Rembert N. Parker of Reader Copies in Anderson, Indiana saw the news of WizKids new exclusive distribution deal with Diamond and Alliance (see 'WizKids Goes Exclusive'), and feels that the new deal has the potential to improve communications.

The only surprise I found in any of the recent discussions about WizKids going exclusive with Diamond/Alliance was the mention one retailer gave to the upcoming DC HeroClix pre-release events.  It was the first mention of them that I had read.  A quick search in Google revealed an application for the event that had to be turned in by January 12th.

While I already read the daily emails from Diamond, the weekly emails from WotC, the monthly emails from Score, the sporadic product announcements from Upper Deck, and occasional emails from everybody else, I don't generally spend much time looking at any manufacturer Websites.  I usually only visit the WizKids Website once a month when I register our events for the following month (our Envoys take care of keeping up with the rules and event reporting).  As a result, I was probably one of many retailers who had no idea that WizKids had posted an application for the pre-release events.  All they had to do was send an email out to all their venues with a link to the application page, but apparently that was not something that they put the resources into accomplishing.

It is clear to me that the new exclusive deal with Diamond/Alliance (DA) will truly improve WizKids communications with retailers - we already have proof that communications have much room for improvement.  All WizKids has to do is get retailer announcements to the right person at DA, and we'll see them soon after.

First test: will the Galactus event be announced and/or solicited through the DA communications or just 'hidden' somewhere on a WizKids Webpage?

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