December 5, 2000.  Sheila Wilson, President of Blackhawk Hobby Distributors, Ltd. announced today the sale of Blackhawk Hobby Distributors to Kim C. Kowalewski, owner and president of Tomorrow is Yesterday, Inc. 

'I have been considering selling Blackhawk for some time, and I have received several offers,' said Wilson.  'Kim and I have talked about this on and off for three years. Kim plans to keep the current employees in place, add to the staff, and I am confident that with his retail experience, he will know how to serve the retailers who are Blackhawk customers. 

'Blackhawk is an excellent distributor and has a wonderful staff,' said Kowalewski.  'I am excited at the prospect of working with these fine people in improving their already great operation.  I have the utmost respect for Sheila as she had to learn the game business in a hurry after the passing of her husband Cliff in early 1997.'

Under the terms of the agreement Kowalewski will assume the daily operation of Blackhawk immediately.  Although Kowalewski also owns Tomorrow is Yesterday, Inc., a comic book, gaming, and trading card store, the two operations will remain distinct and separate.  'I have no intention of expanding my retail operation beyond its current scope,' said Kowalewski.  'Blackhawk will remain strictly a wholesale distributor, and will remain a separate operation from my retail business.  Tomorrow is Yesterday will receive no preferential treatment from Blackhawk.'

Blackhawk Hobby Distributors, which was founded in Rockford, Illinois in 1978, has earned a loyal following among retailers in the upper Midwest, thanks to a sterling tradition of service. The meteoric rise of collectible card games has fundamentally changed the roleplaying game marketplace and created major changes among game distributors as well.  Competition from nationwide card and comic distributors has led to an increasing consolidation among game distributors, yet it remains difficult to imagine how the nationwide game distributors can match well-run regionals like Blackhawk in timeliness and service to retailers.