So it spreads it around more and not to just a tiny few controlling majority of stock that’s why. People will always buy to get their cards no matter what. If one release was a 100% pure newsagents only release people will create demand for them to order more and it would sell out. It’s the collectors that push the demand yet only a few control said demand
With Ovato controlling the stock going out to newsagents (and dealing with the potential returns) this can be a difficult process and TLA may end up with packs/boxes being sent back which they then have to pay for this service and have goods that are then hard to move on (unsealed products).
If given the choice as a business, would you rather:
1) Sell to a Hobby Business where the demand is strong (exceeding supply at present) with a guaranteed sale - no returns
or
2) Sell to a Newsagent where you you may end up with full or opened boxes and packs being returned at the end of the sales cycle - and also paying Ovato to do this on your behalf?
As Michael said TLA provided a limited amount of stock to the more regional newsagents however the vast majority of the stock went to the bigger resellers where the demand was so strong that TLA could have probably sold another 100 cases had they been produced.
I think that we have seen this year across all sports not just NRL, but the market locally and globally is strong and its seen by the number of people breaking this product either as a customer or a group breaker.
Elite 2019 only sold out just a couple of months ago at the wholesale level, Elite 2020 had already done that before it was released to the market.
I think its a great sign that stock is selling so quickly...... means its a strong market and people are collecting on a much wider scale!
I'm sure this will all be taken into account next year and we may see TLA go back to 3 releases if the demand is still there? Who knows?
Cheers
Matt