Press Release
News Flash
2008 Origins Award Winners Announced
The winners of the 2008 Origins Awards were announced at the Origins Game Fair at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus Ohio. The five finalists in each category were announced at the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas in April
The 2008 winners are:
Miniatures Rules of the Year: Classic Battletech by Catalyst Game Labs
Minatures Line of the Year: Titanius Fury by Dragonfire Laser Crafts Inc.
Collectible Card Game of the Year: Legend of the Five Rings by Alderac Entertainment
Roleplaying Game of the Year: Aces and Eights by Kenzer and Co.
Roleplaying Game Supplement of the Year: Codex Arcanis by Paradigm Concepts
Traditional Card Game of the Year: Zombie Fluxx by Looney Labs
Board Game or Expansion of the Year: Starcraft by Fantasy Flight Games
Game Accessory of the Year: Call of Cthulhu Dice Set by Q-Workshop
Fiction Publication of the Year: Astounding Hero Tales by Hero Games
Non-Fiction Publication of the Year: Hobby Games: The 100 Best by Green Ronin
Historical Board Game of the Year: Ages of Empire III: Age of Discovery by Tropical Games
Historical Miniature Game of the Year: Check Your 6! by Skirmish Campaigns
Historical Miniatures Line of the Year: Romano-British 15mm by Splintered Light Miniatures
Munchkin Board Game Planned for Fall
Steve Jackson Games will launch Munchkin Quest, a board game based on the successful card game, this fall. The game is designed by Steve Jackson, with illustrations by John Kovalic. Release was originally planned for Origins, but design changes to improve play have pushed the launch date back.
The $49.95 big box game will include cards, tokens, tiles, gold pieces, monster standees, dice, a 20- page rulebook, and other choice bits. Munchkin Quest will be expandable; the first expansion is planned before the end of 2008.
The Munchkin card game is a perennial Top 10 property in the ICv2 Top 10 Board, Card, and Family Games lists in the ICv2 Guide to Games. It accounted for over 70% of Steve Jackson Games' sales in 2007.
Chinatown' Board Game From Z-Man Games
Z-Man Games has announced that it is bringing the Chinatown board game to the U.S. Designed by Karsten Hartwig, Chinatown (MSRP $70) is an elaborate board game that involves constant negotiations as players who are dealt random bits of property attempt to assemble them into an economic empire. Chinatown is a legendary Alea Big Box game. Alea was a new imprint created by Ravensburger in 1999 and Chinatown and Adel Verpflichtet are the only two Alea Big Box games that have never been released in the U.S., a situation that Z-Man is rectifying.
The game is set in New York's Chinatown in the 1960s with players assuming the roles of immigrants who have to put their life savings to work and establish businesses. Chinatown is divided into six districts with buildings numbered from 1-85. The game, which is designed for from 3-5 players, consists of six rounds and takes about 60 minutes to play. To generate maximum income similar businesses must be located in adjacent buildings and players must use their negotiating skills to get the most from their holdings.
The deluxe Chinatown game includes a game board, 150 wooden markers, 90 shop tiles, 175 cards, 1 year marker, and a linen bag.
Pirates of the Cursed Sea: Ship in a Bottle'
WizKids has created a unique box set offering for its Pirates of the Cursed Sea Pocket Model Game.
Pirates of the Cursed Sea: Ship in a Bottle (MSRP $19.95) is a box set with clever packaging that allows customers to see one of four built (pre-constructed) ships inside a bottle that has apparently been "washed up on shore." Players who purchase the box get a potent starting fleet that can be created from three Pirates of the Cursed Sea: Fire and Ice Game Packs, two Pirates of the Revolution Packs, and one Pirates of the Ocean's Edge Pack. So in addition to the one (of 4) bonus special edition ships, the Ship in a Bottle Box includes 12 ships and/or sea creatures, 6 island/terrain cards, 6 or more crew or treasure cards, plus complete game rules and dice. The Pirates of the Cursed Sea: Ship in a Bottle box is scheduled to be released on July 23rd.
