Monday, August 24, 2015

Apathy of the New Releases (Sep '15)

Gen Con is over and gamers lay on their bean bag chairs, bloated with the glut of gaming purchased either at the con, or that has descended upon the FLGS. 

So why is the games section of the latest Game Trade Magazine ten pages bigger than the last few
months?
  1. Still alot of Gen Con releases that never made it to the big book (aka Scheduled to ship in August 2015 in a preorder book for September and beyond.
  2. Some publishers do make money at Gen Con (not many) and their planning on that funding their next project.
  3. Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming t'will soon be here!
There's a dispportionate number of pages dedicated to Diamond Comics Distributors (parent company/older sibling to Alliance, the publisher of GTM).  This in and of itself is not a bad thing.  In the traditional comics/gaming hybrid store, a slew of DC/Marvel/Dr Who/Anything else licensed stuff is great.  What's not great for the few smart consumers who read GTM is that all of their items' pricing is listed as PI (Please Inquire).  The wholesale discounting is much less for these than any traditional items in the catalog.   You're not going to turn your store into a profitable version of Spencer's (anyone remember Spencers?) stocking heavily from the Diamond listing in GTM, or going directly through your Diamond account, if you have one.


My Want List
Griggling Games
Santa's Bag (GGM 004)   ........................................................................................ $24.95
I was so happy that I would get away with nothing on my want list, and then I took a second look at this and realized that not only did Travis Hanson do the art, but it's for ages 7+.   I may have trouble assembling games for my #30GamesaMonth, but perhaps next year I won't have the same issue.

The Money-is-No-Object List

The Imaginary Store List
Alderac Entertainment Group
Automobiles ............................................................................................................  $49.99
Dice City  ................................................................................................................  $39.99
Flock   ......................................................................................................................  $29.99
We go from strange sounding Euro boardgames to fairly generic one or two-word names. 

LEGEND OF THE FIVE RINGS CCG: EVIL PORTENTS BOOSTER
LEGEND OF THE FIVE RINGS RPG:  ATLAS OF ROKUGAN .......................  $49.99


Asmodee
The Builders: Antiquity ...........................................................................................  $17.99
Cash N' Guns:  More Cash N' Guns Expansion ......................................................  $29.99

Atlas Games
Ars Magica:  Lands of the Nile ................................................................................. $29.95
Goodnight Azathoth .................................................................................................. $19.95

Avalanch Press
The Red God of War .................................................................................................. $34.99
Second World War at Sea:  The Habsburg Fleet ........................................................ $39.99

Burning Wheel
Mouse Guard:  Swords and Strongholds ................................................................... $30.00

Catalyst Game Labs
Battletech Shadows of Faith PB ..............................................................................   $12.95
Shadowrun: Hostile Takeover  ................................................................................   $59.95
Shadowrun RPG: Corporate Book ..........................................................................   $44.99
Shadowrun RPG:  Denver 3 ....................................................................................   $19.99
Shadowrun RPG:  Seattle Boxed Set ......................................................................    $59.99
Shadowrun RPG:  Sprawl Gangers, Core Rulebook ...............................................   $39.99

Chaosium
Call of Cthulhu Dark Ages 2nd Edition ..................................................................    $32.95
I hesitate puttinng this on any personal list without watching the Chaosium drama unfold with the 7th Edition rulebooks. 

Corvus Belli
Ariadna Hardcases .................................................................................................... $11.58
I've been on the record numerous times about my disdain for the pricing of Infinity figures.  This one still isn't worth the price, but it's an awesome figure.
 


