So if we can all agree that slow shipping isn't that big of a deal, do you think we can convince Wizards of the Coast to bring back print-to-demand for Magic: The Gathering's Secret Lair? When WotC announced earlier this year that Secret Lair would be moving to a limited-run model, this was the reason given for the change. “One piece of feedback we've received overwhelmingly is that you wish Secret Lair was available more quickly,” the announcement reads.
After how miserable the last year of Secret Lair has been, it's hard to believe this was ever a problem for people. Is it better to get your order faster if you can't even get it? I think it's obvious that limited runs have been a catastrophic change for Magic, as this week's Marvel launch once again demonstrated.
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If you blinked and missed it, Wizards revealed a collection of Marvel Secret Lair heroes releasing at New York Comic-Con last month. These five packs, featuring characters such as Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Panther, represent Magic's first foray into the Marvel Universe before the debut of the highly anticipated Spider-Man Universes Beyond set next year. The sale began Monday morning at 9 a.m. PT, and as expected, everything went wrong.
Purchasing a product shouldn't be an anxiety-inducing experience, but if you wanted to get your hands on these coveted Marvel cards, you were in for a stressful situation. Many waited in line for more than an hour only for the site to crash. Some things sold out almost instantly, and within the first four hours, every single package was gone.
Even worse, those who immediately queued would also find the Arcane Signet promo sold out before they had the chance to check out.
If I had something else to do at 9am on Monday morning, like go to work. You were unlucky. Have fun being a loser with the cheap prices, I guess you should have rearranged your life so you could spam the Secret Lair website all morning.
It's more than a little frustrating that this is what Secret Lair has become, especially when you think back to the original announcement back in January. “While the popular Secret Lair drops may sell out quickly,” he says. “We now have four years of Secret Lair sales to base our circulation numbers on and aim to get as close to overall demand as possible.” There's no way to be charitable to WotC here: it was a lie.
We know this because this Marvel launch isn't the first Secret Lair whose circulation numbers aren't even remotely close to overall demand. Monty Python's July launch went pretty much exactly the same way, selling out in a matter of hours and provoking such a backlash that Magic's lead designer, Mark Rosewater, responded personally. We know this because Hasbro's CEO told investors last month that he expected each Marvel mini set to “sell out immediately.” We know this because WotC sent an email to everyone with tips on how to checkout as quickly as possible.
It's not that Wizard is getting the estimates wrong here, they want it to happen. He wants to create FOMO by limiting supply. He wants to create chaos and headlines about how high the demand for Secret Lair is. Worse yet, he wants his customers to be disappointed, or at least he doesn't care that disappointment is a byproduct of this system.
In an investor call ahead of the Marvel Superdrop, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said he expected Secret Lairs to “sell out immediately.”
If anxiety and desperation are the primary feelings you experience when trying to purchase something from a company, that company has done something terribly wrong. Our Card-Boy-in-Chief Joe Parlock essentially gave up hope of getting any Secret Lair releases after the Monty Python fiasco, and I see the same sentiment shared by many.
I hate how simplistic it sounds to say “just print more cards”, but there is a really clear and simple solution to this problem: just print more cards. The fact that this continues to happen shows that WotC doesn't think this is a problem that needs fixing, and until we hear otherwise, you should expect this to continue to happen.
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Magic: The Gathering's Marvel Secret Lair has fans begging for print on demand
The rather disastrous launch of Magic: The Gathering's Marvel Secret Lair has more than a few fans upset.
