The Market's On Fire – But I’ve Lived the Collapse Before

00:20:45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJjMdm6_omw

Ringkasan

TLDRIn this video, the speaker discusses the current state of the tabletop gaming industry, focusing on the challenges faced by local game stores, particularly regarding product allocations from distributors. The speaker expresses frustration with low allocations and the competition posed by large retailers like GameStop. They emphasize the importance of maintaining good relationships with distributors and cultivating community within local game stores. The speaker warns of potential future downturns in the market due to oversaturation and competition, while also acknowledging the current 'hot' state of the market. They hope for a balanced environment that allows local game stores to survive and thrive amidst these challenges.

Takeaways

  • 🐶 Meet Buttons, the adorable mascot!
  • 📦 Final Fantasy products have arrived, creating a busy environment.
  • 😠 Frustration with low product allocations from distributors.
  • 🏪 Importance of local game stores in fostering community.
  • 💔 Concerns about competition from large retailers like GameStop.
  • 📈 Current market is hot, but future downturns are possible.
  • 🤝 Need to maintain good relationships with distributors.
  • 🛑 Warning against oversaturation in the market.
  • 🎲 Emphasis on the unique experience of tabletop gaming.
  • 📉 Past experiences with bearish markets highlight industry volatility.

Garis waktu

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The video begins with Buttons, the host's pet, and discusses the arrival of a substantial shipment of Final Fantasy products. The host expresses frustration with distributors and the competitive landscape of tabletop gaming, emphasizing the importance of local game stores and community engagement in the industry.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The host shares concerns about low allocations from distributors and the challenges faced by local game stores due to the rise of online sellers and larger competitors. They highlight the need for better relationships with distributors and the importance of supporting local gaming events to maintain a thriving community.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The discussion shifts to the impact of GameStop entering the tabletop gaming space, raising concerns about competition for local game stores. The host reflects on the charm of diverse game stores and the potential challenges posed by corporate entities in the industry, emphasizing the need for local stores to adapt and survive.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:45

    The video concludes with a warning about the oversaturation of the market and the potential for a downturn in the industry. The host encourages viewers to be cautious with purchases and to understand the volatile nature of the trading card game market, while also expressing hope for the future of local game stores.

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Peta Pikiran

Video Tanya Jawab

  • What is the main topic of the video?

    The video discusses the challenges faced by local game stores in the tabletop gaming industry, particularly regarding product allocations and competition from larger retailers.

  • What frustrations does the speaker express?

    The speaker expresses frustration with low product allocations from distributors and the competition from large retailers like GameStop.

  • What does the speaker suggest about the future of local game stores?

    The speaker is concerned that local game stores may struggle to survive due to increased competition and market saturation.

  • What is the significance of the Final Fantasy product mentioned?

    The Final Fantasy product is significant as it represents a substantial allocation from a distributor, highlighting the challenges of obtaining products in the current market.

  • What does the speaker think about the current state of the tabletop gaming market?

    The speaker believes the market is currently hot but warns of potential future downturns due to oversaturation and competition.

  • What does the speaker suggest about the relationship with distributors?

    The speaker emphasizes the importance of maintaining good relationships with distributors to secure better product allocations.

  • What is the speaker's opinion on online sales versus local game stores?

    The speaker believes that local game stores need to cultivate community and play space, as relying solely on online sales can lead to failure.

  • What does the speaker hope for the future of the industry?

    The speaker hopes for a balanced market that allows local game stores to thrive without being crushed by larger competitors.

