Bankrupted Diamond liquidates several tabletop company’s consignment stock, keeps profit

Stephen Glicker was on vacation, eating dinner, when his lawyer called to inform him that Roll for Combat’s books were effectively held hostage. Like many other publishers in comics and tabletop RPGs, Roll for Combat distributed their products through Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. and had done so for the past two years. In early 2025, Diamond declared bankruptcy following a slow, post-pandemic bleed of business. But even as the venerable company found itself mired in a messy Chapter 11 proceeding, Glicker told Rascal he remained cautiously optimistic. Payments had resumed in March 2025, which he took as a sign of clear waters ahead.

Then, on June 25th, Diamond filed motion paperwork informing the court that it planned to liquidate all of its inventory held on consignment in order to “maximize value” by chipping away at the estimated $41 million debt accrued from JP Morgan Chase and other lenders, which had kept Diamond floating through its recent sale to Ad Populum, the company that owns brands like WizKids, NECA, and Chia Pets. