Wizards of the Coast Says That China Tariffs Will Have Minimal Impact on D&D

Official Dungeons & Dragons products should largely be unaffected by the ongoing US/China trade war. During today's Hasbro earnings call, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said that the only Wizards of the Coast products manufactured and shipped from China are the D&D boxed sets. While this means that the upcoming Heroes of the Borderland Starter Set could have a higher price than usual (Wizards has made no price announcement as of yet), it does confirm that Dungeons & Dragons will largely be unimpacted by the ongoing trade war between the US and China.

Due to the large print runs, Wizards usually taps domestic or continental printers for its various D&D products. English language D&D books (at least the ones on my shelf) all have "Printed in the USA" in the credits page.

The wider board game publishing industry has been hit hard by the ongoing US/China tariff war, with products manufactured in China receiving a 145% tariff upon entry into the United States. Several publishers with RPG products, including CMON, have announced layoffs and changes to manufacturing plans as a result of the tariffs.

 

[occam]

I suppose I could have, but it's not like how I feel about WotC's current slate of product and their gravity well-like effect on the industry is a secret around here, so I spoke my truth as I saw it. I already apologized to you about calling them a megacorp, since its clear that term was a real problem for you.

Right, this is all about a word I got hung up on.

I think I was pretty clear in my last post. People can choose to respond to things negatively or positively, with anger or with compassion. You chose one. My wish is for more people to choose the other.

 

[Mistwell]

Then do you have an example of an Indian company that produces PVC/HIPS miniatures/game pieces? A link would be useful. Or is that proprietary information as well...

I could dig one up for you, but you're being rude for no reason so you can google it yourself. You probably can find several on Business Directory, India Business Directory,Companies Directory in India

 

[Mistwell]

Wouldn't such items need to be marked "Made in India"?

He said "parts made it"

 

[Mistwell]

Not really. In fact, it legally has to be disclosed in most jurisdictions I’m aware of. Nobody wants to put “Made in China” on their products—they have to.

If parts (but not the majority) are made somewhere else? No.

 

[Clint_L]

I could dig one up for you, but you're being rude for no reason so you can google it yourself. You probably can find several on Business Directory, India Business Directory,Companies Directory in India

Burden of proof is on you to support your claim, so given that you can't name an example, your claim is currently empty. Moving the goalposts by blaming someone being "rude" for your inability to supply any evidence is weak.

Also, here is their post: "Do you have an example of a miniatures or boardgames company that does their plastic mini/component manufacturing in India?" How is this rude? Because...they dared ask you to produce some evidence of something that neither they nor I have heard of, with considerable experience in collecting miniatures? What, specifically, is rude here?

Pointing someone to a directory for a nation of 1.5 billion people and telling them to find the evidence for your claim is actually rude. Just admit that you made an assumption that you can't support. Or produce some evidence - I may have been collecting miniatures for more than four decades, but I certainly don't know much about the hobby in India. So if there is a cool source of miniatures in India, then I'd love to know about it!

 

[jgsugden]

People might benefit from remembering that the direct application of these tariffs is not the entire story. In fact, it is a minor part of the overall picture on how these tariffs are going to impact every element of the global economy. The US shattered the faith in the US economy that was a key element of the global economy - and it is NEVER coming back. That faith was a huge part of what gave the US their global role. I fear what the US will do when that collapse is felt and the eyes turn to other forms of power the US can use to get back control.

 

[Mistwell]

Burden of proof is on you to support your claim,

It's not. I made a minor comment based on experience about a side topic not even about RPGs. If you don't want to believe me or look into it yourself, even when given a search engine just for that, that's perfectly fine. We're not in a court of law.

As for why it was a rude reply, the fact you cut the last sentence in your quote which was the rude part when asking why it was rude suggests you knew exactly why it was rude.

 

[Clint_L]

It's not. I made a minor comment based on experience about a side topic not even about RPGs. If you don't want to believe me or look into it yourself, even when given a search engine just for that, that's perfectly fine. We're not in a court of law.

As for why it was a rude reply, the fact you cut the last sentence in your quote which was the rude part when asking why it was rude suggests you knew exactly why it was rude.

Here’s the last two sentences of the post:

“Whith my limited knowledge there are currently four countries for plastic miniatures (HIPS/PVC), China, Japan, England, and Poland. With currently only China having the capacity to fulfill the US demands on production.”

So…please specify what was rude? Because I honestly do not see it. At all.

You made a claim, both of us politely asked for evidence, given that we are serious miniatures enthusiasts and would love to discover a new source, and you’ve responded with hostility and defensiveness. I can only conclude that you’ve got nothing.

It is true that this is a side conversation so I will drop it, but when you allude to a potential new source of plastic crack you can’t blame the addicts for paying attention.

 

[Mistwell]

Here’s the last two sentences of the post:

“Whith my limited knowledge there are currently four countries for plastic miniatures (HIPS/PVC), China, Japan, England, and Poland. With currently only China having the capacity to fulfill the US demands on production.”

So…please specify what was rude? Because I honestly do not see it. At all.

Clint that's not even the post you quoted or that I called rude!

You quoted "Do you have an example of a miniatures or boardgames company that does their plastic mini/component manufacturing in India?"

The rest of that paragraph, which you didn't quote, was "A link would be useful. Or is that proprietary information as well..." And it's pretty obvious it's that last sentence which was rude.

Come on man. Enough. When you first cut a quote short to eliminate the obvious controversial portion, and then switch the quote entirely to try and again make it seem like I'm not making sense again, that's a series of actions which tells me you're asking in bad faith. I'm sure not re-researching a plastic injections miniatures manufacturer in India for someone as a favor if they're behaving rudely to me and demanding that information and being snarky about it.

I am directly asking you to leave me alone at this point on this topic. If you really want to continue, take it to DMs. If you're just having a bad day or something, I understand, but I am not here for it. If some actual board game company would like my advice on finding a new vendor in India, they can DM me themselves.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

It can’t escalate really. At least not numerically. 145% is basically an embargo—trade has stopped. There’s no practical difference between 145% and infinity.

Even at a 145% tariff, Chinese products are still the best value available in a lot of product categories. Often Chinese products are the only ones available at all.