Gen Con 2023 has officially begun and many Disney fans have gathered in Indianapolis in hopes of being the first to get Disney Lorcana products. Unfortunately, chaos ensued in the convention’s early hours.
There have been rumblings about Ravensburger having limited Disney Lorcana product, and they shared last night that Gen Con attendees who purchase product would have their badges hole punched so they couldn’t purchase product again.
These factors increased urgency and attendees gathered outside the convention as early as midnight – with many only attending for that purpose.
As the convention center opened, a crowd formed at the doors to the exhibition hall. Disney Lorcana is only being sold at Ravensburger Booth 2001. Other Ravensburger products are being sold at the Ravensburger Event Hall Space in Hall B.
Initially, the crowd self-organized into a line. But event officials came out and broke up the line in favor of a “fill in all available space” approach.
The volume of people combined with organizational failures led to a mob forming. Some fans stopped others from entering the bathroom because they were worried they were “cutting.”
Even before the doors opened, guests were at risk of being crushed in the crowd. When the doors did open, the situation only became more dangerous as everyone tried to go inside at once. Our reporters were separated and one was slammed and trapped against a door by the rush of people.
As some of our reporters reached the doors, they realized guests were leaving without any Disney Lorcana product. It turns out that while attendees had been crowding to go through the main doors where they were initially directed, Ravensburger had set up a separate line elsewhere. So the guests who had been waiting all night were suddenly forced to go to the end of another line.
Several attendees told us they had been among the first 200 people waiting, but the disorganization caused them to end up at the back of a much larger crowd. They did not make the cut off for purchasing Lorcana today.
This new line of hundreds of people ultimately ran most of the length of the hallway. The Ravensburger employee pointing guests to the start of the line was apologetic and said that they would be counting people in line to figure out product allocation. Then they would turn people away. This will be the system for the rest of the weekend.
As we were waiting in this line, another false line reportedly formed.
At this point, it’s unclear what product anyone will even be able to purchase. Here is what should be available:
- Disney Lorcana: The First Chapter Booster Pack – $5.99 each (Limit 24 packs/1 display. Total display price: $143.76)
- Disney Lorcana: The First Chapter Starter Decks -$16.99 each (contains 1 Booster Pack) Amber/Amethyst (Limit 1) Ruby/Emerald (Limit 1) Sapphire/Steel (Limit 1)
- Captain Hook, Elsa, or Mickey Mouse Card Sleeve Pack (Limit 1 design) – $9.99
- Captain Hook, Elsa, or Mickey Mouse Deck Box (Limit 1 design) – $5.99
- Maui, Maleficent, or Mickey Mouse Neoprene Play Mat (Limit 1 design) – $19.99
- The Queen or Stitch 10-Page Portfolio ( 4-Pocket Pages, Limit 1 design) – $19.99
The crowding on the opening day of Gen Con is just the latest in upsetting events around the con and the release of Disney Lorcana. Gen Con forced many attendees to give up Disney Lorcana events they had signed up for the day after the hotel cancellation window closed.
While Disney Lorcana products are available at Gen Con this weekend, the official release will be at specialty stores on August 18. But Ravensburger has been advising local game stores not to allow online orders.
Ravensburger is also currently embroiled in a copyright infringement lawsuit from Upper Deck, who alleges Disney Lorcana copies their unreleased game, Rush of Ikorr.
Stay tuned as we continue to cover Gen Con 2023 and the release of Disney Lorcana.
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