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Teks
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Gulir Otomatis:
  • 00:00:00
    [Music]
  • 00:00:07
    Hi there. It's Buttons. We always got to
  • 00:00:09
    start off with the buttons. What a
  • 00:00:11
    gorgeous boy he is. And he
  • 00:00:13
    is back here in the corner cuz we got a
  • 00:00:16
    mess going on here for Final Fantasy
  • 00:00:18
    came in. So, as you can see, we have our
  • 00:00:21
    work cut out for us. I'm glad this
  • 00:00:23
    actually shipped to us. Usually it comes
  • 00:00:25
    on a Wednesday. So hopefully I can get
  • 00:00:27
    this all organized and we can
  • 00:00:31
    start packing with other orders that
  • 00:00:33
    we've got building up and we can
  • 00:00:35
    actually start shipping this off by, you
  • 00:00:36
    know, Wednesday or Thursday. It can
  • 00:00:38
    start going out. So you can see we did
  • 00:00:41
    get a quite a substantial amount of
  • 00:00:44
    product for Final Fantasy from one
  • 00:00:46
    distributor. And I guess that's what I
  • 00:00:48
    kind of have to clarify some of the
  • 00:00:49
    other videos of people. I'm still
  • 00:00:50
    frustrated. I'm frustrated beyond
  • 00:00:52
    frustrated because I want this from all
  • 00:00:54
    of the ones that I spend money with and
  • 00:00:56
    and actually do business with. And it
  • 00:00:58
    was I'm I'm thankful we did have really
  • 00:01:00
    good relationships with one key
  • 00:01:01
    distributor. I know a lot of this is
  • 00:01:03
    probably W panel allocations cuz we do
  • 00:01:05
    run a lot of tournaments here at Gon
  • 00:01:07
    Games. We sell out for Commander Night.
  • 00:01:08
    We do well at our pre-releases. We do
  • 00:01:10
    Friday Night Magic every every week uh
  • 00:01:12
    that fires and so that is what you get
  • 00:01:15
    allocated for. So, I'm thankful that
  • 00:01:17
    Wizards still does do that at least that
  • 00:01:19
    it guarantees the stores that are, you
  • 00:01:20
    know, running tournaments do get
  • 00:01:22
    somewhat of products. But I'm still
  • 00:01:23
    frustrated with distributors, still
  • 00:01:24
    frustrated with the overall atmosphere
  • 00:01:26
    of
  • 00:01:28
    the kind of the the ribbon shippers and
  • 00:01:31
    the again what I call the soulless
  • 00:01:33
    basement sellers. Again, I don't want to
  • 00:01:34
    offend people. If this if that's your
  • 00:01:36
    gig, that's your gig. I just prefer that
  • 00:01:38
    if you're going to go into this industry
  • 00:01:40
    that you put some skin into the game.
  • 00:01:41
    they actually help support and
  • 00:01:44
    uh you know just make a local game
  • 00:01:46
    store, put some play space, run some
  • 00:01:48
    tournaments. That's what it's all about.
  • 00:01:49
    The difference between a tabletop game
  • 00:01:52
    and any other game is there's a table to
  • 00:01:54
    play on. And I think that it's essential
  • 00:01:56
    that people actually do come to stores
  • 00:01:58
    and uh you know meet people, get out
  • 00:02:00
    there. I think that that is the the the
  • 00:02:02
    I've always talked about this. They
  • 00:02:03
    think that tabletop games and board
  • 00:02:04
    games and card games are net positive
  • 00:02:06
    whereas like video games a lot of times
  • 00:02:07
    can be addictive and net negative
  • 00:02:08
    because they just you know take you away
  • 00:02:10
    from social uh life and you know you
  • 00:02:13
    don't get every out of the house and
  • 00:02:14
    blah blah blah. Anyway, I won't talk
  • 00:02:16
    about that much more because we're kind
  • 00:02:17
    of beating a dead horse. So, so we have
  • 00:02:19
    the Final Fantasy. As I said, one of the
  • 00:02:22
    issues with uh such low allocations of
  • 00:02:24
    patrons, we've actually picked up so
  • 00:02:25
    many patrons and yeah, it's uh uh that's
  • 00:02:29
    one of the the messes. So again, we're
  • 00:02:30
    trying to to figure out a scale here uh
  • 00:02:32
    with our product um going forward.
  • 00:02:36
    Again, like I said, we're going to try
  • 00:02:37
    to to do everything possible to uh mend
  • 00:02:40
    relationships with distributors, try to
  • 00:02:42
    get on their good graces to hopefully
  • 00:02:44
    compete the ripen shippers. So I've
  • 00:02:46
    already seen what what did say? We saw
  • 00:02:48
    one of the the main ripen shippers was
  • 00:02:49
    already open up cases of collectors,
  • 00:02:51
    like way more than I got. And I don't
  • 00:02:52
    know how they got them so early. uh they
  • 00:02:54
    could have connections directly with the
  • 00:02:56
    distributor, with other stores, what
  • 00:02:57
    whatnot, but it's uh it's kind of
  • 00:02:59
    annoying at that point. So, we are
  • 00:03:01
    expecting to have a very uh huge showing
  • 00:03:04