Cubicle 7
Doctor Who RPG:  Silurian Age - Dinosaurs and Spaceships .................................  $34.99


Diamond Comics Distributors
Dungeons and Dragons:  Beholder Dice Bag ............................................................  PI


Enterplay
My Little Pony CCG:   2-Player Trainer Set ........................................................... $12.99
My Little Pony CCG:  High Magic (Boosters and Starters)

Evil Hat Productions
FATE RPG:  War of Ashes - Fate of Agaptus Core Rules HC ................................ $35.00

Exile Game Studio
Hollow Earth Expedition ........................................................................................... $39.99

Fantasy Flight Games
Samurai ..................................................................................................................... $49.95
Star Wars Imperial Assault Alliance Smuggler Ally Pack ....................................... $ 9.95
Star Wars Imperial Assault  Bantha Rider Villan Pack ............................................ $19.95
STAR WARS RPG: FORCE AND DESTINY KEEPING THE PEACE SB HC ... $29.95
STAR WARS RPG: EDGE OF THE EMPIRE MAS OF THE PIRATE QUEEN .. $29.95

Games Worskhop
Retributor Armor Spray  ............................................................................................ $28.00
What the hell is in a can of spray paint that can justify a $28.00 price tag? 

Age of Sigmar Boxed Set .......................................................................................... $125.00
Age of Sigmar Rule Book ......................................................................................... $ 74.00
Not listing everything, but the portals they're listing as terrain are horribly overpriced versus any other terrain twice its size produced by any other company.  (Not that the average GW player knows how to use Google).   I don't what's worse, the Eternals basically being  fantasy Space Marines:

Or that this figure is THIRTY THREE DOLLARS!

It makes the 40k Eldar Windrider Battlehost for $160.00 look like a bargain!

Space Marines: Dark Angels Codex ....................................................................... $58.00


GMT Games
Pax Romana, 2nd Edition ....................................................................................... $69.00
The US Civil War ................................................................................................... $75.00
Wilderness War: The French and Indian War ........................................................ $60.00

Goodman Games
DCC #67  Sailors on the Starless Sea .................................................................... $14.99
DCC #84.1 The Rock Awakens ............................................................................. $ 9.99
DCC #87.5  Grimtooth's Museum of Death ........................................................... $ 9.99
DCC #88  The 998th Conclave of Wizards ........................................................... $19.99
DCC #88.5 Curse of the Kingspire ........................................................................ $ 9.99
Fifth Edition Fantasy #6 Raiders of the Lost Oasis ............................................... $ 9.99
Fifth Edition Fantasy #7 Fantastic Encounters ...................................................... $ 9.99
Gen Con 2015 2015 Program Guide ...................................................................... $30.00

Greenbrier Games
Fairytale Games: The Battle Royale - Core Game ................................................. $64.95
I believe this is the game my friend Steve dove into the Kickstarter for, and has only received stretch goals for (the awesome minis). 

Green Ronin Publishing
Fantasy Age Basic Rule Book ................................................................................. $29.95
Fantasy Age:  Titansgrave - The Ashes of Valkana ................................................ $24.95
Titansgrave, the new focus of Wil Wheaton's projects on Geek and Sundry.  Color me unimpressed, but some follower will run into the store, see the book on the shelf, and scream, "IT MUST BE MINE!"  Not nearly as excited searching through Amazon. 

Kherpera Publishing
Atlantis: The Second Age RPG:  City Guide ........................................................... $20.95

Konami Digital Entertainment
Yu-Gi-Oh!  High Speed Riders Boosters

Osprey Publishing
Bolt Action:  Empires in Flames .............................................................................. $29.95
Bug Hunts ................................................................................................................. $17.95
The Cthulhu Wars - The United States' Battles Against the Mytos .......................... $18.95
Same book listed a few months ago, just with a pushed back release date.
Frostgrave:  Thaw of the Lich Lord .......................................................................... $17.95
Honours of War - Wargame Rules for the Seven Years War ................................... $17.95
Rhodesian Light Infantryman 1961-1980 ................................................................. $18.95

Paizo Publishing
PATHFINDER ADVENTURE CARD GAME: BARBARIAN CLASS DECK ....  $19.99PATHFINDER: BESTIARY 5 HC ..........................................................................  $44.99
PATHFINDER AP: HELL’S REBELS 4 -A SONG OF SILVER ........................... $29.99
PATHFINDER CAMPAIGN SETTING:  OCCULT REALMS .............................. $22.99
PATHFINDER PLAYER COMPANION: WEAPON MASTER’S HB .................. $14.99
PATHFINDER FLIP-MAT: WINTER FOREST ...................................................... $14.99

