problems with pack configuration, a few stores reporting packs of all commons or commons and uncommons. Not enough to make it a widespread problem but still more reports than I have heard in the past. As all of the cards, save some lands, appeared in both Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow and both of those sets are still widely and more cheaply available, WOTC has targeted the collector more than the player with this set. They may sell but it may take awhile and store will need patience. Long time store owners and players will remember the catastrophe of Fallen Empires, back when stores order in huge quantities expecting to get allocated down to more reasonable numbers. WOTC told stores that, on this set, finally, they would get what they had ordered. Of course, WOTC had told stores the same thing for the previous few sets but this time they produced enough and stores got swamped in a sea of. Today, for those still have packs, a Fallen Empires booster sells for $25 and a booster box for around $700. Champions of Kamigawa booster boxes, which also sold extremely slowly at the store and which WOTC gave away with orders for a while, now list for $1400 sealed.

The thing with Double Feature is that it will not get reprinted. It is a one and done set printed in limited quantities, though we may see some of the cards make “The List” eventually. This means that in 1-5 years, maybe even later this year if some of the online Magic experts get excited about the set, stores will see a demand for the cards. Several places have said they will buy any unwanted boxes of Double Feature so store feeling they bought too many do have an outlet.

Not game related but as we do sell comics and graphic novels, the recent uptick in interest in the Maus graphic novel bemused me.  https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/50294/tennessee-school-board-pulls-maus-from-8th-grade-history-classes  For those who missed the story, a Tennessee school board voted unanimously to pull the book from its library shelves, over the protests of teachers who used the book in their discussion of WW2 and Holocaust, due to obscene language and a tiny picture of the author’s mother, who committed suicide in a bathtub. This news shot Maus back to the top of Amazon’s best seller list and, from what we have seen in the store have heard from other stores, more customers have asked about and bought the book in the past week than have in years. Wil Wheaton is asking his social media followers to buy a copy and ask the shop to lend or give it away to some who asks. Stores nationally have reported more sales in the past week than in the past couple of years.  Nothing sells like controversy. Your thoughts? Post them in the comments or email castleperilousgames@gmail.com

Unfinity Delayed

 WOTC announced it will not make its projected release date of April 1 2021 with its new Unfinity set.  Given that the company has not had any problems making release date with any other products during the epidemic, except for the D&D Rules Expansion Gift Set, this is rather surprising. Maybe orders came in a lot softer than they expected and the company wants to spend a few months pushing for higher orders. Set is now releasing in the second half of 2022

Witchlight Dice Sets

 Apparently WOTC has a set of dice to go along with the Wild Beyond the Witchlight book which have not shipped yet. We have a dozen sets coming when they do ship so if you are interested in snagging one, please let us know.

Magic Play Modification

 WOTC has recommended but not required, the following play modifications during a game of Magic. We have not decided if we will implement them yet when we return to in store OP

Stores also may, if they so wish, modify the rules of Magic play to minimize player contact with other plyers. Of course, said modifications must comply with local laws. WOTC provided examples of such play modifications as:

Players may only shuffle or cut their own decks

Cards must remain on the owner’s side of the table when control is changed

Cards attached to cards owned by other players should not physically touch

Mechanics that require an opponent to search a player’s library, hand, or graveyard are performed by the owner displaying that zone to the active player without cards changing hands

Essentially, it appears that it that stores may implement any change in the rules of play that would prevent one player from touching another’s cards .

Magic In Store Play

 Here is the latest from WOTC regarding in store play. Basically, stores in North America currently cannot run sanctioned in-store events. We cannot report any sanctioned events to WOTC and cannot run an in-store pre-release tournament, even unsanctioned. Unsanctioned pre-release events are banned because pre-release materials can only be used at official pre-release events and the only official pre-release event is the Strixhaven Pre-release at home. Ergo, you can get the pre-release kit and run an even at home, but not here.

Buying WOTC

 An email I received from game industry veteran James Mischler looked back at TSR/WOTC’s history and  makes a more persuasive case for a purchase of WOTC by a suitor outside the game industry:  Penguin/Random House, Hatchette, Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster or Macmillain, the five big fiction publishers. We will need to take a dive back into the history of TSR and WOTC to understand why though.