    here at our pre-release. Uh we are going
  • 00:03:06
    to be extremely anal with price support
  • 00:03:07
    if people don't, you know, we're not
  • 00:03:08
    going to what I'm suspecting can happen
  • 00:03:10
    is people are just going to want to come
  • 00:03:11
    in and buy pre-release kits and drop. If
  • 00:03:13
    that's the case, there will be no price
  • 00:03:15
    uh for those people. It'll be allocated
  • 00:03:17
    to the people that that stay with it.
  • 00:03:18
    That's one of my pet peeves with a lot
  • 00:03:20
    of people. So, um, another thing with
  • 00:03:21
    pre-release too that is is frustrating
  • 00:03:24
    that I wish that Wizard of the Coast
  • 00:03:25
    would uh do in the future. I actually
  • 00:03:27
    wish that this stuff would come out a
  • 00:03:28
    week later. So, bundles, Commander
  • 00:03:30
    Decks. Um, I wanted to say Sat Boosters,
  • 00:03:33
    but they those are no longer thing. So,
  • 00:03:35
    Commander X bundles collectors I wish
  • 00:03:37
    would come out a full week later and
  • 00:03:39
    then they did something like a commander
  • 00:03:40
    launch party. Um that way the commander
  • 00:03:43
    product could come out that week and
  • 00:03:44
    then collectors and then that way that
  • 00:03:45
    is incentivizes people actually play in
  • 00:03:47
    the pre-release and that's the only way
  • 00:03:49
    they can get Final Fantasy product would
  • 00:03:50
    be to actually play you know pre-release
  • 00:03:52
    kits and then then after so my whole
  • 00:03:54
    idea with Wizards would be releasing the
  • 00:03:57
    the play booster
  • 00:03:59
    uh prize just for packs to to for people
  • 00:04:01
    to um get for their their previous
  • 00:04:05
    events and then I just the previous kits
  • 00:04:08
    themselves and then a week later like I
  • 00:04:09
    said and I think that would that would
  • 00:04:11
    actually lead to a lot more people
  • 00:04:12
    playing at local game stores. There's
  • 00:04:13
    some way they need to give advantages to
  • 00:04:15
    stores to try to compete with these um
  • 00:04:17
    like I said, money talks and we know
  • 00:04:19
    that, you know, we're never going to be
  • 00:04:21
    able to compete with the the the big the
  • 00:04:23
    big players in this especially there's a
  • 00:04:25
    lot of money now that's come over from
  • 00:04:27
    uh other streaming avenues. We even
  • 00:04:30
    announced there was announcement about
  • 00:04:31
    the GameStop is going to be coming
  • 00:04:32
    basically game stores like brick like
  • 00:04:34
    kind of like card stores rather than
  • 00:04:36
    really focusing on uh you know
  • 00:04:39
    electronic games uh because the
  • 00:04:41
    writing's on the wall with those that
  • 00:04:42
    you know the only real retail uh options
  • 00:04:46
    available now for like a gametop is
  • 00:04:48
    going to be more in this uh aspect.
  • 00:04:51
    Well, game stores now are going to have
  • 00:04:52
    to compete with with those. And I'm not
  • 00:04:54
    sure how corporate game GameStop is
  • 00:04:55
    going to be able to want to actually put
  • 00:04:58
    in the the effort for like organized
  • 00:05:01
    play and tournaments and stuff. It it'll
  • 00:05:03
    be it'll be interesting going forward,
  • 00:05:04
    but in my opinion, it's not a direction
  • 00:05:06
    that I like to see because one of the
  • 00:05:08
    charm of this industry was always just
  • 00:05:10
    the the different flavors of game
  • 00:05:11
    stores. Uh, one thing I wanted to do
  • 00:05:13
    with this channel, maybe I'll have to
  • 00:05:15
    revive it if we ever do get time and
  • 00:05:18
    energy and and uh, yeah, the will is I I
  • 00:05:22
    I want to go actually visit local game
  • 00:05:24
    stores. Um, interview the owners. You
  • 00:05:26
    can actually go back and and check out
  • 00:05:27
    one of my favorite videos I ever did was
  • 00:05:28
    when I visited Muldova and found a local
  • 00:05:31
    game store in Muldova and actually just
  • 00:05:33
    went and interviewed and checked out
  • 00:05:34
    that that person's store and it was just
  • 00:05:36
    a very very fun time and experience. So
  • 00:05:39
    GameStop's going to be very interesting
  • 00:05:40
    with them uh kind of moving in in this
  • 00:05:42
    space too because they're going to have
  • 00:05:43
    money that no game stores are ever going
  • 00:05:45
    to compete with. They're going to be
  • 00:05:46
    able to compete with even the biggest of
  • 00:05:47
    players like the Star City CD games and
  • 00:05:48
    the Card Kingdoms and if they want to go
  • 00:05:50
    into the you know the singles market I
  • 00:05:51
    know they already are going into grading
  • 00:05:53
    you know that is rough. So to be able to
  • 00:05:55
    to any you know mom and pop store trying
  • 00:05:57
