It's a big month for gaming, with some companies releasing a ton of product. Many would be no-brainers for most stores, but I am going to cover something that does require a bit of a brain, and possibly some common sense (those two are not always mutually inclusive): Pulling the plug/giving something a second chance.
Most gamers are either dead-set in their ways, so even the most elaborate demos couldn't make them part with their money for a game outside of their realm, or they're subject to the whims of chaos, buying into each trend as they come out, but just enough to barely play, or however long it takes for the next trend to launch.
For a customer, dropping a couple of bucks, heck, even two or three hundred dollars on a game only to shelve it is a bit painful, but hopefully they've derived some joy out of it that may equate to a dollar amount.
For a store owner, large scale orders of whimsey could kill a business. Heck, even calculated, well-budgeted and supported forays into a product line could sufficiently draw business focus away from the store's bread and butter and might not break even.
For my Imaginary Store List, I don't list every item that Game Trade Monthly lists. I use my eight years experience as a game store manager, the chatter at the local FLGS, my friends, and a little bit from the internet, my general preferences of what games I could promote and make money and what games I would be stupid not to promote to make money to make the list.
I'm constantly going over that criteria to see if I need to axe a line for the make believe store, or if I need to consider the options.
Early on in the Apathy columns, I was listing the Dystopian Wars releases from Spartan Games. Need concept, quirky game, but a low buy in for new players, three things I'm looking for when ordering game I don't play. Unfortunately, the factions expanded and everything just seemed to look the same. Then they released Dystopian Legions the 30mm version and the figure costs and such made me decide that if I'm not selling enough what I've already ordered (a 50/50 chance in my imagination) I would curtail the line, and ultimately, liquidate product.
From time to time, I have listed a few of the sets and vehicles under my "Money is No Object List," but unless I had special orders, I would rarely stock a single items for the coolness factor alone.
This month, I've decided to stop list third-party Pathfinder products under the store listing? Why? In many cases, they seem redundant to current in-stock books Paizo publishes directly. Secondly, just like the d20 glut, the quality of the books appears sketchy at best. Finally, unless I was moving a large portion of them (and probably rarely re-ordering), they take up a lot of shelf space I would rather experiment with a different product line.
Paizo releases a huge variety of Pathfinder products, it's tough enough to keep up with those lines (and hope they sell) than the tertiary products from companies than I'll never see again. As much as the gamer side of me wants it to be, even an imaginary game store shouldn't be a library.
My Want List
'Nuttin
My Money-is-No-Object Want List
Catalyst Game Labs
BATTLETECH: LANCE PACKS Command ....... ……………………………………… $19.99
BATTLETECH: LANCE PACKS Recon …………...…………………………………... $19.99
Getting the Introductory Set for Christmas has sparked my interest again, but let's play a game or two first before going wild.
Khepera Publishing ATLANTIS - THE SECOND AGE: THERAGRAPHICA HARDCOVER … $35.95
Spartan Games
As I stated earlier, I have some questions stocking even one of Spartan's lines. However, certain items could pique my interest. While I don't have much interest in their new Republique du France or the Covenant of Antarctica, Antarctica's Automata Robots ($27.95) have a cool Steampunk Legions of Steel vibe to them.
My Imaginary Store List
Alderac Entertainment Group
DARK SEAS .................................................................................................................. $39.99
Stake your claim as the greatest pirate of all time! Build a pirate empire in the uncharted. Plunder Islands!
Legends of the Five Rings CCG: Twenty Festivals
Starters and Boosters
Ares Games
Sails of Glory - new ships ranging between $17.90 and $29.90
Atlas Games
Ars Magica: Through the Aegis HC ................................................................................ $32.95
Three Cheers for Master ................................................................................................... $19.95
Master Has Been Blue, Lately! It’s just not the same now that all lands known to evil have been conquered. When Master’s blue, it’s the minions who suffer. As a lieutenant in Master’s army — a foreminion — it falls to you to cheer him up. Not the easiest task, even in the best of times. But then it hits you: What better way to cheer Master up than a cheerleading competition? Whichever foreminion builds and scales the most impressive tower of war-hungry minions will surely win Master’s heart. What could possibly go wrong? Scheduled to ship in March 2015.
