"LSoM: Wizkids Clearance Sale" Topic

Uh oh. Clear the decks. I suspect that DWW will be swarming up from the Lounge to snag a bunch of these items.

Wyatt

Looks like the new distribution strategy is working out well…

Allen

oooooohhhh…toys…..*slish…slish****is he selling only boxes or singles…gotta check site…

Sgt DWW…bartentacle on duty…(must have more toys)…

Still sad to see 'WIZKIDS' pulling a 'GW-ish' on non B*M retailers though….8-(

Isn't this happening a lot lately, places shutting down??? I remember two years ago there was a new one opening every week.

He's not shutting down, and neither is WizKids, he just isn't going to be carrying them anymore and he wants to blow out his remaining stock.

combatpainter,

LSoM is not shutting down. He is just reacting to the exclusivity deal signed by WizKids with Alliance Game Distributors. All other distributors that carried their product are being shut out.

In effect, retailers are being forced to do business with Alliance if they still want their WizKids fix. In order to guarantee their Wizkids preorder numbers with Alliance, they HAVE TO do more than just WizKids business with Alliance.

He's just clearing his decks!

Is Alliance the distributor that 'forces' you to buy crap stock in order to get decent amounts of the stock you want?

Big Miller Bro,

No, it's just that if you have accounts with other distributors and thought you could open an account with Alliance just for your WizKids needs, the only way to lock in those numbers is by volume of business with Alliance. You'd now have to buy other products from them that you'd have bought from the other distributors you've been doing business with, lessening your volume with them.

ahhhhhh gotcha. I know one local store complains that they have to buy junk stock in order to get their preorders but I wasnt sure which distributor it was- or why anyone would stay with them lol.

Sounds like a good move by LSoM to clear out that stuff. If they aren't getting new stock they might get less interest from WizKids purchasers, and no one wants to get stuck with stock they can't shift.

Being familiar with LSoM and Alliance/Diamond, I would say this is only a pre-cursor to the fallout of Wizkids' decision. I would not do business with Alliance. Their heavy-handed philosopy is, in my opinion, not customer oriented, and a bad example of "ideal customer service".

Seems as if WK and their corprate overlords are signing the company's deth warrant on this one! I wonder how many shops will drop WK all together and in turn Alliance?

Kinda of funny, every shop I know of hates dealling with Alliance anyways. They never have anything in stock mini wise and always try to push the latest "new" cardboard crack or games that have been discontiued.

As much as the LGS's need supported I don't think WK realizes that right now internet sales are all that is keeping them going. A year ago I saw their products in all of the game shops within 30 miles of me. In the past year 4 of those shops have closed up, 1 carries a bare minimum of their stuff, and one won't even touch them now.

The main shop I deal with has a major screw up come from Alliance every order and last month 3 orders in a row were the wrong items. And in all three orders Alliance sent the same wrong stuff wich wasn't even close to what was ordered. This is the same shop that opened a year and a half ago and the great Alliance rep sold them Mage Knight and Star Wars card game stuff.

In the past few months the shop has started going direct to a few manufacturers and is shopping around for another distributor for their other needs.

I read the predictions on a few other sites by the former WOTC manager or what ever he was. He said a distributor would be going under. Maybe this is just the anouncement officialy that it's going to be Alliance.

….but isn't Alliance Games the "Games Division" of Diamond comics? Diamond is, for all intents and purposes, *the* exclusive distributor of comic books in north america. I'd think that it'd be pretty easy for diamond to float alliance if need be

striker8,

Alliance is the largest distributor in this industry by a factor of 3x to it's next closest competitor. IF, and I do mean IF, Ryan Dancy hits this nail on the head, it will be a smaller sized distributor.

Alliance has never been miniatures friendly. If they decide to no longer stock a range they will often resort to saying that the company has gone out of business.

Wizkids policies over the years are what has cost them their presence in retail outlets. They pay no attention to playtester feedback, because they always know better. They pay no attention to retailers who told them that their policy of retiring figures from Mage Knight and Mechwarrior would cost them players and reduce retailer orders. I was told that if WOTC could do it with Magic The Gathering, they saw no reason why they couldn't do it with their games. Mage Knight was out of the running by the end of the year.

Using retailers to build customer lists for direct solicitations is their latest trick. Yet, they proclaim to support B&M's.

Big Miller Bro has also pointed out such failures as Creepy Freaks, Shadowrun and Crimson Skies. I'll add Sportsclix. Their track record is enough to give any retailer the heebie-jeebies.

Wait, then there is High Stakes Drifter (Dead). Race Day (DoA). Rocketmen (Dead). The list just keeps on going. Pirates is next in line to be cancelled due to constant declining sales. Yep, stocking new WizKids games seems like a sure bet--for failure.

BTW I own Pirates, Creepy Freaks, MechWarrior, Rocketmen, HeroClix, Shadowrun, and Crimson Skies. Most I got in the bargain bin though.

I must admit, I've been very unimpressed with Alliance too. I haven't heard the "they've gone out of business" line, but that may just be because I don't actually do the ordering. The excuse I usually get is "it isn't out yet", which just doesn't cut it when I can go over to the producer's website and see when they shipped things. Including when they (last) shipped to Alliance!

WK does have a string of dead games, but since when has a game being dead ever bothered anyone on this site? Raise your hand if you've got more "live" games than "dead" ones!

its not that a game dies that turns me off- nothing wrong with 'oldies but goodies'. It is when the corporate mindset is at such obvious odds with the reality of the situation and the company proceeds anyway, fails, then makes some lame excuse as to why things didnt work out the way they envisioned. Makes me wonder if they dont make most of their choices about marketing strategy over a doobie and some cheetos….