Just a guess, but could it possibly have something to do with the current US economic sanctions against Russia? Perhaps FFG products fall into a cateogry of 'luxury' goods that US-based companies can no longer sell in Russia.

No, it don't. We able to buy other FFG production. Also, I don't know anything about ban on luxury-segment goods from USA - we can buy it freely.

I have heard Australia has had customs hold up FFG products because it falls into a similar tax category (could have been tournament kits) it can slow down the release dates for us so it could be the sanctions. a short term fix is look on ebay they some times come up for sale

Couldn't this be some result of the FFG/Asmodee merger in 2014? I don't know the specifics but I was under the impression that Asmodee was handling European distribution of FFG games now instead of their previous distribution network. I was also under the impression Asmodee took over the competitive play responsibilities in Europe. I thought I remembered reading something about that and how they sought to improve how competitive play was handled in that region. Obviously this situation in Russia seems to run counter to that goal.

I don't know if this is accurate or not but its worth checking on.

I did a little nosing about online and found this:

http://tass.ru/en/economy/764040

It sounds like Disney is having some corporate ownership issues in Russia, which could certainly affect their licensing deals. It may be that FFG/Asmodee isn't supposed to comment on it, so they can't really respond to requests.

This article is over a year old, but assuming the law hasn't been amended significantly it may be related to your problems getting Star Wars stuff.

This would certainly line up with the OP's quoted response from Hobby World. The OP was referring strictly to tournament kits and support. These details make it sound like they are unable to sell expansions too. Curious but not unsurprising if you are dealing with the Russian government. And I mean no disrespect to any Russians involved in this thread, OP or otherwise.

October saw disney clamp down on IP rights for star wars - locking down most regions - Japan can't sell its star wars liscensed things to singapore - FFG can't sell to Japan. There's little FFG can do at the moment - it's likely to get worse with the Asmodee merger. Beaurocratic red tape all over the place.

Guys, guys! You don't need FFG to hold your hands and provide tournament kits for you! If you want tournaments, just run them yourselves! Advertise, hire a venue, buy some prizes and run it yourself! 'custom' cards are easy to get hold of on eBay, acrylic goodies are all over the internet, and I'm sure you can get some nice trophies made up.

And the best part is you're free from the FFG stipulations! Guys, this is a blessing in disguise!

that's odd..

also, comments like "man up and buy the stuff on ebay" ARE NOT helpful.

I hope the situation gets resolved.

Guys, guys! You don't need FFG to hold your hands and provide tournament kits for you! If you want tournaments, just run them yourselves! Advertise, hire a venue, buy some prizes and run it yourself! 'custom' cards are easy to get hold of on eBay, acrylic goodies are all over the internet, and I'm sure you can get some nice trophies made up.

And the best part is you're free from the FFG stipulations! Guys, this is a blessing in disguise!

Obviously, but we want official kits as well!

Guys, guys! You don't need FFG to hold your hands and provide tournament kits for you! If you want tournaments, just run them yourselves! Advertise, hire a venue, buy some prizes and run it yourself! 'custom' cards are easy to get hold of on eBay, acrylic goodies are all over the internet, and I'm sure you can get some nice trophies made up.

And the best part is you're free from the FFG stipulations! Guys, this is a blessing in disguise!

Obviously, but we want official kits as well!

Well, you'll just need to come to an arrangement with someone in the states who can purchase them for you and ship them over privately. I don't know why you'd bother though, the prize kits aren't that flash IMO.

Privyet Circk

Sorry you're having trouble. Have you tried messaging 'evan' the mod on these boards? He is usually very good at getting back to people

Telling the OP to move country has to be possibly the least helpful reply ive ever seen on this board....

Guys, guys! You don't need FFG to hold your hands and provide tournament kits for you! If you want tournaments, just run them yourselves! Advertise, hire a venue, buy some prizes and run it yourself! 'custom' cards are easy to get hold of on eBay, acrylic goodies are all over the internet, and I'm sure you can get some nice trophies made up.

And the best part is you're free from the FFG stipulations! Guys, this is a blessing in disguise!

Obviously, but we want official kits as well!

Well, you'll just need to come to an arrangement with someone in the states who can purchase them for you and ship them over privately. I don't know why you'd bother though, the prize kits aren't that flash IMO.

We buy some kits on ebey . But this is very few . We can not get a national or regional kits .

Seriously, just make your own 'tournament kits'. They'll be better in every way that counts.

Privyet Circk

Sorry you're having trouble. Have you tried messaging 'evan' the mod on these boards? He is usually very good at getting back to people

Telling the OP to move country has to be possibly the least helpful reply ive ever seen on this board....

Zdravstvuy dorogoi tovarisch

Thanks a lot for your understanding, support and suggestion.

Will we expect the X-wing community to be as brutal as the 40k scene in Russia?

Imagine that 80% of X-wing russian players are ex-40k ones

(because GW sucks that hard)

Will we expect the X-wing community to be as brutal as the 40k scene in Russia?

Imagine that 80% of X-wing russian players are ex-40k ones

(because GW sucks that hard)

About 20 - 30 %% i would say.

Will we expect the X-wing community to be as brutal as the 40k scene in Russia?

Imagine that 80% of X-wing russian players are ex-40k ones

(because GW sucks that hard)

About 20 - 30 %% i would say.

There are some WFB ex-players (including myself).

Seriously, just make your own 'tournament kits'. They'll be better in every way that counts.

