If this is the first step in GameStop essentially adding a Hobby Shop element to their stores, I think it’s a solid move and one that Fanatics and Panini might actually get behind due to distribution and pricing elements that GameStop can offer.
Right now, the Hobby Shop landscape is littered with uneven distribution and wholesalers who are rent seeking/building their own margins. If Fanatics and Panini can strike distribution deals with GameStop on a corporate level, if can cut out the wholesalers altogether and enforce desired pricing levels. You don’t see GameStops charging 2x MSRP for PlayStations and nonsense like that, but you do see disjointed pricing at Hobby Shops for the latest releases where shops are basically dynamically pricing sealed wax to line up with secondary market resale, which is a major frustration for collectors and no doubt shows up on the manufacturer’s industry surveys.
Definitely 100% don’t trust GameStop employees with group subs, or even with not searching their inventory of sealed wax if it comes to that though. I picture some 18 year old kid in the back with a scale, plucking every box that weighs 0.1 ounces more than the rest.
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