Bellweather Games
Antidote .............................................................................................................................. $18.00
Catalyst Game Labs
Battletech: Combat Manual Kurita HC ............................................................................... $29.95
SHADOWRUN RPG: DARK RESONANCE PB …………………...………………….. $12.95
SHADOWRUN RPG: SHAKEN – NO JOB TOO SMALL PB ……………………........ $12.95
VALIANT UNIVERSE RPG: TRANSCENDENTS EDGE HC …………… ………...... $39.99
Cheapass Games
Stuff and Nonsense …………………………………………………………………… $25.00
Cheeky Dingo Entertainment
ELFQUEST ADVENTURE GAME …………………………………………………… $29.95
Cryptozoic
ADVENTURE TIME CARD WARS: ICE KING VS. MARCELINE DECK … $20.00
DC COMICS DECKBUILDING GAME: CROSSOVER PACK #1 JSA …...… $10.00
DC COMICS DECKBUILDING GAME: TEEN TITANS …………………….. $40.00
Cubicle 7
DOCTOR WHO RPG: CORE RULES HC …………………………………………….. $49.99
DOCTOR WHO RPG: THE TENTH DOCTOR SOURCEBOOK HC ………………... $39.99
THE LAUNDRY RPG: AS ABOVE SO BELOW ……………………………………... $24.99
Diamond Comics Distributors
This is where I, as the imaginary store owner, lose my shit. Sure the majority (re: all) of the items solicited under Diamond are non-Gaming but fanboy related, but for every “step forward” so to speak, there’s a “falmpalm” product you are embarrassed to order, but would probably sell 10 times as many.
Electronic Dancing Baby Groot? Depending on price, a great idea and most stores should sell a handful of people who haven’t picked one up via the internet.
Game of Thrones: In Memoriam book? Nice silly, gift, but it would be dated by the time Christmas rolls around and you could move a couple. Poor timing.
Chicks Dig Gaming: Collections of essays about anything gaming only cover the hardcore demographic and one or two confused persons. Not saying you can’t move this, but it’s more likely to be read by bored staff on a snow day than purchased on a whim by a customer.
Which leads us to the least gaming-related and most gamer-stereotypical book offered: The American Boobs Book. A hardcover book covering breasts , boobs, and everything in between (most call that cleavage). From my time working at Dreamscape Comics back in the 90’s, this book would have three or four pre-orders MINIMUM, and the copy for the shelf would be restocked two or three times a year! Sure, there’s an influx of female and minority gamers, but you know who has more disposable income as a group? The creepy male gamers who love ta-tas.
Expeditious Retreat Press
Advanced Adventures #32: The Palace Beyond …………………………………….. $12.00
Fantasy Flight Games
STAR WARS X-WING: IMPERIAL RAIDER EXPANSION PACK …................. $99.95
TALISMAN: THE DEEP REALMS EXPANSION …................................................ PI
WARHAMMER 40K DARK HERESY 2ND ED RPG: ENEMIES WITHIN HARDCOVER $39.95
Gale Force Nine
D&D Temple of Elemental Evil – Gar Shatterkeel ….$30.00
D&D Temple of Elemental Evil – Water Mymidon …. $30.00
Elemental Node of Water Game Mat ………$20.00
Games Workshop
Cutting Mat …. $15.00
Palette Pad … $8.00
Project Box $66.00
Ultimate Paint Set $560.00
An official GW Mat for five bucks more than you can grab at a craft shop? Sounds about right. For the price of a palette pad can grab enough discount tiles to have my whole family paint, and work on the backsplash around my stove. There are arts and crafts project cases at Toys R Us that are a third of the price (although the colors could be a bit bright than the "cool" black. And that paint set can't be a great one-time purchase for a customer, although I could imagine cannibalising that sucker for the paint display, especially if there's a minimum paint order through GW.
40K: Shield of Baal Deathstorm $125.00
Space Marine Blood Angels Codes $49.50
Space Marine Blood Angels Death Company $33.00
Space Marine Blood Angels Sanguinary Priest $30.00
SPACE MARINE CRIMSON SLAUGHTER $135.00
SPACE MARINE DARK ANGELS $140.00
SPACE MARINE BLOOD ANGELS SONS OF SANGUINIUS PAINTING GUIDE $33.00
SPACE MARINE BLOOD ANGELS TACTICAL SQUAD … $43.00
SPACE MARINE BLOOD ANGELS TERMINATOR ASSAULT SQUAD … $60.00
SPACE MARINE BLOOD ANGELS TERMINATOR LIBRARIAN $30.00
TYRANID INVASION SWARMS TYRANIDS PAINTING GUIDE $33.00
TYRANID SHIELD OF BAAL: LEVIATHAN (ENGLISH) $74.25
TYRANID TYRANNOCYTE $63.00
TYRANID VENOMTHROPES $66.00
WARHAMMER FANTASY BATTLES KHAINE (ENGLISH) $66.00
Wallets weep. Game store owners squeal with delight.
Goodman Games
DUNGEON CRAWL CLASSICS: #35A MINI – HALLS OF THE MINOTAUR …. $9.99
DUNGEON CRAWL CLASSICS: #67 MINI - SAILORS ON THE STARLESS SEA … $9.99
GRIMTOOTHS ULTIMATE TRAPS COLLECTION HARDCOVER …….. $49.99
DUNGEON CRAWL CLASSICS: #79 MINI - FROZEN IN TIME … $9.99
DUNGEON CRAWL CLASSICS: #83 THE CHAINED COFFIN BOX SET .. $39.99
Konami Digital Entertainment
YU-GI-OH! TCG: PREMIUM GOLD - RETURN OF THE BLING DISPLAY (5)
Modiphius
ACHTUNG! CTHULHU RPG: ELDER GODLIKE … $32.99
DUST ADVENTURES RPG: CORE RULEBOOK HARDCOVER … $54.99
DUST ADVENTURES RPG: OPERATION APOCALYPSE CAMPAIGN ….. $32.99
ACHTUNG! CTHULHU RPG: ZERO POINT-HEROES OF THE SEA … $23.99
ACHTUNG! CTHULHU RPG: TERRORS OF THE SECRET WAR … 28.99
Monte Cook Games
NUMENERA RPG: WEIRD DISCOVERIES $24.99
Mongoose
TRAVELLER RPG 2300AD: BAYERN … $24.99
TRAVELLER RPG 2300AD: THE AEROSPACE ENGINEER’S HANDBOOK … $24.99
TRAVELLER RPG: REFT SECTOR MAP PACK .. $12.99
Paizo Publishing
PATHFINDER ADVENTURE CARD GAME: WRATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS BASE SET $59.99
PATHFINDER TALES: FORGE OF ASHES PAPERBACK $9.99
PATHFINDER MAP PACK: SEA CAVES $13.99
PATHFINDER PLAYER COMPANION: COHORTS AND COMPANIONS $12.99
PATHFINDER: UNCHAINED HARDCOVER $39.99
PATHFINDER ADV PATH: GIANTSLAYER PART 3 - FORGE OF THE GIANT GOD … $22.99
PATHFINDER ADV CARD GAME: WRATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS CHARACTER ADD-ON DECK .. $19.99
PALLADIUM
Rifter #70 …. $11.95
Pinnacle
Savage Worlds RPG: Karthador …. $35.00
Rogue Games
Rogue Games produces Colonial Gothic, a historical horror game set in the Revolutionary War. Given my eclectic tastes, I’ve been ordering the random book that been solicited. This month, they solicit EIGHT different books. There’s no notes on most of them if they are current publications or scheduled to be released. What’s a small store to do?
Probably not order any of them.
Even in this age of social media and handheld internet access, I’m not going to research a game line unless I have an active player base with the potential to buy these items. That time is better spent promoting existing lines or even blowing out the overstock on eBay (it is inventory season for tax time).
Steve Jackson Games
Mars Attacks: Ten Minute Takedown ........................................................................... $9.95
Twilight Creations
Zombies!!! Bag o' Brains Pink ..................................................................................... $5.99
Zombies!!! Bag o' Zombies Deluxe Glowing 3rd Edition .............................................$12.99
Wizards of the Coast
D&D 5th Edition: Dungeon Master's Screen ..........................................................$14.95
WizKids
D&D Attack Wing: Bahumat ...................................................................................$79.99
Marvel Heroclix: Ant-Man Boxed Set ............................................................................ $49.99
Marvel Heroclix: Classic Avengers .................................................................................$14.95
Marvel Heroclix: Avengers Assemble Boosters
Most gamers are either dead-set in their ways, so even the most elaborate demos couldn't make them part with their money for a game outside of their realm, or they're subject to the whims of chaos, buying into each trend as they come out, but just enough to barely play, or however long it takes for the next trend to launch.
For a customer, dropping a couple of bucks, heck, even two or three hundred dollars on a game only to shelve it is a bit painful, but hopefully they've derived some joy out of it that may equate to a dollar amount.
For a store owner, large scale orders of whimsey could kill a business. Heck, even calculated, well-budgeted and supported forays into a product line could sufficiently draw business focus away from the store's bread and butter and might not break even.
For my Imaginary Store List, I don't list every item that Game Trade Monthly lists. I use my eight years experience as a game store manager, the chatter at the local FLGS, my friends, and a little bit from the internet, my general preferences of what games I could promote and make money and what games I would be stupid not to promote to make money to make the list.
I'm constantly going over that criteria to see if I need to axe a line for the make believe store, or if I need to consider the options.
Early on in the Apathy columns, I was listing the Dystopian Wars releases from Spartan Games. Need concept, quirky game, but a low buy in for new players, three things I'm looking for when ordering game I don't play. Unfortunately, the factions expanded and everything just seemed to look the same. Then they released Dystopian Legions the 30mm version and the figure costs and such made me decide that if I'm not selling enough what I've already ordered (a 50/50 chance in my imagination) I would curtail the line, and ultimately, liquidate product.
From time to time, I have listed a few of the sets and vehicles under my "Money is No Object List," but unless I had special orders, I would rarely stock a single items for the coolness factor alone.
This month, I've decided to stop list third-party Pathfinder products under the store listing? Why? In many cases, they seem redundant to current in-stock books Paizo publishes directly. Secondly, just like the d20 glut, the quality of the books appears sketchy at best. Finally, unless I was moving a large portion of them (and probably rarely re-ordering), they take up a lot of shelf space I would rather experiment with a different product line.
Paizo releases a huge variety of Pathfinder products, it's tough enough to keep up with those lines (and hope they sell) than the tertiary products from companies than I'll never see again. As much as the gamer side of me wants it to be, even an imaginary game store shouldn't be a library.
My Want List
'Nuttin
My Money-is-No-Object Want List
Catalyst Game Labs
BATTLETECH: LANCE PACKS Command ....... ……………………………………… $19.99
BATTLETECH: LANCE PACKS Recon …………...…………………………………... $19.99
Getting the Introductory Set for Christmas has sparked my interest again, but let's play a game or two first before going wild.
Khepera Publishing ATLANTIS - THE SECOND AGE: THERAGRAPHICA HARDCOVER … $35.95
Spartan Games
As I stated earlier, I have some questions stocking even one of Spartan's lines. However, certain items could pique my interest. While I don't have much interest in their new Republique du France or the Covenant of Antarctica, Antarctica's Automata Robots ($27.95) have a cool Steampunk Legions of Steel vibe to them.
My Imaginary Store List
Alderac Entertainment Group
DARK SEAS .................................................................................................................. $39.99
Stake your claim as the greatest pirate of all time! Build a pirate empire in the uncharted. Plunder Islands!
Legends of the Five Rings CCG: Twenty Festivals
Starters and Boosters
Ares Games
Sails of Glory - new ships ranging between $17.90 and $29.90
Atlas Games
Ars Magica: Through the Aegis HC ................................................................................ $32.95
Three Cheers for Master ................................................................................................... $19.95
Master Has Been Blue, Lately! It’s just not the same now that all lands known to evil have been conquered. When Master’s blue, it’s the minions who suffer. As a lieutenant in Master’s army — a foreminion — it falls to you to cheer him up. Not the easiest task, even in the best of times. But then it hits you: What better way to cheer Master up than a cheerleading competition? Whichever foreminion builds and scales the most impressive tower of war-hungry minions will surely win Master’s heart. What could possibly go wrong? Scheduled to ship in March 2015.
