Hasbro Game Sales Drop Nearly A Quarter (due to MtG and Digital Games)
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Art Waring
halozix.com
Its a comedy skit for two minutes, not at all serious its just making fun
darjr
I crit!
Art Waring
halozix.com
Anytime! I kind of thought of it as a kind of Wierd Al for MtG songs and skits, funny at times while also being aware of the material they are covering.
Art Waring
halozix.com
Back to the subject, apparently it seems like Alpha Investors has been talking about this for weeks. I guess several sources have been worried about it, the video below is from almost two weeks ago, and the time stamp in the video is where he is reporting on the stock dropping weeks back before the BofA announcement, so this was already going to happen one way or another.
I sold my cards years ago so I have no personal investment, but the recent news has kind of brought the financial side of MtG to the forefront lately I guess. Anyway, mtg probably isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but a lot of collectors are liquidating their collections (if you look at current buy lists from the top stores, prices for revised duals are down more than 50% from last year alone). This in direct response to the 30th anniversary boosters affecting the vintage second hand market (the $999 product mentioned in all the articles covering the BofA announcement), according to the sources.
Another video from yesterday says they are not going to distribute anymore new MtG products until the market becomes more stable, and a lot of FLGS' are also dropping new mtg products because of overproduction issues. This is a problem that has affected everything from small game shops to large distributors and retail stores like target.
I sold my cards years ago so I have no personal investment, but the recent news has kind of brought the financial side of MtG to the forefront lately I guess. Anyway, mtg probably isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but a lot of collectors are liquidating their collections (if you look at current buy lists from the top stores, prices for revised duals are down more than 50% from last year alone). This in direct response to the 30th anniversary boosters affecting the vintage second hand market (the $999 product mentioned in all the articles covering the BofA announcement), according to the sources.
Another video from yesterday says they are not going to distribute anymore new MtG products until the market becomes more stable, and a lot of FLGS' are also dropping new mtg products because of overproduction issues. This is a problem that has affected everything from small game shops to large distributors and retail stores like target.
Whizbang Dustyboots
100% that gnome
No. That's a bad faith argument from cable news folks.
Recessions require two quarters of declining GDP, which hasn't happened yet.
That's inflation, which is happening.
Pandemic supply issues + energy crunch (war in Ukraine + OPEC turning down the faucet) = rising prices for everyone
For sure. I'm sitting on my hands on a lot of stuff I really want, myself.
Whizbang Dustyboots
100% that gnome
Eh, you can't disentangle the fact that there's global economic uncertainty and decades-high inflation occurring at the same time. If everyone wasn't suddenly facing a cash crunch, higher costs of borrowing and rising expenses, I suspect at least some of these people wouldn't be selling.
MGibster
Legend
I haven't played Magic since 1995, so I don't know a lot about what's going on with the game. But a lot of game stores rely heavily on Magic for sales, and I wonder how this will affect them. Should I expect to see some stores closing soon?
Whizbang Dustyboots
100% that gnome
Well, Hasbro is hoping to sell more cards with this overproduction. Even if people are turned off by this, stores would have to sell less than they recently did to be badly hurt, although if they buy a lot of cards they can't sell, that's certainly an impact. I don't know if that's going to be a widespread catastrophe like when the comics market collapsed in the 1980s and 1990s.
I suspect a few stores that went all-in on all these extra releases will be hurt. But given the narrow margins so many of these stores operate under, I don't know how many stores had the extra funds to purchase all these extra packs.
I know we have comic shop owners who post here. Anyone with real expertise want to weigh in?
Scribe
Legend
Its been stuff discussed for a long time, Covid provided a bubble that masked it but the mistakes have been over years, in my view it goes all the way back to 2016 with the most flawed printings in a long time (Eldrazi), and the naked lie that was the banning of Splinter Twin in Modern.
They left the Eldrazi in the format for no reason other than to shake it up, and sell packs.
Note: I get it, Wizards is a business, needs to make money, blah blah capitalism go brrr...
Fast forward several years, as their best competitive format wallowed, and you get F.I.R.E. This design philosophy pushed the power level to the point where Standard sets were now pushing multiple cards down into the eternal formats on raw power alone. There were clear design/power level mistakes, and some of these are shockingly (to me) still kicking around for god knows why.
One final nod to the death of the games balance: Companion
On top of that, we got 'direct to x' sets, that skip standard, further decreasing its role in the magic ecosystem.
On top of THAT, we get Digital, MTG Arena.
Now, they are printing their own proxy power 9?! For $1000??
Add that all up with a dramatic over printing for EDH/Commander, and no wonder Standard has imploded, collections are devalued, and (seriously wizards) they have enabled proxy play.
Why even buy the cards now?
Scribe
Legend
@darjr you keep saying BoA gave Elon money as if its relevant to the greater picture here. All these predatory banks, running the artificial predatory system that is the stock market, within the predatory framework of capitalism, dont care, as long as there is short term profit to be had.
Which, is exactly what got MTG in this place. Short term profit > All.
Which, is exactly what got MTG in this place. Short term profit > All.
Whizbang Dustyboots
100% that gnome
DOOMED! DOOMED! DOOMED!
I look forward to purchasing Twitter and the Dungeons & Dragons brand for $20 each early next year.
darjr
I crit!
I don’t disagree with you. But it’s also irrational garbage like “it’s Elon!”
Scribe
Legend
Are people feeling fatigue with D&D though? The 'pressure' to keep up doesnt really exist to me, not like it did in MTG.
Out of these, I'm cautiously waiting for 2, maybe 3 of them. Thats not going to break the bank, like MTG can do.
darjr
I crit!
Huh? Good point, I thought generally people are getting there. If not there yet.Are people feeling fatigue with D&D though? The 'pressure' to keep up doesnt really exist to me, not like it did in MTG.
Out of these, I'm cautiously waiting for 2, maybe 3 of them. Thats not going to break the bank, like MTG can do.
I do notice a lack of focus lately, there used ti be a season that drive interest.
Now I’ve noticed a bit of choice paralysis about what to run next.
Art Waring
halozix.com
No I hope not! Some store owners say they are temporarily moving over to other games like pokemon until things balance out again. But there are also game stores that have truly huge selections of games to buy and play in the store, maybe some other games can get some attention for a while while people look for new things to try.
It is also most likely a temporary situation, like how 4e dnd was not doing as well as they hoped, and made 5e which people are much happier with. Maybe they can learn from their mistakes and try to improve the game for everyone.
Art Waring
halozix.com
Yeah I sold of most my stuff after the eldrazi block, but I was a standard player from 4th edition through into urza block in all kinds of tournaments. I kept my pro tour captain sisay life counter though cause it has sentimental value and I use it for dnd games.
Hearing about it all again in the news, and looking into how the game has come along since I quit has been a bit overwhelming. Way way too much oversaturation of the market, OP cards (Fire design), yeah I see it it ain't too pretty.
However, I still have fun from time to time playing cube drafts with proxy's among friends. The game still can be fun when you remove the monetization from the equation.
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
Back in the early 90's my buddy and I were bored enough to go to a free Bobby Brown concert once. For some reason when people ask me what concerts I've been to, I forget that one.