    to compete with that is going to be
  • 00:05:59
    rough. So, there's going to be a lot of
  • 00:06:00
    help that is needed for this industry if
  • 00:06:02
    we want to see this like main street
  • 00:06:03
    brick and mortar uh kind of again your
  • 00:06:06
    mom and pop local game store survive
  • 00:06:08
    because I think they're going to get
  • 00:06:09
    crushed if they are now. So, the problem
  • 00:06:12
    with games GameStop in general is those
  • 00:06:14
    are going to be popping up in all of the
  • 00:06:16
    urban areas. So, all the stores that
  • 00:06:18
    really had monopolies um some of these
  • 00:06:20
    premium stores I think they're going to
  • 00:06:22
    be the ones that going to have the the
  • 00:06:24
    roughest time trying to compete which is
  • 00:06:25
    the GameStops uh kind of going into this
  • 00:06:28
    space. So, I haven't heard any any um
  • 00:06:29
    information if GameStop is is carrying
  • 00:06:31
    Magic, I'd assume. I know they've gone
  • 00:06:34
    all in on Pokémon and grading Pokémon
  • 00:06:36
    and you know, they actually do where you
  • 00:06:38
    can go to select GameStops and and bring
  • 00:06:40
    your cards in and have them actually
  • 00:06:42
    graded. They have some of them that are
  • 00:06:43
    on location there, some they just send
  • 00:06:45
    in to get graded, but yeah, they've
  • 00:06:46
    really really moved into that space. So,
  • 00:06:49
    yeah, very very interesting time we're
  • 00:06:51
    in. Um I'm hoping this isn't the the end
  • 00:06:53
    of the road for a lot of LGS's. I've had
  • 00:06:55
    a lot of people link me some other
  • 00:06:56
    stores and stuff that are going through
  • 00:06:57
    similar issues as mine. And that's I see
  • 00:07:00
    I I'm already, you know, reading the
  • 00:07:01
    comments like, "What was Kevin whining
  • 00:07:02
    about?" This is quite a bit of of
  • 00:07:04
    product uh for Final Fantasy. And again,
  • 00:07:06
    I am I'm I'm very very happy that I did
  • 00:07:08
    have one distributor completely come
  • 00:07:10
    through above and beyond that. The the
  • 00:07:12
    the frustrating part though is my
  • 00:07:13
    numbers for Edge of Eternities are
  • 00:07:15
    actually quite low. Um and it's crazy. I
  • 00:07:17
    just think that even more accounts have
  • 00:07:19
    come up and there's less allocations now
  • 00:07:21
    that can be allocated out. And so yeah,
  • 00:07:24
    there will be some some reckoning for
  • 00:07:26
    sure. I think that there are too many
  • 00:07:27
    cooks now in this industry and there are
  • 00:07:29
    too many uh stores that have popped up
  • 00:07:32
    uh too many competitors in especially
  • 00:07:34
    these like urban areas and and I don't I
  • 00:07:36
    guess I it's when it's hot online, it's
  • 00:07:39
    hot and you can make a profit and it's
  • 00:07:41
    sustainable. But I've lived through at
  • 00:07:43
    least four or five extremely bearish
  • 00:07:46
    markets where online you could not make
  • 00:07:48
    money on anything. It didn't matter what
  • 00:07:50
    the product coming out with Pokemon or
  • 00:07:51
    Magic was. Um during like the new
  • 00:07:53
    Capennia era like everything was a loser
  • 00:07:55
    and everything lost money. Um now we
  • 00:07:57
    looking at Balders's Gate which is now
  • 00:07:59
    considered like a really good set like a
  • 00:08:00
    hot set and that lost a lot of people
  • 00:08:03
    money. I I lost at least 30 40,000 on
  • 00:08:06
    Balders's Gate. It was rough. I had to
  • 00:08:08
    sell at a loss. Uh that was one of the
  • 00:08:10
    sets that I I I
  • 00:08:12
    definitely kind of overstepped. I I
  • 00:08:14
    ordered way too much because I expected
  • 00:08:16
    that my demand would actually um I one
  • 00:08:19
    of the things I I like to do here is I
  • 00:08:21
    don't I if I can I don't want people to
  • 00:08:23
    wait for product. So I try to anticipate
  • 00:08:25
    how much product people will want on my
  • 00:08:26
    Patreon on my like I don't sell online.
  • 00:08:29
    It's just through the subscription
  • 00:08:30
    service. But I still want to give the
  • 00:08:32
    best service possible. And so I went
  • 00:08:34
    through numbers of what was selling in
  • 00:08:35
    previous sets and and Balders's Gate I
  • 00:08:37
    really thought was going to be a lot
  • 00:08:38
    more popular than it was. And so I
  • 00:08:40
    really overextended and ended up selling
  • 00:08:42
    a lot of the Balders's Gate at a a loss
  • 00:08:44
    because what ended up happening is then
  • 00:08:46
    distributors blew it out. And so instead
  • 00:08:48
    of just like, okay, well, I'm just going
  • 00:08:50
    to try to hold hold steady and sell for
  • 00:08:52
    what I paid for, I was like, well, I
  • 00:08:54
    could always just reorder this stuff if
