Sunday, July 26, 2015

Apathy of the New Releases (Aug '15)

GenCon 2015 is but a few days away, and what finally shows up in this month's Game Trade Magaine?  All the late publishers scrambling to get product to Indianopolis, and forgetting to submit something to the distributor network.    Mark this day on your calendar, for I have found THREE items that will be pre-ordered through my FLGS. 

My Want List
REAPER
2015 CONVENTION MOUSLING   RPR 01558 ...............................................................  $12.99
I'll take a shot and see if it truly is available through the FLGS, otherwise, it's off to eBay and comparable prices

Steve Jackson Games
Munchkin Treasure Hunt SJG 1521 .................................................................................... $29.95
Finally out of it's exclusive deal with Toys 'R Us, this kid version of Munchkin should be hours of fun back at the home front.

WizKids
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles FAST FORCES WZK 72059..............................................  $16.99
The girls love their turtles, and if I break down to buy a clix game this might as well be it.


My Money-is-no-Object List
Cubicle 7
Victoriana RPG: Invasion from Mars ................................................................................. $24.99


My Imaginary Game Store List (aka, The Pegleg Gnome)
Alderac Entertainment Group
Love Letter: Adventure Time .............................................................................................. $10.99
Legends of the Five Rings CCG:  Evil Portants Boosters

The Army Painter
Magic Superglue Activator Dispenser  ................................................................................ $5.99ea
Warpaints:  Quickshade Ink Set II ......................................................................................  $22.50
While I just started using the Army Painter Inks, and I'm not impressed, this is a great deal for someone who enjoys using them.

Bezier Games
Favor of the Pharaoh ............................................................................................................  $59.95
This is one game that if the budget allowed for it, I would stock it on a whim.  With the glut of sixty dollar games out there, the only reason it caught my eye was my daughter's crazed love for ancient Egypt.

Catalyst Game Labs
SHADOWRUN CROSSFIRE DBG: CHARACTER EXPANSION PACK  .................. $24.99
There's a Shadowrun Deck Building Game?    I'm not a fan of these, especially with a million expansions, since I rarely see them move from the shelf. 
SHADOWRUN RPG: UNDERSHADOWS PAPERBACK ........................................... $12.95

Chaosium
Call of Cthulhu RPG 7th Edition Keeper's Rulebook  ..................................................... $54.95
Call of Cthulhu RPG 7th Edition Investigator's Handbook .............................................. $44.95
Call of Cthulhu Keeper Screen ......................................................................................... $29.95
I've tried to be more of an indifferent Eric than a negative Nancy about 7th Edition, but I'll call it here:  7th Edition will be the final nail in the coffin for Chaosium.  They designed an Investigator Rulebook  so people didn't need all the mythos creatures/spells/etc, and charge FORTY-FIVE BUCKS????  Worse yet, it's only ten bucks less than the Keeper's book that has most of the rules in it?    If I were a store, I'd avoid this trainwreck, especially since your smart customers would have (a) Kickstartered this or (b) will snag it up on Amazon.   And I don't care if you enclosed solid gold in it, a Keeper Screen for THIRTY BUCKS is ridiculous.  I love Chaosium, I love CoC, but this much financial output by the stores and players for what every 7th Edition Actual Play has presented as a few mechanical adjustment (Stats x5 is like the change from low AC good to high AC good in D&D 3rd Edition) or a slew of OPTIONAL rules is garbage.  Horror on the Orient Express is a glorious massively overdone boxed set that you will get hours of use out of for $120.00... and almost killed the company.  This might be worse.

Cheapass Games
Lord of the Fries Superdeluxe Edition ............................................................................ $25.00
Lord of the Fries Restaurant Expansion ......................................................................... $10.00 each
Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and Irish Pub
Pairs:  Goddesses of Cusine ............................................................................................ $10.00
Pairs:  Lord of the Fries Deck ......................................................................................... $10.00

Cryptozoic Entertainment
Ghostbusters: The Board Game ...................................................................................... $85.00
The miserly gamer in me cringes at the eighty-five bucks, but it will appeal to those who think the new movie is destroying their childhood (I can deal with (not seeing) the new movie, but those uniforms remind me of a prison roadside detail, or a towtruck operator.)

