Wizards says print-to-demand Secret Lair is gone for good
Polygon reports Wizards of the Coast says early print-to-demand Secret Lair drops caused too many problems, including long fulfillment waits and unpredictable bottlenecks in the company’s shared printing supply chain. Secret Lair began as print-to-demand in December 2019, but customers sometimes waited “six, seven, eight, nine months” to receive products, Secret Lair senior director Lindsey Bartell said during the Feb.
3 stream of Weekly MTG. Wizards experimented with a “time-boxed demand” approach and pre-printed inventory, which produced large amounts of dead stock, and then pivoted in January 2024 to a limited-print-run model. Bartell confirmed print-to-demand won’t return, saying the limited-print model is “better for business,” lets Secret Lair fund riskier projects, and avoids disrupting major releases.