Ravensburger’s much-anticipated new Disney Trading Card Game Lorcana will be released in big box stores on September 1, but ahead of it’s global release, Ravensburger has given local game stores an exclusivity window of two weeks. This means that from mid-August through the first of September, local brick-and-mortars will have an advantage over places like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. But some game stores are taking advantage of their head start, charging far beyond the game’s expected price.
The Gamer published a report recently on the sheer amount of scalpers working overtime to take advantage of the local game store’s exclusivity window. Journalist Eric Switzer reports that he found numerous examples throughout the community: “A store in Arizona sold booster packs for $15 (MSRP $5.99) and starter decks for $40 (MSRP $16.99). One in California sold Treasure Troves for $140 ($49.99 MSRP). Another in Ohio is asking $275 for booster boxes ($143.76 MSRP) and $60 for Gift Sets ($29.99 MSRP).” Ravensburger confirmed these MSRPs via a press release. Browsing through TCGPlayer.com it appears that very few, if any, online listings are priced at the recommended MSRP. Additionally, Ravensburger confirmed that big box stores would not be receiving any kind of bulk discount.
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Ravensburger has given a two-week window to local game stores to sell Lorcana for a lot of reasons. The most important is that in order to survive, a TCG needs players—not just collectors, but people who will buy up multiple packs to perfect their decks, who want to get into the game, who want a community. A Ravensburger spokesperson confirmed this, saying in a statement provided to io9 over email that “the in-person, in-store experience is a special yet crucial component of any TCG. We are committed to emphasizing the value of the in-person and in-store experience; encouraging players to visit their local game stores and build community.”
As Switzer mentions in his article, inflating prices will not benefit local gaming stores in the long run; in fact, it might actively degrade the TCG community that Ravensburger hopes to foster at the grassroots level. Already, Best Buy has a listing for a Booster Pack Display, which includes 24 booster packs, priced at around $150. On TCGPlayer.com—a primary place to buy and sell trading cards, especially for local stores—the lowest price for the same product is $290. Switzer makes the argument that it is worth some mark-up to support a local store over a giant corporation, but nearly doubling the price of cardboard feels like a poor way to encourage community. The most expensive Booster Pack Display on TCGPlayer.com is $500.
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According to The Gamer, Ravensburger has promised exclusivity windows for the first six quarterly drops of Lorcana, but whether those windows will continue indefinitely remains to be seen. Ravensburger said that “in addition to set one, set two will also have a two-week exclusive, but we are not sharing any details beyond that now.”
If the customers are the ones who are getting a bad deal, they might not be so keen to help local game stores out in the future, and thousands of brick and mortar stores will suffer for the greed of a few. Which is not what Ravensburger is hoping for. “Our goal is to support stores in their endeavor to welcome a wide range of people into their community – be it through more casual or competitive play.”
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