Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Why We Don't Stock a Game

Every once in awhile, someone comes in and ask why we don't carry this or that game. The answer can usually be boiled down to "Nobody around here plays it or buys it." A recent case in point was Arcane Legions from Wells. In case you're unfamiliar with it, it's a quasi-historical collectible miniatures game that launched last fall with quite a bit of fanfare. We received several promotional posters and even a couple of very nice demo kits.

The upshot was that, after showing it to a number of customers, nobody showed any interest in playing the game, much less buying it. Given that no-one was willing to commit up front to play or purchase the game and the up front cost of stocking the starter assortment (around $600), we decided to pass on it. Based on the feedback we'd received, more accurately the lack thereof, I felt we would likely wind up holding the bag on this one.

Turns out I was right. Not one person that I know of has come into the store asking if we stocked Arcane Legions, much less if anyone in the area played it. Moreover, I'm hearing stories from other stores around the country that, after a brief spurt of interest at the original release, play of the game died out quickly and several have now moved it to their clearance tables.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Scott...

    We also passed on Arcane Legions. The store received a demo kit to try it out, and two of our more savvy miniatures players ran through it twice with me watching. We determined that while it had a few interesting mechanics, Arcane Legions as a game was not all that well done overall. Thus, we chose not to stock it.

    Haven't regretted that decision yet...

    Dave @ Armored Gopher Games

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