Pelgrane Press
Trail of Cthulhu:  Cthulhu Apocalypse HC ................................................................ $34.95

Pinnacle Entertainment
SAVAGE WORLDS RPG: KAISER’S GATE .......................................................... $29.95
SAVAGE WORLDS RPG: NEMEZIS - GALAXY .................................................. $19.99
SAVAGE WORLDS RPG:  THE LAST PARSEC - CORE BOOK HC ................... $24.99
SAVAGE WORLDS RPG:  THE SIXTH GUN RPG LTD ED HC  ......................... $24.99
SAVAGE WORLDS RPG:  THE SIXTH GUN GM SCREEN ................................. $19.99
SAVAGE WORLDS RPG:  THIN BLUE LINE - A DETROIT POLICE STORY ... $40.00 As if working in Detroit isn't bad enough, working as a cop in paranormal Detroit?  At least all those empty houses can be put to good use.

Posthuman Studios
Eclipse Phase RPG:  Firewall HC ................................................................................ $44.99

Rogue Games
Colonial Gothic:  Lovecraft .......................................................................................... $24.99

Sasquatch Game Studio
Dungeons and Dragons RPG:  Primeval Thule Campaign Setting ............................... $49.95

Steve Jackson Games
Munchkin: Christmas Lite ............................................................. $9.95
Munchkin: Kittens Blister Pack ..................................................... $9.95
Munchkin: Zombies Deluxe ........................................................... $29.95
Munchkin: Cosmic Demo Blister Pack .......................................... $5.95
Star Munchkin: Space Ships Blister Pack ...................................... $4.95

Studio 2 Publishing
Savage Worlds RPG: Lakhmar City of Thieves Ltd Edition ....................................... $24.99
Savage Worlds RPG: Lakhmar: Foes of Nehwon ........................................................ $24.99
Savage Worlds RPG: Lakhmar GM Screen  With Adventure ...................................... $19.99
Savage Worlds RPG: Terran Trade Authority The Proxima War ................................ $34.95
Savage Worlds RPG:  The Last Parsec Eris Beta-V ..................................................... $19.99
Savage Worlds RPG:  The Last Parsec Levithan .......................................................... $19.99
Savage Worlds RPG:  The Last Parsec Scientroium ..................................................... $19.99

Twilight Creations
Zombies!!! #14:  Space Bites! ....................................................................................... $15.99

Warlord Games
Bolt Action Germany Strikes .........................................  PI
Beyond the Gates of Antares HC Rulebook .................... PI
Strike Vector One:  The Xilos Horizon - Starter Set ....... PI
You know what grinds my gears more than Games Workshop prices or even no prices listed?  No prices listed on a brand new game.  40K could disappear off the face of the Earth, and I still wouldn't order anything for the store.  We would move over to all Mantic instead.  In the hypothetical universe the store resides in, it's one option we probably have done already.

Wizkids
Pathfinder Battles:  Iconic Heroes Box Set 4 .............................................................. $34.99
Pathfinder Battles:  Iconic Heroes Box Set 5 .............................................................. $34.99

Worthington Games
Galaxy Command ......................................................................................................... $14.00
Trenton 1776 ................................................................................................................. $26.00

Wyrd Miniatures
MALIFAUX: 2ND  EDITION STARTER SET ................................... $65.00
SHIFTING LOYALTIES ...................................................................... $45.00
ARCANISTS KAERIS CREW BURNING REVELATION ................ $45.00
GENERALIST UPGRADE DECK ....................................................... $18.00
NEVERBORN WICKED DOLL .......................................................... $18.00
SHIFTING LOYALTIES CAMPAIGN DECK .................................... $18.00 

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