Topps Shuts Down Wizkids

You know Heroclix, Pirates, MechWarrior... collectable miniature games that have been exceedingly popular in many game stores including Neptune. The company that makes them is Wizkids, which is owned by card maker Topps.

In another demonstration of our weak economy Topps is shutting down the Wizkids division. From ICv2: The Topps Company is announcing today that it is closing down WizKids, its core hobby gaming business, and temporarily discontinuing the WizKids product lines.

They claim it's a consolidation move, and that they'll try to find, "strategic alternatives so that viable brands and properties, including HeroClix, can continue without any noticeable disruption."

I don't know if they'll be able to find these alternatives or not. My guess is that they may sell off the division, or if Topps continues to be in control of the brand we will see cutbacks and changes to the line. Financial hardship for companies is really starting to become very real and visible to the general populace now. Circut City stock is trading for pennies and declaring Chapter 11, for gosh sake. It can't be easy for companies like game makers that have already seen some consolidation in tghe market to face the threat of an even larger slide in retail.

Game Time - Indiana Jones Lego

It's cute. It's fun. It's adventure. It's Indiana Jones. It's Legos. All in one great game.

There are few games that Craig & I can play together on the PS3, but this is one of them. We each get to play a fun Lego character from the movies. Right now we're on the second film, probably about 2/3 of the way through Temple of Doom.

If you've ever watched Invader Zim you might remember Zim's statement, "Destruction is Nice." We constantly say that while playing this game because there are so many things to smash up and get the rivet/treasure from. Each adventure includes a bit of the movie done Lego style at the beginning and end - where you see gestures and hear noises but there isn't any actual talking. That's what makes it so surprising when you finish a film and then the credits run for about 5 minutes with a dozen people credited for the voices.


The weather has been making watching TV difficult, since we have DirectTV - which has problems getting a signal in this kind of bad weather. So we've been getting some good playing time in. In fact Craig's loading it up now. So that will end this post.

I recommend the game - it is as good as the Star Wars one in terms of story, visual quality, fun and jokes. Check it out!

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LOL! Gamer Fun

I found this and had to share the fun!

Click this link for more of 'em.

Best Sellers for 2007

I took a look at the key items we sell at Neptune and wanted to share some of our best sellers for the year.

Toys

Best selling figures: The Marvel Classic Lead figures were by and large our best seller, but they are more decoration than toy, so our best selling articulated figures for the year were the Star Wars 30th Anniversary figures.

My favorite toy of the year was the Captain Teague action figure by Neca from the Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End movie.

Games

Best selling board game: Settlers of Catan

Best selling constructible game: Wizkids Pirate’s at Ocean’s Edge
Best selling miniature game: Wizkids Marvel Heroclix, the best selling individual set of Marvel Heroclix was the Marvel Avengers set

My favorite game this year is Ticket to Ride Marklin edition. This isn't a new game, but it IS a good one.

Comics

Best selling comic book super-hero mini-series: Civil War Fallen Son
Best selling comic book non-super-hero mini-series: Dark Tower Gunslinger Born
Best selling comic book mini series overall: Dark Tower (nearly twice as many sold than the next closest series)
I did not figure out the best selling issue or regular series because it was just too difficult. But, if I had to guess, I'd say Dark Tower #1 would be best non-superhero issue and Captain America #25 would be the best selling superhero issue.

My favorite new super hero comic this year is Justice Society of America. My favorite new non super hero series is Criminal. My favorite series that ended this year is Manhunter (DC). Comics we need more of in 2008 are Dark Tower and Buffy.

Books

Best selling manga series: Naruto
Best selling manga issue: tie between Naruto volume 1, Naruto volume 13, Naruto and Naruto volume 15

Best selling graphic novel series: Walking Dead, based upon total sales of all volumes of the series
Best selling single volume DC super-hero graphic novel: Batman The Dark Knight Returns soft cover
Best selling single volume Marvel super-hero graphic novel: Civil War
Best selling single volume non-superhero graphic novel: 300
Best selling non-graphic book: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows was first, but we had the book release party for that one. The second best seller - one that didn't have a big release party affiliated with it was the Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks.

My favorite graphic novels this year are Walking Dead Vol 7 and Heroes Vol 1. One of my resolutions for next year is to read more graphic novels - now I just need to find the time.

My favorite comic book movie of 2007 is definitely 300. It was very accurate with the comic with the exception of the extra story about the Queen that they added.

Yeah Mayfair!

Mayfair games, a game manufacturer that makes games including Settlers of Catan, Empire Builder and Power Lunch, has just announced a plan to support minimum pricing on their products.

From ICv2 News:

Mayfair Games Announces Minimum Prices
For Retailers, Distributors
October 28, 2007

Mayfair Games has become the first major hobby game company to announce a system of price floors in response to the recent Supreme Court decision (see "Supreme Court Drops Ban on Vertical Pricing"). In a communication to its customers, Mayfair informed them that retail prices below 20% off MSRP or wholesale prices below 50% off MSRP would not be tolerated and that customers that violate those terms "shall be subject to sanctions," including being cut off.

Mayfair explained in the announcement that it feels discounting is "unnecessary and counter-productive for everyone in the mid-to-long term." The company stressed that it was seeking for its distributors and retailers to have adequate profit margins. "It is far healthier for us, our distributors, and our retailers to derive a healthy profit from the sale of our games than it is for us to see them dumped into the marketplace," the announcement said.

