Cundco old art request?

[dirk2112]

Thanks Whaleyland. 

I will draft a proposal and post it here before sending it.  I need to be brief and write simply in case the reader relies on Babble fish.

[Paul]

Well, if I am going to do a 100k game, I'm sure I can assist buffing up the tile count for reprint.

I've also been thinking about a kickstarter event for this, raising funds to buy tiles and then send those tiles after the game to backers.

Still early stage of planning, though.

[DaFees]

I love the idea in theory but realistically I'd only be interested if the shipping costs were right. I'm from the US and if I had to order via Cundco for this one off reprint I'd be ok with that if the shipping wouldn't be more than the cost of the item. As for the expansions noted I would be interested in Corn Circles 1, Besiegers, and River 3 (specifically just the 4 unique tiles with sheep and vineyards but would gladly take the other 8 to get these 4). Also, if we limit this only to expansions produced by HiG (and not spielbox, etc.) then about the only expansion I see that they did that I don't have that's hard to find is the Tunnels but that isn't a tiles only expansion. I also don't have the Festival but I assume that one is still relatively easy to get (even if it is sold out at Cundco).

Basically, noting the stated limitations the idea you have is a good one that I will certainly support if I could reasonably do so. I also think that the KS route could be a good one because it would allow to really gauge the actual interest without requiring anyone to put out a ton of money upfront.

[dirk2112]

Shipping from Cundco to the US is $4.16 or 3,95 Euro.  You can get a bunch of small expansions for that price.   Also, I am in the US and am planning on selling whatever I need to buy at cost to make this happen (within reason).  The Tunnels was a Spielbox expansion, so you are out of luck there. 

As for Kick Starter, I seriously doubt that Cundco would be interested.  In fact it would probably be detrimental to them as they are trying to sell the new artwork.   I expect that they would only want to reprint these if they A) Know they can sell them at a profit.  B) Sell them only on their website as they don't want to distract or confuse customers who they want interested in V2. 

I am going to ask nicely fully expecting them to tell me "no".  It can't hurt to ask though. 

[DaFees]

Ok, well I should clarify that last month I placed a sizeable (sizeable for me at least) order from Cundco that included pretty much every mini expansion they currently had plus a boxed copy of Hills and Sheep, since I never did get that one in English. The shipping on the order ended up being $25+. I do know that Cundco does offer cheap shipping like you said if the item/package is small enough. My point was that as long as this idea of yours would be sufficiently small enough to stay within the cheap shipping threshold that I would then be interested, 

[txema25]

i'm very interested in Besiegers.

[dirk2112]

If I am the only one interested in the hills and sheep river, I will drop that from the discussion and go with the other two.  I have an extra copy of the river (assuming no one claims it from the spare parts giveaway).  I imagine I can obtain sheep stickers and something resembling a vineyard and roll my own. 

[jungleboy]

If I am the only one interested in the hills and sheep river, I will drop that from the discussion and go with the other two.  I have an extra copy of the river (assuming no one claims it from the spare parts giveaway).  I imagine I can obtain sheep stickers and something resembling a vineyard and roll my own.

I don't want to wade too much into this whole discussion, and I've only been skimming the thread, but I think you might be missing something in general here, which is that HiG often includes exclusive expansions with the base game or in big boxes as a deliberate retail strategy because it works to their benefit.

So while it would of course be fair and nice for us if the River (III) was sold separately for €5, that's not necessarily profitable for the publisher. If more than 1/10 of the people who would buy it for €5 would buy it as part of a Big Box for €50, then that's a better deal for the publisher. Many people on this forum bought Big Box 5 solely for the exclusive things in it even though they already owned all the other stuff, which shows that this strategy works. Sometimes (e.g. Festival or Besiegers) this exclusivity has been relaxed later on and those items have made their way to Cundco, but not always.

It's already been nearly 2.5 years since Big Box 5 and they've completely moved on to a different form of artwork, and the River (III) has already done its job for HiG, so I highly, highly doubt they're going to create a small print run of it again for hardly any or no profit. I don't really think the business world works this way even though it would be nice for consumers if it did.

[kettlefish]

The BigBox5 - has some more interesting components than only the River I (with symbols for Sheep&Hills). There are Meeples for the 7th and 8th player included also the Wheel of Fortune also included base game, 1st, 2nd and 9th expansion. Here in Germany you can get the BigBox for 30€.
A standard expansion like "Inns & Cathedrals" cost around 12€ and the base game (classical edition) around 16€ here in the shops (I don't talk about online shops - I talk about real shops where you have to go into the shop).
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Kickstarter is not a good way here in Germany.
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jungleboy is in the most parts right what he has written about the boardgame business.

