Well, in Italy Pathfinder is going very, very well - despite the fact that the core rulebook has been criticized for 'a lot' of errors - and it was sold out in three months (but please note that in Italy print runs are very small). In my store I do a roaring business for D&D 3.5 and 3.0, lackluster sales for D&D 4.0, good sales for Pathfinder. I have big hopes for the new Essentials line, but I can say with reasonable convinction that in Italy, too, D&D 4.0 does not sell - considering the affection my country has for D&D, this is real trouble for the Italian publisher and WotC. A friend of mine that has some links with French publishers told me that in France D&D 4.0 in retail terms 'sucks'. Never forget, Italy is an amazingly conservative country in games too.

puterdragon wrote:
Good to get your  read on this. Sounds like 3e minis could enjoy a steady (but slow) increase in value then. I think I read somewhere that Paizo was producing minis now/soon.
Also, I've been thinking 3.75e Paizo'd be my first choice for adventure submissions--4e WotC and GG being further down.

Pathfinder has a mini line, they are produced by Reaper Minis I believe.

FormCritic wrote: the 3.0 and 3.5 items seem to move faster than a lot of the 2nd Edition publications.

I think I now understand why TSR continued to print the 1e books for several years into the 2e era. Same goes for the OCE.

WotC however has not continued the practice. Based on your description of lingering 2e stock a decade later, maybe that was a wise choice. This time around, I wonder if it was intended to create a sort of pump-priming suction effect for 4e:
-3e goes out of print.
-demand for 3e continues.
-with no new printings, old 3e stock sells well.
-distributors & retailers looking to replenish their stocks do so from what is available, 4e.
-their orders are influenced by the run on 3e.

FormCritic wrote:Pathfinder books tend to sell quickly.

They seem to have achieved real-life presto-chango marketing magic. Dragon & Dungeon magazines had always been the absolute bottom-feeders of collectability, & of general regard, since The Dragon lost its "The."

There is not a lot of substantial difference between a Pathfinder module & a Paizo-era Dungeon article. Yet one is the new hotness, while the other occupies those same heaps of unsold/unwanted 2e & 4e material.