  • 00:08:56
    I actually wanted it because now
  • 00:08:57
    distributors are offering it for so much
  • 00:08:58
    cheaper. And then I'd had to blow
  • 00:09:00
    through a lot of it that way uh to, you
  • 00:09:02
    know, losing like 80 bucks a box on
  • 00:09:04
    collector boosters and and whatnot.
  • 00:09:05
    Again, you could say, "Well, you should
  • 00:09:06
    have held on to it, Kevin, but I mean,
  • 00:09:08
    it was dead for two two years. Balders's
  • 00:09:10
    Gate Ballers Gate has barely started
  • 00:09:12
    moving. We could we could still get
  • 00:09:13
    collector boosters um for under 200 for
  • 00:09:16
    quite some time, and it's crazy how
  • 00:09:17
    they've just just ramped up now. But um
  • 00:09:19
    I don't know if anyone could actually
  • 00:09:20
    anticipate that happening because we
  • 00:09:22
    didn't know the overall I mean with the
  • 00:09:25
    election coming up with the the economy
  • 00:09:26
    in the dumps with um all of that with
  • 00:09:29
    Wizard of Coast not giving any signs
  • 00:09:31
    that they were slowing down with over
  • 00:09:32
    printing. I don't know if anyone could
  • 00:09:33
    have made those those calls and just
  • 00:09:35
    really hung on to a lot of product when
  • 00:09:36
    the the uh the sky was literally falling
  • 00:09:38
    for TCGs. So yeah had a comment that I I
  • 00:09:42
    read through on my on my comment section
  • 00:09:43
    be like oh yeah you could take this
  • 00:09:44
    guy's advice. This guy was whining about
  • 00:09:46
    uh Scarlet Violet era product a year
  • 00:09:49
    ago. Yeah, I was because it wasn't
  • 00:09:51
    selling. That's the whole thing. It's
  • 00:09:53
    it's it's really fun now, you know, with
  • 00:09:55
    with uh hindsight's, you know, 2020, but
  • 00:09:57
    when you're in the thick of it and
  • 00:09:59
    nothing is moving and distributors are
  • 00:10:00
    begging begging you to take product and
  • 00:10:01
    you're taking product and you're losing
  • 00:10:02
    money on every set, um yeah, this it's
  • 00:10:05
    it's rough times. So, it will happen
  • 00:10:07
    again. And unfortunately, like this is
  • 00:10:09
    this is the problem with this industry.
  • 00:10:10
    When it's hot, everyone in their dog
  • 00:10:12
    tries to get into it and starts
  • 00:10:13
    competing with you. And unfortunately, I
  • 00:10:15
    think it's very very appealing to
  • 00:10:16
    distributors and to places like Wiz of
  • 00:10:18
    the Coast to try to take on as many
  • 00:10:20
    accounts as possible because they want
  • 00:10:22
    growth, growth, growth. And so, of
  • 00:10:23
    course, they want new stores. Of course,
  • 00:10:25
    they want a game store on every block.
  • 00:10:26
    Like, this really reminds me of the
  • 00:10:28
    Zendicar. Like that. So, Kazar here
  • 00:10:31
    through Battle for Zendicar, I believe.
  • 00:10:33
    I was living around the Salt Lake area
  • 00:10:35
    or still in that. Um, and Salt Lake was
  • 00:10:37
    growing very quick at that point, but we
  • 00:10:39
    we went from like four major stores or
  • 00:10:41
    four what I'd consider like legit uh
  • 00:10:43
    stores, which is tiny for for a place
  • 00:10:45
    like or a small amount for a place as as
  • 00:10:47
    large as Salt Lake City urban urban
  • 00:10:49
    area. And we went from like four to like
  • 00:10:51
    40. And like every like township had
  • 00:10:54
    one. Every major commercial center like
  • 00:10:57
    like around malls had a game store and
  • 00:10:59
    they just popped up like crazy. And then
  • 00:11:00
    right after that uh big boom, a lot of
  • 00:11:03
    them uh uh went under. Like I can think
  • 00:11:06
    of at least a dozen stores that I've
  • 00:11:08
    been to in the Salt Lake area that did
  • 00:11:09
    not last. And same thing in like the
  • 00:11:11
    Pacin and the that the Provo area that
  • 00:11:12
    did not last too. And so now I'm
  • 00:11:14
    starting to see the exact same thing
  • 00:11:15
    with stores just popping up, popping up,
  • 00:11:16
    popping up, popping up everywhere. And I
  • 00:11:19
    think with this this uh oversaturation
  • 00:11:21
    of of competition, we're going to see a
  • 00:11:22
    lot of them start to fail if we do to
  • 00:11:24
    start to go into like a more bearish
  • 00:11:26
    market, which is is is in my opinion
  • 00:11:28
    that's going to be the the case because
  • 00:11:29
    not only are stores like really ramping
  • 00:11:31
    it up with um new stores popping up, but
  • 00:11:34
    we're also seeing just new product
  • 00:11:36
    popping up. Like every day I hear about
  • 00:11:38
    another card game that is trying to
  • 00:11:39
    compete in this industry. The board game
  • 00:11:40
    industry is really really flooded with
  • 00:11:42
    products at the moment. not only with
  • 00:11:44
