Mayfair Demo Details!

Retailers,

We have some great news for you! Alliance Game Distributors will now be facilitating Mayfair Games demo program. So, check your demo shelves against the list below and place your orders for any of the following MFG demos available! These items are currently unavailable to order from the website, therefore please contact your Alliance Account Representative to place orders for any of the Mayfair Games demos below.

Retailers, we encourage all of you to take advantage of this great demo opportunity. It's a proven fact that having demo versions of games available in store will increase your sales! The opportunity to show a customer a demo version, and to offer them the invitation to play, increases the customer's chance of buying tremendously!

Allowing demo copies to be played during open gaming nights or in-store play will also boost interest in the game. In the long run, demo copies are bound to increase your volume of sales and provide your customers with the ability to fall in love with a game even faster.

MFG 0463DEM                  Alibi Demo Copy

MFG 0469DEM                  Silverton Demo Copy

MFG 0476DEM                  HellRail Card Game Demo Copy

MFG 0477DEM                  Theophrastus Demo Copy

MFG 0489DEM                  India Rails Demo Copy

MFG 0493DEM                  Elixir Card Game Demo Copy

MFG 0499DEM                  Entdecker: Exploring New Horizons Demo Copy

MFG 1830DEM                  1830 Railways & Robber Barons - North East US Demo Copy

MFG 1853DEM                  1853 India Demo Copy

MFG 3025DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Catan Junior Demo Copy

MFG 3030DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Candamir - The First Settlers Demo Copy

MFG 3031DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Elasund - The First City of Catan Demo Copy

MFG 3061DEM                  Settlers of Catan: The Settlers of Catan  Demo Copy

MFG 3063DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Seafarers Game Expansion Demo Copy

MFG 3065DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Cities & Knights Game Expansion Demo Copy

MFG 3067DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Traders & Barbarians Expansion Demo Copy

MFG 3101DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Settlers of Catan - Portable Edition Demo Copy

MFG 3108DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Catan Dice Game Standard Edition Demo Copy

MFG 3131DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Rivals for Catan - A game for 2 player Demo Copy

MFG 3132DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Rivals of Catan Age of Darkness Expansion  Demo Copy

MFG 3133DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Rivals of Catan Age of Enlightenment Expansion  Demo 

MFG 3141DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Struggle for Catan  Demo Copy

MFG 3201DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Settlers of the Stone Age Demo Copy

MFG 3203DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Catan Histories: Settlers of America Trails to Rails Demo 

MFG 3204DEM                  Settlers of Catan: Catan Histories: Merchants of Europe Demo Copy

MFG 3303DEM                  Dos Rios: Valley of Two Rivers Demo Copy

MFG 3305DEM                  Ankh Morpork - Wallace's Disk World Game Demo Copy

MFG 3309DEM                  Witch of Salem Demo Copy

MFG 4102DEM                  Domaine Demo Copy

MFG 4103DEM                  Pillars of the Earth Demo Copy

MFG 4105DEM                  Station Master Demo Copy

MFG 4106DEM                  Bacchus' Banquet Demo Copy

MFG 4107DEM                  Oceania Demo Copy

MFG 4109DEM                  Monuments Demo Copy

MFG 4112DEM                  Barbarossa  Demo Copy

MFG 4113DEM                  Shear Panic Demo Copy

MFG 4114DEM                  Elk Fest Demo Copy

MFG 4117DEM                  Nuns on the Run Demo Copy

MFG 4118DEM                  World Without End Demo Copy

MFG 4119DEM                  The Pillars of the Earth: Builder's Duel Demo Copy

MFG 4120DEM                  Lords of Vegas Demo Copy

MFG 4121DEM                  Lemming Mafia Demo Copy

MFG 4122DEM                  Giza- the Great Pyramid! Demo Copy

MFG 4124DEM                  Urbania Progress, Profit, Power! Demo Copy

MFG 4129DEM                  Whitewater Demo Copy

MFG 4401DEM                  Family Business Demo Copy

MFG 4403DEM                  Ablaze Demo Copy

MFG 4404DEM                  Rocket Jockey  Demo Copy

MFG 4405DEM                  Zen Garden Demo Copy

MFG 4499DEM                  Empire Express Demo Copy

MFG 4500DEM                  Empire Builder Demo Copy

MFG 4501DEM                  British Rails Demo Copy

MFG 4502DEM                  Australian Rails Demo Copy

MFG 4503DEM                  Russian Rails Demo Copy

MFG 4504DEM                  China Rails Demo Copy

MFG 4507DEM                  EuroRails Demo Copy

MFG 4508DEM                  Nippon Rails Demo Copy

MFG 4521DEM                  Automobile Demo Copy

MFG 4531DEM                  Aero Planes: Aviation Ascendant Demo Copy

MFG 4551DEM                  Steam Demo Copy

MFG 4600DEM                  Lunar Rails Demo Copy

MFG 4601DEM                  Martian Rails Demo Copy

MFG 4860DEM                  A House Divided Demo Copy

MFG 4861DEM                  Test of Fire - First Bull Run 1861 Demo Copy

MFG 4862DEM                  Clash of Wills - Shiloh 1862 Demo Copy

MFG 73002DEM                Settlers of Catan: Catan - Family Edition Board Game  Demo Copy

