Well, I think CGC is the authority on Production status, but what we have bee told:
- Production starts in May - will need to ramp up - they are targetting 200/games per month +/-
- They will then produce some SE/CE to get show machines and showroom machines for dealers as well as to ensure the process
- Then they will primarily focus on LE's, but may insert some SE/CE (especially for Intl' customers who order a mix in a container.
- LE customers who own MMR's will be prioritized for matching LE #'s
- Then at some point (probably after 450-500 units) they will run some more MMRs (est July Aug) - probably 250-500 max
- My guess is that they are trying to get all LE's by end of the year, certainly sooner if things work the way they project.
All of this is subject to change ... based on what really happens.
As far as 'when do I get my game' questions - It's really difficult to pinpoint exactly when ... why?
1) First, all of the factors above - anything changes (for better or worse) timing comes in or goes out
2) Each reseller only knows their allocation (i.e. their 'line') and don't really have visibility to others, they should get games as a % of their allocation (ideally) - so if there are 1000 LE's and a reseller has 25 of them, then ideally they get one out of every 50
3) We know that #2 doesn't usually work out that way for so many reasons - efficiency of shipping, if resellers don't have payment yet, if international order, customer orders a couple of games, etc.
4) Options like even trim can re-arrange things - if a batch of trim colors is run then that may cause things to get out of order - this is why minimal number of options matters (ideally zero options)
What most resellers can probably tell you is 'where' you are in their line relatively (soon, first 25%, last 25%, etc) - as a specific # is not particularly helpful without more info. Larger resellers get more allocation and thus more games for every 100 made, etc.
Any CGC updates will help resellers try to project when games will be available, but there are alway starts/stops, etc. Hopefully for the AFMR and the upcoming MMR runs there will be more of a steady state of production.
So yes, we will have alot of information, but it will be (as always) an 'estimate' ... the closer you are to the information the better you can predict. And PPS is the largest reseller as well as have as much information as anyone other than CGC itself.
Rick
