Xplosion

[b5garak]

This is a bunch of #### that they are making us wait till the last week in March for Xplosion. They have had 3 Months to get this show on the road, and it seems like they are dragging their heels. I personally was hoping for a March 5th release date but would understand the 12th or the 19th. But making us wait another whole month is really straining my patience. Any thoughts on this?

[JerryReedStyle]

It almost sounds like you think WK is intentionally messing with us. You don't think that, do ya?
Will it cause you not to buy Xplosion?

I suspect not.

Don't get me wrong...I wish it was tomorrow...but its not.

[AdamWarlock]

Afraid I can't help you explain the situation. They do this same stuff with DVD's and books too, though I've never been able to understand why.

I work in a waldenbooks store and we get new shipments of books every week, but the big ones (Stephen King, Robert Jordan, Nora Roberts, etc) come with "Release dates" where we can't put them out on the sales floor until then; sometimes 2 weeks or more from when we actually recieve the bastards. Takes up a lot of space in our limited stock room. Personally, I really don't understand what all that's about with books, as they don't REALLY advertise them like they do dvd releases.

As far as X-plosion, it's been advertised in gaming publications for months now; since late December I believe; so it's not like releasing it in early march would have hurt them by not having advertised it enough previous to the release... I don't get it either.

[wonderboy8917]

Maybe it takes a long time to mass produce the figs to get the first wave of shipments in?

Maybe they are still playtesting some figures and making slight changes in the stats to keep the game balanced?

There are a number of possible answers to your question, but I still have faith that wizkids knows what they are doing and if they say end of March then that's how it's gonna be.

[phicks]

Manufacturers also need to be careful that all retailers have their product in stock at the same time. If Wizkids had said X-Plosion was coming "sometime" in March, and then some places had it for sale on March 1 (esp. on the internet) and yet other places had not received their stock yet, those who had not received stock and lost out on sales would be pretty mad at Wizkids, and probably would not deal in their products anymore.

So EVERYBODY gets X-Plosion on Wednesday, March 26, because that is the day of the week Diamond ships all products to comic stores. Seeing as how Wizkids will be selling limited quantities of X-Plosion at MegaCon, there may already be skids of X-Plosion sitting in the Diamond warehouse just waiting.

What's really sad is that from March 26 to April 3, we will all post threads about what we pulled from X-Plosion boosters, from April 3 to April 9, we will post threads about how the new Clix are to play with, and from April 10 onwards, we will just complain about how long it is taking before the July DC expansion!

[AZS]

Warlock, for the books there is a logical explanation. These books are sought after by their fan base. So the publisher wants to make sure they are available to all retailers at the same time before they go on sale. Just because you get them two weeks early didn’t mean everyone did. And if you got to put them out when you get them, then you’ll sell the whole run while other competition, through no fault of their own, can’t move a single copy because they got theirs to market 2 weeks late. (extreme example I know.)

It is possibly similar for HC too. They want to make sure all the distributors have product before releasing it to the public. But moreso I suspect that the retailers are going to be receiving it on the 26th.

As for b5garak. Could you *be* any more whiny? I want my cake nowww! WK picked the release date, and that’s when it comes out. Even if its arbitrary. If it was coming out on the 19th instead, would we have heard this rant a week ago?
Plus, they did announce it would be at the end of March, which it is, and if it came out earlier you’d just get different complaints from other people saying “it came out too soon, they’re releasing too much product too close together and I can’t afford it!” So just accept the arbitrary date WK picked and deal with it.

[AZS]

Originally posted by phicks
What's really sad is that from March 26 to April 3, we will all post threads about what we pulled from X-Plosion boosters, from April 3 to April 9, we will post threads about how the new Clix are to play with, and from April 10 onwards, we will just complain about how long it is taking before the July DC expansion!Too true!!!!!!

But you forgot that also from April 10 many on this board will just complain. Complain that their favorite figs weren't in the set. Complain that X is broken while Y is too weak.

Then, also from 1 month before the next set is released people will complain the product is availible at summer cons but not to the general public and how that kills the local retailers.

Plus, mixed in there, people will still continue to complain that FL is broken.

People will be people. Especially on the anonomous internet.

[phonixinmi]

Theoretically, the way the process starts is that Sales & Marketing (S&M) :rolleyes: has to get the demand up.

This is done in many ways: advertising (via magazines), promotions (i.e. conventions, website teasers, the "pineapple", etc.), and word of mouth. All of this must build up a frenzy to the general public so when the actual release arrives, people will more readily fork over a higher amount of $$$ in order to obtain product; this is consistent with the basic laws of supply and demand. From a retail standpoint, stores want actual Sales revenues to be as inflated as possible on that day of release; they've got to make a living, too.

Prior to that release date, the distributers/wholesalers are in the process of taking orders from not only the retailers/stores, but also those public consumers willing to purchase product by the case and/or in greater volumes. When these orders are placed from the distributers/wholesalers to Wizkids, WK then has the most accurate assessment of just how much demand is out there and can plan their production runs accordingly so as not to have excess inventories on hand. Excess inventory bogs down corporate value and profitability per the stock market (but we won't go there).