    with within products like Pokemon and
  • 00:11:46
    Magic the Gathering, it does see tend to
  • 00:11:49
    to to see we're seeing a lot more uh
  • 00:11:51
    print runs increasing in the overall
  • 00:11:54
    print runs. I know people have said,
  • 00:11:55
    "Well, Kevin, it can't be both ways. It
  • 00:11:57
    can't be you you're getting cut
  • 00:11:58
    allocations and they're overp printing."
  • 00:12:00
    Yes, that's what's happening. we're that
  • 00:12:01
    the competition is actually growing
  • 00:12:03
    quicker than the company's actually
  • 00:12:05
    printing. But I think that the
  • 00:12:07
    overprinting is still not a reflection
  • 00:12:09
    of the true demand of of when all is
  • 00:12:11
    said and done with what I call the the
  • 00:12:13
    consumption that you need the end user,
  • 00:12:15
    the people actually buying the product
  • 00:12:17
    to open and play and enjoy. I think that
  • 00:12:20
    that is not grown as much as the
  • 00:12:24
    uh the speculation the stores that are
  • 00:12:26
    now demanding the people that are now
  • 00:12:28
    looking at people like Alpha Investments
  • 00:12:29
    or their warehouses of old products and
  • 00:12:31
    saying I'm going to do that in 5 10
  • 00:12:32
    years I'm going to have that sort of
  • 00:12:35
    um same scenario and then I can make
  • 00:12:37
    bank on stuff and eventually those
  • 00:12:40
    chickens are all going to come home to
  • 00:12:41
    roost. Uh we've seen it time and time
  • 00:12:43
    again. We did I think that was the exact
  • 00:12:44
    same thing during the Balders's Gate era
  • 00:12:46
    too is we we had the exact same
  • 00:12:48
    mentality. We just went through the
  • 00:12:49
    COVID boom and everyone was hoarding and
  • 00:12:51
    then all those dominoes fell all at the
  • 00:12:53
    same time and that's why we saw all this
  • 00:12:55
    product then enter back into the
  • 00:12:57
    secondary market compete with all the
  • 00:12:59
    new stuff coming out with Wizard of
  • 00:13:01
    Coast ramping up what I call FOMO
  • 00:13:03
    farming where they were creating better
  • 00:13:04
    and better sets that then it's like okay
  • 00:13:06
    no one wants new Capenna now no one
  • 00:13:08
    wants Balders's Gate now no one wants
  • 00:13:09
    Commander Masters because there was just
  • 00:13:11
    uh more interesting things coming out
  • 00:13:13
    out out every week and it was hard for
  • 00:13:16
    people to keep up. Unfortunately, I'm
  • 00:13:18
    seeing us go back into that with the
  • 00:13:21
    Final Fantasy's or yeah, with Final
  • 00:13:23
    Fantasy and with like with Destin Rivals
  • 00:13:25
    and with Magic the Gathering now really
  • 00:13:26
    pushing the envelope of where they can
  • 00:13:28
    go with products. Um, yeah, I was very
  • 00:13:30
    surprised that Destin Rivals had the
  • 00:13:31
    reception it did with Journey Together
  • 00:13:33
    really crashing um and not having the
  • 00:13:36
    appeal that it did have originally. Uh,
  • 00:13:40
    but now Destin Rivals is just I mean
  • 00:13:41
    it's this basically prismatic 2.0.
  • 00:13:43
    everyone has lost their minds about it
  • 00:13:44
    and it's selling really well in the
  • 00:13:45
    secondary market today. Like I said, I
  • 00:13:47
    have a lot to talk about here. I know I
  • 00:13:48
    haven't had a video in a few days
  • 00:13:49
    because this is really what we've been
  • 00:13:50
    working with um here really organizing
  • 00:13:52
    the store and trying to prepare for this
  • 00:13:54
    release. So, a lot going on. We're going
  • 00:13:56
    to keep keep up up to date here at the
  • 00:13:58
    store. I'll do some updates to like my
  • 00:14:00
    barometer videos of where I think a lot
  • 00:14:02
    of the TCGs are at. We still are very
  • 00:14:04
    healthy at the moment. Like I as as I've
  • 00:14:06
    said in this video, like I'm talking
  • 00:14:08
    about future wos and future things that
  • 00:14:10
    that I think could really derail this
  • 00:14:11
    industry, but right now it is still hot
  • 00:14:13
    hot hot. And so it is good to strike
  • 00:14:15
    while the iron's hot. I'm going to try
  • 00:14:17
    to sell my position of Pokemon of kind
  • 00:14:20
    of the older sets of Scarlet and Violet
  • 00:14:21
    and and uh Sun and uh Sword and Shield
  • 00:14:24
    that I still have left and, you know,
  • 00:14:26
    make free up some capital for some
  • 00:14:28
    things coming out. But right now, I
  • 00:14:30
    think the name of the game is not really
  • 00:14:31
    to overpay for things. Uh Destined
  • 00:14:32
    Rivals, I wouldn't be overpaying. Um,
  • 00:14:34
    I'm thinking there's going to be a lot
  • 00:14:36
    more down the road. And again,
  • 00:14:37
    eventually those dominoes, like I said,
  • 00:14:39
    those chickens are going to come over to
  • 00:14:40