[dirk2112]

It's already been nearly 2.5 years since Big Box 5 and they've completely moved on to a different form of artwork, and the River (III) has already done its job for HiG, so I highly, highly doubt they're going to create a small print run of it again for hardly any or no profit. I don't really think the business world works this way even though it would be nice for consumers if it did.

Your argument for why they won't do it is actually similar to my argument as to why they should.  We agree they have nothing more the gain by having the River 3 exclusive to Big Box 5 as for the most part, that is sold out.  They already have the money of the folks who bought everything again for the exclusives.  I suppose people who are willing to rebuy things as exclusives are less likely to do so if I pull this off, but often times those people aren't willing to wait. 

They built the Watchtowers which required play-testing, new artwork, and production for 5 Euro.  A lot of people are more than willing to pay 5 Euros for the expansions I am requesting and they can skip play test and having new artwork created.  They just need to print them.  I don't know how many copies they need to produce to make it worth their while.  If it is thousands, then there is no way for this to work.  If it is a few hundred and I can get a bunch of people here to agree to pre-buy a large enough % of the reprint to make it possible, they quickly run out of reasons not to do it.  They can always choose to leave money lying on the table.   

Here in Germany you can get the BigBox for 30€

Well then the River 3 is definitely out.  I can't touch any Big Box for less than $109 in the States

[Ry4Christ]

I would definitely be interested in buying a reprint of The Besiegers for 5-10 euro - it's one of few expansions/mini-expansions I still need to complete my old art collection.

[meepleater]

While I agree that a reprint maybe unlikely, I would totally buy a new printing of the River 3.

[dirk2112]

First draft:

Cundco,

I am part of a small group of Carcassonne enthusiasts who are trying to complete our Carcassonne V1 (Doris Mattaus) collection before moving on to Carcassonne V2 (Anne Pätzke).  How many copies of Corn Circles I and the Besiegers could we pre-purchase in order to make it worthwhile for you to reprint those expansions?  I am willing to purchase more copies than I need in order to make this worth your while.  I am not a reseller and I do not wish to make money on selling these rare expansions. 

Also, do you happen to have any extra copies of the River expansion with the Hills and Sheep tiles (exclusive to Big Box 5 which is sold out in North America)?

Thanks for your time and consideration,

The Bablefish translation to German is:
Ich bin Teil einer kleinen Gruppe von Carcassonne-Enthusiasten, die versuchen, unsere Carcassonne V1 abzuschließen (Doris Mattaus) Sammlung vor dem weitergehen zu Carcassonne V2 (Anne Pätzke).  Wie viele Kopien von Mais Kreise ich und die Belagerer wir vorbestellen, um es lohnt sich für Sie diese Erweiterungen Abdruck machen?  Ich bin bereit, mehr Kopien als ich brauche, um das zu machen, lohnt sich zu kaufen. Ich bin kein Händler, und ich möchte nicht auf diese seltene Erweiterungen verkaufen Geld verdienen. 

Auch haben Sie zufällig zusätzlichen Kopien der Fluss-Erweiterung mit den Hügeln und Fliesen Schafen (exklusiv für Big Box 5, die in Nordamerika verkauft wird)?

I don't speak German, but I know enough to tell that the important sentences (2 and 3) are a disaster. 

[jungleboy]

Firstly, you should address your letter to Hans im Glück (HiG) and not Cundco. HiG is the publisher of Carcassonne. Cundco (Carcassonne und/and co) is just the online shop of HiG. If you want to address it to an actual person (even better), there are people on this forum who could supply names for you if you ask nicely.

Secondly, I don't think you should mention that you personally would be willing purchase more copies than you need. Even though you qualify it in the next line, it could still lead to suspicion about your plans. I think this idea is more likely to succeed if you have a names of individual buyers for every copy you want to pre-order.

Finally, as stated previously, I don't think this has much chance at all, but I admire your enthusiasm and optimism. Good luck!

[dirk2112]

Thanks and I agree.  Though I don't expect forum users to give me their real names and I feel using forum names is ultimately weak, so there is not much to be done to address that. 

I really just don't want them to think I am a reseller looking to over charge their fans.  I hate resellers.

I do have a contact name at Cundco.  It is from March, but hopefully she still works there.  I also have the name of the managing director (Geschäftsführer), but have never spoken to that individual.