Further, the pacing of this process is important because if S&M takes too long before releasing the product, the public will be more likely lose their hunger for it. But if S&M doesn't wait long enough, the public may not be as hungry for the product as they could have been if S&M would have waited just a few more weeks before the actual release. The demand for the "hot toys" to buy around Christmas time is manipulated in a similar manner.

Finally, when orders are made and the cash rolls in, WK now has all the $$$ they need in order to plan out the next set and do it all over again.

Keeping the lawyers and bankers out of it, that's my thoery.

[de4dp00l]

Jeez Azs, thank heaven you're not bitter or anything.;)

[freakazoid_x]

It could just be that the end of March is when they could get it out. Maybe the end of March was the ASAP date. They're doing their best, stop complaining.

[SciFiGuy]

I like to formally complain about all the complaining.

Thank you.
:D

[AshenFang]

Originally posted by de4dp00l
Jeez Azs, thank heaven you're not bitter or anything.;)

I'm just glad he said it and not me.. you have no many times I hit 'Reply' only to exit it, as I calmed down and thought of my Warning Level.:D

I have very little tolerance for people that throw fits really. It's unneeded and immature.:rolleyes:

Anyways, it'll get here when it get's here: Deal With It.

[Edited for civility, at least twice now.]

[AZS]

Originally posted by de4dp00l
Jeez Azs, thank heaven you're not bitter or anything.Its my chair at work. It makes my a** go numb, and that makes me unhappy.

Besides, you surf this board as much as I do. Was anything I said untrue?

[de4dp00l]

Originally posted by azs
Its my chair at work. It makes my a** go numb, and that makes me unhappy.

Besides, you surf this board as much as I do. Was anything I said untrue?

Not a word of it. I just thought it was hilarious.

[tyroman]

maybe end of the month just works better for them. MW Fire for Effect just came out this week. And I'm betting the Mage Knight Uprising will be at the end of April. They have other game systems, they need to pace themselves. :p

Marketing? I'd buy them anyways even if they didn't publicize it. :D

[clinta]

Another possible reason could be that Wizkids wants to make some money directly from selling X-plosion. They have 2 conventions that take place before the official release date and as people have already said MegaCon will have them with a limit of 3 boosters per person. The next one is GAMA and my guess is that one probably will not have a limit on buying boosters since it's so close to the release.

Personally, I'm pretty happy with things because I only have to wait a month before the figures are released and I get to see pictures of most if not all of them very soon. I only collect the Marvel side of Heroclix and I waited awhile for CT to come out so what's one more for X-plosion?

Clint

[falcarrion]

You just never know, they might just surprise us and release it early. Or at least send a couple of cases early to distributors to send out.

[b5garak]

I hope so falcarrion

[b5garak]

Originally posted by azs
...As for b5garak. Could you *be* any more whiny? I want my cake nowww! WK picked the release date, and that’s when it comes out. Even if its arbitrary. If it was coming out on the 19th instead, would we have heard this rant a week ago?
Plus, they did announce it would be at the end of March, which it is, and if it came out earlier you’d just get different complaints from other people saying “it came out too soon, they’re releasing too much product too close together and I can’t afford it!” So just accept the arbitrary date WK picked and deal with it.

Hey its not very nice to attack me. All I did was ask for opinions, if you want to flame individuals, do it somewhere else.

[Bull]

They said it would be released in March, so they're releasing it in March. But towards the end. Why s that?

Well, here's a thought. To give them as much time for production as possible, and still make their release date.

The first MechWarrior expansion came out this week, and none of the stores that carry it locally got their full order. Most places only got one or two cases (Royally bumming out a couple friends who preordered a case from our local comic shop. He only got one case, so they have to wait so he has some MW to sell).

Most WizKids games suffer from this. They're really, really popular. Wizkids producses as much in advance as tehy can, but they sink a lot of money into preproduction: The design, the playtesting, the sculptors fees, actual production, and finally storage for unreleased figures all adds up to a hefty cost before the merchandise hits the shefl and Wizkids sees any money for the product. Thus, they never have enough to ake the initial demands of the release.

<shrug>

A release date is a release date. Doesn't bother me none.

I only complain if they miss their release dates, and even then, I can usually understand why it might happen.

Bull

[JonL]

You're excited about the new HeroClix release, that's cool. But the release dates are set many, many months ahead of time. We base the release dates on when they fall in comparison to other big releases (or ours or other companies).

As some people have pointed out, MechWarrior: Fire for Effect just released. We like to give people a chance to pick up that game before coming out with another big release. It gives our fans some time to prepare and it gives the stores a chance to recover before the next release.

The stores have to put a lot of time and energy into a new release because of the quantity of sales and hopefully because they're also running tournaments or in-store games. No matter what you think, running a store is a lot of work.

We rarely shuffle our release dates anymore, but it does happen (the dock strike last summer still causes us problems). We said Xplosion would be out in March and it will be.