One of the problems brick & mortar game stores have faced in the last 5 years or so is the increasing availability of games on-line for deeply discounted prices. I have mentioned discounting on several occasions including here and here. A brick & mortar store of any kind has overhead, and that overhead has to be paid for with the profits from the sales of the products within it. The more items are discounted, the harder it becomes to pay for that overhead. On the other hand, consumers like getting stuff cheap. I like getting stuff cheap. Who doesn't want to save money? So, it is hard to blame people for buying games on-line for 40% - 50% less than what I am selling them for in my store. But, when game stores can't compete and have to close down, the consumer who isn't buying from those game stores have to take some of the responsibility. See, those on-line stores typically don't have overhead. Some are just gamers who set up an internet store so they can get wholesale prices on games for themselves, and then they offload the rest of their purchases with very little mark-up, just so they get the rest of their money back. That's how they can give the stuff away without a profit - because they don't need one, unlike we brick & mortars who need to pay rent, utilities, insurance, staff, etc.

Now FINALLY a game manufacturer is taking some responsibility. In the past, Wizkids and Wizards of the Coast claimed they would manage these discounters and even stop selling to them, however when it came to enacting those policies it never panned out - they claimed legal issues. But now, with the Supreme Court's ruling, it seems that it might be possible for manufactures like Mayfair to step up and support the businesses that try to make a living selling their products. Time will tell if Mayfair can actually carry out this new policy, or if it becomes hot-air like the others. Either way, I admire them for going out on a limb and doing this! I hope they can set an example for the industry that could eventually lead to better days for brick & m0rtar game retailers.

Pirates of the Cursed Seas Ship Design Contest

From Wizkids Games:
Design a Ship for Pirates of the Cursed Seas!

For those Pirates of the Cursed Seas fans who dream of pirate ships both night and day, we’ve got a contest for you: A chance to have your ship design published in a Pirates of the Cursed Seas PocketModel game expansion!

You will find below a few PDFs to download; these are called dielines. The dielines will be your guide in creating a Pirates of the Cursed Seas ship. You can design a ship for any of the six Pirates of the Cursed Seas factions: America, England, France, Spain, Pirates, or the Cursed.

All submitted designs will be considered for future Pirates of the Cursed Seas releases. Designs must be submitted before October 20, 2007, and will be entered into a drawing for a full factory set of Pirates at Ocean’s Edge. So crack open your old shipwright texts and dust off your old schematics . . . you’ve got a ship to build!

Zombies are Coming!

Halloween is only a month away now. Since it's so close, and after all, Halloween Express has had the HUGE inflatable pumpkin store set up over at our state fair grounds since early September, it seems like a good time for the zombies to start arriving.

Yes, that's right, the zombies are coming. In fact, some are already here.

We have already received some Marvel Zombie T-Shirts and posters. The Marvel Select zombie Spider-Man and Cl. America have arrived in stores. We have only a couple left of the Marvel Zombie Minimates! (pictured)
Marvel is officially making October "Zombie Month" by having zombie variant covers for a number of comics every week. This coming week's special zombie covers are: Howard the Duck #1 and Ms. Marvel #20. Keep in mind that these are NOT zombie stories, just variant covers featuring the characters as zombies.

Walking Dead Volume 7 tpb, the Image comic series created by Robert Kirkman, just came out this week. It is a really great story, and we always sell a TON of every volume of this one. It isn't just a story about zombies either, but about human survival and adaptation.



World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War soft cover is coming 10/16. We had this book in the store in hard cover and it sold well. It's going to be a movie too they say - Brad Pitt's production company bought the option. So I am sure the soft cover version will continue to sell very well! We have the companion book: The Zombie Survival Guide in soft cover currently, and in the one year we have carried it, it has made the top 100 books sold at Neptune since we opened - that tells you how popular this is!



Last Night on Earth game is coming in on Monday. Some pictures below. Enlarge them to see in more detail. It has actually been out since Gen Con I think, and our distributor sold out and we had to wait for the next shipment to arrive. Our game distributor rep told me that the game is GREAT and they've heard nothing but positive things. It not only has a B-Horror Movie feel to it, but it plays that way too. Pick one up to play at your Halloween party or to give to a zombie fan for the holidays. The pieces and cards look great and I have no doubt we'll sell a lot of this one.



Marvel Zombies 2 is also coming soon. There are so many Marvel Zombie fans now that I am sure this mini-series will be hugely popular and stores will sell out. We ordered a ton - so if you don't already shop here at Neptune and your store sells out, check with us to see if we've got it.


So, brace yourself - you never know when the Zombie War will begin. Will you be ready?

Based on my risk analysis, Craig and I would only have a 29% chance of surviving the Zombie War.

Someone needs to make one of those image converters where you can turn yourself into a zombie - THAT would be cool. If there is one already and you know about it, please share.

Baltimore Summit - Game News

Wizards of the Coast:

Lorwyn is the next set for Magic: The Gathering, and it will be a 2-set block. There will be a tribal theme to this set, like Onslaught. There will also be 3 brand new game mechanics introduced with this set. In addition, a new card type will be introduced: Planeswalkers. And, a cool thing, 5 different theme decks instead of the usual 4. Releasing 10/12

The folks at WOC are also making Magic: The Gathering duel deck sets. These are going to be limited edition and consist of 2 – 60 card pre-constructed decks with 4 rares per deck. And did I mention, they’ll be limited edition. They’ll be coming out 11/16, which will make them a GREAT holiday gift.

sorry - I had some photos of the Magic stuff, but they got deleted somehow.

Wizkids:

There will be a Heroes Heroclix set. Say that five times, fast. I’m thinking it’s going to be one of those group sets they’ve made, rather than a set in packs, but I’m not 100% on that.

