Dave Salisbury of Fan Boy Three in Manchester, England saw retailer comments on CCG Pre-releases (see 'Steven Olsen of A Little Shop of Comics on CCG Pre-release Events') and believes that pre-releases are good, but need to be available to all retailers:

I run a dedicated Organized Play store in Manchester, England and I think you guys are approaching this issue from the wrong angle.  It's not the concept of pre-releases that is wrong.  Getting a handful of packs early really does build excitement prior to the set release--hopefully maximizing sales--and it's the only time the competitive and casual players really rub shoulders with each other.  By the time of the release tournaments, your competitive big box buyers will have a playset (bought from the cheapest Internet site/discounting store in town) which discourages them from playing in a sealed low K tournament.  No--pre-releases are the single best tool I have in my organized play arsenal for growing and promoting games.  They're weapons of mass player base creation.  I fought tooth and nail to get them and believe me; I'd fight tooth and nail to keep them.

And so should you.

Because you're right, not running a pre-release is seriously prejudicing your businesses.  All that energy and enthusiasm a pre-release generates should be focused where we want those players to buy: in their local stores.

But the issue here is not that 'pre-releases are bad'.  WotC will never believe that, because like me--and the other people who run pre-releases--we know (and can prove) the opposite.  The issue is one of inequality.

Pre-releases are so important to our business model that I believe every store in good standing needs to run one.  If you want to affect change, if you want to prove--as we did--that stores could step up to the plate and grow pre-release communities just as effectively as big premiere Tournament Organizer's could, then your rallying cry needs to be one thing and one thing only: 'Pre-releases for all.'

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