The main page of Wizards of the Coast’s website looks much better now. Far less cluttered, easier to find what you’re looking for. Not as much variety right up front, though, just the big name brands. Hmm… sounds like the WotC retail stores, doesn’t it?
As most folks have heard by now, WotC “refocused” their product selection in the WotC retail stores. My local store got rid of playing space (strike one), is phasing out all miniatures except WizKids (strike two), and has obnoxious staff with a holier-than-thou attitude (strike three). Combine that with the fact that WotC stores have never done much to encourage networking in the gaming community, not even the bare minimum of a gamer bulletin board, and I certainly won’t be shopping there again.
However, I can confirm that the store had plenty of Mage Knight, HeroClix, and MechWarrior. There was also an ample supply of puzzles, Klutz products, and strange obscure third party board games. You know, lots of University Games tucked away in the back of the store, after all the Hasbro and WotC products had already been waded through. Other tiny companies had their board games there, too, like this one which looked like a variation of Sorry or Parcheesi.
As you can see if you click on the stamp on the new Wizards front page, Avalon Hill also has a substantially improved web presence, including some support for seriously old stuff.