8 minutes ago, pakirby said:

I think they were referring to adepticon.

Yep. Adepticon 2019. Where they sold limited edition droid ships. They did not give tickets to the x-wing event attendees.

So when are these going on sale? They said it was being moved to this week, but I hadn’t heard anything about it yet. Did I miss the sale? Is there an announced revised date/time? Thanks.

3 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

So when are these going on sale? They said it was being moved to this week, but I hadn’t heard anything about it yet. Did I miss the sale? Is there an announced revised date/time? Thanks.

I haven’t heard anything yet.

6 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

So when are these going on sale? They said it was being moved to this week, but I hadn’t heard anything about it yet. Did I miss the sale? Is there an announced revised date/time? Thanks.

Nope, no news yet. Hopefully they say something today so we are prepared for later this week.

It feels like it might be pushed further even more right?

I haven’t seen anything

On 3/30/2020 at 8:55 PM, Wolfmanhays said:

I was there. Tickets were available, but they did not give them to the people playing x-wing. In fact you had to line-up at the main exhibitor entrance at the same time as the x-wing event was starting. Virtually no person playing x-wing got one of the limited edition ships. I don’t think they brought enough ships to do that.

I was at Adepticon 2019 playing in the X-WING system open on Saturday and they passed out vouchers during the first round to every player that guaranteed a vulture, and I was able to successfully pick one up at lunch time.

At this point, will they even ship these in April once they sell them? This might wait until they are shipping again.

Just paint the one you have.

On 4/3/2020 at 10:13 AM, Tvboy said:

I was at Adepticon 2019 playing in the X-WING system open on Saturday and they passed out vouchers during the first round to every player that guaranteed a vulture, and I was able to successfully pick one up at lunch time.

Iiii'm pretty sure not every player got those vouchers. I happened to get a Vulture before they handed the vouchers out, and was honest with the guy handing out vouchers, so he skipped me. Not everyone was honest, though, so some of them got 2 and surely caused somebody else to miss out on a Vulture.

7 hours ago, SpiderMana said:

so some of them got 2 and surely caused somebody else to miss out on a Vulture.

Yeah, that was me. I was there, but never got one.

18 hours ago, pakirby said:

Just paint the one you have.

Seriously, could people stop this BS.

Folks want the ridgy didge.

The FFG site was slammed last week. If you don't care, great. Paint your own and stay offline so the rest of us who care can get one. Because clearly A LOT OF PLAYERS WANT THE FFG PAINT JOB. For whatever reason that may be.

Or, at the very least, roll your eyes at the losers who won't pick up a paint brush, appreciate that this sale supports the company that makes the game you love, and go spend your 20 bucks on pizza.

There’s no way I’m painting anything. I can barely find time to play the bloody game, forget painting!

I was half ticked off, half relieved when I found out Legion was unpainted, because that *absolutely sealed* that I would never even consider buying it. More power to those who find painting fun, and I love looking at your work! But I don’t know how to do it, don’t enjoy the idea of learning to do it, and don’t have the time or wherewithal to do it even if I knew how.

7 minutes ago, Cpt ObVus said:

There’s no way I’m painting anything. I can barely find time to play the bloody game, forget painting!

I was half ticked off, half relieved when I found out Legion was unpainted, because that *absolutely sealed* that I would never even consider buying it. More power to those who find painting fun, and I love looking at your work! But I don’t know how to do it, don’t enjoy the idea of learning to do it, and don’t have the time or wherewithal to do it even if I knew how.

I really like painting, and repaint some of these models as well. Currently back to working on 28mm fantasy stuff.

But, like you, a HUGE reason I got into XWM is that I'm not required to paint. And if I can get a factory sealed alt paint, I would like to get it.

Lastly, the demand for these alt ships is high. FFG would be foolish not to capitalize on the demand, ESPECIALLY when they are dumping 1.0 reprints from the product line for lack of sales.

Folks who poo-poo other player's enthusiasm to purchase official products are shooting the hobby in the foot.

I have since changed a lot of my tune since the Vulture Droid. My problem now is that I have to rely on a friend to probably get it as I will be working mornings here soon.

8 hours ago, Shadowshand said:

I have since changed a lot of my tune since the Vulture Droid. My problem now is that I have to rely on a friend to probably get it as I will be working mornings here soon.

Yeah, I'd like to see "limited edition" go from "how the **** do I get one?" to "you had to be playing in 2020 when they were released."

10 hours ago, Darth Meanie said:

Lastly, the demand for these alt ships is high. FFG would be foolish not to capitalize on the demand, ESPECIALLY when they are dumping 1.0 reprints from the product line for lack of sales.

