Three Great Things about WizKids

 

For those of you not familiar with them, and most people reading this column are, WizKids is the premier collectable miniatures and dice game company (though I could argue not the first as anyone who dealt with Games Workshop during the 1990s could attest, with the company’s tendency to include multiple poses of the same figure in a sleeve of them and customers trying to get that one particular figure with a Multi-melta or Assault Cannon for their army. A figure holding a Bolter just wouldn’t work.), at one time after the release of DiceMasters producing more dice than any other company in the world.

Anyhow, three things that WizKids does that I really like:

1.        Organized Play website—WizKids has really ramped up their OP program over the past couple of years and has made massive improvements to the website the company uses to track tournament results. The company has even embraced the “gamification” trend of the past few years, awarding badges to players and tournament organizers for “unlocking” achievements in OP. Behavioral research indicates that this actually works in terms of encouraging more people to participate in events in the hope of adding more badges to their collection, much as the Scouts have done for decades.

2.       Summer Campaigns—For the last few years, WizKids has run a massively supported summer Organized Play campaign complete with big cool prizes and limited edition boosters to draw customers into stores. In order to get access to these limited boosters, the customer has to come to the store and play in the event. A few retailers have violated the spirit and letter of the program and WizKids, from what I understand, has been pretty diligent in tracking the violators down and reprimanding or even sanctioning them from participating in further programs.

3.       Release Day Tape—The announcement of this was the thing I referenced earlier that made me happy. As I have noted in other columns, violation of street date, especially with high volume collectible items, is a bane of the retail end of the industry. Putting a notice on the packing tape of each box that the item has a release date and to go to the WizKids website to check it before putting the product inside out for sale will certainly help by giving people one less reason to claim they were unaware of the release date.

Red Slaad Paint Party

 This Friday night at 6 p.m .ET, WizKids will host an online painting session to paint the Red Slaad figure included in their most recent paint night kit. You can watch the session here on YouTube this Friday or we will be streaming it on the store TV.

Three Great Things About WizKids

For those of you not familiar with them, and most people reading this column are, WizKids is the premier collectable miniatures and dice game company (though I could argue not the first as anyone who dealt with Games Workshop during the 1990s could attest, with the company’s tendency to include multiple poses of the same figure in a sleeve of them and customers trying to get that one particular figure with a Multi-melta or Assault Cannon for their army. A figure holding a Bolter just wouldn’t work.), at one time after the release of DiceMasters producing more dice than any other company in the world.

Anyhow, three things that WizKids does that I really like:

1.        Organized Play website—WizKids has really ramped up their OP program over the past couple of years and has made massive improvements to the website the company uses to track tournament results. The company has even embraced the “gamification” trend of the past few years, awarding badges to players and tournament organizers for “unlocking” achievements in OP. Behavioral research indicates that this actually works in terms of encouraging more people to participate in events in the hope of adding more badges to their collection, much as the Scouts have done for decades

.

2.       Summer Campaigns—For the last few years, WizKids has run a massively supported summer Organized Play campaign complete with big cool prizes and limited edition boosters to draw customers into stores. In order to get access to these limited boosters, the customer has to come to the store and play in the event. A few retailers have violated the spirit and letter of the program and WizKids, from what I understand, has been pretty diligent in tracking the violators down and reprimanding or even sanctioning them from participating in further programs.

3.       Release Day Tape—The announcement of this was the thing I referenced earlier that made me happy. As I have noted in other columns, violation of street date, especially with high volume collectible items, is a bane of the retail end of the industry. Putting a notice on the packing tape of each box that the item has a release date and to go to the WizKids website to check it before putting the product inside out for sale will certainly help by giving people one less reason to claim they were unaware of the release date.

New WizKids Miniatures

WizKids just announced a partnership with Hasbro to make miniatures based on GI. Joe, Transformers and My Little Pony in painted and unpainted versions. Since the press release does not say so, I would bet these are simply miniatures and not HeroClix figures. The D&D figures WizKids created last year have done so well that Hasbro likely saw WizKids as a good partner to come out with another line of figures. No indication as to what scale the figures will run.  Just imagine, painting your own MLP or Transformers figure. 

