INDUSTRY DATA

This list is designed provide a clearing house of data that retailers can use to find everything (or as close to everything as possible) about their partners in other tiers. Rather than having to hunt down data for 550+ game publishers and manufacturers, they will be able to find the data in one location. It is my hope that this will help the different tiers of the industry to better communicate with one another and for us all to be more profitable and informed.

You are welcome to reach out to me at ceo@dlair.net. Please reference this site in the subject line.

You can share your data at this link:
https://forms.gle/d8339oGKuUuEcjS6A

I will update your data as I am able, which means that I’ll delete your older response and replace it with the newer response. An email to me when you update will make the change swifter. Please put the “Consolidated Publisher, Manufacturer and Distributor List – Change note” as your subject line.

Please register using the form above on this page — https://www.dlair.net/industry-data/

Right now I am spinning up this list. When this is published, I will be in Phase Two of a Four Phase operation.

Until all four phases are complete, I’ll update the list monthly with any new information. After the fourth phase is complete I’ll update upon request (and as I have time) and/or on a bi-annual basis.

The Four Phases are:

Game Publisher Data Collection
Game Distributor Data Collection
Comic Publisher and Distributor Data Collection
Pop Culture Publisher and Distributor Data Collection

After all four phases are complete I intend send out an email to request participants to update their data bi-annually. This will probably take place at the end of March and end of September so as to avoid the summer and holiday seasons.

Information is being collected to populate this list from publishers, manufacturers and distributors. I am also asking for ideas on how to make this form more useful to those entities.

Information is being collected from retailers to confirm that they are active or new retailers and to gain insight into how they would like this form to be improved.

This data is being provided to new and existing retailers and the data being shared is specifically offered to help stores connect better with their partners in other tiers. It is not a customer facing site. Publishers and distributors have other means to connect with customers and I do not wish to have customer emails, for example, going to retail facing email addresses. That would just create more work for everyone and discourage participation.

Not at all. I highly encourage everyone in the industry to support GAMA, ASTRA, and ComicsPRO. I am a member of GAMA and ComicsPRO and have been for years. I think that these organizations have helped the industry greatly and continue to do so.

(Please support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund too. The CBLDF is very important in this time of book banning and library censorship.)

That said, not everyone is a member of these worthy organizations, and I want to connect to those companies as well.

I am an optimist and do not believe in zero sum games. I believe that if everyone in the industry does well that it creates a path for everyone to benefit. Most of us are in these industries because we love the culture and only secondarily to prosper (though if you don’t make money, you can’t keep doing what you love.)

I grew up playing games, including the ones made by SPI and Avalon Hill and TSR, and reading comics. In 1983 I started working at comic bookstores (Capital Comic Company and Phoenix Comics.) In 1986 I opened my own store and in the 21st century I began franchising them because I like helping people create stores that they enjoy. Working at comic and game stores has brought me a lot of joy and has connected me with people who love the same things that I do.

My store, and other retailers, exist because of the passion and creativity of others and their connections to our industry. This is a way of me giving back not only to publishers and creators, but to all the others who have created and supported our industry.

It is my hope that this will make it easier for the different tiers to connect and thrive and prosper for our mutual benefit.

If there is a publisher, manufacturer or distributor that you’d like to see included on this list, please consider sharing the link to the form with them.

Here is the publisher/manufacturer link:
https://forms.gle/MXVPhXPGu4ScM7Hs6

Here is the Distributor link:
https://forms.gle/YkvmbHGd1VoRMq3N6

(The Distributor link is awaiting input and the questions may be updated over time.)

Thank you for working with us for the good of the industry!