12-7-Games was recently reviewed and awarded the first ever CWF GameCast Editor’s Choice Award. Bill, its kind and amazing owner, read the review and sent me an e-mail in response. He wanted to correct one error, which I have commented on in the original review, along with replying to the review.
I always share the unedited comments from those discussed on this blog. Although this may be my soapbox, it is important for it to provide a reliable and balanced world view. Below is Bill’s e-mail. My only response is, “I stated that 12-7-Games ran out of protective card sleeves, has since been resupplied, and also understated how often they use them for stat cards. I regret the error and apologize to all of you, to Bill, and to 12-7-Games’ customers (and potential customers).”
Hi Jonathan,
I was just about to shut down for the evening when I received your email. I must say I am deeply gratified & humbled by your statement & the honor your have bestowed upon me. Thank you very much. You have my permission to place a link to our website.
I read your review & I must correct one statement, but I want to provide a little background so you have a better understanding of what is happening.
I have been a war-gamer since 1962. I have played my games solo most of the time, even my kids weren’t interested in my hobby. I have a deep love of this hobby & I want to do what I can to enhance & expand it. Regarding my business, I want to offer the highest level of service, the broadest range of products at the lowest possible prices.
In September of last year, I learned of the Axis & Allies miniatures. I decided that I would like to collect the minis & learn how to play. However, rather than pay retail for my minis, I felt I could save money on my purchases & possibly make money by buying wholesale & selling retail. I started the business December 27, 2009. Since I had no store, I had to find a distributor that would work with me. After securing a distributor, I place a large order in January for AAM & WAS. At that time I purchased 2,000 protective sleeves. I placed every card in one of the protective sleeves. I soon realized that 2,000 sleeves wouldn’t last very long, so in March I placed another order for 5,000. My supplier balked at the size of my order because they only buy 10,000 sleeves at a time. He told me the other retailers didn’t put their cards in sleeves for your customers. I explained that I didn’t want to be like the other retailers, I knew that if I was making the purchase, I would want my cards in protective sleeves. In any event, I insisted & he told me that Fantasy Flight (the manufacturer of the sleeves) was bad for meeting delivery deadlines. The expected delivery was the end of the second quarter, June 30. As you know, June came & went without any sleeves. Now we have been told to expect the sleeves sometime in July. I’m not holding my breath!
Anyway, my sleeves are not here at this time. What I did with the foruMINI was place a post notifying everyone that we were out of sleeves. I assured everyone that when the sleeves arrive, I would place a post & anyone that ordered from me could send a PM or email & I would send them sleeves at no charge.
Finally, I have accidentally become a retailer that specializes in the hard to find AAM & WAS. I have thousands of Version 1, sets 1-5, of AAM. The total is close to 25,000-30,000 of these minis alone. The D-Day & Reserves inventory is about 7,000-8,000 each. My WAS is not as extensive, I can’t keep them in stock, and most prices for WAS Base Set and Task Force will be increasing when we complete our inventory & restock around the end of the month. We have about 8,000 of the WAS Base Set & Task Force minis in total. I’m pretty sure this is more than any other retailer. We are well stocked in all other AAM & WAS sets. In total for all sets (singles, boosters & cases) we have about 55,000-60,000 AAM/WAS minis in stock.
Thanks again for your review. It is greatly appreciated!
Bill
12-7-Games