Talisman LIcense Splitting

It looks as if Games Workshop is splitting the licensing of its popular Talisman game. The company announced last week that USAopoly would get the rights to produced versions of the classic Talisman game while WizKids announced yesterday that it had secured the rights to the Relic boardgame, alos based on the Talisman game engine but set in the Warhammer 40K universe.

Three Great Things About WizKids

For those of you not familiar with them, and most people reading this column are, WizKids is the premier collectable miniatures and dice game company (though I could argue not the first as anyone who dealt with Games Workshop during the 1990s could attest, with the company’s tendency to include multiple poses of the same figure in a sleeve of them and customers trying to get that one particular figure with a Multi-melta or Assault Cannon for their army. A figure holding a Bolter just wouldn’t work.), at one time after the release of DiceMasters producing more dice than any other company in the world.

Anyhow, three things that WizKids does that I really like:

1.        Organized Play website—WizKids has really ramped up their OP program over the past couple of years and has made massive improvements to the website the company uses to track tournament results. The company has even embraced the “gamification” trend of the past few years, awarding badges to players and tournament organizers for “unlocking” achievements in OP. Behavioral research indicates that this actually works in terms of encouraging more people to participate in events in the hope of adding more badges to their collection, much as the Scouts have done for decades.

2.       Summer Campaigns—For the last few years, WizKids has run a massively supported summer Organized Play campaign complete with big cool prizes and limited edition boosters to draw customers into stores. In order to get access to these limited boosters, the customer has to come to the store and play in the event. A few retailers have violated the spirit and letter of the program and WizKids, from what I understand, has been pretty diligent in tracking the violators down and reprimanding or even sanctioning them from participating in further programs.

3.       Release Day Tape—The announcement of this was the thing I referenced earlier that made me happy. As I have noted in other columns, violation of street date, especially with high volume collectible items, is a bane of the retail end of the industry. Putting a notice on the packing tape of each box that the item has a release date and to go to the WizKids website to check it before putting the product inside out for sale will certainly help by giving people one less reason to claim they were unaware of the release date.

WizKids Adventurer's Camp

In case you purchased the new WizKids Adventurer's Camp, the listing of items on the package is different from the correct list on the website and what is in the package.  WizKids is preparing a "Make good package" to provide the missing pieces to those of you who purchased one. 

WizKids and Games Workshop

This week's Rolling for Initiative column looks at the probable outcomes from the recently announced Games Workshop partnership with WizKids. I'm hoping for a relaunch of Oi', Dat's My Leg.

Three Cheers for WizKids

This week's ICV2 column looks at three things I really like about WizKids', the company that makes HeroClix and DiceMasters, operations.

Release Date Tape

WizKids announced something new:  the company will start putting Release Date notices on their products that ship before release dates, warning them that there is a release date for the product. This still won't stop everyone from breaking street date but getting information to people is certainly a step forward.

Shipping Company Bankruptcy Affects HeroClix

For those of you wondering how the supply chain works and how it affects you, here is a perfect example. WizKids makes HeroClix in China and ships the completed product to the US. Assuming everything works properly, said shipping takes from 2 to 6 weeks. The Hanjin bankruptcy has kept things from currently working properly, meaning that part of the shipment of the second Teenage Mutant Turtles Heros In a Half Shell set from completely arriving on time. WizKids has enough product on hand to fulfill pre-orders but any reorders will get delayed indefinitely, as in, until the bankruptcy works itself through the system.

