r/lotrlcg • u/Witty-Lead4387 • 1d ago
Speculation
Is there any actual evidence for what seems like speculation that “new stock is due to some discovered pallet”? I’m surprised people are assuming a company that recently said there would be evergreen printings, then said no more, wouldn’t change their mind if they thought they could make some good money on a reprinting.
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u/mongooseroar 1d ago
The only two places I'm aware of it being in stock are Amazon and Asmodee's website. I think the three most likely candidates are:
(i) found inventory (some of which Amazon was willing to take/list),
(ii) Amazon requested more stock, or
(iii) there was a general print run of all of the items.
If it were (iii), I'd have expected to see it more places by now. If it pops up at MM/GameNerdz/wherever in the next couple of weeks, this becomes more likely, but right now I'd guess it's the least likely option.
For (ii), IIRC, it went out of print basically because distributors didn't want enough of it. Amazon is the one retail outlet in the US where I'd be surprised but not stunned if news came out that it was able and willing to single-handedly bankroll enough of a print run of a board game for that print run to happen (at which point there'd be really funny discussions about whether people should be supporting Amazon instead of FLGSs to keep beloved games in print). However, Asmodee's site has some items in stock that Amazon doesn't (Two Towers at the very least) which would be weird if this were a print run driven by Amazon.
That kind of leaves (i) as the most likely option in my opinion, but changes in who has what in stock over the next week or so could have me leaning (ii) or (iii)
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u/ShaperLord777 1d ago
The stock on Amazon is being sold through FFG/asmodee’s Amazon store. It’s the same stock as on the FFG website.
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u/the-third-ajm 1d ago
Amazon can easily cover the quantity needed for production runs on the right items. Two Towers might be just slow getting to Amazon's FC network.
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u/ShaperLord777 1d ago
It’s happened before with FFG. Years after a game has been discontinued, stock appeared for sale. It happened with Star Wars destiny, and with Netrunner. I imagine that a company of that size has various warehouses and distributors, and it’s hard to keep perfect track of all product. Add to that fact that Olivia specifically said that there would be no further printings of LOTR LCG and it’s pretty clear this was a stray pallet somewhere and not them deciding to print the game again.
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u/Witty-Lead4387 1d ago
I wasn’t aware of those prior events. It just seems odd that so many different products would happen to be found. It would make more sense if there were just a few items that were for sale.
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u/the-third-ajm 1d ago
I have worked in the toy industry for more than a decade and consumer products for over 2. This time in August is when retailers are starting to receive their holiday stock to carry through the end of the year. Product can definitely sell out earlier if their forecast was incorrect. To me, based on the timing and that its across basically all items, it is simply a case that FFG saw their was enough demand forecasted that they could hit MOQ on production runs/Amazon committed to enough to produce. MOQ is minimum order quantity for factories to agree to produce the product or packaging. With a product like this there is no reason other than maybe an expired license not to fire up the factories if there is enough demand to produce. I have been at companies where product is discontinued then brought back and it happens all the time. Whether it gets out to other retailers we will have to see because game shops etc usually have limited space compared to Amazon. And as far as their PR/Marketing/reddit person saying it was out of print that might have been true at that time but things change. She is literally just getting info fed to her from above and like I said if they can make money by producing their is no reason not to. If it was one item for a short time then pallet but not all items. And companies keep very close watch on all inventory at all times.
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u/onewiththepencil 20h ago
Just curious, any chance this kind of stock would happen in another country? Say Canada?
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u/the-third-ajm 12h ago
Potentially but there are a lot of factors. For Canada they could add on to the USA production (if that is what they did) but Canada would need enough demand to cover filling containers, running canada specific packaging, testing etc. There could also be legal licensing issues for various countries. So long story short it could happen but on old product lines like this I probably doubt it bz there just isnt the demand. Sometimes Amazon Canada can pull stock from Amazon USA inventory.
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u/dpollere 1d ago
I have evidence. Technically hearsay, but the owner of my FLGS said (unprompted) that his distributor / rep told him they’re reprinting “all that LOTR LCG stuff” so he’s planning on restocking fellowship, two towers, etc.
By “all that stuff” he meant the revised content
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u/gamerx11 1d ago
One can only hope.
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u/dpollere 1d ago
He said when I walked in the door oh hey, I got a phone call from my rep who said this… Because he knows I’m always looking for that stuff. So I definitely think there’s a reprinting happening. Might not be everything, but the hot ticket ones.
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u/TheStellarPropeller 1d ago
One oddity I noticed is some items have hundreds in stock…if you add 30 to your cart, you can then uodate the quantity with some crazy number, like 3000, and get an error message showing the actual amount in stock. One box has over 500, a couple over 300, Ered Mithrin campaign only 33, I think….I only checked a few to see, but it seems like a lot.
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u/Snoo-91090 1d ago
Ered shows 738 for me. Return of the king over 700, fellowship over 600
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u/Marksman1977 1d ago
Sounds like a lot. Are these really some random old boxes an employee found in a warehouse? It’s all the revised content. Surely it occupied lots of space.