Revised 4th Edition 'Talisman Board Game'
Fantasy Flight Games has announced an October release for the Revised 4th Edition of the Talisman Board Game (MSRP $49.95). 2008 marks the 25th anniversary of this fan favorite magical quest board game and FFG's revised version adds 14 highly detailed plastic figures (toads included), a revision of the rules, and upgraded components all around. Upon the launch of the Revised 4th Edition, FFG will also make available an upgrade kit, which will include the new plastic figures, revised rules and cards, for those who purchased Games Workshop's 4th Edition of Talisman, which was released in October of 2007.
The 4th Edition of Talisman was based primarily on the 2nd Edition of the game, which was
considered more popular with gamers than the 3rd Edition. It remains to be seen where Fantasy Flight, which has loads of experience creating board games, will take Talisman, which it acquired earlier this year along with the rights to Games Workshop's RPGs and card games (see "FFG Gets Games Workshop's RPGs, Card and Board Games").
FFG has also announced that "a plethora of expansions" for Talisman are in the works. The first of these, the Death and Glory Expansion (MSRP $19.95) is slated for release by Christmas 2008
Round 2 Makes Pact to Bring Classics Back
Tom Lowe, president and owner of Round 2, has made a licensing agreement with RC2 that gives his company the exclusive rights to the AMT, MPC, American Muscle and Polar Lights tooling.
"Model kits have always been a great passion of mine, and the opportunity to control the AMT and MPC brands is a dream come true," he said. "And Polar Lights is a big bonus."
After selling his company, Playing Mantis, to RC2 in 2004, Lowe was made to sign a non- competition clause that was due to expire in the summer of 2009. This clause kept him from getting back into models sooner. However, he didn't stay out of the game entirely. In 2005, Lowe founded Round 2, a collectibles company that brought brands like Auto World Slot Cars, Forever Fun Holiday Collectibles and EarthGlow Candles under its umbrella. With the new licensing agreement, the non-competition clause ended.
The modeling community was shocked when RC2 decided to mothball its model brands. And though modelers have clamored for the kits and a thirsty market has made short-run repops of classic kits through outlets like Dave Burket's Model King possible, modelers just aren't as numerous as they once were.
Many plastic-model companies have felt the sting of a contracting modeler base. This doesn't seem to deter Lowe. "I believe I have the experience and enthusiasm to make [the brands] succeed." He credits the team he's built with the ability to give modelers what they want.
Further, Round 2 is now in total control of and completely responsible for all of the licensed tooling. Those purchase orders that companies like Model King and Stevens International made before the licensing deal will still be honored.
John Greczula is heading up Round 2's model kit division, and Lowe says that the two of them want to concentrate on the classic AMT and MPC brand names. "We feel, with custom runs going on, there are too many cooks in the kitchen and it dilutes the brands with third-party names," Lowe said. In the interests of keeping retail prices reasonable and keeping their business streamlined, Lowe intends to keep product development in house.That way they can "ensure the kit contents and brand names are represented the way they should be."
Dave Burket of Model King said, "I talked with him, and he told me after he decides what he is going to do, he would send me a list to choose from." What we can expect from Model King or other third-party makers remains to be seen.
As for models based on movies and other pop-culture licenses, Lowe sees room for expansion. "I'm working on obtaining certain licenses right now." Concerning repops of Aurora-style kits, he said they want to continue reissuing classic sci-fi and figure kits with the Polar Lights brand, along with developing new models. "More and more movies are being made of vintage comics and cartoons; we'd like to exploit that fact and excite modelers with related scale models."
Round 2 intends to release the first AMT and MPC kits this September.
March 29, 2008
Roco Makes Deal
Austrian model railroad manufacturer Roco GmbH has acquired Nuremberg, Germany's Fleischmann. Ranked 2nd and 3rd in the European model railroad market behind Märklin, which acquired LGB manufacturer E.P. Lehmann in 2007.
The 120-year old Fleischmann employs about 340 people, with annual sales of about $30.8 million. Austrian construction materials magnate Franz-Josef Haslberger acquired control of a bankrupt Roco in 2005. The restructured company reports annual sales of nearly $50 million
Revell Star Wars Snaps
Revell has obtained exclusive license to distribute SnapTite kits for Star Wars and is hoping the deal will push it to the top of the model kit industry in both subject matter and themes.
"Creative application of licensing is an important driver to Revell's success with different segments of the market," said Mike Brezette, Revell's marketing vice president. "While it's important to continue to provide models with historical relevance for those 55 and over, we realize that our Star Wars license is important to appeal to younger children and teens."
