tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150649422744296369.post5790040685991505104..comments2023-12-23T02:17:12.549-08:00Comments on Quest for Fun!: SustainabilityGary Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11897166491600280320noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150649422744296369.post-204670213941309092007-10-17T16:39:00.000-07:002007-10-17T16:39:00.000-07:00Miniatures games are a mid to long term inome sour...Miniatures games are a mid to long term inome source. Unlike board games, or RPGs, where you sell one copy of the game to someone, and their friends get to play using their copy, miniatures games require customers to each buy their own share of stuff.<BR/><BR/>Also, miniatures games require lots and lots of extras. Another advantage is that when a minis gamer finishes one army, they are likely to brranch out into a second, third, or even fourth army for that game system.<BR/><BR/>One nice thing, from a merchant's perspective, is that miniatures games are no longer simply an "either-or" choice between "obscure companies with a xeroxed rules-set and impossible to restock miniatures" on the one hand, and GW on the other.<BR/>Companies like Rackham, Privateer, Battlefront, and even WOTC/Hasbro are making attractive and marketable games and miniatures. This means that while losing miniatures games as a genre might really hurt the store, losing a single manufacturer or line would no longer be crippling (as was the fear of every store owner who invested heavily into GW product and then worried about a GW store opening up right across town - as happened to one of my former employers in NC).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150649422744296369.post-48182852748180067802007-10-17T07:01:00.000-07:002007-10-17T07:01:00.000-07:00When you said opportunist, it reminded me of why a...When you said opportunist, it reminded me of why a lot of people started game stores: quick money based on a fad. I read somewhere this really pessimistic quote: "Start your first business like your first marriage - for the money with a clear exit strategy."<BR/><BR/>Selling Pokemon back in the day was like printing money. The same could be said of early Yu-Gi-Oh. Some of the stores that we see failing now are essentially card shops that couldn't hold out any longer. <BR/><BR/>With the Internet it's been argued that there can be no more big money fads for specialty shops. Ebay and online retailers act as a safety valve to relieve demand and price pressures. So the clear message to card shops is the party is over; there will be no more parties. Plan accordingly.<BR/><BR/>The other model that a lot of stores push today is tactical miniature games. How many game stores are entirely dependent on Games Workshop? How many could survive without them? I could in the last shop, but probably not now. If there were to be a falling out in miniature games, like a tactical miniature video game with the same appeal WoW had for RPG players, I wonder if we would see another type of store disappear.<BR/><BR/>I've always believed in diversification, but you can't deny the current intense demand for miniature games. They're dominating our sales now that we have game space to play them.Gary Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11897166491600280320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150649422744296369.post-47630147935931730642007-10-16T22:58:00.000-07:002007-10-16T22:58:00.000-07:00I've seen one more type, although I don't know how...I've seen one more type, although I don't know how many are still around: the opportunist. This is someone who started in something else (usually another niche market) and expanded into gaming at some point. I supposed this could be considered a sub-class of the enterprise, but it's the reverse of what you described with someone starting in another niche and expanding into games rather than the other way around.<BR/><BR/>The most successful opportunist I've seen started in sports cards, expanded into CCGs then went into RPGs, wargames and board games to the point where the sports cards became only a small part of his overall business.<BR/><BR/>I've also seen comic stores expand into gaming.<BR/><BR/>These stores would probably be just as fast to drop gaming as they were to add it if the market changed, which is why I suspect there aren't too many around right now.Fulminatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14332824290977548527noreply@blogger.com