The Apathy of New Releases (December 2012)

Ah, the winter doldrums are upon us.  Despite a captive winter audience, January and February are horrible months for sales, even with new items.  Even if there is a "can't fail" item, ordering during the holiday sales spike always makes stores over order once they finally arrive.

Now, if there is one thing that the folks at Alliance did right for the December issue of Game Trade Magazine, they filled another lackluster month with "offered again (O/A)" items already in the catalog.  Unlike the other items with questionable release dates, the O/A items are available immediately to shore up the holiday inventory, and hopefully entice the handful of people who read GTM into making a purchase.

So, here we go:

Want List:  Nothing

The Money's No Object List: Sadly again, nothing

The Store List
AEG
LEGEND OF THE FIVE RINGS CCG: EMPEROR EDITION GEMPUKKU  - new set  $5 boosters and $25 starters.  I'm getting old and cheap...
LEGEND OF THE FIVE RINGS CCG:  HONOR & TREACHERY  - new how to learn set  $24.95
LEGEND OF THE FIVE  RINGS RPG: THE BOOK OF EARTH $39.99

Army Painter:
Basic Tool Kit:  $24.99  - 8 tools at $3 a piece.  Cheaper than GW, at least.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT CCG:  TIMEWALKERS - BETRAYAL OF THE GUARDIAN

Decision Games:
Folio Series:  Little Bighorn, Battle of Britain, and Britannia in Afghanistan. $12.99 apiece for 2-player wargames.

DGS
Freeblades Skirmish Game:  Haven't seen anything about this, but it looks like a fantasy skirmish game with bounty hunters, outlaws, and small bands of invaders.  I question pricing when a base figure is $6 and a mounted one is $8

Dream Pod 9
After seeing the demos at Mepacon, I'm quite certain that these items are overpriced.  I'll stick with Battletech.

FFG
Deathwatch RPG  Ark of Lost Souls  $39.95
MANSIONS OF MADNESS: CALL OF THE WILD EXPANSION  $59.95
ONLY WAR WARHAMMER 40K: RPG: FINAL TESTAMENT  $39.95
TALISMAN: THE CITY EXPANSION  $39.95  - that might be fun.

FROG GOD GAMES
Ten different mods, one printing compatible with Sword and Sorcery, the other with Pathfinder.  $8.99 each is appealing for players, but how does a store order these?  Very carefully.

Konami
YU-GI-OH! TCG: COSMOBLAZER BOOSTERS

Paizo
PATHFINDER   REIGN OF WINTER PART 1 -THE SNOWS OF SUMMER  $19.99
PATHFINDER ITEM CARDS: REIGN OF WINTER ADVENTURE PATH $10.99
PATHFINDER MAP PACK: SEWER SYSTEM  13.99
PATHFINDER PLAYER COMPANION:  CHAMPIONS OF PURITY  10.99
PATHFINDER TALES: LIAR’S BLADE 9.99
PATHFINDER CAMPAIGN  SETTING: CHRONICLE  OF THE RIGHTEOUS  19.99

Spartacus Publishing
LUCHADOR: DISCIPLES  OF THE NORTH  - Canadian Luchadors?  $14.95

Studio 2
Hell on Earth Reloaded  HC- Deadlands Future World for Savage Worlds    $39.99

Troll Lord Games
CASTLES & CRUSADES:  BOOK OF FAMILIARS  $24.95
CASTLES & CRUSADES:  CODEX CELTARUM      $24.95

Twilight Creations
Zombies!  Roll Them Bones  $14.95

Warlord Games
 All of the Warlord items are listed as "PI" (please inquire), meaning retailers will get a less favorable discount than their standard.  Not good if traditional historical wargaming is to grow beyond the 40k-ish of Flames of War.  Still, two items of note:

BOLT ACTION:  ASSAULT ON NORMANDY  20 Americans, 20 Germans, and an abandoned farmhouse. 8 order dice, and a Bolt Action rulebook.

The set is $92.00 (zoinks!), but it the rulebook itself is $35.00, the figures are a little over a buck apiece, the dice are $12.75, and the remainder can be justified by the abandoned farmhouse.  Steep but convenient. Gotta remember that there is no such thing as a $60 starter set anymore.  Inflation doesn't allow it.

From their Pike and Shotte line, the Polish Winged Hussars:

A double zoinks at $41.00 for 8 metal figures, but at $5.00 a fig, that's still far better than a Warhammer fig, and the Hussars are just as elaborate.

Both items are already available.


WotC
D&D Shattered Keep Map Pack $11.95
MAGIC THE GATHERING CCG: GATECRASH  - Feb 2013
Magic is the one item that violates the "try not to go overboard."   Barring a blizzard, if your store sells Magic regularly, you will rarely order enough, unless you have secret investors.

Wizkids
Batman, Superman, and Spider-man TabApp sets.  Heroclix that can use an iPad for play?  Intriguing.  Aren't they shrinking the next iPad, though?

STAR TREK HEROCLIX TACTICS SERIES II

Z-Man Games  - A bunch of O/A items, probably to promote their exclusive agreement to distribute them. Nothing exciting without a promotional article or two in the magazine.