With the announcement of two new expansions for Star Realms (see "Two New 'Star Realms' Expansions"), ICv2 had a chance to catch up via e-mail with White Wizard Games CEO Rob Dougherty, who is also a co-founder and the lead game developer for Star Realms.  Dougherty wanted to assure stores that the third print run, which is 30,000 units, is making its way to distribution, and should be available to stores in mid-October.
 
"This printing is sold out into distribution, but stores should still be able to order from their distributors," Dougherty said in an e-mail.  "So that will bring us to 55,000 units sold in the first 8 months."
 
The game initially debuted to trade in March (see "'Star Realms' Deck Building Game"), after a Kickstarter campaign in October 2013 that raised $51,481 from 1,178 backers ($43.70/backer average).  The first print run was 10,000 units, with a second printing of 15,000 following in August.  "So we sold 25,000 units in the first six months, and have been sold out most of that time," Doughty said.  "The numbers have been crazy."
 
A fourth printing of 60,000 units is already on order, and is due to distribution in late November.  "The 4th printing will bring us to 115,000 units printed in the first year," Dougherty confirmed.  "It is our goal to get to the point where we have Star Realms in stock at our warehouse at all times.  I suspect the 60,000 unit 4th print run will get us there, but demand has been growing so fast I can't say for sure."
 
"When I was at ACD Games Day a store owner told me he had a very small shop and had sold 80 units and had customers asking for more," Dougherty said.  "He said ‘I don't go through 80 units of anything!’"
 
"The secondary prices have gotten to crazy levels as well," Doughterty continued.  "$69.99 and more for the base set and $84.95 for the Gambit set from secondary market sellers on Amazon."  A current check on ebay had closed auctions with the main deck selling for $30-40, and complete Gambit expansions netting similar prices, still a hefty mark-up over the original MSRP.
 
"I think the success of the product is due to fact that many feel Star Realms has the best game play and art of any deckbuilding game, it comes in such a small, easy to carry box, and only costs $14.95," Doughterty summarized.  "That combined with the ability to run large multiplayer games by adding additional decks means that retailers go through Star Realms like no other board game."