Oh, and the stuff for sale at MegaCon is a special preview that we ship in to give people a glimpse of what's to come. Some people like that we do it, some people hate it. Personally I think it makes the impending release that much more exciting.

Best,

Jon Leitheusser
HeroClix Game Designer
WizKids

P.S. Hey, b5garak, you were sooooo whining. ;)

[justincredible]

they need time to build hype and anticipation in order to rank high on the "weekly high selling" list.

Movies do it all the time. They release it at a certain time in order to get "HIGH opening weekend box office revenue".

[DS-00-0, FSD]

b5garak,

It's actually your fault. Look at what you just did. By posting this, you made Jon take time out of his busy schedule to post a reply. Now he's not actually doing his real job, which is making Heroclix. Now because of you, the next set is being delayed too!!!


Think, man, think!!!;) :p ;)

[shin-goji]

Ok, in order for X-Plosion to come out on time we have to:
Not whine
Don't say WizKids doesn't know how to play their own game because they put RCE and SS on the same dial.
Challenge the validity and worth of interviews

If you do any of these things, they're gonna be distracted from MAKING the set and will have to come down to HCRealms and whup your candy butts. :)

[b5garak]

Originally posted by DS-00-0, FSD
b5garak,

It's actually your fault. Look at what you just did. By posting this, you made Jon take time out of his busy schedule to post a reply. Now he's not actually doing his real job, which is making Heroclix. Now because of you, the next set is being delayed too!!!


Think, man, think!!!;) :p ;)

Yea, I'm thinking of quitting the game, not just because of this, but because of other issues that I have with Wizkids, such as LE's. (thats another whole discussion thread) Anyone interested in a mostly compleated set of Infinity Challenge and Clobbering time and also a compleated set of DC?

Time to go back to Warcraft III & Neverwinter Nights,
-B5Garak

[AshenFang]

Originally posted by JonL
P.S. Hey, b5garak, you were sooooo whining. ;)

*snicker*

Well, seeing the posts by Jon here over the evening. (I've been ahving to catch up a bit.) I'm personally glad that he's not some super sensitive PR guy. ;)

Sure it has it's place, but then there's the truth. =p

Onward:

b5garak: Ebay is usually a decent place to offload such things, I don't personally need any of it..but so.. we shouldn't expect to see more posts like this from you in the future? ..it's a shame.. really.. it is.;)

Take care, enjoy your games.. Ta, and all of that..

[JonL]

b5garak:

What's your issue with the LE's? I'm always willing to listen.

I'm sorry to hear you're thinking of selling your figs and getting out of the game.

Best,

Jon Leitheusser
HeroClix Game Designer
WizKids

[DarthZaius]

Originally posted by b5garak
Anyone interested in a mostly compleated set of Infinity Challenge and Clobbering time and also a compleated set of DC?


I'll give you a case of Midol for 'em.

/snickers and ducks for cover

[Mongoose]

While i'll admit that I do whine from time to time, I think that I have my reasons for it. I could care less if everyone is beating the living snot out of my characters with perplexing con artists or Firelords. I just want but 2 characters redone: Magneto and Juggernaut (That and maybe to stop hearing about Thor this, Thor that).

[Answerman]

Hey JonL I'm just gonna throw in my big mouthed old opinion on LE's while the topics still fresh, but first off:
LOVE HEROCLIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a complete addict, and am stunned at how many of my friends that aren't comic book heads like me got into the game.
I've managed to sweet talk LOADS of people at the bar I work at into giving the game a shot (which we play at the bar I might add), and in turn you've got insto-addict!
Any who the only real problem I have with the game is the LE thing myself.
Really the thing I don't like is that for me to complete my set I have to fork out rediculous amounts of cash on ebay (100 + bucks for banner, and arthur curry?), or I have to go to regular tournaments.
Well I'm sure I'm not the only fella out there that finds it , difficult to make it to tournaments, and really, really wants a shot at the great LE's that're made like John Micheal Carter, Carter Hall, Victor Creed etc.
And just for the record I DO make it to the occational tourney, and I've got 5 Le's so far.
But man its proving to be just a whole lotta work!
A'right my rants over,
thanks for all the good work, and Doc Sampson kicks booty!
He's a long time fav of mine that gets the short end of the stick far far too often...

[b5garak]

I posted my thoughts on LE's and Touraments on this new Topic here:

http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29280

[the itsy bit]

at least you can go to a tournament and try to get a LE.

Nihtcrawler is infinitly harder to get !!

I think WK/designer did A great job on the LE's/most uniques.

you don't really need them to play (except for some uniques which there are no other versions of the figs off, like say just strictly for example: NIGHTCRAWLER).

If you collect well, sorry you're going to have to spend a whole lot more money if you want to collect ALL figs.

[shin-goji]

Originally posted by b5garak
This is a bunch of #### that they are making us wait till the last week in March for Xplosion. They have had 3 Months to get this show on the road, and it seems like they are dragging their heels. I personally was hoping for a March 5th release date but would understand the 12th or the 19th. But making us wait another whole month is really straining my patience. Any thoughts on this?

Yeah, be quiet. Bleeding crybabies.