Just got back from picking up an order my friendly local game store, and they had oodles of Paizo stuff for me, but no Critical Hit Deck. The owner called his distributor (Alliance) and they told him that the Critical Hit Deck "was not out yet, hasn't been published". Now, being an intelligent Paizo fan, I KNOW the deck has been published and is for sale - is Alliance fibbing here?
I would love to just order from Paizo straight up, but I feel it is vitally important to the current and future health of our hobby to support our FLGS's, and I try to keep all my game-related purchases local.
So any truth to this? I know that some distributors (**Alliancecoughcough**) can be very difficult to work with. I will wait as long as it takes to buy my products locally, but the temptation is getting greater every week as I keep drooling over the prospect of unleashing the Crit Hit Deck at my table.
Contributor
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Just got back from picking up an order my friendly local game store, and they had oodles of Paizo stuff for me, but no Critical Hit Deck. The owner called his distributor (Alliance) and they told him that the Critical Hit Deck "was not out yet, hasn't been published". Now, being an intelligent Paizo fan, I KNOW the deck has been published and is for sale - is Alliance fibbing here?
I wouldn't say "fibbing;" I'd say "mistaken." The Crit Hit Deck has been out for almost two months now, and Alliance itself has done multiple reorders. If I can remember, I'll point Phil to this thread on Monday. :)
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Just got back from picking up an order my friendly local game store, and they had oodles of Paizo stuff for me, but no Critical Hit Deck. The owner called his distributor (Alliance) and they told him that the Critical Hit Deck "was not out yet, hasn't been published". Now, being an intelligent Paizo fan, I KNOW the deck has been published and is for sale - is Alliance fibbing here?
Eric - are you by chance in the North-East? I find that alliance tends to have different answers depending on who you talk to, if a product from the west cost sells more then they expected, then they will not have it in the east coast distribution centers, and thus it will not show up on their computers in the east when they look it up, because they only look at "your distribution center" this is also how some things can be sold out for 2 years and then pop up as able to order (IE the store I work for was able to order 3 packs of OOP minis at regular price last month)
edit- at least that is what I was told from our allience rep when we were able to order said packs..
Just got back from picking up an order my friendly local game store, and they had oodles of Paizo stuff for me, but no Critical Hit Deck. The owner called his distributor (Alliance) and they told him that the Critical Hit Deck "was not out yet, hasn't been published". Now, being an intelligent Paizo fan, I KNOW the deck has been published and is for sale - is Alliance fibbing here?
I would love to just order from Paizo straight up, but I feel it is vitally important to the current and future health of our hobby to support our FLGS's, and I try to keep all my game-related purchases local.
So any truth to this? I know that some distributors (**Alliancecoughcough**) can be very difficult to work with. I will wait as long as it takes to buy my products locally, but the temptation is getting greater every week as I keep drooling over the prospect of unleashing the Crit Hit Deck at my table.
Something similar happened to me. I live in PA and went to my FLGS to see if they had any in stock. They did not, but they told me that it would be quicker to order thru them. I did order from them. I waited a month but still no CH Deck. I eventually just order from Paizo. I now have the deck for about 3 weeks but my FLGS still doesn't have my request processed. They order thru Alliance also.
I wouldn't say "fibbing;" I'd say "mistaken." The Crit Hit Deck has been out for almost two months now, and Alliance itself has done multiple reorders. If I can remember, I'll point Phil to this thread on Monday. :)
Thanks for the reply; I too will point my FLGS owner to this thread.
One more reason I love Paizo - awesome customer service!
Oh, and I'm in Central IL, so if they have only east or west coast distribution centers, those of us in the middle here might have to wait longer than the coasts. I never thought of that before.
This is always troubling and disturbing when I hear it - and I hear it all the time, not just from Alliance sales reps.
Gentlemen, I need your help! In order to prevent this kind of thing from happening (and find out who is telling stores our products aren't available), I need to know the name, location and store manager's name of the stores in question. This goes for anyone who reads this, and their store cant' get out stuff - you tell me who they are and how I can call them, and I'll call them ASAP and get to the bottom of it.
WHile I'd like to say this is a rare and unheard-of practice, it is all too common the world over. The more you tell me, as SOON as you hear something like this, I can fix it so that it won't happen to other stores as well!
Thanks! - Phil
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This is always troubling and disturbing when I hear it - and I hear it all the time
Thanks! - Phil
Thank you for your input - I will check with the owner when I go in tomorrow to see if it is still an issue or if it was on the upcoming order (we only get 1-2 alliance orders a month unfortunately being a small store) do you want us to just reply to this thread, or email you with the information?
Chief Technical Officer
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As of this morning, Alliance has Crit Hit Decks in their East, South, and West warehouses, though Midwest is out of stock (and it looks like South might have less than 12 copies, because they're only listing single decks, not 12-count displays.
The bad news for you—but good news for us—is that the Critical Hit Deck has been a smashing success for us, and we're nearly sold out of the first print run. (Right now, we have less than 100 unsold copies on hand.) We've already ordered a reprint, and are hoping we'll have it by Origins in early July... but it might be a wee bit scarce in the channel for a few weeks.
do you want us to just reply to this thread, or email you with the information?
Feel free to email me directly, phil@paizo.com.
I did speak with the store in question today, and with the Alliance sales manager, and it seems to have all been smoothed over. Most times it's just a missed communication somewhere, but I do so like to jump right on cases like this when I see them. Without you guys and your eyes int he field, we'd never know you weren't getting things, so keep up the good field work!