Rolling for Initiative is a weekly column by Scott Thorne, PhD, owner of Castle Perilous Games & Books in Carbondale, Illinois and instructor in marketing at Southeast Missouri State University. This week, Thorne looks at paperwork issues with Wizards of the Coast, Ravensburger and Games Workshop.
This past week has shown once again that when publishers and manufacturers include paperwork with their shipments, it really helps stores process shipments more quickly, and in the case of promotional items, allows us to know what we are supposed to do with what we get.
For a few releases, Wizards of the Coast included sheets with the box of organized play and promotional materials sent out to stores with every prerelease, but the company seems to have shifted back to its previous practice of listing the promotional items and which event stores are supposed to use each item with and directing stores via email and social media posts to find the information on the company website. I remember a WotC representative telling stores one that the logistics of getting such a sheet into the shipping box was fairly daunting. Of course, all of the promotional materials make it into the box, just not a sheet telling stores what to do with them.
Meanwhile over at Ravensburger, the pins for the Illumineer’s Quest: Great Hunny Rescue event finally arrived, along with the promotional materials for the release of the Disney Lorcana: Hyperia City expansion (see “Hyperia City Illumineer’s Trove“). Of course, the Illumineer’s Quest: Great Hunny Rescue release event was scheduled for the weekend of October 2, 2026 (see “Releases“), but very few stores received a copy of the game in time for the release or to run the promotional event.
In addition, it was never made quite clear whether Ravensburger would provide a copy of the Great Hunny Rescue for stores to use for the event, as it did with Reign of Jafar: Palace Heist event, or if stores were supposed to pull a copy from inventory. Ravensburger did include a sheet with the OP materials sent for Hyperia City. However, all it had was directions in multiple languages to scan the QR code on the sheet which sent the user to the Hyperia City page on the Ravensburger website (instead of a dedicated page for promotional materials, which would allow the company to just update the page with the same QR code).
The link takes the user to a page discussing the entire Hyperia City set, requiring digging to find how Ravensburger wants the cards and other items in the Hyperia City OP kit used. If a company can go to the trouble of putting a sheet with a QR code on it, go the extra step and detail with the shipment how to use the materials provided.
Of course, stores still have Games Workshop, which sent a whole rack to stores stocking its P180 paint line, without asking if the store wanted it (see “Games Workshop Knows Best“), sending out paperwork as well. However, in this case, stores ordering it received the entire line of Tone Pro paints this week (which I had been told would arrive in late October), but with no invoice breaking down prices or even a packing slip listing what stores should receive. Instead of breaking down the price per paint pot, the invoice received lists the total for the entire paint line, a lump sum of over $3,000, so we do not know if the price is the same for each shade and if the shading medium costs the same as the paints.
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The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
Source: ICv2