Bellweather Games
Antidote .............................................................................................................................. $18.00
Catalyst Game Labs
Battletech: Combat Manual Kurita HC ............................................................................... $29.95
SHADOWRUN RPG: DARK RESONANCE PB …………………...………………….. $12.95
SHADOWRUN RPG: SHAKEN – NO JOB TOO SMALL PB ……………………........ $12.95
VALIANT UNIVERSE RPG: TRANSCENDENTS EDGE HC …………… ………...... $39.99
Cheapass Games
Stuff and Nonsense …………………………………………………………………… $25.00
Cheeky Dingo Entertainment
ELFQUEST ADVENTURE GAME …………………………………………………… $29.95
Cryptozoic
ADVENTURE TIME CARD WARS: ICE KING VS. MARCELINE DECK … $20.00
DC COMICS DECKBUILDING GAME: CROSSOVER PACK #1 JSA …...… $10.00
DC COMICS DECKBUILDING GAME: TEEN TITANS …………………….. $40.00
Cubicle 7
DOCTOR WHO RPG: CORE RULES HC …………………………………………….. $49.99
DOCTOR WHO RPG: THE TENTH DOCTOR SOURCEBOOK HC ………………... $39.99
THE LAUNDRY RPG: AS ABOVE SO BELOW ……………………………………... $24.99
Diamond Comics Distributors
This is where I, as the imaginary store owner, lose my shit. Sure the majority (re: all) of the items solicited under Diamond are non-Gaming but fanboy related, but for every “step forward” so to speak, there’s a “falmpalm” product you are embarrassed to order, but would probably sell 10 times as many.
Electronic Dancing Baby Groot? Depending on price, a great idea and most stores should sell a handful of people who haven’t picked one up via the internet.
Game of Thrones: In Memoriam book? Nice silly, gift, but it would be dated by the time Christmas rolls around and you could move a couple. Poor timing.
Chicks Dig Gaming: Collections of essays about anything gaming only cover the hardcore demographic and one or two confused persons. Not saying you can’t move this, but it’s more likely to be read by bored staff on a snow day than purchased on a whim by a customer.
Which leads us to the least gaming-related and most gamer-stereotypical book offered: The American Boobs Book. A hardcover book covering breasts , boobs, and everything in between (most call that cleavage). From my time working at Dreamscape Comics back in the 90’s, this book would have three or four pre-orders MINIMUM, and the copy for the shelf would be restocked two or three times a year! Sure, there’s an influx of female and minority gamers, but you know who has more disposable income as a group? The creepy male gamers who love ta-tas.
Expeditious Retreat Press
Advanced Adventures #32: The Palace Beyond …………………………………….. $12.00
Fantasy Flight Games
STAR WARS X-WING: IMPERIAL RAIDER EXPANSION PACK …................. $99.95
TALISMAN: THE DEEP REALMS EXPANSION …................................................ PI
WARHAMMER 40K DARK HERESY 2ND ED RPG: ENEMIES WITHIN HARDCOVER $39.95
Gale Force Nine
D&D Temple of Elemental Evil – Gar Shatterkeel ….$30.00
D&D Temple of Elemental Evil – Water Mymidon …. $30.00
Elemental Node of Water Game Mat ………$20.00
Games Workshop
Cutting Mat …. $15.00
Palette Pad … $8.00
Project Box $66.00
Ultimate Paint Set $560.00
An official GW Mat for five bucks more than you can grab at a craft shop? Sounds about right. For the price of a palette pad can grab enough discount tiles to have my whole family paint, and work on the backsplash around my stove. There are arts and crafts project cases at Toys R Us that are a third of the price (although the colors could be a bit bright than the "cool" black. And that paint set can't be a great one-time purchase for a customer, although I could imagine cannibalising that sucker for the paint display, especially if there's a minimum paint order through GW.