    roost. Like the people that have all
  • 00:14:41
    been speculating like crazy that aren't
  • 00:14:43
    going to see their their 2x, their 3x,
  • 00:14:45
    their 4x that they're anticipating
  • 00:14:46
    within a year. I don't think we're going
  • 00:14:48
    to see sets like evolving skies. I think
  • 00:14:50
    things like surging sparks and prismatic
  • 00:14:52
    evolutions, they're at their highs. So,
  • 00:14:54
    we're going to stay stagnant for a
  • 00:14:56
    while, six months, a year in those
  • 00:14:58
    products. They might might go up
  • 00:14:59
    slightly uh but overall what people are
  • 00:15:01
    looking for for massive returns like
  • 00:15:03
    that they were were basically
  • 00:15:04
    anticipating are not going to happen.
  • 00:15:06
    These are the people that overpaid paid
  • 00:15:08
    uh close to MSRP with the scalpings of
  • 00:15:10
    the Walmarts and the Costos or the the
  • 00:15:13
    paying overpaying at distribution level.
  • 00:15:14
    Um they're not going to get their 2x 3xs
  • 00:15:17
    on those products. And I think that
  • 00:15:18
    eventually it's going to lead to the the
  • 00:15:20
    same mentality we had postco with that
  • 00:15:21
    boom is it's like okay well I'd rather
  • 00:15:24
    have my money to go in on other stuff.
  • 00:15:26
    Well, now this now the stock market
  • 00:15:27
    looks good. Now crypto looks good. Now
  • 00:15:29
    all these other investments look better
  • 00:15:30
    than holding on to cardboard. And that's
  • 00:15:32
    one of the things I I've I've also I
  • 00:15:34
    just want to beat home with all these
  • 00:15:35
    people that have been popping up with
  • 00:15:37
    these businesses is you have no clue how
  • 00:15:39
    wild this industry is. This is not an
  • 00:15:41
    industry for the faint of heart. There's
  • 00:15:43
    so many better ways to make money. I
  • 00:15:45
    think this industry needs people that
  • 00:15:47
    actually understand um the ins and out
  • 00:15:50
    that have experience uh with
  • 00:15:54
    the just the roller coaster that is TCGS
  • 00:15:57
    and can and can make that and there's a
  • 00:15:59
    lot of these stores too that I just see
  • 00:16:00
    are doing it so wrong with uh managing
  • 00:16:03
    inventory again not really cultivating
  • 00:16:05
    play space in a community and and and
  • 00:16:08
    that when times are tough a lot of times
  • 00:16:11
    those really working on those fumes of
  • 00:16:13
    having that secondary markets, your
  • 00:16:15
    store kind of being these the uh people
  • 00:16:17
    coming in and having that natural place
  • 00:16:20
    that people congregate like those fumes
  • 00:16:22
    can get stores by when we do have bare
  • 00:16:24
    markets. Whereas these stores that do
  • 00:16:26
    just rely solely on online sales,
  • 00:16:28
    they're going to absolutely get crushed
  • 00:16:29
    once we have this last bare market. And
  • 00:16:31
    to be honest, I'm actually kind of
  • 00:16:33
    waiting for that because like I said,
  • 00:16:35
    it's these I I don't like bears and I
  • 00:16:37
    don't like bulls as far as markets
  • 00:16:38
    concerned. Just like the normal everyday
  • 00:16:40
    ones where we can judge and anticipate
  • 00:16:43
    the right demand, the right supply, make
  • 00:16:46
    those calculations, make know exactly
  • 00:16:48
    how much you want to buy, make those
  • 00:16:49
    just juicy little markups that we're
  • 00:16:52
    used to without these, you know, not
  • 00:16:53
    being able to get the product in the the
  • 00:16:55
    first place, not have to compete with
  • 00:16:56
    every uh corner shop uh for customers
  • 00:17:00
    and for well really not for customers,
  • 00:17:02
    for product. And I, you know, that's the
  • 00:17:04
    time I think that it's it's it's really
  • 00:17:06
    lucrative to be in a store. So, I'm
  • 00:17:08
    actually kind of hoping for this this
  • 00:17:09
    this bull market to kind of at least
  • 00:17:11
    start to fade a little bit, but
  • 00:17:12
    hopefully it doesn't, you know, cause
  • 00:17:14
    what has been happening with this this
  • 00:17:15
    really uh roller coaster uh eb and flow
  • 00:17:19
    type industry is I, you know, the last
  • 00:17:21
    few times this has happened, it's led to
  • 00:17:22
    an absolute crash. So, yeah, let's hope
  • 00:17:24
    not. So, there are some again worrisome
  • 00:17:26
    signs just with Final Fantasy uh because
  • 00:17:28
    of just how much a product that was
  • 00:17:30
    ordered. This isn't like a a low supply
  • 00:17:32
    set. This according to all the numbers
  • 00:17:34
    that uh I've been hearing and this is
  • 00:17:36
    the the what distributors have told me
  • 00:17:38
    this was the most sold set of all times
  • 00:17:40
    through pre-orders that is actually
  • 00:17:41