Though TSR is best known, at least in our industry, for the D&D and related RPG lines, it was better known outside of this market for its line of fantasy novels, dating back to the mid 1980s with the launch of the first Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy, arguably launching the modern fantasy novel. By the time TSR filed for bankruptcy in 1997, it had published some 242 fantasy novels and a plurality of all fantasy novels sold in the US bore the TSR imprint, many reaching the NYT and USA Today best-seller lists.

Unfortunately, the company’s very success led to its bankruptcy. There are two markets for books:  the direct market and the book market.  The direct market, in which most game stores operate and with which TSR had the most familiarity, buys products at a certain discount, pays for those products by a certain date, and keeps them.  The book market operates under a returnable model.  Distributors and stores buy the product at a lower discount, 35 or 40% rather than 45 or 50%. This gives the publisher greater profitability per book, putting more cash in the bank, but also leaving them liable for refunds  if the book does not sell. This is what happened to TSR in the late 1990s. The company had expanded heavily into the book market through deals with publishers, acting as distributors,  such as Random House and Harper Collins and, when those deals proved not as profitable as hoped, left TSR on the hook for hundreds of thousands more in returns than the company had in assets.  https://icv2.com/articles/columns/view/33818/rolling-initiative-empire-imagination-gary-gygax-birth-dungeons-dragons Mischler thinks this was part of a concerted effort by Random House to drive TSR into bankruptcy, allowing Random House to pick up the TSR catalog at a fraction of its value but Lorraine Williams, who owned TSR at the time, stymied that by negotiating a sale to WOTC instead.

Now, while D&D sales have increased greatly, novel publishing by the company has dropped from the massive numbers of the 1990s and early 2000s to about 4 dozen or so books over the past decade. Any book publisher would love to get its hands on WOTC/TSRs back catalog and a steady revenue produce

Hasbro Sales for 2020

 This look at Hasbro sales for the third quarter is pretty interesting. https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/46853/big-gains-hasbro-gaming-q3. Total sales for the company are up 11% for the year, including a 19% drop in April , May and June https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/46203/hasbros-total-gaming-sales-down-19-q2 and a 40% increase in WOTC sales in the first quarter https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/45666/hasbros-total-gaming-business-up-40-q1. D&D sales for the third quarter are up about 20% and Magic sales are up  “double digits” , although the company did not specify what percentage of those revenues  came from digital sales of the product line. So looking pretty impressive so far for the year and, based on the interest showing in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and Commander Legends, not to mention Commander Legends Green, I expect to see Hasbro/WOTC closing out the year up by double digits. 

Weis Lawsuit dismissed

 According to a post on her Facebook page, The lawsuit against WOTC by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman has been voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiffs, Weiss and Hickman. This likely means that the parties have come to some sort of agreement which we may or may not learn more about depending on if there is a NDA or not

I know some of you have seen that our lawsuit against WoTC was dismissed. I can't say anything yet, but watch for exciting news in the weeks to come!

Of Cauldrons and Lawsuits

 

Well, the release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything reinforced my long held belief that player accessories outsell DM accessories by a factor of, oh about 10 to one or so.  Case in point, we blew through our order of 25 copies of Tasha’s Cauldron in about 2 days and have yet to sell one of the Wilderness DM Screens.. Wizards, more player sourcebooks, fewer $50 campaigns.

The lawsuit filed by Gale Force 9 against WOTC is the second high profile lawsuit filed against Wizards in the past few months. https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/47010/gale-force-nine-sues-wizards-coast  The first, a lawsuit by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, was filed last October and alleges that, after entering into an agreement to publish a new series of Dragonlance novels with Weis and Hickman in 2017, WOTC notified the authors that it would no longer approve any future drafts, effectively killing the project. You can read the Weis and Hickman lawsuit here https://www.scribd.com/document/480740675/Margaret-Weis-LLC-and-Tracy-Hickman-v-Wizards-of-The-Coast-LLC?campaign=SkimbitLtd&ad_group=66960X1516586X335a223495fd2afffb96e5e4c7f7c54f&keyword=660149026&source=hp_affiliate&medium=affiliate#from_embed&referrer=polygon.com&sref=https://www.polygon.com/2020/10/19/21523673/dragonlance-authors-weis-hickman-sue-wizards-of-the-coast-dungeons-and-dragons&xcust=___pl__e_21287714__r_jenniferrpovey.medium.com/so-

