I don't think Return to the Forgotten Age ever showed up at my LGS and from The Dream-Eaters cycle I am missing most of the middle of the set with A Thousand Shapes of Horror and Dark Side of the Moon also not turning up. I have checked with places like CoolstuffInc and they seem always out of stock.
Did Covid mess up the shipping or were some of the later sets poorly understocked?

I'm sure Covid definitely played a part, although in what fashion and to what extent, it's hard to say. Production may have been impacted, but that shouldn't have had an effect on the initial shipments of the last few mythos packs.

If I had to take a guess, I think it's two factors. The first is that because of Covid, FFG is operating at reduced capacity, and isn't as concerned about reprints right now. So anything currently out of stock will likely remain that way for some time. The second is that, with everyone stuck at home and AHLCG being one of the few games that can be played solo, demand has been higher than usual. So anything currently in stock has sold out more quickly than it normally would.

Shipping was definitely impacted though. When FFG started sending stuff out again back in June, there were all kinds of delays. Things seem to have stabilized by now. But restocks seem unlikely for some time.

If you've got the money for it, I'd maybe recommend preordering Innsmouth and its mythos packs while you can so you don't miss out. And then put the rest of Dream-Eaters on hold til you can find the packs you're missing.

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Well and I also think people underestimate just how many people play Arkham. With games like magic or armada it’s pretty easy to gauge how many people play, because you can see them playing in open tournaments and the likes, but Arkham’s players are (I feel) more naturally “sheltered” players. I’ve long theorized that Arkham is one of the top 5 selling products on FFG’s list, and I feel the starter decks have really confirmed that for me, I went the day before the starter decks released to my LGS and was there to get a Arkham core (they just got 10) and not only was there only 2 cores, but all of Nathaniel, all of Walters, and all of Jacqueline were sold out, THE DAY BEFORE. I mean, that’s absolutely nuts to me. I have come to the staunch realization that if I want an Arkham product I need to preorder or I’m bound to not be able to find them lol. Now maybe I’m wrong about how well Arkham is selling, I just know to me it seems like it’s flying off the shelves everywhere I go.

FFG's popular games have really been underprinted lately. More will definitely hit the stores later, but I think they're playing it safe. This was a big problem with Marvel Champions LCG as well.

@Sooner535 FFG has stated multiple time that the Arkham LCG is one of its top sellers. I’d say it’s actually into the top 3. Not sure what the other 2 top sellers are though. Marvel Champions definitely changed things up. Even KeyForge has had a strong showing since launch.

Ope well show how much I pay attention lol. Thank you for the correction

i'm only missing A Phantom of Truth and two from the Dream-Eaters cycle (unless I decide to go for Circle Undone). but i've got plenty of time to wait for them to come back around given i've just barely the Dunwich cycle. the prices people are hawking these things for on ebay and other stores are truly ridiculous. the game is expensive enough as it is; can't imagine paying $60-$80 for a single scenario!

Agreed with Annette. FFG might be having cash flow and logistics issues that are still effecting us related to COVID. Though I think the bigger modifier this year is the demand for AH:TCG has gone up due to people looking for good solo or small player count games with tons of replay value since everyone is quarantining through most of 2021. I've seen a rush of new names and people asking beginner questions on the various boards and social media outlets. The virtue of the coop LCGs is they have a large set of rules, but the work is front loaded. Once you study the game you just get to enjoy the slow trickle of content similar to sitting down to watch another episode of a TV show.

Unfortunately all this meant some things have gone out of stock fairly quickly. Don't pay the scalper prices. Everything will be reprinted. FFG does try and keep their popular LCG products in stock. It's just a question of when.

Why is Phantom of Truth so hard to get? It went on sale here yesterday and sold out in hours. There is literally nothing aftermarket either (two packs one for 68$ and another for 75$). I can find a fair market price for every pack in that campaign but this one. Is there like an op card in there or something? What am I missing?

i just found Wages of Sin and Point of No Return at a little shop in (of all places) Massachusetts. $15 each, free shipping.

you just have to be tenacious; don't trust google to tell you where stuff is. look up the game and comic shops in your state and scour their websites. two weeks ago i was missing more than twenty mythos packs, most of them out of stock. now i'm only missing one. i only paid a stupid price for one of them (and that was $3 over cost, so i'm not crying too much).

just. one. more.

i'll find you, Thousand Shapes of Horror. i know you're out there! : D

1 hour ago, happy_ythogtha said:

i just found Wages of Sin and Point of No Return at a little shop in (of all places) Massachusetts. $15 each, free shipping.

you just have to be tenacious; don't trust google to tell you where stuff is. look up the game and comic shops in your state and scour their websites. two weeks ago i was missing more than twenty mythos packs, most of them out of stock. now i'm only missing one. i only paid a stupid price for one of them (and that was $3 over cost, so i'm not crying too much).

just. one. more.

i'll find you, Thousand Shapes of Horror. i know you're out there! : D

You must have a high Intellect skill value to succeed on all those investigation checks. Good luck on that final mythos pack.