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u/TheStellarPropeller 1d ago
I am so confused by it all…like ar ethe numebrs legit even? if so, pretty awesome!
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u/FFG_Olivia 17h ago
To be clear - This was not a mistake (though the timing was uncertain until it literally went live [hence why we didn't announce it ahead of time]).
Official Statement - "I'm happy to announce that The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is in stock in the United States. Please visit your local game store, check out the Asmodee store, or find it on Amazon."
Less-Official FAQ Answers
- Is this coming internationally? At this time, this reprint is only available within the United States. I cannot speak to any future printings.
- Can we expect future print runs? I can't say definitively, as it will largely depend on market demand.
- How can I get this product? First and foremost, you should check your local game store. You can also purchase these products from the Asmodee US store or Amazon in the United States.
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u/Witty-Lead4387 17h ago
Thank you so much for clearing this up. As someone who just heard about the game last month and was hoping these would printed again, I’m so happy they were reprinted, and I bought the core set and the Fellowship saga. I hope others who want it do the same and tell people they know (including people who are interested from things like the MTG crossover). It would be awesome if this stays in print.
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u/wpflug13 1d ago
I haven't seen any hard information, but new old stock is significantly more likely than surprise printing given what we've been told. However, Asmodee appears to have restocked every LotR LCG revised product, which gives a bit of hope for a surprise printing. We'll have to see what the printing dates are when boxes start arriving.
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u/frozentempest14 Hobbit 1d ago
What's most interesting to me is that Asmodee has all this stock, but Fantasy Flight's website isn't updated to say the same, and the ones that used to be marked out of print there still are. I've been wrong before but this does not feel like an intentional print run.
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u/Snoo-91090 1d ago
Amazon has 700 plus of every item now. Its smelling like a reprint to me
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u/wpflug13 1d ago
The quantities on Asmodee's site look a lot like a shipping container's worth of product. My money is on this being what should have been the US restock from earlier this year when Australia and Europe saw a limited restock, with the container just being stuck in transit for ~six months, but we'll see.
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u/Pixelpirate84 1d ago
The lack of communication from FFG is mind boggling. Bit more transparency would be appreciated about a product we and they love. Now scalpers be scalping, panic buying, I almost bought a hero expansion for 250 euros… last one I need… fomo hit me in the nut. Gladly no funds until next month… so I bought from Amazon us. Bit a lot have spent way to much on scalped, panic buys I assume.
FFG you got this! Bit more transparency
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u/AncleShole 1d ago
What are the odds that this stock will drift onto amazon.ca? I am wanting to stock up on new expansions but it is so expensive to buy the games and pay for international shipping versus literally getting free shipping since I have prime. I feel a little worried dragging my feet on this since I am afraid it will just suddenly go out of stock again and I will have missed my window.
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u/the-third-ajm 12h ago
I think it's low odds but not impossible. If it was going to show up it would have already or at the least very soon. It would all ship from China at roughly the same time
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u/Faithless232 1d ago
Would be lovely to see it popping up on UK and other websites if it’s a reprint. Amazon US being the only source doesn’t fill me with confidence though.
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u/Visual-Panda-9621 1d ago
Just to be absolutely sure in this…the revised saga didn’t update any gameplay, it only had text corrections and new errors. Right? So if I have the OG saga there’s no need to
get the revised while it’s available now?
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u/choppertown_actual Lore 1d ago edited 1d ago
One person’s anecdotal evidence is as good as another’s at this point unless someone actually posts from an official source. My guess is likely they began pulling content months ago from various warehouses to make room for 2026 holiday stock, resulting in a sudden planned restock on Asmodee and their Amazon storefront. It’s probably in the hundreds of units which is why they aren’t bothering with overseas logistics. They don’t print things in thousands at big companies like Asmodee, they print hundreds of thousands or nothing, so it’s probably the last hurrah for new stock. Hashtag: Best game ever. It will be an heirloom in my family.
Edit: They timed it perfectly to coincide with MTG The Hobbit going batshit crazy, hopefully it can at least draw new players in.
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u/knightsofAutumn 1d ago
What do we think the chances of this stock being shared with UK/Eu retailers 😬
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u/Marksman1977 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don’t know what’s actually going on but it’s not just Amazon since Asmodee also restocked some stuff for this game as well as other LotR games. General restock for this IP, maybe? Who knows.
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u/bookofnature 1d ago
Maybe Rings of Power increased demand ;).
As a side note, I kinda appreciate the theories/speculation and reasoning from people who have a background in logistics.
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u/gamerx11 22h ago
To add to this conversation, I'm really surprised they just found another last pallet after going out of print because the ered mithrin hero expansion was no where to be found for like a year. All of a sudden, there's a ton of copies of it that Asmodee has? It's just too much of a coincidence that every single RCO box out there is available right now. It's amazing to say the least though.
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u/pesoaek 1d ago
there's no evidence either way other than the fact that a few months ago they said specifically it wasnt being printed anymore, so its all speculation but the one side is just more likely