    outsold the life of many of these other
  • 00:17:44
    standard products in the the the uh not
  • 00:17:46
    so recent past. So it's already sold
  • 00:17:47
    more than something like a Wildsville
  • 00:17:49
    Drain just on its pre-order. You know a
  • 00:17:51
    set that has been out for years has been
  • 00:17:53
    purchased and drafted. This one's
  • 00:17:54
    already beat it. And um so that's one
  • 00:17:58
    thing I I really really really want to
  • 00:17:59
    beat home to is do not buy singles right
  • 00:18:01
    now, especially if it's
  • 00:18:03
    like yeah, just don't buy anything at
  • 00:18:05
    the moment because I think this is going
  • 00:18:07
    to be incredibly overprinted. There have
  • 00:18:08
    been some hints at a holiday set. Um,
  • 00:18:11
    that's another thing I I always want to
  • 00:18:12
    talk about if you want want to really
  • 00:18:14
    speculate on kind of Wizards sets going
  • 00:18:16
    forward is oftentimes Ultra Pro will
  • 00:18:19
    leak information because they'll they'll
  • 00:18:21
    they'll set out information like the
  • 00:18:23
    distributors to order sleeves and
  • 00:18:25
    they'll say like Final Fantasy set 2 on
  • 00:18:27
    it and it's like what are they talking
  • 00:18:29
    about? Like what a set two and so that
  • 00:18:31
    was just released a few days ago that
  • 00:18:32
    that Ultra Pro is taking pre-orders for
  • 00:18:34
    a set that's coming out in November
  • 00:18:35
    which I think is going to be a
  • 00:18:36
    supplemental holiday set. Someone says
  • 00:18:38
    it's going to be some sort of chocable
  • 00:18:39
    holiday set. There's like four different
  • 00:18:41
    sleeves for it. So, it's, you know,
  • 00:18:42
    substantial that that Ultro is has has
  • 00:18:45
    wanted to put out like at least, you
  • 00:18:46
    know, we don't see art. That's the
  • 00:18:48
    problem with like the sleeves is they
  • 00:18:50
    always want you to order them before you
  • 00:18:51
    can actually even see what it it is. And
  • 00:18:52
    the same thing the Ultimate Guard we've
  • 00:18:54
    noticed to the Ultimate Guard will look
  • 00:18:55
    like come out with stuff before things
  • 00:18:56
    are officially released. Like the the
  • 00:18:58
    last Air Bender uh Squaros they came out
  • 00:19:01
    with before uh it was actually
  • 00:19:03
    officially released that that was going
  • 00:19:04
    to be Universes Beyond. But anyway, I'm
  • 00:19:06
    rambling here. I'm really talking uh too
  • 00:19:08
    much about nonsense here. We'll try to
  • 00:19:10
    get our thoughts together and get this
  • 00:19:12
    out. And I appreciate everyone for
  • 00:19:13
    sticking around. We're doing really well
  • 00:19:14
    here at Gonalo Games. Like I said, I
  • 00:19:16
    always have my my concerns and that's
  • 00:19:18
    that's more I think people need to take
  • 00:19:19
    it for what it is. It's uh often times
  • 00:19:22
    my my title is a little bit clickbait.
  • 00:19:23
    Uh it's not all doom and gloom, but
  • 00:19:25
    there are always things to be aware of
  • 00:19:29
    and to watch out for because like I
  • 00:19:30
    said, this this industry is merciless.
  • 00:19:32
    Um and it will eat people. I've seen so
  • 00:19:35
    many people lose their backs off of
  • 00:19:36
    trying to start a like a side business
  • 00:19:39
    with uh Magic the Gathering Pokemon or a
  • 00:19:42
    full full-blown business. the amount of
  • 00:19:43
    stores even in my area that have lasted
  • 00:19:46
    6 months, 8 months. Like a bunch of our
  • 00:19:47
    competitors that have tried to pop up
  • 00:19:49
    and they've just been actually crushed
  • 00:19:51
    um within a few months because they just
  • 00:19:52
    do do not understand like the just just
  • 00:19:56
    how doggy dog this industry is and how
  • 00:19:59
    like you really really have to be limber
  • 00:20:01
    in this industry to be able to to to
  • 00:20:03
    move with the the market. So anyway,
  • 00:20:06
    hope you enjoyed this video. We're into
  • 00:20:07
    20 minutes here. So, we'll show our
  • 00:20:09
    little puppy here that's been spoiled
  • 00:20:10
    with walks lately as well. My camera is
  • 00:20:12
    going nuts here. Maybe we won't show my
  • 00:20:14
    my puppy cuz my camera doesn't want to.
  • 00:20:17
    There she is. There's the Chlo. Say
  • 00:20:20
    hello, Chloe. See, I'm going to limp all
  • 00:20:21
    day because I went on a long hike
  • 00:20:23
    yesterday and we didn't take the camera
  • 00:20:24
    with us. So, no one got an outdoor
  • 00:20:26
    videos of me uh hiking up a beautiful
  • 00:20:28
    canyon. Next time though, thanks for
  • 00:20:30
    watching.
Tags
  • Final Fantasy
  • tabletop gaming
  • local game stores
  • distributors
  • GameStop
  • market challenges
  • product allocations
  • community
  • competition
  • gaming industry