The next DC Heroclix set will be called, “Crisis” and the booster boxes will feature the art of J.G. Jones.

They will also be making a large piece of the Anti-Monitor.

The Exclusive Problem

You all know about Diamond Distribution by now - and the fact that they've got a monopoly on comic book distribution. This is due largely to the fact that they signed contracts with DC and Marvel to be their exclusive distributor to the U.S. Then other publishers followed suit and soon it didn't make sense for people to buy comics from other distributors because the bulk of the comics would come from Diamond anyway, and it's just easier to keep track of orders when you work with one company.

Diamond also has a sister company that distributes games: Alliance Distribution. So far the game industry still has a lot of distributors, and Alliance is just one of them. But, recently Alliance signed an exclusive contract with game maker Wizkids - so now Wizkids games like Heroclix and Pirates are only available through Diamond and it's sister Alliance. This caused quite an uproar in the game industry, and people are still upset about it. The other distributors who supported Wizkids are angry that they were left out of the loop. Game stores that don't have a Diamond or Alliance account were angry because they had to either get an account with them or not get these popular games. But Both Alliance and Wizkids insisted that it was the best thing for EVERYONE.

This week is a big game release - Marvel HeroClix Avengers. Wizkids is making a few changes to the HeroClix games, and the Marvel Avengers set is the first one to have them, so people are interested in checking it out. Knowing that these would be in demand, and that many stores don't get shippments from UPS until hours after they've opened, Alliance said they'd ship out the game a day early to stores, so that we'd have it ready to sell first thing when we opened on Wednesday. This sure seemed surprising from a Diamond company - since they refuse to do anything like that for comics unless you're one of the few accounts that have so many stores that your comics are freighted out on pallets.

Well, guess what, it didn't happen. Our Marvel Avengers HeroClix did NOT show up today via UPS. Our Alliance rep made some excuse about how it was UPS's fault (now that's what a Diamond company would do) and he claims we'll get them tomorrow afternoon when UPS arrives in the afternoon. This is all well good, except that I know I'll have customers come looking for this game in the morning and we won't have it. And, it wouldn't have been so bad if we weren't told we'd get them early.

Now it turns out that it would have been better for us to order them from Diamond instead of it's game arm, Alliance, because at least if we got them from Diamond we'd be picking them up at UPS in the morning instead of waiting until 2 pm for UPS to deliver them.

Halo Clix - Press Release

Attention Soldier!

A friend of yours has offered your name for recruitment to the USNC to assist Master Chief in our battle against Convenant forces.

To continue your training, you will immediately log on to www.haloactionclix.com and become familiar with the weaponry, tactics, and strategy in Halo ActionClix,the new tabletop 3-D miniatures game based on the Halo universe.

With over 90 different figures, vehicles, and 3-D objects, Halo ActionClix brings the fight from your television monitor to your game table with highly detailed sculpted and painted figures, fast-paced game play, and the ability to play with two or more players at a time.

At www.haloactionclix.com, you can join a community of thousands of ActionClix players, find Halo ActionClix reatailers near you, and download exclusive game scenarios to broaden your game play experience.

Stay sharp solder, because although Halo ActionClix lands this September in stores near you, there are special Prerelease promotions and exclusives that you'll want to be aware of. The Covenant is everywhere, and only the sharpest recruits will be victorious.

That is all for now. We'll brief you further on your mission when you log in.

Sgt.Johnson
USNC

note - this was received from Wizkids in an email - I did not write it, but I thought it was cleverly done, so I'm sharing it. The photo was added for interest, by me, and was not sent and is not part of the Halo Clix game.

Spiel De Jahres Nominees

The nominees for the Spiel De Jahres, Germany’s award for Family Game of the Year, have been announced. Many consider the Spiel De Jahres to be the most significant game award in the world.

The award was created in 1978 to reward excellence in game design, and to promote top-quality games in the German market. The award is given by a jury of German boardgame critics, who review games released in Germany in the preceding twelve months.

The games considered for the award are family-style games. Other games like war games; role-playing games; collectable card games; and other complicated, highly-competitive, or hobbyist games are outside the scope of the award. The committee awards a separate award for best children's game.

The criteria on which a game will be evaluated are, generally speaking: Game idea & originality; Rule structure & clarity; Presentation (art and parts); and Game mechanics.

All of the nominees this year are translated to English by a game maker called Rio Grande Games - so congratulations to them. All are currently available unless otherwise indicated.

The nominees for this year's Spiel De Jares are:

• Arkadia, $44.95, 2-4 players, Ages 10+, 45-60 minutes

• Jenseits von Theben, $44.95, 2-4 players, Ages 10+, 45-60 minutes, Available in July

• Thief of Bagdad, $34.95, 2-4 Players, Ages 8+, 60 minutes

• Yspahan, $49.95, 3-4 players, Ages 12 +, 90 minutes

• Zooloretto, $39.95, 2-5 players, Ages 8+, 45 minutes

Here's the Rio Grande Games page, if you'd like more information on these and other great Rio Grande games.

Arrrrr! Here be Captain Vane

I have a thing for Pirates. Yep, I'll admit it.
Why? Well, they get to ride around on cool sail ships and say Arr! and go treasure hunting. Maybe Johny Depp dressing up like a character from a theme-park ride had something to do with it too.

