Erin Giddings, Community Manager for Score Entertainment, saw retailer comments surrounding CCG pre-release events (see 'Dave Salisbury of Fan Boy Three on CCG Pre-releases') and agrees that pre-release materials need to be available to all retailers:

Pre-release events should be available to all hobby retailers, that's the bottom line. The reality is this industry we are in is shrinking every year. Hobby retailers are now fighting tooth and nail for every dollar they earn, especially in the fragile and highly competitive CCG market. Every dollar players spend at outsourced pre-release events is one less dollar spent in the hobby store! Although that doesn't seem like much to the average Joe, at the end of the year it definitely counts to store owners.

Something Score Entertainment has done since 2001 is offer scaled down pre-release kits to all hobby retail stores. They come with enough product for a small event and exclusive promotional cards as participation prizes. Multiples of these kits can be ordered if a store has a large or growing player base. This paired with the At-Launch kits offered through distributors gives hobby retailers two hobby exclusive events that they can use to generate buzz and reap all the rewards.

The hobby industry in my opinion has always been slow to adapt to change and this issue is no different. Usually when a company comes out with a great idea like smaller booster display counts or new exclusives in promotional kits they are the last to benefit from it. The benefit usually comes from a company a year or two later who capitalizes on the other guy's good idea with a brand new property and makes a huge sales impact. Pre-releases for large game manufacturers will be no different I'm afraid, until retailers speak up and show support for a new system. As Dave Salisbury from Fan Boy Three said, 'your rallying cry needs to be one thing and one thing only: 'Pre-releases for all.' I couldn't agree more.

The opinions expressed in this Talk Back article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.