Cubicle 7
Doctor Who RPG:  Adventures Anthology, Volume 1 .................................................. $34.99

Diamond Comics Distributors
Lots of plushies, action figures, t-shirts, and statues this month.   The one thing that caught my eye, depending on price?
MY LITTLE PONY 4 PIECE 10 OUNCE GLASS SET ...............................................  PI
After discussions with my FLGS, My Little Pony products have infiltrated all demographics.  An affordable set could fly off the shelves (or out of the display case) consistently.

Fantasy Flight Games
The entire release schedule for FFG focuses on Limited Card Games (see comment above about Deck Building Games.  My concerns apply here as well.)  To add insult to injury all of the decks associated with the Star Wars RPG (which normally are $14.95) are listed under "PI - Please Inquire" which means the wholesale discount is usually much worse.   Not the best way to coerce a store into stocking your product, when the majority of these products collect dust after a short lifespan.

FASA
Earthdawn 4th Editon Players Guide ............................................................................ $44.99

Frog God Games
Pathfinder RPG:  Cyclopean Deeps V2 .........................................................................$34.99
Pathfinder RPG:  Field of Blood ................................................................................... $34.99
Pathfinder RPG:  The Lost Lands - Cults of the Sundered Kingdoms ......................... $54.99
Pathfinder RPG:  The Lost Lands - Perils of the Borderland Provinces ...................... $34.99
Pathfinder RPG:  The Lost Lands - The Blight ............................................................ $99.99
Pathfinder RPG:  The Lost Lands - The Northlands Saga Complete ........................... $99.99
Looks like a third party publisher is getting ready for GenCon and forgot to list this with the distributors, given the July 2015 release date.  Even compared to Paizo's prodigious publishing schedule, this is a lot of cash to dole out for one copy each at a store. 

Games Workshop
I've ranted enough on game companies' decisions, but it's GW.  When your overpriced "How to Paint Ultramarines book is less than half the price of a standard five figure boxed set (Space Marine Assault Squad), you have a problem.  Still, everyone at my FLGS who plays 40k can't wait till they blow their entire minimum wage paycheck on a  two more boxes of ten figures total, so the system works.

Goodman Games
Dungeon Crawl Classics:  Lankhmar- Patrons of Lankhmar ........................................ $9.99
FIFTH EDITION FANTASY: #5 INTO THE DRAGONS MAW .............................. $9.99

Hasbro
Magic the Gathering:  Arena of the Planeswalkers Board Game ................................. PI
Only two concerns:  (1) What is MSRP versus wholesale and (2) How deep is this getting distributed into the chain and box stores?

IDW Games
Godfather: An Offer You Can't Refuse Game ............................................................... $24.99
It might be a flaming pile of dung, but a game about The Godfather for $25 should move a copy or two.

Iron Wind Metals
CATAPHRACT CTF-0X  IWM 20-5120................................... .............................. $14.75
LU WEI BING LN-4B (TRO 3145) IWM 20-5121.................... .............................. $15.95
QUASIMODO QSM-3D(TRO 3145) IWN 20-5124................... .............................. $12.95
TENSHI TN-10-O (TRO 3145) IWM 20-5122........................... ............................... $16.95
WENDIGO PRIME (TRO 3145)  IWM 20-5123........................ ............................... $12.75

Kobold Press
Pathfinder RPG:  Halls of the Mountain King ............................................................ $24.99
Single product, cheap price, nice artwork.  Much better option for an experimental order than Frog God's options.

