I think Darth Mouse will begin to hold more sway over these matters.

Especially "SWX36-38."

the mystery product is "Armada" sucking up X-wing resources and production!!

NOPES... what it is is THE FORCE AWAKENS WAVE ONE!

DAT GLORY!!!

:lol:

Check your dates for the dates of the dock strikes in California. I'm not saying you're wrong but some of the announced/promised dates look a little suspect. A 3rd quarter announcement with a 4th quarter delivery, for example, is one of those that looks a little odd. If your dates are correct then excluding parts of the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2015, it appears that FFG was wildly optimistic about deliveries. I'd be curious to learn how many different facilities are involved in producing X-wing. Off the cuff I'm figuring at least 3. Printing boxes, tokens, cards etc. Injection molding of the pvc packaging and finally production and painting of the models. Since we don't know where these facilities are located to each other or in relation to final assembly and packaging it's impossible to determine if there was a logistics problem. If the parts for X-wing had to travel any appreciable distance to the final assembly area that might give an indication of delays.

The dates are accurate. In the beginning, when X-Wing first came out, the amount of customers for the product was limited. Obviously, it became wildly successful, and that can definitely impact delivery ... in the beginning.

But by now, they should have a firm grip on their customer base. They should have metrics on what to expect for certain sales at given price points. They (FFG) certainly know where all of their production sites are, logistics involved in making the product, production schedules, time frames, shipping schedules, time frames, etc.

All I am suggesting is that they LEVERAGE this information, and provide more realistic time frames for actual delivery of product.

I agree that it is absurd to announce something in Q3 and expect to deliver it in Q4 of the same year, especially given the past track record.

This is further compounded by the fact that FFG excessively provides spoilers for the product (imho) months in advance, and then do things like provide limited product at GenCon, and then still take 2-4 months to deliver to the rest of the world.

I want FFG to continue to succeed; I don't think there is anything wrong with providing constructive criticism to an approach that is clearly not working.

I agree with everything you said. The problem is there are so many variables that we don't know about. I'm making the assumption that things may not move with Swiss precision over in China. With companies moving with JIT deliveries a small hiccup in supply at any point upstream of final packaging has a cascade effect. I also think that production schedules were rearranged to accommodate Wave 8 and what ever is going to be announced on 4 September. I think FFG also underestimated demand. Interest probably spiked after Episode 7 was announced as well as X-wing showing up on TableTop. I just got into this in January of this year and have everything except the Tantive. On the other hand they could just be really bad in determining deliveries.

There is no doubt that FFG underestimated demand. By orders of magnitude.

They need to use "Scotty estimates"..lol

Anyone who has been with the X-Wing game from the beginning, as have I, knows full well that the projected FFG delivery dates of X-Wing products often is a ... well ... trip down fantasy lane ...

This is especially true given what has occurred over the past few years ...

While I am fascinated with all of the announcements from GenCon, I can't help but laugh out loud at the following:

Imperial Assault Carrier Expansion Delivery Date: Q4 2015

Wave 8 Expansions Delivery Date: Q4 2015

Seriously. Really.

I think we have left the land of fantasy and moved fully into delusion.

Not sure where you get Q4-2015... In the in-flight presentation, the date for these ships said "early 2016". I take that as the first half of 2016.

Anyone who has been with the X-Wing game from the beginning, as have I, knows full well that the projected FFG delivery dates of X-Wing products often is a ... well ... trip down fantasy lane ...

This is especially true given what has occurred over the past few years ...

While I am fascinated with all of the announcements from GenCon, I can't help but laugh out loud at the following:

Imperial Assault Carrier Expansion Delivery Date: Q4 2015

Wave 8 Expansions Delivery Date: Q4 2015

Seriously. Really.

I think we have left the land of fantasy and moved fully into delusion.

Not sure where you get Q4-2015... In the in-flight presentation, the date for these ships said "early 2016". I take that as the first half of 2016.

In that same presentation he stated that he is very hopeful to have it in our hands in December.

IIRC, the slides said 2015, the presenter actually said it might be early 2016

There is no doubt that FFG underestimated demand. By orders of magnitude.

I got into this game in Wave 1, and the excitement for Wave 2 was phenomenal. THE FALCON! SQUINTS! A-Wings! SLAVE 1!

It was massively delayed, and then instantly sold out.

We used to do daily checks of shipping status for _reprints_ of TIE Interceptors!

