From the Stores to the Floors

I started my day at 4:30 am west coast this morning. I am typically an early riser, but this morning I had an agenda to follow. First on my list as usual was to log into wowtcg.com and check out the posts from the night before. As my PC fired up I pondered the latest releases from the ladies and gentlemen at UDE. I had seen some new locations, arena plays, those damn gnomes (how I hate em), and some ramblings about the new dwarf allies featuring the "find treasure" aspect of the game.

Then it hit me. UDE was handing out sneak peaks of FOH like candy, and I was eating it up. As of this post, UDE has released seven peaks at several cards, and if you actually took the time to read the entire posts as I do, you would have found an easter egg for the image of an eighth. The druid, the gnome, the dwarf, the undead, the arena, a peak into honor...what's next. The sneak preview at in-store locations, happens in just over a week and UDE is feeding my addiction with a very slow but consistent infusion of text and artwork. The mind wanders aimlessly at the wonder that is the internal plan for play. How the hell do I get Drek'thar into play before that damn druid Illidan's again?

If you aren't excited about sneak previews, then perhaps you should check your pulse. Partnered with UDE's decision to go completely in-store with the sneak preview releases, has been an obvious attempt to build buzz with releases in as fast and furious a manner as possible.

So the next obvious question is, are the store ready? Do they have any idea what is in the cards for them (pardon the pun). The biggest question is, have they ordered enough product? Has UDE done enough to ensure that the players showing up for these events will get to walk with new product in hand awaiting the grand release with the 10's and 20's ready to go? These are not indictments of past transgressions nor glimpses into the future based upon some misinterpreted "inside information". These are honest questions. UDE, the card stores and more importantly the player base has an opportunity to be a part of the next progression in game play. It is limited to one day. It is limited to the size of the store and the product ordered based upon the forecast of interest.

Here's to hoping it is one hell of a home run.