New For DiceMasters

Here is info on the new DiceMasters products releasing in the next couple of months. Let us know if you want to pre-order any of it as we will likely skip the playmats and bags with out a pre-order:

Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dice Building Game Alliance Retailers, Be sure to submit your preorder numbers for the next two Dice Master releases from WizKids! Please contact your Alliance Account Representative to place your preorders or visit our Retailer Services website today.  Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War, which releases Wednesday, May 11th, brings the exciting Civil War storyline and upcoming movie release to the tabletop with this industry-acclaimed competitive game! Will you choose to stand by Captain America and his Anti-Registration heroes, or will you side with Iron Man and his Pro-Registration forces? Introducing more than 30 heroes and villains (and their dice!), Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War will be sure to stick out as a highlight of your Dice Masters collections! Choose your side with Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War and defeat your opponents! Coming to you Wednesday, May 25th, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dice Building Game brings the heroes in a half-shell from the inner-city sewers to your tabletop! These pizza-loving superheroes offer a special delivery of action to new and veteran players alike. Featuring Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo and MORE, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are joined by friend and foe alike in this all-new Dice-Building game boxed set! More than a dozen heroes and villains (and their dice!) can be found in this latest addition to the Dice-Building universe. Cowabunga dudes!   Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Starter WZK 72258, $19.99 Whose Side Are You On? Introducing more than 30 heroes and villains (and their dice!), the Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Starter Set features fan-favorite characters like Spider-Man, Nitro, Jessica Jones, Captain America, Iron Man, and more! Plus, Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War premieres the Thunderbolts and the New Warriors, as well as the "Enlistment" and "Resistance" mechanics! This innovative collectible contains everything two players need to play and allows players to increase their Dice Masters collections or jump straight into the excitement! Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War 90 Count Gravity Feed WZK 72260, $89.10 The Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Gravity Feed takes epic dice battles to thrilling, new heights! Introducing more than 30 heroes and villains (and their dice!). Each Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Foil Pack contains two cards and two dice that players can add to their Dice Masters collections. Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Playmat WZK 72261, $19.99 Measuring 24" x 13", this durable and portable Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Playmat displays all of the information one player needs for their Dice Masters game. The different play areas are color-coded with instructions and spaces for Character Cards, Basic Action Cards, and, of course, DICE! Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Team Box WZK 72262, $19.99 Crafted from flexible, durable plastic with a magnetic closure, the Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Team Box contains two internal boxes and three dividers to make organization of dice and cards fast and easy. Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Collectors Box WZK 72265, $24.99 Each Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Collector's Box comes with everything one player needs to play including the Starter Set with 20 custom dice (12 all-new pearlescent Basic Action Dice and eight all-new pearlescent Sidekick Dice), a felt dice bag, 10 Basic Action Cards, and four Indicator Cards, as well as a Full Art Promo Card, four Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Foil Packs, and two dice storage trays designed to hold over 300 dice! Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Dice Bag (Captain America/Iron Man) WZK 72263, $14.99 Measuring approximately 6.25" x 8" complete with draw strings, this durable Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War Dice Bag features images of Captain America, Iron Man, and friends.   Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dice Masters: Box Set WZK 72222, $34.99 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dice Masters features fan favorite characters including Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Splinter, and more! Introducing more than a dozen new heroes and villains (and their dice!), players can decide to build their team of heroes, villains, or some combination of the two! Perfect for new and seasoned players, alike, whether they're interested in a game or two over pizza or building the perfect team, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dice Masters is sure to deliver an experience that will leave you saying, "Cowabunga!" Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dice Masters: Dice Bag WZK 72228, $14.99 The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dice Masters Dice Bag features fan-favorite characters including Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Splinter, and more! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dice Masters: Playmat WZK 72293, $19.99 Crafted from flexible and durable material, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dice Masters Playmat measures approximately 24" wide and 13" long, and displays all of the information one player needs for their Dice Masters game including a life meter and areas for their character and Basic Action cards and dice, and features each of the play areas, color-coded for players' convenience. Each Playmat can be easily rolled up for safe transport and storage, or left out to display.

Unpainted Minis from WizKids

Taking on Reaper's Bones line head on, WizKids announced a line of unpainted miniatures licensed from Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder and featuring sculpts of characters and monsters from both lines.  Here is more information:

UNPAINTED MINIS: DONE THE WIZKIDS WAY!
 

