After we published our story on Milton Bradley's new Heroscape game (see 'New Board Game Includes Miniatures'), which will include miniatures and is being promoted by inserts in some October DC comic titles, we were contacted by a retailer who asked about the MSRP in our article.  His question was how it could be only $39.95, since his margin buying from a hobby distributor would be so low selling at that price. 

 

We talked to ACD's Bill Bodden about Heroscape at last week's ACD Game Days, and he explained that hobby distributors buy the Milton Bradley products at what is essentially a retailer discount, and then have to mark up the product to sell it.  He said that the originally scheduled July release date to the hobby channel would have given hobby retailers a window of time to sell the title before it hit mass merchants, but that shipping delays had eliminated that window. 

 

There is some hope on the horizon, however.  According to Bodden, Milton Bradley is planning booster packs for the game, which will include miniatures, some terrain bits, and a scenario, and that those may give hobby stores some products not supported by larger retailers.