Many SnapTite Star Wars kits are already available from hobby stores, Internet retailers and Target. The kits come pre-decorated, which means they do not require paint, decals or glue.
Revell plans to release more SnapTite kits for Star Wars throughout 2008
Auto World - RC2 License
Auto World (a division of Round 2, LLC) has signed a licensing agreement with RC2/Learning Curve Brands, Inc. of Oak Brook, Illinois. The contract will allow Auto World to produce and market plastic model kits under the well-known brands of AMT, MPC and Polar Lights. Also included are the rights to manufacture 1:18 and 1:24 scale die-cast replicas using the trademarks of American Muscle and Ertl Collectibles
Gen Con Files For Protection
Gen Con, LLC filed for protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the State of Washington on Friday. The filing comes
in the wake of a lawsuit by Lucasfilm related to the Star Wars Celebration show in Los Angeles last year.
Gen Con Indy, will proceed as scheduled August 14-17th and the company will continue to operate without interruption, according to the
announcement.
The company explained the reason for the filing. "The protections afforded by Chapter 11 will allow Gen Con to further its efforts to address its liquidity
needs, preserve value for its creditors and explore strategic alternatives for the business," it said.
CEO Peter Adkison expressed confidence in the outcome. "Because the fundamentals of our business are strong; and because our debt problems
are challenges mostly linked to one-time events," he said, "we feel confident that the profile of our company will benefit under Chapter 11 and come out
strong in the end.
February 2, 2008
Doc Fizzix new at K&S
K&S Engineering has acquired the Doc Fizzix line of rubber band and mousetrap-powered vehicle kits, popular for play and science-fair type projects.
Just on spring and rubber power alone, some of the vehicles travel hundreds of feet. The easy-to-build kits include pre-cut wood and plastic parts. The line includes wooden car, boat and hovercraft kits, as well as parts and plans for those who like to design and build their own contraptions.
Rio Grande in Agreement With Selecta Games
Rio Grande Games has announced an agreement to produce English language versions of some of the best games created by the German company Selecta-Spielzeug. For over 30 years Selecta has been producing high quality games for a younger audience. The durable games feature wooden components festooned with colorful designs using child-safe water-based primary colors.
Rio Grande will begin releasing English language versions of Selecta Games in February with Piratissimo, Fruitirelli, Giro Giloppo, Viva Topo, and Mago Magino. Piratissimo, which debuted in 2005, is an exciting pirate adventure board game for the entire family (ages 6 and up). It provides plenty of action and takes only 30 minutes to play.
Viva Topo, which won the 2003 Kinderspiel des Jahres (Children's Game of the Year), is a delightful board game for players ages 4 and up. Players take on the role of mice (using cute color-coded 3-D wooden mouse tokens) and attempt to earn cheese by reaching goals on the game board, but players must manage risk and reward carefully because a cat is lurking, ready to grab the first unlucky mouse that overreaches.
Reiner Knizia designed Mago Magino (2004), an exciting board game for players ages 5 and up. A witch has stolen crystals from the wizard Mago Magino and players have to help him recover them, but the witch is dangerous -- she can turn the players into small frogs if they are not careful.
Blair Line Releases Cash Mining Co
Blair Line has released a new lasser-cut kit called the Cash Mine. The kit is based on a prototype structure, the Silver King Ore House, located in Park City, Utah.
The Silver King Coalition Mining Company's ore tipple included two loading tracks and was a large shipper of lead, zinc, and silver ore. The ore tipple was contrcted in the eaarly 1900s and was served by a cable tramway that transported ore from the mine and mill over a mile away. Though the original structure was an ore mine, this building would also make a great coal mine. The structure can be updated by using one of the loading bays for rail loading and the other fro truck loading.According to the compnay, the structure is by far the largest and most complex kit Blair Line has offered. The kit features over 270 pieces including laser-cut wall with tab and slot connections, doors, trim, ladders, roofwalks, floors, roofing, and structural frames. Also included with the kit are Tichy windows and Blair Line signs. The kit retails fo $129.95 and the built-up kits measures 7.5 inches long by 8.5 inches wide by 10.25 inches tall.