I have a pirate name:

My pirate name is:

Captain Bess Vane

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You tend to blend into the background occasionally, but that's okay, because it's much easier to sneak up on people and disembowel them that way. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

I've seen all of the movies. The first is the best - it's funny and doesn't take itself overly serious and there is a lot of Captain Jack Sparrow. The second two are much darker, and there isn't as much of Captain Jack. But I still did enjoy them. I thought the effects, especially in the third one that just came out last week, were really cool. But (spoiler - highlight to read) I thought that in the scene at the end where the Black Pearl was taken from Captain Jack, it should have been Elizabeth at the helm, not Barbosa. Especially since Elizabeth was Pirate King and all. I also was reading some Internet blogs the other day and discovered that the green flash of light we see as Will sails off aboard the Flying Dutchman is actually a sign that he has been freed of the curse and doesn't have to stay away for 10 years because Calypso frees him due to his finding true love and all. But they ended up cutting the scenes that show this happening - except the green flash. I hope they do another one and make it more like the first one. Craig even got to sit next to a Pirate during the movie. (I think it was just a guy dressed like a pirate, but I digress) I have most of the movie action figures - not all of them though because they kept making the same characters over and over and I just don't need 4 Captain Jacks, even if he is the awesomest!

I also play and collect the Pirates constructable strategy game made by Wizkids.

I have the Pirates: The Legend of Back Kat video game for PS2, and I've played it through. It's a very cool game. I have another pirate video game, but I can't remember the name of it, and it's not really very good - the character doesn't get to sail on any cool ships.

I really wanted to get the MMORPG called Pirates of the Burning Sea, but it's had some problems and it hasn't been released yet. Looks like the Disney made Pirates of the Caribbean MMORPG will come first. It's not horrible, but I don't think that the graphics are nearly as good as the Burning Sea. However, with my older computers Burning Sea probably won't run properly anyway.

I just ordered the Lisa Petrucci Kick Ass Cuties Pirate Girl (pictured left), sold by Darkhorse. It wasn't too expensive and I did think it was pretty cool! Made by a woman named Lisa, calls itself "kick ass" and it's a pirate figure - I couldn't pass it up.

Since Spider-Man 3 is so two weeks ago and Pirates 3 is still sailing the high seas, I took down our in-store display of black suit/venom Spider-Man merchandise and changed it to Pirates stuff (see picture at top). The loose figures are from my collection, as is the silly hat. I'm totally going to read the Government Manual for New Pirates book next week.

When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master

This past Sunday Craig got a small group of people together at the store after we closed to play the new Star Wars Miniatures set: Alliance and Empire. It was kind of a new minis release event, plus a little bit of Happy 30th anniversary Star Wars.

I have only played the Star Wars minis game once before this. Craig loves it and plays every month or so with a couple of guys who buy minis here. And once he wanted to test out some stuff so he asked me to play the game with him.

Typically I don't like to play games - I grew up playing very few. And, I tend to be a bad winner and a sore looser. Often if I loose a game once or twice I won't play anymore. The one time Craig had me play Star Wars minis I lost, and haven't played again since, until last Sunday.

The game was a booster draft - meaning that people got a couple of boosters of the Alliance and Empire set and opened it right there and had to make a 120 point team out of whatever they got inside those boosters. This helps out people like me who don't play that much because we don't have to worry as much about being "out teamed." Most people who opened packs didn't get any really strong pieces, so there didn't seem to be one person who had such a good team that they'd be able to crush everyone else. In fact one guy seemed to get two of the weakest and most useless pieces there are in the set: Spirit of Obi-Wan and Wicket. (yes, I'm talking about you, Jeff) There were a couple of other people at the game who don't play the game a lot, or at all, so that also helped even the playing field.

It was a three-round game and believe it or not, in the last round I was in the championship playoff. It's really all thanks to that Han Solo piece you see in the picture to the front left - he's a great piece. I ended up loosing the playoff to a guy who had a lot more experience playing than I had. Although if Craig had called the end time about 10 minutes sooner, before my opponent had KO'ed my Han Solo, I think I'd have won. I even beat Craig! Which, believe it or not, he's excited about because he suspects that, having won, I'll be more willing to play in the future.

The group we played with was fun - they were pretty laid back and didn't mind giving people like me who didn't know much about how to play the game, a little bit of time and assistance. And the game is pretty cool. The pieces are very detailed and this is the 30th Anniversary set so there are a lot of nice pieces that show bits of Star Wars during those early years. I was trying to get out of having to play (Craig kind of volunteered me) but afterward I was glad I did. It was really a lot of fun.

Marvel Heroscape

Anyone who has read this blog lately knows that I'm not a fan of Hasbro. The company is horrible to work with as a small retailer for a variety of reasons.

Anyone who has been in our store knows that we don't carry the game Heroscape. The main reason - it's made by Hasbro. That means that you can find it, cheap, in just about any Toys R Us, Target or Wal-Mart. We can't compete in price and we're usually not the first place the average person goes to to shop - meaning that rarely do people buy here first what they can find in their local Wal-Mart. So, we have never carried Heroscape. There have been a few people looking for one piece or another for the game, but usually only for pieces that Wal-Mart and Target clearanced out and sold out of months ago that the person missed.

Anyway, they're going to make a Marvel version of the game. We're still debating on buying any. On one hand there's the whole Hasbro issue. But, on the other hand it features Marvel characters, so our customers and other people might actually come into the store to look for the game. We still have a short time to decide on this one, but so far we just can't decide.

The first installment of the Marvel Heroscape will feature:

Super Heroes:

• Captain America

• Incredible Hulk

• Iron Man

• Spider-Man

• Silver Surfer

Super Villains:

• Abomination

• Thanos

• Venom

• Red Skull

• Doctor Doom

To read more about the Marvel Heroscape game click here.

