GoingMadlem

Tin-Foil Hat time: WoTC has been slow dripping DOM supply until the pro tour to help maintain standard singles, so things hit a fever pitch Post #PTDOM and launch a reprint wave to ride the wave of demand generated by players wanting to build PTDOM decks. #mtgfinance

That's not crazy talk. They usually slow roll first allocations for those reasons.

It would make sense, because they could then use it for Corporate data points to point to 'Demand driven printing duration' to show under this model (PTs 6 weeks out with slow drip) extends demand for in print product, as a nice bullet point for corporate investors.

... "Hey guys, our annual sales are rough, what should we do?" "Print less to trick people into buying more" "BRILLIANT!" Spring set has always... ALWAYS been a weak seller. They just printed to expected demand based on historical projections.

It's not print less, it's hide inventory in the supply chain briefly to drive hype/ensure vendors don't get stuck with overage. Selling out up front has future wave sales value. Otherwise agree with your analysis.

Dominaria never sold out or was hidden in supply chain. 1. Distributors have been pulling back on days of supply. 2. Early release sprung AFTER initial orders were placed. 3. Restocks arrived at various distributors at different times and were handled differently by each.