Mayfair Games
Booty ............................................................................................................................ $34.99
Star Trek:  Five Year Mission ...................................................................................... $34.99

Osprey Publishing
Black Ops ..................................................................................................................... $17.95
Finland at War .............................................................................................................. $34.95

Paizo Publishing
PATHFINDER ADVENTURE CG: CITY OF LOCUSTS ADVENTURE DECK ...  $19.99
PATHFINDER ADVENTURE CG: DRUID CLASS DECK   ...................................  $19.99
PATHFINDER AP: HELL’S REBELS PART 3 - DANCE OF THE DAMNED ......  $24.99
PATHFINDER CAMPAIGN SETTING: DISTANT SHORES GAZETTEER   ........ $22.99
PATHFINDER FLIP-MAT CLASSICS:CITY STREETS ........................................... $13.99
PATHFINDER FLIP-MAT: BIGGER BASIC ............................................................. $19.99
PATHFINDER FLIP-MAT CLASSICS: PRISON ....................................................... $13.99
PATHFINDER FLIP-MAT CLASSICS: FOREST .....................................................  $13.99
PATHFINDER FLIP-MAT CLASSICS: SHIP ...........................................................  $13.99
PATHFINDER FLIP-MAT CLASSICS: SWAMP ...................................................... $13.99
PATHFINDER FLIP-MAT CLASSICS: TAVERN .................................................... $13.99
PATHFINDER FLIP-MAT CLASSICS: WOODLANDS ........................................... $13.99
PATHFINDER FLIP-MAT CLASSICS: VILLAGE SQUARE .................................. $13.99
PATHFINDER MAP PACK: SLUM QUARTER ALLEYS ......................................  $14.99
PATHFINDER THE HOUSE ON HOOK STREET ...................................................  $24.99
PATHFINDER PLAYER  COMPANION: BLACK MARKETS ...............................  $14.99

Palladium Books
Rifter #72 ........................................................................................................................ $13.95

Pokemon USA
Pokemon TCG XY Ancient Origins

Reaper
Outside of the ReaperCon Mousling actually getting solicited, the rest of the figures are simply a reminder of why they're on their third Bones Kickstarter.  Nice figures, but almost Games Workshop priciness to this cheap fella.

Steve Jackson Games
Munchkin Holiday Surprise 2015 ............................................................................. $19.95
Munchkin Imaginary Frenemies Blister Pack ........................................................... $ 3.95
Munchkin Stocking Stuffers ...................................................................................... $ 4.95
Munchkin Undead Blister Pack ................................................................................. $ 5.95
Munchkin Marked for Death Blister Pack ................................................................. $ 5.95
Munchkin Steampunk Kill-o-Meter ........................................................................... $ 6.95
Munchkin Steampunk Deluxe .................................................................................... $29.95

Studio 2 Publishing
Deadlands Reloaded Stone and a Hard Place ............................................................. $29.99
Deadlands Reloaded Stone and a Hard Place Map ..................................................... $14.99
Lankhmar City of Thieves ........................................................................................... $24.99
Lankhmar:  Poster Map ............................................................................................... $14.99

Troll Lord Games
Amazing Adventures RPG:  Core Rules HC .............................................................. $29.99
Amazing Adventures RPG:  Companion HC ............................................................. $27.99
Amazing Adventures RPG: Manual of Monsters HC ................................................ $19.99
Amazing Adventures RPG: Rise of the Red God ....................................................... $ 8.99
Castles and  Crusades Nine World Saga III:  Crises in Alfheim .................................$ 7.99
Castles and Crusades Lost City of Gaxmoor HC ........................................................$19.99
Castles and Crusades Elemental Spellbook ................................................................ $ 9.99
Castles and Crusades Players Guide to Aihrde HC .................................................... $19.99
Amazing Adventures looks to cover the Pulp/Sci-Fi that I've begun to appreciate again.  It's based off of the C&C system, so there should be some d20-esque familiarity.  Finally, a thirty dollar entry point for the main rulebook is a wise move and made me look for more info.   Not enough for my money-is-no-object list, but we'll see if that changes.


Wizkids
Star Trek Attack Wing:  Wave 21 Expansion ............................................................ $14.99 each
Bajoran Lightship, Dreadnought, Robinson
Star Trek Attack Wing: Wave 22 Expansion ............................................................ $14.99 each
Federation USS Valiant, Kumari, Romulan RIS PI
Pathfinder Battles:  Rusty Dragon Inn Booster Brick (8) .......................................... $49.99
Amazing Spider-Man and TMNT Dice Masters
TMNT Heroclix (Dice and Token Pack, Fast Forces, Gravity Feed Display).

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