3 hours ago, happy_ythogtha said:

i just found Wages of Sin and Point of No Return at a little shop in (of all places) Massachusetts. $15 each, free shipping.

you just have to be tenacious; don't trust google to tell you where stuff is. look up the game and comic shops in your state and scour their websites. two weeks ago i was missing more than twenty mythos packs, most of them out of stock. now i'm only missing one. i only paid a stupid price for one of them (and that was $3 over cost, so i'm not crying too much).

just. one. more.

i'll find you, Thousand Shapes of Horror. i know you're out there! : D

Board Game Barrister has it. Hope you get to it in time and hope I didn't ruin your fun,

On 9/22/2020 at 8:42 AM, Sooner535 said:

Well and I also think people underestimate just how many people play Arkham. With games like magic or armada it’s pretty easy to gauge how many people play, because you can see them playing in open tournaments and the likes, but Arkham’s players are (I feel) more naturally “sheltered” players. I’ve long theorized that Arkham is one of the top 5 selling products on FFG’s list, and I feel the starter decks have really confirmed that for me, I went the day before the starter decks released to my LGS and was there to get a Arkham core (they just got 10) and not only was there only 2 cores, but all of Nathaniel, all of Walters, and all of Jacqueline were sold out, THE DAY BEFORE. I mean, that’s absolutely nuts to me. I have come to the staunch realization that if I want an Arkham product I need to preorder or I’m bound to not be able to find them lol. Now maybe I’m wrong about how well Arkham is selling, I just know to me it seems like it’s flying off the shelves everywhere I go.

Shops and distributors estimate how much they will sell based on how much they sold the previous pack. I don't know how you came up with estimating sales based on competition's participation, but that's interesting. Now I'm imagining Amazon or Coolstuff or FFG going to tournaments to figure out how much to order from the printer and how to allocate stock ;).

Caleb shared in a podcast that each cycle was selling twice less than the previous for LOTR. I can imagine Arkham having a bit more retention, but still being a war on attrition sales wise. A shop would order 4 of each SKUs because that's the number they sold for the previous cycle. That, plus the fact that shortages makes us buying all the backlog, panicked with our FOMO (fear of missing out)... no reason to print more.

Searched over 30 online stores and not one Phantom of Truth. I'm done bed time.

33 minutes ago, CrimeLord Owl said:

Board Game Barrister has it. Hope you get to it in time and hope I didn't ruin your fun,

i saw that; drive an hour and a half to S. Milwaukee or pay $8 shipping?

not sure if i'm that desperate yet, but thank you, it's very tempting!

2 hours ago, Dr Dee said:

You must have a high Intellect skill value to succeed on all those investigation checks. Good luck on that final mythos pack.

hahaha ~ thank you! it almost makes up for my -9 combat.

47 minutes ago, batman14 said:

Shops and distributors estimate how much they will sell based on how much they sold the previous pack. I don't know how you came up with estimating sales based on competition's participation, but that's interesting. Now I'm imagining Amazon or Coolstuff or FFG going to tournaments to figure out how much to order from the printer and how to allocate stock ;).

Caleb shared in a podcast that each cycle was selling twice less than the previous for LOTR. I can imagine Arkham having a bit more retention, but still being a war on attrition sales wise. A shop would order 4 of each SKUs because that's the number they sold for the previous cycle. That, plus the fact that shortages makes us buying all the backlog, panicked with our FOMO (fear of missing out)... no reason to print more.

Well I wouldn’t call it a huge “barometer” by any means to be sure. What I merely point out is there is a nice way to “see” Magic’s popularity, because of all the people in public playing it and all the tournaments and the likes, while Arkham is just not as “public” if you will. Can’t imagine that’s the only way a retailer would select how much to stock, I’m sure they have a system (especially amazon) based on search metrics. Just saying that it’s harder to gauge Arkham’s success at just going to an LCG, then say it is for magic or armada. Like I had no idea my lcg had so many dang Arkham fans until the starter decks lol.