MFG 73101DEM                Le Boomb Demo Copy

MFG ASI5721DEM            Intrigue Demo Copy

MFG ASI5751DEM            Alchemist Demo Copy

MFG ASI5752DEM            Patrician Demo Copy

MFG ASI5753DEM            Atlantis Demo Copy

MFG ASI5772DEM            Gangster Demo Copy

MFG MSP50708DEM        Settlers of Catan: Settlers of Canaan (Cactus) Demo Copy

MFG PHA0349DEM          Revolution, the Dutch Revolt 1568-1648 Demo Copy

MFG PHA6005DEM          Age of Napoleon Demo Copy

MFG PHA6029DEM          Rise of Empires Demo Copy

To learn more about the pricing of these demos, please visit our Retailer Services Website here.

  - Emily

What Do Games and Justin Bieber Have In Common?

Below is the latest Dork Tower comic, created by Illustrator John Kovalic, to hit Game Trade Magazine February Issue #156! We at Alliance gave it a good chuckle, and wanted to share it will all of our readers and followers.

Game Trade Magazine was created as a resource tool for retailers as a method to increase awareness of (new) product and sales. Pull the most recent GTM out the next time a customer asks for something new, something they haven't tried before. Each game listed in GTM has a picture and product description, in order to make it easier to narrow down your customer’s interest. Plus, we have to mention, GTM is filled with awesome articles about the newest product and most popular titles!

Retailers, did you enjoy the most recent John Kovalic poster we sent out with the last Game Trade Magazine? (Issue # 155) Use the poster as an award for your next gaming event or hang it around your store for a good laugh. If you didn't see the poster, you have now!

- Emily

TableTop News: Chez Geek

Chez Geek from Steve Jackson Games is the most recent game to hit Wil Wheaton's table top. Played on the newest TableTop episode from Geek and Sundry, Chez Geek is a interactive card game where you and your roommates represent twenty-something  aged slackers living together. Each player has a low-paying job, and accumulates points by buying things, and doing activities with an end goal in mind: be the roommate with the most slack!

Chez Geek was recently played in the Alliance East office. We certainly put this oldie, but goodie, on one of our favorites list! When played in the office last Friday, one of our East Sales Representatives was crowned winner and proclaimed biggest slacker! Here is what Ted had to say about his win, "Never have I had so much fun while trying to do so little".

We definitely recommend playing Chez Geek when introducing your non-gaming friends to the fun of gaming! Tell us what you think about this episode of TableTop? And what are your favorite games to introduce to your non-gaming friends?

- Emily

Ready For Another Game Gathering?

Alliance is doing it again!

Last July, Alliance hosted its first Game Gathering in Baltimore Maryland. The event was created for our retailers in the east who aren't able to make it to our larger Open House in Fort Wayne Indiana. We "miniaturized" the idea of the Open House and came up with the idea of hosting a Game Gathering.

The Game Gathering consists of an all day conference, packed full of vendor and product presentations. We have scheduled the Southwest Game Gathering for Saturday February 23rd, to run from 11:00 AM until 7:00PM. We are hosting the Southwest Game Gathering in Austin, Texas, at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton. The bulk of the presentations will happen in the beginning half of the day. A buffet lunch will be served for our attendees, and refreshments will be served during breaks between vendor presentations.

Retailers will also have a chance to talk one-on-one with their favorite vendors in the afternoon. We have also scheduled a room to be set with round tables to host open gaming for the evening! Hopefully our vendors will bring along some newer product that has yet to be released, just so you can check them out first-hand before their release date!

Okay, so you probably want to know what vendors are exhibiting...well here is the list:

Days of Wonder | Mayfair Games | Publisher Services Inc (PSI)

Steve Jackson Games | Wizards of the Coast

To get the full list of details about the event, please check out the article on Retailer Services, under the Alliance News tab.

RSVP and hotel details can be found in the article link above. RSVP deadline is February 13th! Contact Emily Eickhoff at eme@alliance-games.com if you have any questions. 

Check out this awesome picture from our last Game Gathering in Baltimore!

- Emily

Website Enhancement: Order Imports

Alliance Game Distributors is happy to announce a new feature added to our Retailer Services website: Order Imports. This new feature offers retailers the ability to take an Excel file and upload it into the selected order type. Alliance takes pride in providing an array of useful resources to our retailers, we hope this new installation will allow our customers to improve their online ordering experience. 

Please read the following instructions below to learn how to properly complete Order Imports:

In the ‘My Open Order’, ‘My Potential Order’ and ‘Template Orders’ sections of the website you will see a new button labeled ‘Import _____ Order’.  This new feature offers you the ability to take an Excel file and upload it into the selected order type.  

You will need to have the file formatted correctly; the easiest way to get the format is to do a search for any item and then export the search results.  The excel file created by the export is in the format used by the import.  While price and description are on the import they are not required fields and are okay to leave blank.