Some Random Stuff

I've got a few things, and rather than doing a post for each I'm just going to mash them into one long post. Deal with it.


TV Reviews

Smallville Finale - I this season was the best so far. Some good action stuff, finally some motivation for Lana, strong Lex story is building and those eps with Green Arrow were awesome. (I hope they do more again next season!) Michael Rosenbaum who plays Lex says he's in for one more, and only one more season, so the next season could be the end of the series. The finale definitely built things up so that you can really see Lex's hatred for alien life and his plans to "protect the planet from the threat" regardless of financial and ethical costs. (Hidden spoiler - highlight to read) But Lana blowing up - yeah I didn't buy that for a second. And Bizarro Superman - not bad, but he should have talked all crazy.

Heroes Finale - Great show. I'm looking forward to next season already. My only problem - I thought Peter and Sylar should have had a better fight there at the end. I was really hoping for a good fight, and didn't get it. But otherwise I felt that it was a solid show and a good ending.


Graphic Novel Reviews

I read Walking Dead Vol. 5 and loved it. This is always one graphic novel I make the time to read. Let's just say there's some sweet revenge at hand - even if it might cost her her sanity. It's one of the best fiction stories of people in the worst conditions trying to survive that I've read - always a good examination of humans at both their best and their worst, and this volume was no different.

Plain Janes is the first release from DC's MINX line of books for teen and pre-teen girls. Overall I thought it was good. Not great, but good. Some of the things - a girl all hung up on a foreign guy in a coma, art making everyone - even the popular girl - happy and liberated - I felt were a bit of a stretch. The middle part of the story was kind of drawn out, and most of it was fairly predictable. But, I could see how pre-teen and teen age girls could relate to it. There were things like crushes on boys, finding friends at a new school, and overprotective parents that I could relate to when I was younger. I hope girls will read and enjoy it - although so far we've only sold one copy to an adult woman. My one criticism of the whole line of books is that they should be in color. I know they're trying to appeal to manga readers - but manga readers read manga, they probably won't read this. And color, even in manga, always sells better - ALWAYS.



Game Review

Well, it's not much of a review as a comment. We tried playing Marvel Heroes board game last weekend and it took us over an hour to set it all up, and we still haven't figured out yet how to actually play it. The instruction book is deceptively thin. I'm sure once we get it figured out it will be easy, and it's supposed to be pretty fun. But dang, figuring out how to play it is enough to get me not to play it.



Random Question

WHY is Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born #4 selling only about half of the first 3 issues?


Rumors

Lots of rumors about our local comic book community. Stores closing, stores for sale. But you can't believe a one of them. We're still trying to figure out how to get a second store open. If we could just get a partner to buy in...


Reminders

Next week Monday the 28th is Memorial Day. UPS will be closed on Monday, so comics are a day late.

The Star Wars stamps will be available starting this Friday the 25th. My post office clerk said get there early because they expect them to be gone by the end of the day and there will be several weeks before they get more in stock.

Previews orders are due by Friday the 25th - if you're ordering something from the May catalog better let us know soon.


News Bit

What city, divided by a river of the same name, was the imperial capital of Vietnam? The answer to this question — Hue — won 14-year-old Caitlin Snaring from Redmond, Wash., a $25,000 college scholarship Wednesday at the 19th annual National Geographic Bee. Caitlin is only the second girl to win in the bee's history.

YOU GO GIRL! Read the full story by clicking here.

Halo Clix

You've probably heard of Heroclix - the clickable base miniature game featuring comic book characters, made by Wizkids. They've also got MechWarrior and in the past did MageKnight - all with similar play based on the Wizkids trademarked clickable bases.

Now they're doing a version based Halo. Gamers everywhere rejoyced! Unfortunately stores can only get these from Diamond and their game distribution arm, Alliance. But this could be a new hit for them, at least in the short-run. Weather or not it has long-term legs will have to be seen.

The press release:

WizKids Inc., creator of runaway hit games like HeroClix and Pirates of the Spanish Main, has announced an agreement with Bungie Studios and Microsoft to develop a new Collectible Miniatures Game (CMG) called Halo ActionClix.

The Halo ActionClix CMG brings the incredible content of the Halo universe to the tabletop via the award-winning Clix miniatures game engine. Players familiar with HeroClix and HorrorClix will be able to jump right into the action and enjoy brand-new game mechanics, including weapon swaps, figure respawning and vehicle-based combat.

“Expanding the Halo universe into the Clix CMG world is a perfect fit for the franchise,” said Bungie Studios Director of Franchise and Community Affairs Brian Jarrard. “WizKids’ commitment to quality and authentic detail ensures that these new Halo ActionClix figures will appeal to collectors and CMG players alike.”

The first Halo ActionClix set will feature more than 80 unique miniature figures from the Halo universe, including preview content from Halo 3. A number of vehicle packs are also being produced, including a big surprise planned for Comic-Con International: San Diego this July. Figures will be sold in randomized Booster Packs. The vehicles and a Starter Game will be sold in a diorama display format.

“We are proud to be associated with a great brand like Halo,” said WizKids President Lax Chandra. “We are always looking for ways to push the envelope with our games and content. The phenomenal Halo video game play and universe provided us with an excellent spring board for innovation in tabletop miniatures gaming. We are very excited about this release.”

The Halo ActionClix CMG is expected to be released at retail in September 2007, with special Prerelease figures available at Comic-Con International: San Diego July 26-29, and at Gen Con Indy August 16-19. Refer to an upcoming issue of Previews for the first wave of Halo ActionClix products.

