We interviewed Dan Bojanowski, Upper Deck Product Manager for the World of Warcraft TCG, at the recently concluded GAMA Trade Show (see 'GAMA Trade Show Ends on Up Note'), and talked about consumer reaction to the launch, the 2007 releases, the new accessories line, and events.
We've heard that the WoW TCG is doing really well in videogame stores.
That's true.
How about in the mass merchants--are you having any success in terms of getting racking close to the videogames, or are you up front in most stores, or are you in those stores at all?
We're in those stores. For Heroes of Azeroth, the first release in '06, the big box stores did a sample at launch. Then it performed so well that they brought it back in the first quarter of '07 more heavily. I believe today is the retail release date of the second set. We have a two-week gap between hobby and retail, so today will be the first real test of WoW TCG at retail.
Our placement at retail is up front in the TCG aisle, not in the back with the videogames. That's something that we want to do, but we have not had. We've had talks with some of the stores about that, and it would be tied to specific promotions. But we have not yet gotten that.
How's the response in the hobby, from your perspective?
We're ecstatic about the success of Warcraft. The set that just launched two weeks ago, most hobby and retail gaming distributors are completely sold out. So that's exciting to hear.
Will there be more of that set?
More will be coming to market.
So there's a little gap here?
Yes, a little gap.
How long?
Not long.
Is that weeks, months, days?
Unclear.
There's got to be somewhere in one of those options, it's not going to be 2008. Is it going to be the second half of 2007?
(Laughs) Weeks.
I guess that's a sign the initial sell-through was better than you thought it would be.
Yes, we're excited.
Do you have any research that would indicate what percentage of your buyers are buying it for the codes vs. collecting the images vs. playing the game?
No, we don't have any hard market research at this point. We do know that a huge part of our sampling comes from the Loot Cards. That's a great vehicle to get people to sample our game, but then the challenge of course is to turn those into long-term customers playing the game through organized play, through our great artwork, through our retail programs, through our hobby programs.
I've heard different things from retailers -- they're really all over the map in terms of what they think is happening, as far as the consumers and why they're buying it, and whether they're converting to play. I can't say there's any pattern emerging in what people are telling me at all.
I think the first set was a lot of people just trying out the game. Just now we're getting our main organized play up and running and we'll be able to see the turn-out of these people at our regional events--a good litmus test for how many people have actually converted to players. I think it's too early to say 60% or 20% or whatever percentage are converting.
We do have a wonderful partner in Blizzard. They provide wonderful support. They put up announcements about our product that are viewed on their Website by 8 million people.
Is that their number now?
It's 8.5 [million subscribers] now, worldwide.
I thought it was 7.5 about four months ago.
It bumped up after the release of Burning Crusade. There's definitely a huge fan base that we're trying to tap into, and the response has been good so far.
How many World of Warcraft TCG releases are there this year?
There are three main booster releases and two Raid Decks, and we have one unannounced holiday SKU. There's also an accessories line that we're launching in the Fall of '07.
Our next product release is the Molton Core Raid Deck. This is the second Raid Deck we've done. Do you know much about the Raid Decks? It's a purchase where you are the big boss, like I'm the big dragon, and I fight against three or four other people that are trying to bring me down. So it's reliving the online experience of a raid where you go into a big dungeon.
The first one we did back in November of last year was Onyxia's Lair, and that was received very well. But it was one dragon versus three or four guys. Molton Core is a totally different animal. There are ten different bosses that you have to fight your way through, which will make it very challenging on the players.
We've introduced some replay value in Raid Decks, so it's not just, 'once I figure out the puzzle I'm done.' Molton Core has two different ways to play. You can either play the regular clear, which is six of the ten bosses and there's a random element in the order of the bosses, which makes it more challenging, or there's the full clear, which is all ten bosses. So we think that's going to add some replay value to the customer end. That's the Molton Core Raid Deck, it comes out May 30th.
We're excited about the accessories line. This is Upper Deck's first time. We're launching with binders, portfolios, sleeves, deck boxes we've already launched, playmats, we have a little dice treasure chest coming out. A lot of neat little things for Warcraft players.
When's that coming out?
The playmats are coming out with each launch. There's a little dice treasure chest that looks like a WoW treasure chest that comes out in July. The full accessories package, with binders, portfolios, sleeves, deck boxes, comes out in Fall, we don't have a specific date.
So that's under the Upper Deck brand, not licensed?
Yes.
What's the Wow TCG aftermarket like?
It's healthy. The high points are the Loot Cards. It's a great tool, where gamers can get in and get the cards they need to play the game, and then sell the Loot Cards if they're not MMO players. It's a great tool for getting the most out of your money for your purchase.
What's the hottest card?
Probably the turtle mount from the first set, which is the ultra-rare Loot Card. That has ranged from $100 to $300. It goes up and down based on supply.
What's the rarity scheme, was that card one per case?
There are three Loot Cards in each set, and there's a rarity among those. The one that's at the top is about every other case, the one in the middle is about every case, and the least rare is every four to six boxes.
So the turtle mount card has the highest level rarity of one every other case?
Yes.
Anything else we should know about what's going on with WoW this year?
Our first Darkmoon Faire event is this weekend. In the MMO there's a traveling carnival. We're replicating that in the real world for our TCG events. It's going to happen about every month, one Darkmoon Faire event, it's going to travel around to different cities. It's going to alternate between the
We're going to make it more than just a TCG event. We're opening it up to other MMO players or fans of WoW. We've got private servers set up, so people can come and play on pre-built level 70 players in full gladiator gear, so you don't have to go through the years or months it takes to get to level 70, you can just play one and sample it out to see if this is something you want to do. There are going to be scavenger hunts and fun things to do outside of TCG gaming.
What kind of venues?
Senior Public Relations Specialist Claudine Ricanor: The
So if it's alternating between the
Yes, we have
Ricaanor: I believe it's June 15th through 17th.
What's the prize structure like for those?
Like Claudine said, there will be a broad spectrum of events from beginner tournaments all the way up to the top level events, which I think is called the Dream Machine tournament where the first prize is a totally tricked out gaming computer with all the bells and whistles.
One last note about organized play is that we've announced our world championship top prize. It's $100,000 to the winner. That's not the purse, that's to the winner, which is the biggest single pay-out in TCG history, as far as I'm aware.