Collectible Card Games (CCG) and other new collectible games are being discussed by a group of retailers and manufacturers at Gen Con.
Jon Huston, Owner of Troll and Toad
CCGs have hit the mainstream for American consumers. They don’t think about game stores, but rather Wal-Mart as a place for CCGs. These games also have a more maturing audience, sales have reamined steady since players began playing in the early 90s. People are buying for play these days, not for collections. Playability is driving prices, not collectability.
John Mansfield, Owner of Pendragon Games and Hobbies
Stores have a small amount of retail space, and a huge game play area. Small stores are thriving on having the play area. Game stores seem to be more about the gathering space than the selling – selling is being driven by web retailers. If you are a player who wants more playable cards, you have to pay a huge price online.
I know some libraries have CCG programs for playing or trading. Many schools have banned CCGs because of problems related to the trading and the fact that these cards can be quite expensive. There is a high cost of entry for this type of game. With libraries looking at redefining collections (to the point of loaning people and their expertise) is there a chance that libraries might loan out CCG cards to help someone fill out a deck for a short time?