Well I checked over 100 online stores for my copy of A Phantom of Truth and nothing. I don't think a purchasable copy exists in North America except for the one on Amazon going for 5x price.

50 minutes ago, CrimeLord Owl said:

Well I checked over 100 online stores for my copy of A Phantom of Truth and nothing. I don't think a purchasable copy exists in North America except for the one on Amazon going for 5x price.

awww man, sorry to hear. i luckily got one into my basket from Asmodee. it's the only place i've seen it since i started looking ~ and it sold out in a flash. mine hasn't shipped, so i'm getting nervous, though they are notoriously slow at that.

my Barkham hasn't shipped either (again), so that doesn't bode well. i could literally drive uptown and get this at my local store right now too.

for some reason i have a foreboding sense of doom about my Innsmouth pre-order too, or maybe i've just been playing too much Arkham Horror.

There's an auction for A Phantom of Truth mythos pack on ebay thats up to $102 right now.

I've been camping the site, trying to get through Path to Carcosa. Managed to get everything except A Phantom of Truth and the Pallid Mask- but it looks like almost EVERYTHING is selling out as soon as it comes into availability?

I do wonder if it's genuine demand, or if there's some grifters taking advantage of short supply to make it even more scarce, trying to bank on those ebay sales?

On 9/22/2020 at 8:54 AM, EpicBubbleSA said:

I don't think Return to the Forgotten Age ever showed up at my LGS and from The Dream-Eaters cycle I am missing most of the middle of the set with A Thousand Shapes of Horror and Dark Side of the Moon also not turning up. I have checked with places like CoolstuffInc and they seem always out of stock.
Did Covid mess up the shipping or were some of the later sets poorly understocked?

Amazon has Return to Forgotten Age for $29.00. Five copies left

I think the problem is two-fold. One, the game was already gaining popularity before Covid, but Covid ratcheted up sales during shut down when people just started buying more games. And they snapped up as many full expansions as they could, because they had plenty of time to play them! So, boom, an unexpected leap in popularity, instead of a more sustained gradual increase. Although why only certain scenarios are so hard to come by does seem weird. Add to that, since my understanding is that print jobs are ordered before announcements, combined with everything getting pushed back 2-3 months and an unexpected huge uptick in sales, they just couldn't have anticipated when they ordered, how different the player base was going to be by release. Or how fast existing stock would sell. Or the increase of people having to order through FFG, because everything was closed.
I think that is why the unprecedented happened, and for the first time a new AHCG base expansion was out of stock before its release date. They announced Innsmouth all the way back in February, and the release was unexpectedly pushed way back, they sold way more than anticipated.
Now they have tons of reprints to do. It’s a good problem for them to have, as long as they print the out of stock stuff in good time.
It’s too bad they couldn’t just use a Scrying spell...

On 9/26/2020 at 7:14 AM, happy_ythogtha said:

awww man, sorry to hear. i luckily got one into my basket from Asmodee. it's the only place i've seen it since i started looking ~ and it sold out in a flash. mine hasn't shipped, so i'm getting nervous, though they are notoriously slow at that.

my Barkham hasn't shipped either (again), so that doesn't bode well. i could literally drive uptown and get this at my local store right now too.

for some reason i have a foreboding sense of doom about my Innsmouth pre-order too, or maybe i've just been playing too much Arkham Horror.

Innsmouth is now back in stock, so a good chance that one will come!

On 9/25/2020 at 7:48 PM, Sooner535 said:

Arkham is just not as “public” if you will. Can’t imagine that’s the only way a retailer would select how much to stock, I’m sure they have a system (especially amazon) based on search metrics. Just saying that it’s harder to gauge Arkham’s success at just going to an LCG, then say it is for magic or armada. Like I had no idea my lcg had so many dang Arkham fans until the starter decks lol.

I think part of the issue is that since brick and mortar closed for so long this spring, that those same businesses turned to selling their stock online. And now ordering online a lot of what we used to go somewhere to purchase, has become the new norm. Amazon has a lot of different vendors selling AHCG. Far more than a year ago. Some price gouge to some extent, especially for hard to find things, but most retailers stay real close to, if not right at, suggested retail. When we started playing couple of years ago, we bought the base game and Dunwich which was all released from Amazon, before starting to order from FFG. I still check once a week or so, to see if something new is there for people now looking. I have noticed that reprints which sold out in a matter of hours on FFG, is usually on Amazon at retail, for at least a few days or more.

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