If you were worried you might not be able to pick up a limited print run Marvel Secret Lair Drop before it sells out, you should be worried now. Hasbro revealed in its quarterly call to investors today that it expects the Marvel Secret Lair Drop to go out of stock almost instantly.
Here’s what Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said on the company’s third quarter earnings call with investors today:
It’s shaping up to be our biggest one yet and should be chock full of exciting new product announcements like the one we just did at New York Comic Con with our partners at Marvel. Coming in December, Magic fans can get the first cards from our new collaboration with Marvel, featuring themed secret lair drops for 5 of their favorite Marvel superheroes, including Iron Man, Black Panther and Wolverine. We are expecting each mini set to immediately sell out.
Hasbro Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call
So there you have it. If you want to guarantee you get a copy of this highly sought-after Secret Lair, you better bookmark your calendar for November 4th, 2024. Additionally, you can go here to sign up for notifications so you’re able to join the buying queue right when it goes live.
Previously, Secret Lairs have sold out within a day, such as the Hatsune Miku Lair. The popular Monty Python Secret Lair sold out within an hour! Given how much more popular Marvel is compared to these two franchises, and the fact that this drop contains unique Commanders which may not be reprinted, this could sell out in minutes, as the Hasbro CEO expects.
The Marvel Secret Lair ‘mini sets,’ as Chris Cocks calls them, will each contain one of the below new Marvel Commander cards as well as 4 to 5 additional supporting reskinned reprints, plus an expected bonus Secret Lair card to be revealed later.
The news of a potential sellout comes as no surprise to us at MTG Insider, as we recently reported on the high likelihood of this possibility earlier this week.
Unfortunately for MTG players, the fact that the product is expected to sell out immediately before it even releases is a sign that WotC and Hasbro may be intentionally making Secret Lair Drops a scarcity product, rather than producing to actual demand.
This is a phenomenon that has been called manufactured scarcity, and many brands have been accused of intentionally taking part in it, though few admit it.
Prior to this year, Secret Lairs were a print-on-demand product, meaning that everyone who ordered within the ordering window would get a copy. The downside was that there was a long lag between ordering and when the product was printed and received by customers.
According to Wizards of the Coast, they switched to limited supply print runs in order to ship product faster and make customers happier. They also told customers that “we’re aiming to get as close to overall demand as possible” when printing Secret Lairs.
If they know Secret Lairs are going to sell out immediately ahead of time, that statement comes under scrutiny. Perhaps WotC has changed their approach since their initial announcement.
The MTG x Marvel Secret Lair Drop goes on sale November 4th. You can collect each of the five Marvel Secret Lairs for $39.99 USD for the non-foil version or $49.99 USD for the rainbow foil edition. Good luck!
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