40K: Shield of Baal Deathstorm $125.00
Space Marine Blood Angels Codes $49.50
Space Marine Blood Angels Death Company $33.00
Space Marine Blood Angels Sanguinary Priest $30.00
SPACE MARINE CRIMSON SLAUGHTER $135.00
SPACE MARINE DARK ANGELS $140.00
SPACE MARINE BLOOD ANGELS SONS OF SANGUINIUS PAINTING GUIDE $33.00
SPACE MARINE BLOOD ANGELS TACTICAL SQUAD … $43.00
SPACE MARINE BLOOD ANGELS TERMINATOR ASSAULT SQUAD … $60.00
SPACE MARINE BLOOD ANGELS TERMINATOR LIBRARIAN $30.00
TYRANID INVASION SWARMS TYRANIDS PAINTING GUIDE $33.00
TYRANID SHIELD OF BAAL: LEVIATHAN (ENGLISH) $74.25
TYRANID TYRANNOCYTE $63.00
TYRANID VENOMTHROPES $66.00
WARHAMMER FANTASY BATTLES KHAINE (ENGLISH) $66.00
Wallets weep. Game store owners squeal with delight.
Goodman Games
DUNGEON CRAWL CLASSICS: #35A MINI – HALLS OF THE MINOTAUR …. $9.99
DUNGEON CRAWL CLASSICS: #67 MINI - SAILORS ON THE STARLESS SEA … $9.99
GRIMTOOTHS ULTIMATE TRAPS COLLECTION HARDCOVER …….. $49.99
DUNGEON CRAWL CLASSICS: #79 MINI - FROZEN IN TIME … $9.99
DUNGEON CRAWL CLASSICS: #83 THE CHAINED COFFIN BOX SET .. $39.99
Konami Digital Entertainment
YU-GI-OH! TCG: PREMIUM GOLD - RETURN OF THE BLING DISPLAY (5)
Modiphius
ACHTUNG! CTHULHU RPG: ELDER GODLIKE … $32.99
DUST ADVENTURES RPG: CORE RULEBOOK HARDCOVER … $54.99
DUST ADVENTURES RPG: OPERATION APOCALYPSE CAMPAIGN ….. $32.99
ACHTUNG! CTHULHU RPG: ZERO POINT-HEROES OF THE SEA … $23.99
ACHTUNG! CTHULHU RPG: TERRORS OF THE SECRET WAR … 28.99
Monte Cook Games
NUMENERA RPG: WEIRD DISCOVERIES $24.99
Mongoose
TRAVELLER RPG 2300AD: BAYERN … $24.99
TRAVELLER RPG 2300AD: THE AEROSPACE ENGINEER’S HANDBOOK … $24.99
TRAVELLER RPG: REFT SECTOR MAP PACK .. $12.99
Paizo Publishing
PATHFINDER ADVENTURE CARD GAME: WRATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS BASE SET $59.99
PATHFINDER TALES: FORGE OF ASHES PAPERBACK $9.99
PATHFINDER MAP PACK: SEA CAVES $13.99
PATHFINDER PLAYER COMPANION: COHORTS AND COMPANIONS $12.99
PATHFINDER: UNCHAINED HARDCOVER $39.99
PATHFINDER ADV PATH: GIANTSLAYER PART 3 - FORGE OF THE GIANT GOD … $22.99
PATHFINDER ADV CARD GAME: WRATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS CHARACTER ADD-ON DECK .. $19.99
PALLADIUM
Rifter #70 …. $11.95
Pinnacle
Savage Worlds RPG: Karthador …. $35.00
Rogue Games
Rogue Games produces Colonial Gothic, a historical horror game set in the Revolutionary War. Given my eclectic tastes, I’ve been ordering the random book that been solicited. This month, they solicit EIGHT different books. There’s no notes on most of them if they are current publications or scheduled to be released. What’s a small store to do?
Probably not order any of them.
Even in this age of social media and handheld internet access, I’m not going to research a game line unless I have an active player base with the potential to buy these items. That time is better spent promoting existing lines or even blowing out the overstock on eBay (it is inventory season for tax time).
Steve Jackson Games
Mars Attacks: Ten Minute Takedown ........................................................................... $9.95
Twilight Creations
Zombies!!! Bag o' Brains Pink ..................................................................................... $5.99
Zombies!!! Bag o' Zombies Deluxe Glowing 3rd Edition .............................................$12.99
Wizards of the Coast
D&D 5th Edition: Dungeon Master's Screen ..........................................................$14.95
WizKids
D&D Attack Wing: Bahumat ...................................................................................$79.99
Marvel Heroclix: Ant-Man Boxed Set ............................................................................ $49.99
Marvel Heroclix: Classic Avengers .................................................................................$14.95
Marvel Heroclix: Avengers Assemble Boosters
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