There are two options when importing a file to an open or potential order: ‘Add to ______ order qtys’ and ‘Overwrite________ order qtys’.   The difference between these options is how they handle an item that is on the import but already exists on your order.  

If you have chosen ‘Add to _______ order qtys’ it will increase your order by the amount on the import file.  For example if you already had 2 copies of GAW 81-08 on your order (potential or open) and your import file has 3 copies of GAW 81-08 your order after import will be for 5 copies of GAW 81-08.  If you had chosen ‘Overwrite________ order qtys’ then your order would be for the  imported amount of 3.  The import file does not process any item that has a quantity of 0 or less.

If you have an itemcode on your import that does not match an itemcode currently available from Alliance Game Distributors you will receive an error notification informing you of this; the process will still import the other items on your import.

The template order import only imports itemcodes, quantity will not be imported.

If you have any questions about the import feature, including questions about the format for the import file please contact Troy Sands in the Data Services/Technical Support department (tms@alliance-games.com; 1-800-669-4263 ext 9245).

To read more about Order Imports, please view the announcement in greater detail on the Retailer Services homepage – Click here. 

- Emily

Angus Upset Over Bob's Departure...

Check out the latest from the Bob & Angus Show from Mayfair Games.

Bob is leaving the show and Angus is having a hard time coping with the change. Check out the latest videos of Season 5!

Great B&A One-liners

S5 E14

Angus - "Hey Clair, whats the different between a Cubs outfielder and the alligator who attacked Captain Hook?" 

Clair - "Cubs...that's football right?" 

Angus - "Eh...."

S5 E13

Bob - "Nothing unprofessional about not having your script ready when it’s time to shoot..."

Angus - "As key members of the rail design team were out setting cars on fire - to be fair they may just being doing that to keep warm in Chicago.." Bob - "Don't start!"

S5 E12

Angus - "Different?...Different is changing deodorants Bob - not moving to Chicago!"

Bob - "That…that sticker is a little big there - isn't it Angus?

What's been your favorite episode so far? Let us know below in the comments section.

Website Enhancement: Moving items from Open to Potential

Alliance Game Distributors is happy to announce a new Feature: 

Moving items  from an Open order to a Potential order

You can now move items from an Open order to a Potential order.

To do this go to 'My Open Order' click the check box for the item(s) to be moved and then click on the button 'Move Selected to Potential Order'. Retailers, if there was ever an item on your Open order you weren't quite ready to get - you can now add it to your Potential orders to pick up next time you order! 

- Emily 

WOC Play Network: Kaijudo!

Wizards of the Coast's Play Network is giving back to their retailers!

To support the increase of Kaijudo sales and interest in play, the Play Network is supporting retailers ,who carry the Kaijudo brand, in their promotion efforts. 

Wizards has recently created a special in-store Play Promotion for retailers who continue to support the Kaijudo brand. In order to earn the special in-store promotion, store owners are asked to continue to run Kaijudo League or any other Kaijudo events in the store. 

Check out the insides of the kit below:

Five Return to Ravnica Guild Prerelease packs (one from each of the Return to Ravnica Prerelease guilds)

One copy of each of the Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition Premium reprints (the Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master Guide)

One display of Kaijudo Rise of the Duel Masters boosters

One Return to Ravnica marketing kit, including a set of five guild banners, twenty-five deck boxes, and a wall clock with interchangeable face.

To learn more information about the Kaijudo brand and the in-store Play Promotion, visit their website here. This special promotion is only running through January 31st, 2013. So retailers, schedule to a run Kaijudo League or any other Kaijudo event soon! If you are not familiar with scheduling a Kaijudo event please read the following article from Chase Robinson - Running a Kaijudo Event.

- Emily

Website Enhancement: Template Orders

Retailer Services Website Update for Retailers: please log onto RetailerServices.Alliance-Games.com to view the recent changes described below!

Alliance Game Distributors is happy to announce a new Feature: 

Template Orders

On the left hand menu list you will see a new option ‘Template Orders’. Template orders are for items that you frequently order. Once you add an item to a template order it will stay on there until you remove it. From a template you can enter in a quantity and add the selected item(s) directly to a potential or open order. You can have multiple templates to better manage your ordering experience all of which can be managed via the ‘Template Orders’ section.

To add items to your templates you can either type the code in on the Template screen or look up an item click on its itemcode to bring up the pop-out window and then select ‘add to template order’ from there.

Additional Templates
Coming soon will be Templates created by Alliance Game Distributors; these Templates will be under separate tabs in the ‘My Templates’ section and will provide suggested stocking lists for select lines as well as sales and special offers.

[Click the image to go to Retailer Services website]

- Emily

Happy New Year!

Retailers & Vendors;

As another year draws to a close, we would like to thank our vendors and retailers, whom we work closely with throughout the year. Thank you for allowing us to serve you for the past two decades as Alliance. We appreciate your business greatly.

We hope to continue to serve your hobby industry needs in the new year of 2013 and the future.

Play games, and be well this New Years Eve!

- ALLIANCE