Knight Model’s Harry Potter Moves To Webstore Pre-Order Set-Up
March 12, 2018 by brennon
Knight Models moved their Harry Potter Miniatures Adventure Game from Kickstarter to a standard webstore pre-order system over the weekend.
The move appears to have been made so that they can adequately use their own supply chains to deliver the product. The pre-order period will run from March 14th through till April 15th and will give you access to the Core Box as well as a myriad of Miniature and Adventure Packs which can be used to expand upon the Core Box experience.
It seems like there might have been some backroom talks going on at Knight Models as it looks like they might have only been able to get the game sent out to the UK, US and Spain...which would have indeed been quite problematic when it comes to Kickstarter and it's international reach.
This may indeed have been a good decision from Knight Models as Kickstarter can be a dangerous place with something this big. Keeping it in-house like this through a pre-order system might offer them up an easier time when it comes to getting the product to customers.
The models are looking very cool indeed, and it still seems like you will be able to get your hands on some free stuff as well, much like you would have done with stretch goals had this gone to Kickstarter.
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this move from Knight Models, and importantly if it has changed your mind as to whether or not you'll be buying into the game.
Drop your thoughts below...
"The pre-order period will run from March 14th through till April 15th..."
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It may be a licensing issue… I can, maybe, understand that they dont ship the game to south america, asia or africa… but being unable to send it to France or Germany it may be a serious problem.
Im pretty sure is not a shipping issue, as they have been shipping batman miniatures to all europe from some time.
Lets not forget Knight Models is a pretty small company and maybe this franchise is just too big or expensive for them .Just my thought. Im spanish and i could get the game but i have zero interest in Harry Potter. The miniatures look superb as everything they do, but i prefer to spend the money on their Batman line.
For me getting out of Kickstarter is a good move. Kickstarter will end killing a lot of FLGS and in most cases forces you to “all-in” pledge. In fact is paradoxical… Small companies like Knight Models that should be the only onges using kickstarter, get out of Kickstarter. Cmon and other bigger companies make their main channel of distribution.
Dont think that any of the main companies using Kickstarter are giving away anything. Using kickstarter can save them a lot of money knowing how many units of the game must be produced and for sure getting some saves on the china factory. The strecht goals are plannified before the campaing launches and they sell you those strecht goals as something you wont get if they dont reach x amount of money. I just dont believe it.
I suspect you are correct that their licenses are restricting them from worldwide distribution. It is a shame as I was hoping to have a few weeks to convince them to not use a tin box for the game. I still hope they don’t.
The ICv2 numbers showed an increase in hobby game sales through the hobby channel every year since kickstarter was started (their most recent numbers include Kickstarter sales, so they aren’t as reliable).
I can see the logic that Kickstarter would be killing the LGS, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening.
Oddly enough, I’ve seen a lot of FLGSs that are really bad to small companies’ kickstarted projects. They’re fine with the larger ones (Zombicide and Blood Rage sell well at the LGS level) but ignore most smaller company projects (Gloomhaven is the exception that proves the rule).
The thinking is that the KS already hit the whole audience that the game will ever get, so there’s no one left to buy it now. The LGS didn’t always do that (CMON got big by having games that were big hits both on KS and in the store).
It leaves a lot of smaller companies in a bad enough spot that we’re starting to see a “Kickstarter Only” trend (which sounds like it would be terrible for the LGS).
Even Monolith is going KS only (which surprised me a lot). It is hard to imagine that a good Batman board game wouldn’t sell crazy well at the local game and comic shops, but Monolith says that they can’t make any money selling through traditional distributors.
I wonder if it isn’t the LGS that is the buggy whip so much as the middle man distributors.
Or the Netherlands 😉
I’ve been hyped for a year now, anticipating. I think the switch from KS to PO is a good one – others have pointed out communication, and entertainment, are required to make KSs work. With this IP the hype was already there, and with Knight Models communication skills, well.
Then the other shoe drops – only Spain, UK, and USA!
As with domimator I’m in Canada. I’m also thinking about a mail drop solution to the US.
I’m sure Knight Models has been getting lots of feedback, and hopefully there is some effort being made to expand the licensing issue – though I’m not sure if any is getting to JKR or Warners about the lack of licensing to more countries.
Time will tell, I guess.
Knight Models hinted there may be other games in the future, which may/may not be related – as they may have the same HP related restrictions.