I'm not trying to be an old man. But yeah, FFG has constantly underestimated interest in this game.

They have a handle on it now. There is still some periods when a ship may go out of availability. But it is hardly the issue it was.

They need to use "Scotty estimates"..lol

Well as a business they should adopt a long time tried an true philosophy....underpromise...then over deliver!!!!.....lol

I think their dates are best-case-scenario type, and after the announcement something likely goes wrong.

I could accept this once ... maybe even twice under extraordinary circumstances ...

But each and every time they announce a new product? I think not.

I would rather they just don't provide a date, or better, leverage the knowledge and history that they have over the past few years, and provide something far more accurate, such as Q2 2016.

Even if the Imperial Assault Carrier and Wave 8 got on the boat today, we wouldn't get it by the end of 2015 - not if the past few years is any indicator. And they aren't even close to doing that.

You may not have noticed Peterson mention wave 8 is already on the boat.

If they're shipping out Episode VII related products, I'm surprised Disney let them slip the Force (toy) Day date. Notice how he deftly avoids talking about things because contracts prevent them but missing GenCon is like Hasboro missing Toy Fair.

I'm sure that Christian Peterson would be overjoyed to receive all the resumes of so many experts with experience of international manufacturing, global product delivery, and supply chain management.

If anyone has strong opinions on how bad a job that they believe FFG is doing, and haven't watched the 2015 GenCon Inflight seminar, it would behoove you to do so. Mr. Peterson is very upfront and candid about their distribution state, especially with the challenges that having all the E7 product "on the water" already, in advance of the global September 4th release date.

Overall, I think given FFG's task, relative to their size, is a pretty tall order.

I think this year was a bit of a mess for their distribution due to the hard September 4 date. Also, they have to account for lead times to make molds, get the prototypes painted, approved by the licensor, sent to manufacturing, hurry up and wait for Chinese New year to be done (a multi-week afair from what I understand), get a QA run done, approve them, get the ball rolling on full blown runs, then get it on a boat, then it finally makes it to distribution.

Given the gigantic audience of this game, I'm impressed there aren't more snafus with this game.

At the end of the day, it's a game I love, and it's a game I'm willing to be patient with them.

P.S. Amazon base wave 7 available on August 14th...

Anyone who has been with the X-Wing game from the beginning, as have I, knows full well that the projected FFG delivery dates of X-Wing products often is a ... well ... trip down fantasy lane ...

This is especially true given what has occurred over the past few years ...

While I am fascinated with all of the announcements from GenCon, I can't help but laugh out loud at the following:

Imperial Assault Carrier Expansion Delivery Date: Q4 2015

Wave 8 Expansions Delivery Date: Q4 2015

Seriously. Really.

I think we have left the land of fantasy and moved fully into delusion.

Not sure where you get Q4-2015... In the in-flight presentation, the date for these ships said "early 2016". I take that as the first half of 2016.

The Q4 2015 time frame comes directly from their announcement documents posted on this site. Feel free to check.

I have a serious question:

How are they comfortable play testing and tweaking new product if they plan to release it only several months after wave 7 hits tables? I can't fathom them releasing new pieces to a game before tournaments are affected by the previous releases, or at least waiting for a couple months of customers playing the game to get feedback.

It just seems odd to me that they're so comfortable with it since they can't up and modify a tabletop game like a computer game with a patch release.

As for the promised release dates

Since when is an 'expected date' the same thing as a 'promised date'? They're saying "we think we'll get it out by X" but that doesn't happen, but at no point could what they said be construed as a promise.

I have a serious question:

How are they comfortable play testing and tweaking new product if they plan to release it only several months after wave 7 hits tables? I can't fathom them releasing new pieces to a game before tournaments are affected by the previous releases, or at least waiting for a couple months of customers playing the game to get feedback.

It just seems odd to me that they're so comfortable with it since they can't up and modify a tabletop game like a computer game with a patch release.

So they might effectively have 8 ships hit the tournaments at the same time, rather than 4? Not a huge deal I think. Also they work on expansions for a very long time before we even hear about them, by the time we get one set the next set is done, there is no time to collect feedback from the general public to change anything. I mean, a few people pick up some wave 7 ships, and the next day we have product pictures of wave 8, too late to change anything there anyway. I guess my point is, releasing the next wave quickly after this one won't matter much for balance, they've been play testing it for months (or longer) anyway.