Devil’s advocate: would the demand be so high if it was known that it wasn’t a limited edition and anyone could get it at any time?

i don’t know the answer to it, but fomo is a powerful motivator.

I mean, I don’t like how they’ve mismanaged their convention exclusives either, but I’m not sure they’d get as many sales if they weren’t exclusive.

Honestly, I still am ok with the idea of souvenirs or prizes at specific events. Obviously, Adepticon being cancelled made a mess of it all. And they had the fiasco where not even the people coming to play xwing could get the vulture in 2019. At least Plo at worlds was handled well.

1 hour ago, Darth Meanie said:

Yeah, I'd like to see "limited edition" go from "how the **** do I get one?" to "you had to be playing in 2020 when they were released."

I would be ok with this, but I’m not sure where the magical number is to have most or all the people satisfied they got the one they wanted without it just being another sku that had units sitting somewhere.

Though honestly, isn’t this just what the aces pack may be?

4 hours ago, ScummyRebel said:

Devil’s advocate: would the demand be so high if it was known that it wasn’t a limited edition and anyone could get it at any time?

i don’t know the answer to it, but fomo is a powerful motivator.

I mean, I don’t like how they’ve mismanaged their convention exclusives either, but I’m not sure they’d get as many sales if they weren’t exclusive.

"Only available calendar year 2020" still makes it limited. And FOMO can still apply--buy it this year (or even this quarter!}, or it's gone.

What I have a problem with is psychological FOMO becoming actual "My chances of getting one are 3,720 to 1!!" I don't think that is a healthy paradigm for a game company to instill in its players.

Personally, if I start getting frustrated that I can't get game components I would like to have because I wasn't "special enough to be at the point of dispersion" or "lucky enough to connect to the website first" that's not a good feeling. I'm pretty sure FFG would prefer that I was happy.

Quote

I would be ok with this, but I’m not sure where the magical number is to have most or all the people satisfied they got the one they wanted without it just being another sku that had units sitting somewhere.

I would hope that FFG has some sales numbers about "number of expacs typically sold in the first quarter after release" that they could use to come up with a reasonable number of units.

I guess to use CCG parlance, most ships are Commons, and these ships are Rares. It would be nice if these sat in the Uncommon section: pretty easy to get the year they were issued, but no leftovers, so in 2021 you're buying them second-hand. Basically, where most unrereleased 1.0 ships are right now.

Quote

Though honestly, isn’t this just what the aces pack may be?

Maybe??

I guess it would depend on whether those SKUs are now considered permanent.

Tangential but relevant, for me the final nail in the coffin on buying into Legion was the LE Obi-Wan figure. I was pretty sure I was buying in before they told us that was happening. Was not a fan of the concept of being unable to have the figure and pose I wanted as my centerpiece unit, so then decided not to get in at all.

If the game has a major element of letting me play what I want, then for crying out loud let me buy the thing I want to play with.😶

18 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

"Only available calendar year 2020" still makes it limited. And FOMO can still apply--buy it this year (or even this quarter!}, or it's gone.

What I have a problem with is psychological FOMO becoming actual "My chances of getting one are 3,720 to 1!!" I don't think that is a healthy paradigm for a game company to instill in its players.

Personally, if I start getting frustrated that I can't get game components I would like to have because I wasn't "special enough to be at the point of dispersion" or "lucky enough to connect to the website first" that's not a good feeling. I'm pretty sure FFG would prefer that I was happy.

Fair, I understand where you’re coming from.

I too would rather not have a click off race for an exclusive. The idea of limited run exclusives in greater stock could be a decent sale model to go next to standard skus.

I guess if I were in charge I would go with a hybrid approach: your model of limited exclusives, and some of what they sorta tried to do with exclusives (specifically; every registered player for the system opens would get exactly one of the exclusive, as part of entry ticket. Whether they keep it, sell it, or give it away is on them. It’s a souvenir for playing. I’d be ok with one at Worlds as well). That way, there’s no mad dash to click, and you know ahead of time that SO will have an exclusive souvenir so you can decide if that’s a factor in going or not.

To be clear, I would NOT make it a sellable item at the cons where system opens are held. I wouldn’t want the snafu from 2019 or the new buy online snafu of 2020. If that means I lose out on the N1 because I didn’t have an Adepticon ticket, I can live with that. I’ll get another exclusive in a future year.

An addition to your idea @ScummyRebel, borrowing from an M:tg promo model that has worked well. You could stamp the promo one that was given out as the prize version in some way. Magic often just gold stamps the date on theirs. Or for another approach, the general LE ship paint is available online for like a fiscal quarter, but the event version has the promo alt art cards in addition in it's box. That would be swanky

42 minutes ago, ScummyRebel said:

The idea of limited run exclusives in greater stock could be a decent sale model to go next to standard skus.

