Tl;dr: they’re switching from print to demand to limited print runs for Secret Lairs
I can’t see how this is good. The few times I’ve gotten a Secret Lair I found their shipping pretty quick, and limited print runs only encourage scalpers to buy out and jack up the prices. But I feel like Wizards is fine with that as long as it creates more FOMO.
Oh my fuck secret lair being print to order was the whole point. They’ve gone back to the scarcity bullshit that FTV and other limited sealed products were but also cut out LGS. So they fixed one problem, created another, then unfixed the first problem.
Fuck hasbro or wotc or whoever is making these fucking decisions.
I agree about the limited print runs and scalpers. Plus I really don’t like the urgency around having to buy them before they sell out, it’s very frustrating as a consumer if it’s something you’re on the fence about.
I imagine the answer is just “money!” but surely they could do both - an up front print run and then on demand print as well
This is what they have been doing, and it seemed like it removed nearly all of the complaints about slow delivery. Which is why this announcement feels strange
Hate everything about this, and I’ve been a secret lair diehard from day 1. I love the cool art treatments, I buy the overpriced basic lands, I really enjoy the crossovers even when I don’t personally care about the property, overall a big fan. But what I do NOT like is turning it into hyper-FOMO “buy quick or never get it again!!” bullshit. Having them be limited to the sale was fine because you got like a month to think about it, being forced to buy it in the first (day? Hour? Minute??) or else the stock disappears means I won’t bother, I respect myself too much for that nonsense.
Agreed, this is some bullshit
With 4 years of sales data they can probably target there printing numbers close to their expected sales. Unless a Secret Lair is a surprise hit I don’t think this is that big a deal.