Both lawsuits come on the heels of moves by Wizards to ban controversial Magic cards https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/45914/rolling-for-initiative-another-week-turmoil-discuss  and to eliminate the concept of inherently evil races as well  as cultural stereotyping (see Vishanti for example) from Dungeons and Dragons materials https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/diversity-and-dnd and one could be excused for thinking that the decision not to publish the contracted Dragonlance novels could have something to do with Wizards desire to eliminate the concept of inherently evil races from its published materials. After all, the concepts of good, evil and neutrality are core concepts in the Dragonlance mythos and draconians have been presented in the series from the start as an inherently evil race, something that Wizards is disavowing and actively working to distance itself from.  Speaking as a non-lawyer with no inside information about the situation, since the first novel was completed before Wizards’ change in view of evil races, it is reasonable to assume that the ethical views found throughout the previous Dragonlance novels would appear in the new ones, leaving Wizards with a few choices, kill the project completely, publish the first novel as presented under contract and risk backlash or go back to Weis and Hickman and ask for a rewrite of the approved first novel to bring it into line with current Wizards/D&D standards none of which are a particularly cost0-effective option. My bet is this drags out for a few years, like the long gestating D&D movie, and then the parties quietly settle https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/32214/d-d-movie-set-move-ahead

The Gale Force 9 situation has more direct impact on the game industry, especially game retailers. While the Weiss Hickman lawsuit deprives stores of an additional property to sell, the Gale Force 9 suit threatens to put an end to the sales of their more profitable ancillary product lines, the D&D 5^th edition spell cards.  These, and the D&D/Pathfinder miniatures from WizKids are our best-selling non Wizards Dungeons and Dragons products.  As noted above, I am not a lawyer but from my reading of the complaint, it appears that WOTC has seized upon something that could easily be rectified by GF9 and is using it as a justification for getting out of the contract. Why? Maybe 6^th Edition on the horizon and Wizards is cleaning up its licenses? Your thoughts on either lawsuit? Email castleperilousgames@gmail.com.

 

Dune RPG

 The original Dune Role Playing Game was the last RPG from Last Unicorn Games, a comparatively small publisher back in the late 1990s best known for its take on the Star Trek Universe in a series of RPGs as well as its Dune and Heresy TCG. Bought in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast, the company is probably best remembered for the Dune RPG. As part of the agreement under which WOTC purchased Last Unicorn, WOTC agreed to publish LUG's remaining games of which the most notable one was Dune. Despite demand, only 3000 copies were every released, primarily at GenCon 33. WOTC negotiated with the Herbert estate for a second printing but the two organizations could not agree upon terms.

When originally released, The Dune RPG sold for $34.95 but due to scarcity and demand, the available books soon sold regularly for $100-$200 and copies have proven extremely hard to find in the 20 years since the original release as collectors tend to hold onto them.

Magic Delays

WOTC has announced delays on several upcoming products, including the in-store Secret Lair sets, which now should arrive sometime between  June 12 and July 12.

Online FNM

WOTC has announced the company will continue its online Friday Night Magic sessions in Arena. When ever you play a game, email or message us via Facebook a screenshot and we will send you a code for an unique back for your Arena deck.

Release Schedule

Games Workshop has announced no new releases until at least May 2 and WOTC has pushed back the release date for Ikoria until May 15.   Under the circumstances, blackout dates between Prerelease and launch would create a poor experience for fans. Therefore Prerelease and launch are collapsed into one date. Both in-store and at-home Prerelease will be available on May 15 for any stores able to safely implement them.

WOTC's Drop Strategy

Well, looks as if WOTC plans to hew to   the drop marketing strategy adopted by athletic wear and clothing even more closely than it has with its previous sets as the company released a Theros themed Secret Lair set, Theros Stargazing, with almost no announcement, an even shorter release window (only 3 days Feb. 14, 15^th and 16^th)  ending after the World Championship XXV1 concludes oncludes, and even more limited quantities. I tried ordering a couple of copies for the store and received a notice that we would only receive 1. While earlier in the day, the website indicated that customers could order up to 10 of each set, that language has vanished from the site, although customers can add multiple sets to their cart, just one at a time.