D&D Offering Game Club Grants

I don't know a lot of D&D players personally, but I know that they are out there. This is pretty cool, so I thought I should spread the word. You can read the info on D&D Game Club Grants below, as well as find details by clicking here.


What are Dungeons & Dragons Expand Your Role Grants?

The Expand Your Role Grants provide financial support to D&D clubs that passionately pursue roleplaying. Starting in January 2007, Dungeons & Dragons will provide $20,000 to clubs to encourage and perpetuate their roleplaying adventures.

Who is eligible?

Any roleplaying club that is passionate enough to apply!

Applicants must be at least 18 years of age, and must submit proof of their club's affiliation with a college or university. Only one application per club will be considered.

What are considered appropriate criteria for the Expand Your Role Grant?

Expand Your Role Grants are available to D&D enthusiasts who belong to or wish to start, roleplaying clubs. Applicants must meet the following criteria in order to be considered for the Expand Your Role Grants program:

The club must be governed by a college or university.
The club must have a staff-appointed advisor overseeing the club's activities (i.e., school faculty member, librarian, program director, etc.). Dungeons & Dragons must be the primary focus of the club's gameplay The club must meet at least once per month. Existing clubs must have at least four (4) active members. All monies will be paid to the college or university, and not to an individual, to ensure that funds are used for the benefit of the club. How much financial support is available through the Expand Your Role Grant?

Clubs can apply for a grant amount ranging from a minimum of $50 to a maximum of $1,000. Applicants must provide a detailed budget for their anticipated costs.

How many Expand Your Role Grants are available?

A minimum of 15 grants will be issued to clubs.

What can Expand Your Role Grants be used for?

Launch a Web site
Advertise/promote their club locally
Rent, expand or accessorize a space for club gatherings
Send club members to gaming conventions
Provide food for club gatherings
How do I apply?

Using the online application provided (25k), tell us in 500 words or less how a Grant from Dungeons & Dragons will benefit the club, provide a brief background/history on the club, and describe how D&D has made a positive impact on your life. It is your responsibility to persuade us in your Statement of Purpose of your passion to achieve your goal and how it will enrich your life.

Read complete rules (48k).

Origins Award Nominees

For those of you gamers out there who want to know about and play the best games, here's the Origins Nominees for 2006 (winners announced at Origins Con in late June).

Nominees for Board Game or Board Game Expansion of the Year
(Board Game College)
Amazonas by Mayfair Games, Inc.
Parthenon: Rise of the Aegean by Z-Man Games and Siren Bridge Publishing
Rheinlander by Face 2 Face Games, Inc.
Shadows Over Camelot by Days of Wonder
Vegas Showdown by Avalon Hill


Nominees for Collectable Card Game or Expansion of the Year
(Collectable Card Game College)
A Game of Thrones: Winter Edition by Fantasy Flight Games
Anachronism by TriKing Games
Magic: The Gathering - Ravnica by Wizards of the Coast
Perplex City by Mind Candy
Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium by Sabertooth Games


Nominees for Traditional Card Game or Expansion of the Year
(Traditional Card Game College)
Gloom by Atlas Games
Oriente by Mayfair Games, Inc.
Paranoia by Mongoose Publishing
Plunder by Laughing Pan Productions
Reiner Knizia's Poison by Playroom Entertainment


Nominees for Role-Playing Game of the Year
(Role-Playing College)
Army of Darkness by Eden Studios
Artesia by Archaia Studios Press
Deryni Adventure Game by Grey Ghost Press Inc.
Serenity by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.
World of Warcraft by White Wolf Publishing


Nominees for Role-Playing Game Supplement of the Year
(Role-Playing College)
Exalted Autochthonians by White Wolf Publishing
GURPS Infinite Worlds 4th Edition by Steve Jackson Games
Mage by White Wolf Publishing
Midnight 2nd Edition RPG by Fantasy Flight
Shackled City by Paizo Publishing, LLC.


Nominees for Miniatures Game or Expansion of the Year
(Miniatures College)
ATZ - All Things Zombie by Two Hour Wargames
Confrontation 3rd Edition by Rackham
Defiance: Vital Ground by Majestic 12 Games
Rezolution by Aberrant Games
WARMACHINE: Apotheosis by Privateer Press, LLC


Nominees for Miniatures line of the Year
(Miniatures College)
Caldwell Masterworks by Dark Sword Miniatures
Harbinger of Bast by Crocodile Games
Rezolution by Aberrant Games
Visions In Fantasy by Dark Sword Miniatures
WARMACHINE miniatures line by Privateer Press


Nominees for Historical Board Game of the Year
(Historical College)
Assyrians by Udo Grebe Games via GMT
Band of Heroes by Matrix Games
Empire of the Sun by GMT
Four Lost Battles by Operational Studies Group
The First World War by Phalanx Games
Twilight Struggle by GMT


Nominees for Historical Miniature Game or Expansion of the Year
(Historical College)
Avanti Savoia Flames of War Expansion by Battlefront
Bloody Picnic by Partizan Press
Gutshot by Hawgleg
Nuts by Two Hour Wargames
Strandhogg by Odin's Press


Nominees for Historical Miniatures Line of the Year
(Historical College)
10mm WWII Personality Set by GFI, Minifigs
15mm Belgian 1940 Vickers Tank by True North Miniatures
15mm Flames of War: Cossacks by Battlefront
15mm Flames of War: Long Range Desert Group by Battlefront
28mm German Pioneers by Victory Force