As many of you may have already heard, only a few weeks ago we announced a brand new line of unpainted miniatures, featuring more than 150 unique fantasy sculpts, set to be released in Q4 2016. With this release, we plan to raise the bar on collectible miniatures and blaze the trail for an era of highly detailed, desirable and affordable minis. We’d like to take some time to delve deeper into what you can expect with this upcoming and highly anticipated release, and hopefully answer any questions you may have.

We plan to roll out our new unpainted minis line with a number of our distinguished fantasy licenses.  Additionally, there will be a WizKids house brand of unpainted minis available in our offerings. Where fantasy licensed branded minis will focus on famous creatures and characters, WizKids house brand minis will focus on environmental set pieces to enhance our player’s and collector’s game experiences.  

Our team is working hard to ensure WizKids unpainted minis are highly detailed, incorporating scaled features with deep cut details, so your customers can look forward to easier hand painting.  

The unpainted minis line will not follow our historical collectible business model. Instead, it will focus on single repeat purchases, displaying the high quality minis in striking, yet visible, packaging.  Customers will be able to see what they are buying on your shelves.
The collection will include characters, creatures, and even scene-building elements, all available in three types of specialty packs that will each contain a variety of sculpts (most of which will come fully assembled):

• Level Up Packs will contain both a standard and advanced sculpt of the same featured character.
• Designed with army-building in mind, Monster Packs will contain 1-3 miniatures with different poses of a single monster.
• Item Packs will contain scenery and items for detailing adventures. 

 

Level Up Packs will include two (2) figures per pack, one standard and one advanced. Here is an example of a standard and advanced character. Note the level of detail in each figure and the many facets and intricacies between each.



Standard character has decent armor to protect him in battle. But just wait until he levels up…

 

Advanced character features improved, exciting and impressive battle armor! 

 

 

There will be a vast assortment of both male and female characters from a variety of classes and races in the initial release of unpainted minis. For example, look for generic and iconic heroes, monsters and more!  

Prices tend to vary widely when it comes to unpainted minis in the marketplace. Most of our unpainted minis will be priced at $2.99-$3.99 depending on the pack, making them a great value for your customers. 

Our unpainted minis will come pre-primed with Acrylicos Vallejo primer so they are ready for hand painting right out of the box. Acrylicos Vallejo is a long running industry standard, known for their specialized high-quality paints. 

The unpainted minis line will not be exclusive to a single distributor. Instead, we are taking a multi-distributor approach with this release. A full list of distributors carrying the line will be announced in the coming months. 

Consideration has been made in the packaging design, ensuring it is sized to fit on existing slat wall/peg systems. Packaging can also be placed on shelves, or any easily accessible location for your customers. 

Here is a sample of what’s to come! 

 

Look for this set to hit your shelves later this year.  Until then, we encourage you to offer plenty of opportunity for pre-orders within your store.

Wiz Kids Hire

This week's ICV2 column has my take on the recent hire by Wiz Kids of Zev Shlasinger, formerly of Z-man Games, to head up their board game division.

Kudos to WizKids

WizKids, a couple of weeks ago, announced a change in HeroClix initial order policies that should benefit brick and mortar retailers and customers at large as it will make HeroClix more widely available.

The announced change limits initial orders, starting with the Superman/Wonder Woman set, of HeroClix bricks and gravity feed displays to 50 of each per account, subject to change on a case by case basis. What this means, from what I understand, is that, in general, that no store will be able to order, per location, more than 25 cases, 2 bricks per case, of a HeroClix release at the initial release. WizKids, I think, hopes by doing this to alleviate the chronic shortages that typically accompany the initial release of any new HeroClix set.