To me, it would seem to be the dream boat sales model:

Figure out what 90-95% player interest is, make that many units, collect all the cash with no losses to resale shenanigans, enjoy the sight of an sold-out SKU by the end of quarter, and do it again in 6-12 months.

And like @ForceSensitive says, there are ways to jazz up the convention version of the limited to make it special.

6 hours ago, Darth Meanie said:

To me, it would seem to be the dream boat sales model:

Figure out what 90-95% player interest is, make that many units, collect all the cash with no losses to resale shenanigans, enjoy the sight of an sold-out SKU by the end of quarter, and do it again in 6-12 months.

And like @ForceSensitive says, there are ways to jazz up the convention version of the limited to make it special.

I'm not in marketing or retail, so take my two cents for what it's worth, minus the two cents.

A major manufacturer in one of my other hobbies has a somewhat similar approach with many of the items that it produces. They will announce a particular model in multiple paint schemes and then open up a period for advance reservations. Once an item reaches a certain threshold, it is put into production. Some paint schemes may not be produced based on the perceived lack of interest. There have also been entire lines of models cancelled (or at least postponed indefinitely) due to lack of reservations. Now I, nor any of the hobby shop owners that I have asked, know what the magic number is or how long the reservation period lasts for any particular item, but that shouldn't matter in this case.

My suggestion to FFG would be to announce a special paint scheme for an existing model, such as Black One, Ahsoka's Delta 7, Inferno Squadron TIE, etc. Then open a period for advance reservations, say 30-60 days, depending on demand and lead time for production. If someone wants multiple copies of a particular ship, so be it. But limit each individual reservation to maybe five or fewer so as not to flood eBay with resales. In parallel with the reservation period, determine a number of ships to go directly to each FLGS (sorry, Barnes and Noble), based on each store's X-Wing:TMG sales for the previous quarter, 2 quarters, or year. Smaller stores may get 2-3 ships, while larger stores in major metropolitan areas may get many more. Then when those numbers have been compiled, add an overage of 5% or so to offer for sale on the FFG website or in store in Minnesota. When they're gone, they're gone. No reprints in version 3.0.

7 hours ago, ForceSensitive said:

You could stamp the promo one that was given out as the prize version in some way. Magic often just gold stamps the date on theirs. Or for another approach, the general LE ship paint is available online for like a fiscal quarter, but the event version has the promo alt art cards in addition in it's box.

This. Add in the expected number for Adepticon/Worlds, both for prizes/give-aways and booth sales. For Adepticon, make the purchase of one a ticket add-on option. No vouchers handed out so you can buy one at the FFG booth. As for those skilled enough to qualify for Worlds, it is included in the ticket. Alt art pilot cards, unique stamp, special plated/colored base, inverse colored cardboard, special tokens, etc., to make the event version distinct from the "regular" limited edition.

Voila! Now you have a limited release that is very likely to sell out and satisfies the vast majority of X-Wing players, from the elites to those of us who occasionally fly casually on the kitchen table, nearly hitting every asteroid on the mat.

Problem is that even if you did make a “limited run, available only in 2020,” there’s no good way to stop scalpers and whales from buying dozens or hundreds, waiting until a few of their counterparts have done the same, then jacking the price to 500% retail or more and making a killing on the secondary market.

As soon as you announce that something is being produced for a limited time only, and never being reprinted, people will start buying the allotted limit with their credit card, their other credit card, their roommate’s credit card, their grandma’s credit card... and if you say that these things are going to be reprinted later, then A) you’re committed to actually doing that, which I’m sure FFG doesn’t want to do, and B) you’ll have people complaining that there’s nothing actually special about the thing.

Exclusives are a lose-lose. You either don’t produce enough to satisfy players and collectors (and yes, collectors are a fairly significant portion of the market, I’m sure. This is Star Wars), or you make so many that you either piss them off anyway, or it just becomes another paint scheme, like Poe’s T-70.

EDIT: For my part, I hope I can snag one. I just started playing, and I have intentionally gone for the non-Clone Wars era factions first. I still want a silver N-1, but if I don’t get it, I don’t get it, and I’ll just get yellow ones when I inevitably get to the Clone Wars. But if this were a Limited Edition TLJ Poe’s T-70 in orange, or a Limited Edition Falcon with its sensor dish snapped off from Endor, or something I cared about more deeply, I would be a bit pissed if I couldn’t get one.

11 hours ago, Darth Meanie said:

What I have a problem with is psychological FOMO becoming actual "My chances of getting one are 3,720 to 1!!"

Never tell me the odds.