This company must be in real trouble if they do not even read their license agreement before investing big money…just so unbelievable!
Sad day for an Aussie potter fan.. 🙁
Yes this has changed my mind about buying the game because I live in germany, so I can’t preorder it.
And I think this all is bad behaviour, I personally don’t mind it that the game isn’t on KS but cancelling the KS on such a short notice is quite bad. And then there is the thing with only delivering to 3 countries, they have been showing picturs of minis and cards last year but only now 3 days before the preorder begins they mentioned it. And not on their website but in some Facebook or Twitter post which not everybody might see.
And there are quite some preorder exclusive minis, but they never told us if they will get non exclusive variant minis.
I was really excited for this game but this killed all my excitement so I will not buy it now (I can’t) and once it hits retail I won’t order it via a UK shop becasue for me this bevaviour is not tolerable.
KM released a FAQ.
The game will hit retail, there was confussion about that, and they try to release it Christmas 2018.
In addition to the 3 countries we know it will also be released in Ireland, Portugal and Andorra.
They also say: “At Knight Models we are working hard to make this list of countries bigger in the future. Our intention is to send our game to every corner of the globe!”
If they can get a license for germany in the preorder phase I might think about getting the game + Voldemort or only Voldemort.
@ideeagle
I answered in another tread, but here it is, they have explained, they have done it in their webpage, they can’t do more:
https://www.knightmodelshp.com/faqs
@iceeagle, not ideeagle, I am sorry
Perhaps they can reach Germany, it is a pity that not everyone can buy the product. Anyway, in retail it is possible. Sure JK Rowlings doesn’t need the money XD
Its good to finally hear they are working on their licencing issue. As an Aussie this situation is very frustrating.
I am considering some Parcel Forwarding services, probably from the USA, to avoid paying VAT. But shipping from the USA is crazy expensive these days.
My biggest issue, is that, through no fault of our own, we will not have access to the exclusives should the game later be available to other countries.
The solution to this is simple: Allow other countries, once the game is available to them, to order the exclusives.
The best solution though is to stop doing stupid exclsuives. Making beloved characters a pre order exclusive, tells me they don’t fully understand those characters and their importance to the fans.
If you want to do an exclusive, do some alternate sculpts of some Death Eaters, have the card decks in an exclusive finish, have the tin be in your favourite house colour not the generic blue, cool custom themed dice, or, do an alternate sculpt of the characters but let us know if the character will actually be available for general release at all.
So many ways to do pre-order bonuses for early adopters to feel special and/or elite (To some gamers its important, I personally think its a little silly, but I like vegemite on raisin toast….)
Hopefully they get their act together, and they need to hire a professional community manager, they are worth their weight in gold.
@lobstermooch
Knights did have this in their FAQ:
Will the ‘Exclusive’ miniatures be available later?
The miniatures and packs labelled as Exclusives will only be available online for pre-orders. They won’t be available later, but we may create alternative versions of popular characters later.
Surely you wouldn’t be paying VAT if ordering direct from Australia.
But if its being shipped to say a UK address wouldn’t it still need to be paid? Or is it only if the bank/card is UK/EU based?
I’ll have to doulbe check on that.
I have been looking forwards to this game coming out since I first heard of it, I am a big HP fan as are members of my family. I don’t mind it not being kickstarter.
My current largest gripe is them saying that you can only get per order exclusive miniatures if you order through the website. If it’s on Kickstarter then I accept paying the company directly for the product, but as it’s not I would much rather buy from FLG.
Currently waiting for FLG to work out what they can get, but experience as a whole from knights planning and communication has shattered my interest.
If it was being shipped to a UK address then you would. Be worth checking the difference in VAT costs and shipping costs from America
@Bow team, anything you guys can think of on how to get this game to the community who are living outside of the mentioned countries (NL here).
Well that was unexpected and whole being able to ship only to certain countries is huge problem that they need to fix. If they don’t it might end up hurting them on long run with both losing potential sales and when it comes to they reputation.
Oh yeah- it is 1000x better to do this now, rather than have to backtrack later.
Hope to get hold of a core box .. and some exclusive minis
We are still considering a pre-order, but I would recommend to to Knight Models to work out their license restrictions before opening the pre-orders. Otherwise, there will be significantly less interest (I suspect) if lots of people miss the pre-order bonuses, or have to use work arounds with forward shipping companies.
Is this game any good?