We, the independent game stores that comprise the bulk of the store base that are participating Wizards Play Network stores would like to address to Wizards of the Coast the ongoing concern of mass market chains stores frequently breaking street date on the release of Magic The Gathering products.

Every release cycle for Magic The Gathering, us independent stores witness a multitude of mass market stores breaking street date and selling Magic the Gathering products early. Frequently selling them on the Thursday before release and sometimes earlier. To many independent game and comic stores, Magic the Gathering is an important component of their business and many such stores are enrolled in the WPN and support organized play for the game. Yet, the early sale of Magic by large chain stores like Walmart Target, etc, represent an unfair trade advantage that can be a detriment to the health of those WPN stores.

This has been a problem that has been ongoing for years now. Independent stores are encouraged to go buy product from the mass market stores breaking street date, then submit evidence to Wizards. The assumption is action will be taken, base on said evidence, to fix the problem and make the stores breaking street date stop breaking them. These actions are taken out of view of us independent store, so truthfully, we do not know what actions have been taken in the past, if any. But each release, collectively, we see the problem continue and if anything, it has become worse in the last couple of years. To the level that it has simply become an assumed unfair trade advantage that the mass market stores get against the independent stores.

We understand the complexity of the situation. That Magic gets distributed into the mass market stores, most typically through a tier of distribution companies that buy/lease end-cap display space in said stores and that those companies themselves often employ contractors to handle distribution within specific zones. That this distribution method has made it difficult for Wizards of the Coast to effectively control the street date of Magic and that punitive actions against the street date breakers could in return lead to punitive measures against Wizards and cost your company shelf presence in the mass market channels. It is because we understand the difficulties your company faces that us independent stores believe effective street date enforcement through this channel is likely beyond Wizards' control.

To that end, this petition is seeking an alternative solution to the problem. A means to give WPN stores a level playing field when it comes to the street date selling of Magic the Gathering products. Most independent stores remotely successful with the sales of Magic products are participating in the WPN and are part of structure that provides organized play opportunities for the fan base of the game. Participation in the WPN and the niche market of independent game distribution has given Wizards fairly tight control of the distribution of Magic product through that channel and also control of street date.

In this past year, Wizards has shown they can use that control to manage the early release of Dungeons and Dragons products to participating WPN stores. We believe that a similar approach could be employed by Wizards to put Magic products into the hands of the store base best supporting the organized play for the game. We are not seeking a competitive advantage, just a fair and equal playing field. So the long period of early release that you have employed for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Ed product may tip the scale too far in the other direction. Perhaps a 1 week lead time, or even having a WPN street date of Tuesday or Wednesday following the pre-releases, rather that Friday may suffice as a hedge against mass market's inevitable breaking of the street date.

This petition is not seeking to set the specific terms for the solution. Just one proposal, plus the sincerest effort of independent store to communicate the depth of the problem as it relates to our businesses. If you ask any 10 independent game store owners, we recognize that you will likely get 9-10 different proposals for solutions to this problem. Lacking a viable trade organization to voice this concern on our behalf, we the signers of this petition, are using this petition to have our collective voices be heard.

Written by Ryan Johnson of GOB Retail.

Please also refer to the following link for recent coverage on this issue and some retailer responses.
http://icv2.com/articles/news/view/30714/target-store-says-magic-release-dates-don-apply