We have witnessed an incredible event in our industry, and by industry I am talking about retailers, wholesalers, and you, the consumer, or our customers, and everybody else's customers in this gaming industry, and every company, including companies like The Gamers, GMT, Avalon Hill, and all the rest of the historical game companies, and all of the other companies, including miniatures companies. I mean everybody, my brothers.

I am talking about a game that has eaten up the attention, the cash, the time, and the energy of this entire industry. It is a simple, fast, and fun game. It is called Magic, The Gathering. Some of you may not know about this game. Most of you have heard of it, seen it, or played it. The game has forever changed certain aspects of the industry and has affected everyone, including us.

The company that produces the game is called Wizards of the Coast. They went from about $50,000 a year to $100,000,000 a year in about 18 months. The explosion of this game sucked all the money out of the industry. At the same time it drew the attention away from the rest of the industry so that the rest of the industry is now in a big hurt.

I want you to understand I am not complaining about the game, and it's not the end of civilization. It is, however, a big challenge we have to deal with as a company. To that end I will give a brief example to show what I mean.

Ninety percent of our games are sold through distributors, who resell the games to retail stores where most of you buy them. When Magic hit the market and began growing, the distributors were frantic to get the product from the Wizards and sell it to the retail stores. It took their time away from everything else. It distracted them from selling other products, and as consumers bought and bought the game, the distributors paid more and more attention to the cash flow from the game. A normal business practice.

Long business dissertations could be given about all this, but one example says it all:

During a ten day period from August 12th to the 21st I received an average of one call a day from you asking if FitE/SE was released. "Yes," I said in each case, . why do you ask?" "Because I was told the store in my town does not have it." At the same time I was receiving calls from distributors asking to return FitE/SEs. "Why?" I asked. "Because we can't sell them," I was told. What?! The most awaited wargame since Scorched Earth, a decade ago?! This game is one of the most desired games ever. Is this true? In part, it is.

There are people anxious to buy the game, but the system of sales and distribution has broken down.

Well, my brothers, this situation should speak for itself. We got problems, right here in River City.

New-Think Time

In the time since all of this has been occurring, a new business plan has been under discussion concerning what this all means. Now, more time has to pass to develop a viable strategy, but change is going to occur.

First of all, FitE/SE does not have the following Scorched Earth had. A fact. But that is due in part to the fact that we are a diminishing group. Sorry to say, but it is very obvious. I have acquired much data over the past ten years and it tells the story well. But on to the new cruelty...

To date this year we have sold, excluding FitE/SE, only about 250 games. Most of those were sold to distributors. This does not generate nearly enough money to keep up with the monthly overhead. I do not believe that we will reprint First to Fight, the demand does not exist. If we were to reprint 1,000 games it would take us over six years to sell them. The cost to reprint and backstock games is ten times greater than the initial printing. We cannot carry such a debt load and produce new product, and new product is the only way to keep the doors open. Autoshipments (initial sales of new games) pay for the cost of the print run and generate the income to keep the company in business.

Therefore, a decision has been made that all future titles will have one printing only. When the game is sold out, it is gone. Accordingly, we will announce to you exactly how many games we have of each title so that you may have first crack at them.

For some time we have also been debating what changes, if any, should occur in other areas.

The magazine. Well, at one time we considered publishing four times a year, same page count as the six we publish now, and mailing the magazine 3rd Class. There was also to be an increase of subscription and cover price.

In the first case we decided to keep the six issues per year. We have taken on a new assistant editor, Frank Watson, to help us get current again. In the second case we are going to 3rd Class. The cost to mail one issue via 1st Class is equal to mailing ALL the issues for a year by 3rd Class, a 6-to-1 ratio. In the third case we are going to raise the cover price to $8, the resub price to $35 and the new member price to $45.

The price change will take effect January 1, 1995. The other changes on new titles and 3rd Class mailing go into effect immediately. Take note, we have a total of only 400 FitE/SE games left. If you want one, better get it NOW. They may not be around later.