Nominees for Nonfiction Publication of the Year
(Game Support Category)
Dragon Magazine by Paizo Publishing, LLC.
Dungeon Magazine Paizo Publishing, LLC.
Historical Miniature Gamer Magazine by Legio X, Inc.
No Quarter Magazine by Privateer Press, Inc.
The Art of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire by Fantasy Flight Games


Nominees for Game Accessory of the Year
(Game Support Category)
GameMastery Campaign Map Pack: Village by Paizo Publishing, LLC.
GameMastery Compleat Encounter: Throne of the Gorilla King by Paizo Publishing, LLC.
Magnetic Markers by Alea Tools, LLC
The 13th Hour - Roleplaying Soundtrack by Midnight Syndicate Soundtracks
Universe87 Campaign Setting Soundtrack by Bailey Records


Vanguard Nominees for Innovative Game Products
(College of Exceptional Gaming)
Axis and Allies [Collectable] Miniatures Game by Avalon Hill
Darter by Future Magic Games
Perplex City by Mind Candy
Polarity by Temple Games, Inc.
XIG: The Four Elements by GT2 Fun and Games Inc.


Vanguard Nominees for Unique Game Products
(College of Exceptional Gaming)
Age of Battles Complete Miniatures and Rules Set by Zvezda
Battleground: Fantasy Warfare by Your Move Games, Inc.
Galladon w/ Immaculate Steed by Magnificent Egos Inc.
Infinite Armies by BTRC
Rocketmen - Axis of Evil by Wiz Kids
World At War by Matrix Games

Game Makers - How they Destroy Gaming

I thought I might have already complained about how hard it is to own a brick & mortar game store before, but I didn’t see one. So, I thought I’d discuss games. Thankfully, we’re mainly a comic book store now, because I’d hate to own a game only store. Games did get us through the rough first few months here, and we’re thankful for all of those faithful gamers that came in and spent money every week. We were lucky!! Many game stores just become “hang-out joints” where people (not just kids) come and hang out, but don’t or rarely buy anything. But, that’s a discussion for another day. Today I’m not going to pick on gamers for not supporting their local brick & mortar gaming stores. Nor am I going to pick on game distributors, ‘cause I know I discussed that a bit once before. Today I’m going to rip into the game makers.

Game makers have everyone by the shorts—if you get my drift. Both players and game owners, and even the distributors. They set the rules, they make the product, they set the base prices. One would think they want to do what’s best for the game and for those who sell their games, as well as for those who play the games. But more often than not, it seems that they mainly worry about their own bottom line. Sure, they want to stay in business, but I think if you can create a quality game and provide quality support your game will sell and make money. I don’t make games, nor have I ever worked for a game maker, so I don’t really have the experience to say if this is the case, but my common sense tells me it should be.

But here’s the problem—or problems. Many games (I’m really talking about collectable miniature games and collectable card games primarily throughout this discussion), are designed to continually get new product into players hands. They build in retirement of cards/pieces and constantly make new sets. This I don’t have a problem with. However, some game makers (Wizkids is the main one I can think of right now) make several different games, and have the same system of retirement and new set introduction for each of them. Again, I have no problem with this, as long as the game maker can keep up with it. But when the quality of the games suffer, and when the distribution of the game suffers, then I do have a problem with it. Let’s take Heroclix for example. There were a couple of sets back last year where we got the total we ordered the day the game was released. Unfortunately this is quite rare. The last set we ordered, we ordered 6 cases (288 packs) and received 1 case (48 packs). And the quality of the pieces and the packaging was not that great. The set just before that we ordered 4 cases and again received only one. The next set we ordered, that hasn’t come out yet, we ordered 4 cases and were told we’d get 1 case. WHY!!!???!!! In my opinion, they shouldn’t have sets come out so often if they can’t get me what I ordered when it’s supposed to be on shelves. Every week after the release date that goes by it becomes harder to sell the game – it cools off. We could easily sell 2-3 cases in the first few weeks. But, if we only get one that’s all that we can sell. Then we have to wait weeks or months for more, and by then it’s substantially harder to sell them. Even if other stores don’t have them any more either. Players loose interest or go other places to find the game and then stores are stuck with extra product months later when we finally get the remainder of our order.

Now, if the game makers spread out their new releases it would help game stores in two ways: first, each set would have a longer shelf-life. In other words, if a new set comes out every 3 months I’ve got less than 3 months to clear out most of that game—probably more like a month, maybe two. If a new set comes out every 6 months, I’ve got that much longer to sell out, the game is new and fresh for at least 3 months. The other way is that maybe if they were spread out more I’d get my entire initial order, or more of my initial order on the release date. How can I even sell full cases to people if I am only guaranteed one case? I would have to give that person priority, or at least I should, but then I don’t have any packs to sell on release day. It’s a really really bad situation!
Even if game makers don’t ship in waves, I still think that some of the big games have sets that just come out too often. Magic could be spaced out more, Heroclix too, and Yu-Gi-Oh is horrible about it too. We barely recover financially from one game investment and another set lands on our doorstep. Plus, gamers would be willing to pay a higher price for the game if they didn’t have to buy a new set as often, at least if they are a gamer that’s loyal to the game and buys lots of every new set when they come out.