You know, its almost like some people enjoy officially licensed swag instead of average Joe body goods. Why do you keep disrespecting their issue like this? It's an actual problem. Personally? I find most non official acrylic stuff rather hideous, same with some of the art for custom cards.

Hmmm.....that is not a favorable position to be in. I'm sorry it's happening.

I think there are three things you can do:

1) Try to find a helpful store somewhere else in the world where they will buy the tournament kits and you purchase the kit from them. I know there are a lot of game stores in the US that don't purchase kits, so finding one that would want to get involved with you would do it. You would have to pay for shipping and it would cost more, but it's a way to get the kit to Russia. Charge for the tournaments to pay for the kits.

2) Buy the items off individuals and ebay as you can find them. It's harder and might cost even more, but something you can try to do. Charge for the tournaments to items.

3) Find a 3rd party company that has stuff you like and buy or ask for prize support from them. Not the same as official stuff, but at least you can get something unique from them. Maybe even have special stuff made up for events like specific tokens and all.

For #1, you would probably have to find a sympathetic store owner somewhere that doesn't use their own kit and would sell you theirs. They would have to ship it and that would be a pain. They would also probably want a profit for their time.

Hmmm.....that is not a favorable position to be in. I'm sorry it's happening.

I think there are three things you can do:

1) Try to find a helpful store somewhere else in the world where they will buy the tournament kits and you purchase the kit from them. I know there are a lot of game stores in the US that don't purchase kits, so finding one that would want to get involved with you would do it. You would have to pay for shipping and it would cost more, but it's a way to get the kit to Russia. Charge for the tournaments to pay for the kits.

2) Buy the items off individuals and ebay as you can find them. It's harder and might cost even more, but something you can try to do. Charge for the tournaments to items.

3) Find a 3rd party company that has stuff you like and buy or ask for prize support from them. Not the same as official stuff, but at least you can get something unique from them. Maybe even have special stuff made up for events like specific tokens and all.

For #1, you would probably have to find a sympathetic store owner somewhere that doesn't use their own kit and would sell you theirs. They would have to ship it and that would be a pain. They would also probably want a profit for their time.

We use this scheme . But it is good only for season kits and store kits. Get thus regional or national kits - it is impossible .

Strange situation TC. I'm not sure how you'd resolve that, but it's odd there's no official statement on their position. Legally speaking they should be able to tell you if there is an issue, even if not why.

Also agree that massively disrespectful replies like 'move country' only show the poster's ignorance. Seriously?

****. I feel for ya- not being able to play X-wing would piss me off quite a bit.

I guess the only thing to do is keep emailing or tweeting at them. They can't ignore you forever.

Still, if you want a signature for a petition I'd be happy to sign it.

****. I feel for ya- not being able to play X-wing would piss me off quite a bit.

Things not so bad - we are able to play X-wing: we have many players and we can buy any expansions, but we can't get official tournament kits from FFG.

Thank you for your support!

****. I feel for ya- not being able to play X-wing would piss me off quite a bit.

Things not so bad - we are able to play X-wing: we have many players and we can buy any expansions, but we can't get official tournament kits from FFG.

Thank you for your support!

We're having a similar situation here in Asia. We haven't been able to get FFG Star Wars stuff (kits & products) through official channels since mid to late last year. Reason being Disney has some sort of licensing embargo in place due to TFA and won't be lifted until sometime this year (or so I've heard). Not sure if this will also happen for the Russian community.

Thankfully this hasn't effected the community much here. We're still playing as much X-wing as we did before, only difference is our local stores have had to source from 3rd party suppliers and we have to wait a little linger for stock to arrive.

****. I feel for ya- not being able to play X-wing would piss me off quite a bit.

Things not so bad - we are able to play X-wing: we have many players and we can buy any expansions, but we can't get official tournament kits from FFG.

Thank you for your support!

We're having a similar situation here in Asia. We haven't been able to get FFG Star Wars stuff (kits & products) through official channels since mid to late last year. Reason being Disney has some sort of licensing embargo in place due to TFA and won't be lifted until sometime this year (or so I've heard). Not sure if this will also happen for the Russian community.

Thankfully this hasn't effected the community much here. We're still playing as much X-wing as we did before, only difference is our local stores have had to source from 3rd party suppliers and we have to wait a little linger for stock to arrive.

This lines up with what others including the OP have mentioned. It actually makes a lot of sense that Disney might have to enforce their IP rights in a very strict fashion in certain parts of the world. It would essentially make these organized play kits almost like an unintended collateral damage from the policy but something they are willing to live with if the policy itself helps them keep tighter control on their IP rights and merchandise etc during this period. Hopefully it's a temporary thing as you have suggested.

Hello, friends!

I'm one of Russian TO.

We started in early 2014 from small tournament for 11 players, and in 2015 we organized two Regionals in Moscow (54 participants) and Saint-Petersburg (32 participants). National Championship had 82 participants.

Now (in early 2016) we organize tournament series in 8 cities. We wanted to buy Store Kits for them, but FFG sad NO. All players are very sad about it.

Today we created petition. Help us please!

https://www.change.org/p/fantasy-flight-games-disney-x-wing-to-russia-ffg-don-t-hear-us-help-please

I am sorry to hear about your troubles! The only thing I can think of is keep bugging Fantasy Flight, the squeaky wheel gets the grease!

I hope everything works out for you.