- This topic has 3 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 1 month ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I still think the timing towards the end of the game’s production run is fascinating. Savage Shores was released on 11/5/2008. Only 5 days later, Topps shut down Wizkids, ending the active production of Pirates CSG so far.
If it happened only a week before, it seems that Savage Shores would still have been sold in stores, but perhaps some of it would have been different. Does anyone remember if Savage Shores boxes changed in price at stores in the weeks following the shutdown of Wizkids?
With all of the shipping and distribution stuff that needs to happen prior to a release date, I don’t think Topps making the shutdown even two or three weeks earlier would have prevented the set from hitting the shelves, but it’s entirely possible that they purposely timed the announcement to come just after that and any other pending sets for other games had made it out. I don’t recall which other WK games had releases around the same time, but it’s safe to assume there was at least something for HeroClix nearby.
They didn’t really do much marketing anymore for the game even back then, so a complete lack of that probably wouldn’t have changed things much. By that point, I think the vast majority of people still buying the game were already well familiar with it. Have you heard of any new players that discovered Pirates or were introduced to it via Savage Shores?
Have you heard of any new players that discovered Pirates or were introduced to it via Savage Shores?
I think I remember at least one member of the Facebook group getting into the game via SS. Though it may have been by chance last decade rather than when the set was still in stores.
It’s just interesting that RtSS has been known about for years now with a lot of the game pieces seeing play over time, while in fact we weren’t too far off from basically having 2 unreleased sets.
It’s just interesting that RtSS has been known about for years now with a lot of the game pieces seeing play over time, while in fact we weren’t too far off from basically having 2 unreleased sets.
It was definitely a near miss, although if that had happened it would still only be one set unreleased – just a “large” normal-sized set instead of a half-sized one with a handful of extras.
I’ve always been curious about who knew the shutdown was coming prior to the set being split, and whether or not that had any effect on it. Splitting it into the smaller sets was presented mostly as a new marketing/distribution method, but it very well could have been a way to quietly push out as much as possible without investing in all of the artwork and production expenses needed for a full set.
The people highest up the food chain obviously knew because they made the plans, but it’s never been completely clear which people that remained within WK knew or when they knew. My interactions with Kelly near the end gave me the impression that she didn’t know until very late in the process, but it could have also been kept behind NDAs and such so she might not have been able to say something even if she wanted to.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.