I was just on the phone with one of the local game stores, inquiring as to whether or not they will be getting any of the Print on Demand expansion(s) in to their store, and they told me that their supplier told them that Mansions of Madness is being phased out, and they (the supplier) will not be carrying any expansions for it.

Is this true? Is Mansions of Madness being phased out?

I have no inside information on this, but it seems higly unlikley given the facts that

1.) They are already reprinting it. Which can't mean that sales are low.

2.) They have just released an expansion after the game only has been in stores for a couple of months. Probably based on popular demand.

3.) Also, the game has received high ratings which should boost sales even more.

But i'm only guessing here.

Im guessing this is just the result of cofusion between store and supplier. The supplier might have been talking about that they will not supply any Print on Demand products, and if im not mistaken about the process I dont find that suprising, because I think individual stores or chains should contact FFG directly about wanting to sell Print on Demand products instead of going through suppliers. Also it just might be that the specific supplier is dropping Mansions from their offered products or that the supplier is dropping all FFG products, that doesnt meant that FFG will stop making them or that they wont be available, stores will just have to use different suppliers or contact FFG and deal with them directly.

Either way, Im confident Mansions isnt going anywhere, its still to popular to axe. I suspect they will at the least release one proper expansion pack and if that one would fail, then maybe they would start to consider cancelling the product, but I doubt an expansion to this game would be anything but extremely succesfull.

I certainly hope not. Asked my venue about the print on demand and they were ??????????????????. Sometimes the one your talking to just doesn't have all the info.

I think the whole concept of PoD is still something brick and mortar stores are trying to wrap their heads around, too. Traditionally, physical stores only stock products they see enough demand for to know it will move. They also need to add a markup to the price they pay so that they earn a profit (which is kind of the whole reason they're there, after all.)

The Print on Demand business model revolves around the idea that the manufacturer only prints as many copies as customers ask for. That means supply and demand are (in theory anyway) exactly equal, which makes it hard for a physical store to ascertain if there's enough demand to make it profitable. There's also the fact that since customers can order PoD expansions online directly, the store can't really afford to mark up the price (customers can buy the product "at wholesale" as it were.)

The only customers the store would get are those who either don't have internet access or who are willing to pay more just to buy it from a local store. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are customers in either or both of those categories out there. The problem is the stores need to find a way to figure out how many there are and how reliable the sales will be.

Steve-O said:

I don't see why it would be more. The PoD page says, "These Print on Demand products will be available to retailers at their full trade discount."