D&D 5E Signs & Portents (that we can read into) about the ETA of 5E

[Mistwell]

I cited my source. So you could just google "Tome show interview Mike Mearls"
But I did it for you.
Source

It's one thing to order a few hundred diploma covers.

AGAIN with the bizarre assumptions about other people's business without even asking first?

Who said anything about a few hundred? We order over three hundred thousand products from China every year. For reference, my company is roughly the size of Paizo, and we've been around since 1946. We're not tiny, and I really do know what I'm talking about on this relatively obscure topic. I don't claim to have deep knowledge on hundreds of topics, just a few, and this happens to be one of those few.

Like I said earlier, the more you order, the faster it's made, unless you exceed the total possible output for your factory (which is rare) and have to use multiple factories. Generally, the more you're making, the more resources get devoted to it, and the higher priority is placed on it, and the cheaper the cost per unit, and the cheaper the shipping per unit. We're not talking about a nation lacking in manpower and resources to produce manufactured goods here. The only thing that slows them down is small orders - which get the lower priority and the less efficient factories.

first, Mearls actually says 9 months for boxed sets. Oops, my bad.

That makes much more sense. And that probably is from order date to US Distribution date, which would include the shipping time, and then the QC on landing, warehousing and truck shipping to their central warehouse, order taking, and distro to retail units and places like Amazon. So they probably get the product physically produced in 6 months (depending on whether the Chinese New Year month falls in there or not), and the total time to the retail store is 9 months.

 

[Jester David]

AGAIN with the bizarre assumptions about other people's business without even asking first?

Who said anything about a few hundred? We order over three hundred thousand products from China every year. For reference, my company is roughly the size of Paizo, and we've been around since 1946. We're not tiny, and I really do know what I'm talking about on this relatively obscure topic. I don't claim to have deep knowledge on hundreds of topics, just a few, and this happens to be one of those few.

Like I said earlier, the more you order, the faster it's made, unless you exceed the total possible output for your factory (which is rare) and have to use multiple factories. Generally, the more you're making, the more resources get devoted to it, and the higher priority is placed on it, and the cheaper the cost per unit, and the cheaper the shipping per unit. We're not talking about a nation lacking in manpower and resources to produce manufactured goods here. The only thing that slows them down is small orders - which get the lower priority and the less efficient factories.

Fair enough. I assumed a University not a company that specializes in diploma covers. Sorry.
Still, diploma covers are a fairly simple thing. Plastic cover on some card stock and clear plastic inner sleeves. The design hasn't changed in ten years at least, maybe even twenty.
If your company handles any imbrossing for specific universities that'd be one fewer step.

Opposed to a boxed set that might have multiple printers instead of just one. Someone needs to make and print the actual box. Then there are the booklettes, that are different each time. And there might be inserts that could be unique to that box, such as a set of tokens or punch out cards or a deck of cards.
It all needs to come together, be assembled (likely by hand), then shrinkwrapped.

That makes much more sense. And that probably is from order date to US Distribution date, which would include the shipping time, and then the QC on landing, warehousing and truck shipping to their central warehouse, order taking, and distro to retail units and places like Amazon. So they probably get the product physically produced in 6 months (depending on whether the Chinese New Year month falls in there or not), and the total time to the retail store is 9 months.

I forget if they say nine months until they recieve it or nine months until in stores (either way is a long time). He's specific but the 'cast doesn't want to play for me at this moment so I cannot check.

Regardless, boxed sets take longer to make and are more expensive to produce generating less profit, so they're not great for the health of the company.