The Manaverse Podcast

The launch of Lorcana has been a roller coaster for game stores. The absurdly high demand combined with a very limited supply of product has created a perfect storm for game store owners looking to sell, as well as consumers and collectors looking to buy. Online communities of players/speculators have accused game store owners of scalping and gouging if anything is priced above MSRP, with game store owners justifiably pushing back and defending the market price as the only viable option given the circumstances.

Basically, no one is happy about the Lorcana launch and the whole thing has been extremely frustrating for all parties.

As of the publishing date of this podcast, restocks of Chapter 1 are just now hitting the shelves of game stores several weeks later than originally promised by Ravensburger, with Rise of the Floodborn just around the corner.

As a collectible card game, Lorcana will be scrutinized as an example for years to come. Despite all it's challenges, and they are substantial at this point, there is still massive potential for Lorcana to become a major player in the collectible card game market.

And that's what Brendan Carrion and I discuss in today's episode! Let's talk about the future of Lorcana as a collectible card game, it's place in the pantheon, where Ravensburger went wrong with the launch (and where they went right), and speculate on whether Lorcana is the next big thing.

• The popularity and anticipation of Disney's Lorcana card game
• Comparison of Lorcana to Pokemon and its market impact
• Ravensburger's supply challenges
• The speculative nature of collectible card games
• The secondary market for collectible cards and investment perspectives
• The effect of volatile card prices on game stores and industry ethics
• The controversy and value of reprinting cards in the collectible market
• Challenges faced by retailers with pre-orders and customer expectations
• Ravensburger's cautious approach to printing and market delivery
• Potential impact of a new Star Wars card game
• The complexity of card game production and consumer awareness

Athoriagames.com

@athoriagames on Instagram

Athoria Games on Facebook

@deathbyroleplaying

Alan Blakeborough, Founder and CEO of 2ndHandGeek.com, talks about the new online marketplace that supports friendly local game stores. Alan and his team are creating a new competitor to the $9 billion marketplace of eBay, where the fees are competitive and 1% of each transaction gets paid back to the friendly local game store associated with a user's account.

We also talk about what he learned along the way as an owner of multiple game stores over the last couple of decades, and how 2ndHandGeek supports store owners with additional income, as well as organized play support.

• Creating a marketplace for gamers to buy and sell gaming-related items.
• How 2ndHandGeek works and how it supports local game stores.
• The growth of the tabletop gaming industry.
• The International Wargaming League and 2ndHandGeek organized play program
• 3D printing and its potential in the miniature Wargaming industry.

2ndhandgeek.com

[email protected]

Give Blake a call! 864-420-4788

Frank Rossi and Jordan Shankman are the featured guests for today's episode of the podcast. Frank and Jordan are the owners of Petrichor Productions in the Greater Atlanta area and they specialize in video production and helping businesses bring their brand story to vibrant life. The Petrichor team recently worked with Jason Mastowski, the owner of Peach State Games in Woodstock, GA, to create a video telling the story of his shop and the amazing community that has formed around Jason's passion and energy. It's a great example of how a well produced video can convey emotion and tell a story that can't really be replicated any other way. Check out the short three minute video they created for Jason below. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-TdqzviHho

In our interview, the Petrichor guys and I discuss why video is so effective and creating a connection between businesses and potential customers, how you can start creating video content for your game store today without the need for expensive cameras or equipment, and what makes a piece of video content effective.

Video is one of the most powerful ways you can market your business, and when paired with social media and digital marketing, it's a great tool for getting new customers into your store or shopping your website. If you're an established game store that offers a great experience to your customers, this is an excellent strategy for taking your marketing to the next level. Find out how the Manaverse Marketing Agency and Petrichor team can blow up your inbox and in store traffic with a killer video marketing package by going to manaversesaga.com/petrichor.

Commander players are the ultimate casual Magic player for game stores. Having a thriving and vibrant Commander community is a huge asset since Commander players often spend the most money on the hobby and buy all sorts of cards that conventional Standard or Modern players wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole, and are happy paying for them!

The more Commander players you can create and attract the better, but there are some barriers to organizing events for this particular community of Magic players.

As an event type, Commander is usually as casual as it gets, so traditional event organization doesn't really make much sense. Commander players aren't playing for the competition, or even the prizes most of the time. They're there for the fun and friendly atmosphere and to live out their Timmy/Johnny dreams of hilarious situations and ridiculously improbable combos.

Traditional tournament organization doesn't really fit the bill.

The second issue is some people find it awkward to show up to a store for the first time and ask a bunch of strangers if they can join their game. Social anxiety is a real thing, and it can keep potential Commander players from ever giving it a shot.

So what should you do?

Hang out with the founder of LFG Nexus and myself to find out about Commander Nexus and the Kickstarter project launching September 14th!

Commander Nexus is a platform being explicitly designed to facilitate Magic's most popular casual format and make it easier than ever for game stores to build a community of Commander players.

Find out:

• What makes the Commander Nexus tick,
• How you can get early access to the platform,
• And how you can start growing your Commander community.

Get in on the ground floor by clicking here to be notified when the project goes live!

Host note: Sheldon Menery, the godfather of Commander recently passed prior to the release of this podcast. Sheldon was a trailblazer in the Magic community, helping to shape the judge program from its earliest days and serving as a level 5 competitive Magic judge until retiring from the program in 2011. A prolific writer and content creator, he shared his insights and expertise through articles, videos, and podcasts, and he was one of the people responsible for the creation and proliferation of the Magic's most popular format. Sheldon left a mark on the Magic community that few will ever be able to match and he will be missed.