The way I see it, this change accomplishes three things for WOTC

1.       Draws attention to the Magic World Championship series. The handy link provided on the Secret Lair website takes your right to the Twitch Stream for the World Championships. Given the amount of traffic driven to the Secret Lair website this weekend, I imagine a substantial percentage of it clicked on the link just to take a look at the World’s , increasing traffic and awareness of the Twitch channel.

2.       Harvests emails. Prominently displayed at the bottom of the Secret Lair website is a box allowing viewers to sign up for notifications regarding future releases. Given that WOTC apparently plans to keep information about new drops a closely held secret (well it is a Secret Lair) until just before the release, Magic players and customers wanting to know about any upcoming releases will have to give WOTC their email and, since this is information the customers will want to know, it will be an email address the customer checks regularly, not an email they use for signing up at websites to get a freebie and then never check.  Nope, this strategy makes sure WOTC’s emails go right into the frequently checked email box.

3.       Increases the cachet of the Secret Lair drops. Much like the top clothing, show and skateboard manufacturers using this method, by holding information back about the drop until just before it occurs, WOTC has successfully increased the exclusivity of its Secret Lair sets and, hence, the exclusivity of those who have access to it. Even more than with the Mythic sets and the previous Secret Lair drops, I expect demand to increase for these sets after the sale date ends. Sealed sets of previous Secret Lair releases (OMG Kitties, Bitterblossom) sell in the range of $50 to $75 apiece. Unlike previous sets, we have already had customers calling asking if we would get any of this Secret Lair release which tells me something about how much demand there will be in the aftermarket for the cards.

Given the success of previous Secret Lair releases and  the demand for this one, I see no reason to expect Wizards to cease using this model anytime in the near future. Increased sales, increased perception of exclusivity and more emails to which to market, what’s not to like?

new Releases

Looks like three new releases arriving this Friday from WOTC and Paizo. It would appear WOTC does not expect much from the new Unsanctioned set as there was almost no promotion for it and the release on Friday hit us by surprise but the lands look pretty cool. Then there is the new Dungeon Mayhem game, Monster Madness, which can either play with the original Dungeon Mayhem decks or play by itself. Finally, Paizo releases the Game Mastery Guide for 2nd Edition Pathfinder.  all of these are available, while quantities last, on Friday.

More Premium Store Benefits

According to WOTC, Premium stores (of which we are not one) are going to get additional benefits from being part of the program. Most of the new benefits involve getting to run different and more advanced events but a couple involve products. Premium stores, starting with Theros Beyond Death, will have boxes of Collector Boosters available for sale. Also, later this year, they will have an all foil version of a set of cards that non-premium stores will only have a non-foil version available.

Magic Secret Sets

WOCT just announced the release of another seven small sets of cards only available through their website. They are all cards from various sets of Magic but released with new art, so will appeal primarily to collectors or people looking for those particular cards for a deck. However, if you just want the card, it is probably easier (and more cost effective) to just purchase the card on its own.

WOTC has announced that each set will drop on a particular day and only be available for 24 hours after the announced release.

Summer Magic

Have you ever heard of the Summer Magic se? Most people have not and I had forgotten about it until talking Magic with an old Magic player/dealer this weekend. You can read more about it here but essentially, WOTC ran out of Revised boosters in early summer 1994 with 4th edition coming out  much later that year In addition there were a number of errors in Revised that needed fixing, such as borders, apostrophes, coloring, etc.

WOTC therefor ran a rush production run of cards that were supposed to fix those errors. However, since Carti Mundi was tied up printing Jyhad and Fallen Empires, there was no room for a reprinting of Revised or pushing up 4th edition, so, for the only time as far as I know, WOTC went with another printer for a run of cards. However, this run came with its own set of errors and was printed on different quality card stock, leading many people to believe they are fakes.. Due to these quality problems, the cards never received wide release with regions in Ireland and other points in Europe as well as the US Midwest receiving most of what did release.

Due to their scarcity, only about 10 complete sets are known to exist, with prices for basic lands in the sets running about $100. The most common way to identify a card from the set, which WOTC denied esited for about 2 years after it was printed, is in the line identifying the card's artist as the printing year, 1994, appears on the line as well.  You can read more about the set and see some of the cards here.