Final Fantasy is gearing up to be the most-anticipated Magic set of all time! We’re very excited to see it arrive, and for an awesome weekend of Prerelease events.
Behind the curtain
With any large release, we are met with complications. With a release of this size, those complications can be unexpected in scale. Due to the massive appeal of this set, every FLGS, big box store, sports card shop, backpack seller, and case cracker wants as much as they can get of this set. As for any Magic release, retailers such as ourselves put in preorder numbers with our distribution partners a month or more ahead of release (this window changes by publisher). We tend to order many times greater the number of units than the current preorder quantities when our lock window comes. This helps us to provide enough product for everyone who preorders in the last mile as spoiler season begins. At length, our distributors are told by the Publisher (in this case WOTC) how many units of each product they’ll be able to get, and the distributor allocates those units amongst their accounts. This process is byzantine, and is unique to each distributor.
We have, at length, received our allocations from each of the distributors, and it was certainly much slimmer than we were hoping! For reference, with most sets over the past two years, we have received nearly 100% of what we’ve asked for of every core product in the line. That’s 100% fill on Play boxes, Collector boxes, Bundles, and Commander displays. On a surprise hit like Tarkir: Dragonstorm, we took a bit of a hit, and only received 70%+ of our ask on every item in the line. Even then, with a multiplicative request buffer, we were able to fulfill all preorders on almost every item in the line. With Final Fantasy, we’re receiving less than 20% of our request, even with our strongest distribution partners.
Allocation
All this to say: we’re allocating preorders. We’re super stoked about the incredible interest for this set, and we want to get SOME product to as many people as possible. Most who preordered will have been told at this point that we were deeply uncertain how much product we would be able to secure, and that warning rang all too true. To meet our goal of providing product to the broadest number of customers, we are allocating the following items:
- Commander Deck Displays – Max 1 per person
- Collector Boxes – Max 1 per person
- Bundles – Max 1 per person
- Gift Edition Bundles – Max 1 per person
All of these items are sold out. We do not anticipate receiving a meaningful restock on any of these items. If additional units become available, we will continue moving down the list in chronological order, and reach out to individuals to provide the option for that item.
Communication
We will be sending texts out individually to everyone on our preorders list for whom we have contact information. This will include the allocation, if any, for every product that was requested. If you have a preorder with us, and do not receive a text, or have any questions about the text you receive, please give us a text back: (509) 404-3111
Availability
All is not lost! If you still want Final Fantasy, contact us NOW. We still have Prerelease kits available for Prerelease-at-Home (where you get the kit and 2x Play boosters as prize support!), which can still be reserved for pickup on the first day of Prerelease. We still have a mountain of kits available for the community, and they’re an incredible value vs Play boxes. These too will sell out however, so please make sure to get your name down before we get to the weekend. Once the doors open for Prerelease, they’re going to go fast!
The Future
So how can you get a better spot in line, if we ever need to allocate like this again? Well the secret is just to get in as early as possible. As soon as a product line has officially been announced, we’ll start taking preorders. From there it’s first-come-first-served based on when you contacted us. We do not require pre-payment, and pre-paying will not guarantee a pass on allocation; we fill strictly based on when each customer got in line. If you’re one of those folks that likes to get the exact same products every set release, no questions asked, we have recurring preorders available as well – just ask!