D&D 5E Wotc needs to clean up retail shelves

[WayneLigon]

they have a lot of control. Retail channel shelf space is not random. All kinds of things come into play with publishers, contracts, ect...
They actually have very little control over what happens in specialty gaming shops or mom n pops. But retail juggernauts like B&N is a different story.

Hasbro has no say-so in anything like that, either. Store purchases come from two places, in general: corporate, which buys from a service provider like Ingram for things like big bestsellers, and orders from Ingram by the store staff. Once the retail store makes a purchase, that purchase is going to stay on the shelves until it is bought or corporate inventory control decides to clear it off. Hasbro has no control over that whatsoever.

A niche item like gaming materials is something some stores don't even carry at the discretion of the manager. (Depends on the chain, too; I had one Bookland manager tell me she would never allow devil worship materials in her store). Depends a lot on how much attention the staff pays to what sells - if a store has a poorly stocked section like that, most likely the staff couldn't care less about that particular product and just take whatever corporate sends them and they clear it off when or if inventory control says to clear it off, which may be never.

 

[Thank Dog]

The point I am making, is if wizards wants to grow thier product, then, they need to make some changes in the mass market space.

When I first picked up the DMG and then later the PHB and started DM'ing D&D, was the same year that 2e was brought out. Due to that, there was tons of discounted 1e stuff that I lapped up without hesitating simply because D&D! I had no clue that there was even a difference between the two editions. It confused me a bit but for the most part I just used all the 1e stuff in my 2e games and it affected nothing.

Now, some of my most prized possessions are those 1e materials I got, especially all my Dragonlance modules, Dragonlance hardcover, Unearthed Arcana and a few others.

Point being is that I wouldn't fret over it. They'll figure it out. And it's up to them to do so, not us to tell them "YOU MUST EDITION THIS WAY MOST MODERN OR UR NOT PROPERLY IT DOING!

 

[aramis erak]

they have a lot of control. Retail channel shelf space is not random. All kinds of things come into play with publishers, contracts, ect...

They actually have very little control over what happens in specialty gaming shops or mom n pops. But retail juggernauts like B&N is a different story.

Depends on how B&N is getting them. If B&N is simply getting a quantity discount, then no. If they're getting more than that, perhaps, but not always. It's not like games are B&N's priority.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Contractual agreements can specify things like getting space on end caps, which shelf, sale price availability, and so forth.

But as a practical matter, the store personnel and customers will have as much if not more to do with product arrangement than those contracts unless the manufacturer is big like Coke or PepsiCo, who are known to send out monitors to stores. Most manufacturers simply can't invest in that kind of control. So those who restock & tidy the shelves will do as good a job at adhering to that contract as they feel like, unless managers tell them otherwise.

And that varies store to store shift to shift,

 

[was]

Were the 2nd and 3rd edition PHB's the special re-released editions? Those are relatively new. The ones that were used to raise money for the Gary Gygax fund.

 

[fanboy2000]

I'd like to see kids learn that when they are confused, they should ask someone.

But as a parent of a 12 and 10 year old, I don't expect that to happen until they are at least parents.

"Excuse me ma'am, could you tell me which edition of D&D I should start with?"

as usual, you guys are missing the point....[snip]...this person is going to be in barnes and noble, and instead of picking up the starter set or picking up the 5e book and getting hooked for life, they are going to get very confused and most likly by the inferior Pathfinder book.

Oh noes! Not Pathfinder!

Oh man, they might buy a 2nd Ed PHB! How are they ever going to play!

I think kids today innately understand version churn, thanks to their exposure to technology.

Especially if they play sports titles...

When I first picked up the DMG and then later the PHB and started DM'ing D&D, was the same year that 2e was brought out. Due to that, there was tons of discounted 1e stuff that I lapped up without hesitating simply because D&D! I had no clue that there was even a difference between the two editions. It confused me a bit but for the most part I just used all the 1e stuff in my 2e games and it affected nothing.

I think 2e was meant to be somewhat compatible with 1e. IIRC, TSR was selling, or trying to sell, 1e books up to the end.

 

[diaglo]

if they do have control over what's on shelves, then it makes sense that you're seeing a lot of products. It's probably a decision that's made by some higher-up at hasbro at the start of every quarter.

and since we are fast approaching the normal time wotc/hasbro starts generating their list to let go for the 4th quarter.

 

[Morrus]

Someone that has never played beofre or does not know about D&D isn't going to be hanging out in what you wierdos call a FLGS.

@Falcon10275, you have just a handful of posts here and a ton of post reports. Please review the rules you agreed to less than one week ago. And don't call other members "weirdos" or anything else. If you're struggling to understand what you agreed to, you can drop me an email.

 

[Thank Dog]

and since we are fast approaching the normal time wotc/hasbro starts generating their list to let go for the 4th quarter.

So you're saying that we might end up seeing Mearls stacking shelves in a B&N soon?

 

[was]

FLGS.

If it's any help, FLGS stands for Friendly Local Gaming Store, or Friendly Local Game Shop, and is a commonly used abbreviation on most RPG boards. Book stores, such as Borders and Barnes & Nobles usually don't fall into this category. It is usually used to refer Comic book or smaller gaming shops where you can get more personalized attention and more specific answers to your gaming questions. Such as which edition is the most current.