Hello everyone, welcome back to the news! It's been a jam-packed month with the Year of Sanderson still going on and the Defiant release/Dragonsteel con coming up in just a few short months. Without further ado, let's dive into the news!

Brotherwise Games (Stormlight: Call to Adventure, Stormlight Miniatures, and planned Stormlight RPG) has teased that they are doing a Sanderson IP based deck-builder game, although the specific property has not been announced yet. All we really know so far is that it's a self-contained deck-builder game and not a collectible card game, so we should be able to avoid the predatory pricing practices that go on with those. Hopefully we will find out more details soon.

Brandon has started to monetize numbering books. We talked last month about how there will be only 50 numbered copies of each of the Secret Projects. Lightweaver, Brandon's charity, got their hands on a few of these, and auctioned them off. Yumi #3 went for $13,370, #4 for $10,010, Frugal Wizard #5 for $1,660, and #6 for $2,000. Congratulations to Lightweaver for raising so much money, and I am excited to see what it gets used for. This sets a new record for what signed and numbered books are selling for, and prices the majority of collectors out of getting these copies. I believe that the winners of these auctions were spending the money more to donate to charity than because they wanted that numbered book, or they were a collector. Nobody in the guild bid on them after prices started getting so high, that I know of.

One more copy of each numbered book went as a giveaway to Brandon's newsletter subscribers. I didn't win either one.

Legally distinct metallic ticket giveaway winners were chosen. I also didn't win one of those.

Tickets for Dragonsteel 2023 are still on sale, and I believe that signing line winners have not been announced yet, so there's still a chance if you get your ticket now. VIP tickets have sold out, but regular tickets are still available.

In addition to the 150 people (with +1s) that are chosen for the official signing line (with 3 signatures + 1 personalization per person), Dragonsteel has teased on their social media that there will be lightning round signings as well, giving many more people the opportunity to get a signature this year if you're at the convention. In the past, lightning round signings have been where a bunch of people line up and open their books to the title page, then stand and hold the book, while Brandon walks quickly down the line, signing each one. No personalizations, and not really any chance to chat with Brandon, but still an opportunity to get your books signed.

At the same time, signed and numbered copies of Defiant are going to be a lot harder to get ahold of this year. Brandon officially announced this week that if you want to get a signed/numbered book in the future, you're going to have to buy it as part of the release party bundle. For those not attending Dragonsteel this year, those bundles are scheduled to go live on the Dragonsteel store on Tuesday, September 5. Probably at 10 AM Mountain time. They cost $75 for people attending the convention, and it is assumed that it'll be the same price to get the bundle on the website.

The bundle includes a Hesho plushie, a Hesho pin, and a metal Slug Squad lunchbox. Official images have been shown on the tabletop site. Whee?

This marks the beginning of a new era for collectors. Brandon has pledged for years that he will not charge for his signature like many other celebrities do. However, he stated in his weekly update that part of the reason they're doing the book bundle for the signed & numbered editions is because otherwise he ends up having to sign too many books, and it takes up too much of his time. So this is his way of raising the price of getting a signed book and thus driving down demand, without explicitly charging for the signature itself. Whee?

In other exciting news, Barnes and Noble is hosting a sweepstakes for Defiant preorders. Anyone who orders a copy of Defiant from B&N, any edition (including the B&N exclusive edition) will be automatically entered, and one grand prize winner gets a signed book, custom dice tray, the Stormlight board game, and some other swag. Good luck!

The Sel boxes from the Year of Sanderson have gone on sale on the Dragonsteel store. If you didn't back the swag boxes for Year of Sanderson, and you want any of the items from this month's box, get it now!

The Cosmere boxes from the Year of Sanderson have all been sent out, so if you haven't received yours, contact Dragonsteel. We expect those to go on sale on the Dragonsteel store sometime later this month.

The Warbreaker boxes from the Year of Sanderson have started shipping. I got my shipping notification, so expect an unboxing on my YouTube channel soon! I'm super excited about this one, because of the already revealed item from it.

The Dragonsteel store has restocked all of their leatherbounds in unsigned variety. If you are missing any of these from your collection (Especially Mistborn 1), now's the time to get them! Note that these are all later printings of the books.

The Dragonsteel store has also added new swag items! There's a set of 3 Mistborn pins for $30. Additionally, they've updated the DDF patch they sell, and it looks clearer now. That one is $10.

Waterstones, a UK bookstore, is offering the first sprayed-edge art Sanderson book with their edition of Yumi! The flower design doesn't have much to do with the story itself, but the book is gorgeous, and I'm all for this in hopes of getting more sprayed-edge editions in the future.

And finally, for the era 2 TPBs, The Bands of Mourning will be coming out September 5th with the new cover art. I'm super excited to have this full set on my shelves.

That wraps up the news for this month. I'll have it out in video format on my YouTube in a few days, and I'll see you there. Until then, Happy Collecting!