Games People Play (Top Lists for May)

At first glance, the last 30 days have been dominated by collectibles in the store, with a new Magic release, new Yu-Gi-Oh releases, a strong World of Warcraft release and continued sales of D&D and Star Wars collectible miniatures.

Mexican Coke is the undisputed heavyweight of the drink cooler. If I had a group that wanted to come in and sit around the game center discussing the merits of Mexican Coke, I would gladly seat them in a prime time slot. Heck, it outsells Yu-Gi-Oh, and I would probably get fewer complaints.

TOP ITEMS

1. Magic The Gathering -- Shadowmoor Booster
2. WoW CCG: Servants of the Betrayer Booster
3. Magic The Gathering -- Shadowmoor theme deck
4. Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures - Dungeons of Dread booster
   
5. Magic The Gathering -- Shadowmoor - tournament pack
   
6. Magic The Gathering -- Shadowmoor - fat pack
7. Mexican Coca Cola
8. Chaos Marine Battleforce
9. YGO: Light of Destruction
10. Star Wars Miniatures - Legacy of the Force Booster

Looking at the top games below, you get a slightly different story, since the wonder of collectibles (and Mexican Coke) is the same people buying the same item over and over again. Other departments are about breadth (and a lot more inventory!). Magic remains on top, but we see Games Workshop still hovering up there. Dungeons & Dragons exists at the number four spot solely on the dozens of gift set pre-orders.

Warhammer Fantasy has remained very strong throughout the year. Warmachine continues to slip, although we've had a LOT of new players start lately.

Anime CCGs have been the surprise for us this year, with lots of fans for Bleach, Naruto, and Yu-Gi-Oh, although I expect the last one to begin slipping since we canceled their organized play. A new set of Kingdom Hearts and Maplestory were released this week, but the love is gone. These customers can be fickle too.

TOP GAMES

1. Magic
2. Warhammer 40K
3. Warhammer Fantasy
4. Dungeons & Dragons
5. Fantasy Flight Games
6. Star Wars CMG
7. Warmachine
8. World of Warcraft CCG
9. Rio Grande
10. Bleach CCG

TOP COMPANIES
Here's an interesting chart by company. Not so diverse now, is it? These top 10 companies comprise 75% of our sales.


THE FUTURE
What should we expect in the coming month? Dungeons & Dragons will explode upon the scene the first week of June. Keep on the Shadowfell is released next week, and based on pre-orders, will probably be our best selling adventure ever. Warhammer 40K 5th Edition has Mexican Coke like strength, and we've already pre-sold a dozen $90 gamer edition sets, including one to me. We've got 8 more available either for pre-order or for sale the day of the release. Those who don't splurge on that, will surely buy the standard rulebook when it's released July 12th. I've been reading a pre-release copy and I'm wondering if mortar teams might be viable....