Days of Wonder Signs Exclusive Distributor Deal

Late last week, I got a call from my game distributor. They told me some unfortunate information. They were no longer going to be able to sell Days of Wonder games due to an exclusive agreement that had been signed.

This may sound like a trivial event, but for many of you, it may mean that you are not able to get the games you like or the expansions to them for a period of time. For example, it means that I need to get a retailer account with a new distributor so I can provide you with the best games in the world.

The games made by Days of Wonder include:

• BattleLore and its expansions
• Memoir ‘44 and its expansions
• Ticket to Ride and its expansions and new card game
• Shadows Over Camelot and the upcoming Merlin’s Company expansion
• Pirate’s Cove

As you can see, these are some very popular games and for a retail stores to not carry them would be a disservice to gamers. So, a retailer must do a couple of things -1) buy up a bunch of inventory from our current supplier and hope to not sell out until the new distributor agreement is settled and 2) set up a new distributor agreement with the new distributor.

This can affect pricing do to shipping options or exclusive rights, which is essentially a sales monopoly. Days Of Wonder also recently raised their prices. So essentially this turns out to be a negative for the consumer. However, I have played many of their games and I can say they are great games, so it is worth the wait and the price increase.

At www.bestdanggames.com, we have two games of theirs available due to larger retailers buying out inventory at the distributor level. These games are: Ticket to Ride Europe and Ticket to Ride Card Game. All other Days of Wonder games are not available for sale until we set up our new distributor account.

If you are considering any of these games in the near future, please check with your retailer of choice to confirm game availability.

When we have access to these games again, I will post a new blog about the availability. Until then, try a great game from Z-Man games. Our Game of the Month is 1960: The Making of a President. Another game you may consider is the new Catan expansion game: Traders and Barbarians.