Now that Magic: The Gathering's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Universes Beyond set has been released, local game stores share their thoughts and player feedback about it.
The set, which released March 6 after a prerelease weekend a week prior, is the latest release in MTG's third-party I.P. Universes Beyond brand.
In a recent poll of Wizards Play Network stores on social media, it's come to light that the set, overall, has been a major flop with more than half of WPN members stating that their community has received Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles negatively or worse.
"The TMNT Universes Beyond release has unfortunately been very difficult for us as a local game store," comments Saxon McKean of Virtual Reality Cards & Games in Madison, Ohio. "Sales have been extremely slow and current market prices are already close to or even below what distributors are charging stores. That makes it very challenging for small businesses to move product without taking losses."
He continues, stating "At the moment, it’s making us seriously reconsider future Universes Beyond orders. We want to support Magic releases, but the pricing structure and market performance of these products are making it increasingly risky for local game stores."
Hannah Wines, event coordinator for Dragon's Lair Comics & Fantasy in San Antonio, Tex., shares the sentiment.
"[The set] started off pretty good then crashed," she says. "There are way too many sets this year and the players are now having to pick and choose sets. We are going to have to lower how much we order with most sets this year."
Part of the problem with the set might be player fatigue with the Universes Beyond brand overall, as states Rachel Harris of The Gamers Den in Cambridge, Minn.
"Our community really wants Magic back, not Universes [Beyond}," she comments. "One or two a year is fine and can be fun but Universes are becoming the main thing as four of the seven new Standard sets are Universes which are community is not looking forward to."
She continues, stating that Universes Beyond releases aren't boosting or lifting up the overall Magic community.
"Instead, people are choosing not to engage so they can spend more on other sets like Lorwyn or Strixhaven that are in the Magic lore," she says. "If Universes brings in any new players, it does for only that set for maybe prerelease so they can get the cards, or they will by some boosters, but they don't stay."
But it's not all bad, as Ian Anderson of The Game Trader in Brighton, Col., points out (though with a caveat).
"TMNT fans enjoy it, which is fantastic, but many seem disinterested in joining our actual MTG community or even learning to play the game," he points out. "Financial success at a manufacturing and distribution level I'm sure, but it has done little to nothing for the health of the TCG in our community."
Magic: The Gathering's next release is Secrets of Strixhaven, which comes out April 24. That set will be followed by two more Universes Beyond sets in Marvel Super Heroes on June 26 and The Hobbit in August.