Another problem with game makers is rules and enforcement. Wizkids had set a rule that no one could advertise to sell their product for less than 20% off of suggested retail. If a store was caught doing this they said they’d stop selling them the product. This was largely done to help brick and mortar stores out by keeping on-line sellers from discounting the product so deeply that brick and mortar couldn’t possibly compete and still survive. However, about 6 months after they passed the rule we talked to a VP over at Wizkids, who informed us that they can’t actually enforce the rule. I think they don’t want to loose the money, but they claim that since this is America stores are free to sell product for any price, and Wizkids cannot come in and set price restrictions. I’m not an attorney, so I don’t know all the ins-and-outs of this. However, I don’t know why the Wizkids lawyers said it was OK to make the rule but then say it’s not OK to enforce it. The other rule that is a problem is “shelf date.” All product is supposed to go on sale at the same time. The game maker tells everyone—stores, distributors, gamers—what this date is. So, unless you get the product at an official pre-release event, the game product is NOT to be sold before the shelf date. However, there are always places that sell before that date. When this happens, the game maker is supposed to enforce the rule – with a fine usually, or for repeated offenses they can refuse product to that store. However, I don’t think any game maker has ever enforced this rule. So, store A breaks the rule and sells the game on Wednesday, even though the “shelf date” is Friday. Store B keeps the rule. However, shoppers discover that store A has the new set already—and it’s NEW so all of the die-hard players want to be the first one to have the best cards—so shoppers flock to store A to buy the game. Now store B is punished by loosing some business, just by keeping the rules. What happens to store A for breaking the rules? They make more money. That’s not fair in my book!

Big Retail is another problem! Upper Deck, the American arm of Konami, creators of Yu Gi Oh, used to provide stores like WalMart and Target with their cards before any brick and mortar (also called Hobby) stores got theirs. Yet, the Hobby stores host the game tournaments and demos of these games. They are the ones who help keep the game going, yet they were getting stabbed in the back. Players could load up on the games at WalMart and Target, who have plenty of other products to sell, and by the time the local gaming shop got the cards, the players wouldn’t be buying many more packs. Or they’d already have a starter so all of the starters the gaming shop had would sit because everyone already bought them from Big Retail. Finally, when game stores across the country began to cut back on their orders of Yu Gi Oh, and even threaten not to carry them any more, Upper Deck made a change. Now, the small Hobby stores get the cards first, and then a couple of weeks later Walmart and Target get theirs. See, the gaming stores need those games—that’s their main or only product. Target and Walmart won’t go out of business if a few less packs of Yu Gi Oh are purchased from them. Wizkids recently decided to jump into the Big Retail pool too. Now you can find booster packs at many Big Retail locations. They probably don’t have the same allocation problems I have. Even if they receive their product on the same day I do, if they get 20 cases and I get 1, I’m going to run out quicker, and once I do, my customers are going to buy the rest from Big Retail, so when the rest of my order shows up they won’t need it. As far as I’ve seen, Wizkids only distributed to Big Retail before hobby stores for MLB 2005 Clix set. Otherwise I don’t believe they get them before we do, but I’m sure they have them when we do. But because of the increased demand Big Retail puts on the product, it means that small stores like ours get less of their order up front than we would if Big Retail got theirs later.

The game industry has had a couple of rough years, and I’m not sure it’s over. There are many reasons for this, and I’ve only discussed some of them. I got to thinking about this because I was recently told that a game maker is opening their own game store in the area (Games Workshop). That didn’t mean much to me, since we don’t carry their games. But, I got to thinking about how game makers are actually doing damage to the very industry they should be supporting.

No more gaming - at Napoleon's

We recently stopped hosting in-store gaming here at Neptune Comics. We continue to diversify our product lines, while growing our selections of the staples: comics and graphic novels, manga, toys and games. Our once unused space held gaming tables many nights, but now the space is being taken up by fixtures, and more are on the way. So, we had to end our in store gaming. It was hard to do, as we've gotten to know many of the gamers, and we felt bad about not letting them come in anymore. But in order to stay open we have to have items to buy out on the floor.

There has been lots of talk about the downfall of gaming recently. Video games have become widely popular, and people just don't seem to get together and play games as often as they did in days past. Many game stores in less populated areas of Wisconsin have had to close their doors, and many other game stores have picked up other product lines to help bring more money in. And many comic book shops across the nation that used to host in-store gaming have stopped doing so.

And now there's one more store closing its doors to gamers. Napoleon's on the east side of Milwaukee. For details, check out the article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/enter/gen/feb05/300289.asp. This wasn't just a case of a man wanting to retire, but he was also feeling the pinch of the economic downturn occurring in gaming.

I don't only blame video games for this downturn. Online "stores" have taken much of the business and/or profit away from brick and mortar stores. They often sell product at or below what most "real" game stores get the product for. Some because they buy in volume and sell in volume, some because they are big game fans so they buy a case to get their own stuff cheap and then are ready to virtually "give away" the extra stuff they don't need. Some because they want to take the business from another store and figure if they can get those customers too, by having lower prices, they'll make up the loss in profit with an increase in clients. It's BAD business! If store A sells a case of ABC miniatures at a 25% discount off of suggested retail, store B steps in and says they have the lowest prices and offers 35% off, then store A strikes back and offers 40% off, soon they've cut to the core and are making maybe 2-5% profit. Then store C comes in and buys in huge bulk, getting an even better discount from the maker of game ABC, so he then gets all the customers by offering 45% off. Now store A & B have to go out of business because they didn't make much money with their 2-5% profit margin, and they can't go any lower to make money at all. No one can beat store C. The shopper always wants to save money, and doesn't think about the consequences to anything other than their bank account. And soon the stores that let them come in and play ABC miniatures, which they recently bought at a huge savings from stores A, B, and C, rather than at the store where they play, has to close down. Gaming stores are not community outreach programs, they are stores first and foremost. They need to be supported by those who come and use the open space to play. Once the players forget to repay the store that hosts them and turn to online stores with big discounts, they loose the place to play.