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The Roller Coaster

RPG Market Share
Dungeons & Dragons still dominates role-playing sales in our store, but there has been a mini revival over the last year, with renewed interest in older games and some great new games, such as Rogue Trader, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and Hero 6. Pathfinder has found its legs too. This has dropped D&D from its startling 75% market share in our store to its less alarming 3.5 levels of around 55%.

What Publishers Should Know
Since someone asked me this and I spent too much time responding in an email, I'll share my thoughts here: What publishers should know about retailing: The product. They should know how their product is likely to be displayed. This includes things like artwork and facing. How will it look on a magazine rack? Can you see the title or is it too low on the cover? How about on a bookshelf with the spine out? Does it have a spine or does it disappear? They should know how their product holds up on the shelf. How long before the cover begins to warp and bend? If it's less than 6 months, you're sunk. Is there

Down the Rabbit Hole
I got the news on Friday that I had a week before the San Francisco Chronicle's annual board game article would hit the web (this upcoming Sunday for the print edition). The news resulted in a flurry of activity, ranging from the creation of pretty pink flyers to a massive ordering binge. We've got a metric butt load of games arriving this week from five warehouses in four states, along with a car load of games from my Hasbro supplier (a sale at Wal-Mart). I also have some cramming to do, since I've spent the year playing 40K in lieu of board game night. This is one of those love-hate moments in the life of Bay Area game store owners. The article brings in a huge number of new

Female Horse Stuffed With Wax (蝌蝌啃蜡)*
If there's one thing our customers can agree on, it's their love for Coke, especially Mexican Coke. With over 4,000 cans and bottles sold in the last year, Coke is always in our top ten list. Coca Cola products outsell major game manufacturers, like Days of Wonder and Z-Man Games. It does better than Munchkin. I can't imagine running a game store without Munchkin or Coke.  Costco is our supplier for the snacks and drinks, so it was with sadness and a bit of panic that I learned they're no longer carrying Coca Cola products while they attempt to negotiate pr

Pimping Role Playing Games
When a customer comes into the store looking for a role-playing game, a rare occurrence, I see it a bit like shopping for a new computer. The RPG is the operating system. Dungeons & Dragons is your classic Windows (WOTC really does resemble a mini-Microsoft). White Wolf most resembles Apple. The Indy Press world is certainly the various flavors of Linux. I've always considered Spirit of the Century your Red Hat Linux, a comfortable gateway to open source. Of course, there are many more operating systems in this example than in the computer world, which is a gigantic part of the problem with the industry; more options than consumers. It's spread far too thin. So the mo