The problem comes from the long lead times required for each HeroClix set and the comparatively short pre-order window that retailers have for a new set. WizKids typically sets production runs for a new release a year before the set actually hits the street. Retailers, however, whether online only, brick and mortar or a hybrid operation, put their initial orders in 2-3 months ahead of the release date. WizKids, essentially, is flying blind on setting its production runs for a new set, having to put orders in with its manufacturers in southeast Asia 9 to 10 months before ever seeing an order from a retailer. WizKids could alleviate this problem by soliciting orders for new sets a year before the product line releases, but very few specialty game retailers are willing to commit to pre-ordering merchandise a year before it releases, a common problem with retailer Kickstarter offers as well. WizKids has been increasing production runs on new sets each time they put in an order for a new one, but the company’s increased quantities still has not met up with demand, meaning allocations and shortages when a new set releases.

By limiting quantities orderable on the initial release, WizKids expects to have more product available on the initial release and to be able to more widely spread the initial shipments of product  throughout the channel. Most stores within the hobby channel, especially those that offer Orgainzed Play, which as I pointed out last week has become a much more important component of the collectable gaming segment of the industry, do not order 50 bricks of a new HeroClix release at initial order, at least not per store for multi-store operations, it is the online operations, with nationwide sales reach but without an Organized Play component of their operation, that ordered massive quantities of a new release, often breaking open large numbers to satisfy single figure demands then selling the remaining boosters at deep discounts. By limiting the number of bricks and gravity feeds available to accounts on initial, WizKids should be able spread out the available initial shipment among all accounts wanting the product and thus making more of the set available initially to the local customer base, meaning local customers should have greater access to the new set of HeroClix in their LGs.

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?

Selling Promotional Items

Every once in awhile we have someone ask us about buying promotional items or we see a store selling promotional items online. Just recently, we spotted someone selling Free RPG Day promotional items on eBay weeks ahead of the official day of the event.

First of all, if you are a customer and you received a promotional item, it is your's. You are free to sell it, keep it, give it away, jump up and down on it or whatever you choose to do. Once it leaves the retailer's possession, the agreement the store may have with the provider may end.

What the retailer can do with promotional items may or may not be restricted based on the agreement with the provider of the item.  For example, stores have an agreement with WOTC that we will not sell the promotional cards provided for Friday Night Magic. WOTC provides the cards to us to use as prizes during the event and in return, we agree not to sell them. In fact, that is why you will find stores that will not take FNM promos in trade until they are no longer Standard legal, so that there is no chance of WOTC finding them offering a FNM promo for sale.

A similar agreement exists between stores and Wizkids for their HeroClix OP items. Here' it is a bit more of a gray area, as unlike promos from WOTC, stores do have to pay for the OP promos from WizKids. Still, the agreement stores enter into is pretty straightforward, in return for being able to buy OP materials, stores agree not to sell them until given the OK  by Wizkids. When this happens, it is usually months after the end, as in the case of the Fear Itself OP campaign, which ran throughout 2013 but which stores could not sell any remaining boosters for until mid-2014.

The Final Two Events

As promised Monday, here are my final top 2 events in the gaming field for 2014. Have something you think tops them. Post it in comments;

Shaving of Discounts—Also as mentioned in an earlier post, manufacturers of popular products have reduced the discount they offer to distribution and retailers while holding the MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) firm. Companies such as Days of Wonder, WizKids and Games Workshop have given short discounts for years now, though GW does raise prices which partially compensates for the lower discount.  However, the announcements by FFG that its Imperial Assault game will sell through distribution at a 42-43% discount and WOTC that Magic product will start selling at a 2% slimmer discount with no increase in MSRP makes it that much harder for distribution and retailers to do their jobs.

Launch of 5^th Edition D&D—The staggered release of 5^th Edition Dungeons and Dragons after what seems like a decade of playtesting, has revitalized the RPG segment of the market or sucked all the air out of it, depending on your point of view. Stores reported selling 60 copies of the Players Handbook within 24 hours and still see steady sales of it, the Starter Set, Monster Manual and DMG months later. Much like with 3^rd and 4^th Edition D&D, people who had quite RPGs or wanted to introduce their kids to the hobby, came back into the store to snag a copy.  To someone outside the hobby game field, RPG still means Dungeons & Dragons.