Robyn Lowy, the owner of Mindtaker Miniatures in Vancouver, Washington, talks about how she built a truly unique take on the friendly local game store. Find out how Robyn started by buying and selling miniatures online and expanded the business into a fully fledged miniature powerhouse. If you've ever thought about carrying miniature games in your store the business model (pun intended) that Robyn has built is one you should 100% be paying attention to.

https://www.mindtaker.org/

[email protected]

https://facebook.com/mindtakerminis

https://www.instagram.com/mindtakermini/

A digital marketing strategy is crucial to your game store's success. In order to grow, you need to get your store in front of new customers and the most effective way to do that is online using strategies like Google ads, email marketing, social media, and content marketing. This is where the Manaverse Marketing Agency comes in.

We bring in new customers to your online store and physical store front using a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that we build around your brand and existing operation, and then implement for you. Book a 30 minute strategy session with us to get your game store marketing plan created for free. It's yours to keep either way so you have nothing to lose. Go to manaversesaga.com/mma to book your call and let's take your game store to the next level.

Brendan Carrion, email marketer/game designer/podcaster with Athoria Games in Arizona, is on the podcast to talk about the nuts and bolts of marketing a game store and getting new customers, what makes Athoria Games tick, and discuss the state of the gaming industry as a whole.

Good times. Don't forget to connect with Brendan here.

https://www.athoriagames.com/

https://www.thecarrion.com/

We've got Jamison Sacks on the podcast today. Jamison is the owner of Common Ground Games in Dallas. Founded in 2013 by Jamison Sacks & DR Hanson, Common Ground Games brings a premiere retail and gaming space for all of D/FW to enjoy and has well over a thousand five star reviews on Facebook and Google.

https://www.boardgamesdallas.com/

https://www.facebook.com/commongroundgamestore

https://www.instagram.com/commongroundgames/

https://www.tiktok.com/@commongroundgames

https://twitter.com/commongrounddal

We've got Michael McKinney on the podcast today. Michael is the logistics manager of 95 MTG and 95 Game Center in Wilmington and we dig into some really interesting aspects of the way 95 Game Center runs and how it built up the singles side of the business.

We talk about the differences between the pay-to-play model versus a free game space, how 95 MTG grew into a Magic singles powerhouse with their own custom built software, how to keep things fresh and interesting for customers, tapping into what your community really wants, and more.

https://95mtg.com/

95gamecenter.com

A digital marketing strategy is crucial to your game store's success. In order to grow, you need to get your store in front of new customers and the most effective way to do that is online using strategies like Google ads, email marketing, social media, and content marketing. This is where the Manaverse Marketing Agency comes in. We bring in new customers to your online store and physical store front using a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that we build around your brand and existing operation, and then implement for you. Book a 30 minute strategy session with us to get your game store marketing plan created for free. It's yours to keep either way so you have nothing to lose. Go to manaversesaga.com/mma to book your call and let's take your game store to the next level.

Daniel Vander Kooy comes onto the Manaverse Podcast and talks about the OGL, whether Wizards of the Coast is killing the golden goose, what's happening in the hobby industry, and how game store owners can prepare.

Get a customized digital marketing strategy for your game store by booking a free 45 minute strategy session with us. We will do a deep dive on the six main areas of digital marketing for your game store and identify what's working and what can be improved on, create a customized strategy based on your brand, and show how we can implement everything for you. Book your strategy session at manaversesaga.com/mma

Erik Bigglestone makes his return debut on the Manaverse Podcast to share his experience dealing with an ADA lawsuit last year and talk about ways for game stores to protect their businesses from predatory actors.

We discuss how Games of Berkeley was targeted last year for an Accessibility claim out of New York, the pattern of certain plaintiffs and lawyers in serving businesses in the local game store community, why making your website accessible needs to be a high priority for every game store with a website (pretty much everyone in the US at this point) and the solutions that are available right now.

Case Tracker: https://www.pacermonitor.com

Games of Berkeley Case: https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/45245700/Toro_v_Evil_Empire_Inc,_dba_Games_of_Berkeley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_public_participation

Remediation Company #1: https://216digital.com/

Remediation Company #2: https://adasitecompliance.com/

Lawyer that handled Erik's case: https://www.steinllp.com/

https://www.accessibility.com/search?term=mars+khaimov&type=SITE_PAGE&type=LANDING_PAGE&type=BLOG_POST&type=LISTING_PAGE

Try Accessibe free for 7 days: manaversesaga.com/ada (affiliate link)

See how accessible your website is: https://accessibe.com/accessscan

If your shop is based in the US, your game store's website may be a huge liability for you. Recently passed legislation has made the internet a public accommodation and that means that if your website isn't accessible, you're at risk of serious fines from the government and especially lawsuits. Game stores in particular are being targeted by a law firm in New York and if you don't want to be served with a five digit lawsuit, you need a solution. The best option on the market is AccessiBe. AccessiBe is an affordable AI based app that automatically makes your website accessible for all sorts of people and protects you with an accessibility statement and litigation support. It's an all in one win-win solution for game stores that only takes 48 hours to protect your business and make it more accessible to the people that need it.

You can grab this deal by signing up for a free 7 day trial by going to manaversesaga.com/ada.