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Wizards of the Coast has announced that it will no longer release prepainted Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures sets. The last set in this line is Lords of Madness.
WotC will continue to release some prepainted minis in other formats, such as the Beholder Collector’s Set released last fall. Minis will also be incorporated into other products, such as the Wrath of Ashardalon boardgame.
The company will also offer other options for character and monster representations on the tabletop, such as the tokens in Monster Vault.
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Not much detail has been given on sales of books, B&N’s core business. The company is touting its sales of Nook e-readers and digital books. Of books, the company said only “physical book sales, especially hardcover books, were better than expected.”
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A former Wizards of the Coast employee has been charged with felony theft for allegedly stealing $45,000 worth of Magic: The Gathering promotional cards, according to SeattlePI. The theft came to light when large numbers of promo cards were spotted being offered by a Burien, Washington retailer at a Portland convention. The retailer ended up turning over 1700+ cards worth nearly $45,000 at market prices to WotC.
The cards were allegedly stolen from a Wizards of the Coast storage locker to which former employee Donald Henry had access. Henry has been charged but not jailed in the case.
Wizards of the Coast is stepping up its efforts to keep promotional cards from falling into the wrong hands; the company also sued and settled with tournament organizers accused of diverting cards earlier this year (see WotC Gets $100K).
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Borders reported its financial results for the quarter ended October 30 on Thursday: the company lost $74.4 million, nearly double its loss of $37.7 million in the prior year period. Sales declined 17.6%, with same store sales down 12.6%. The difference was primarily due to store closings; the company closed 204 stores since the year ago quarter, almost all “small format” stores (i.e., Waldenbooks).
The 12.6% same store sales declines, up from a 6.8% decline last quarter, was primarily attributed to the adult trade book category. Digital and kids toys and games were both up, reflecting increased space allocation, display, and inventory. Digital was up 93.6% vs. a year ago; kids toys and games were up 6.6%. Kids departments were expanded in 51 locations during the quarter.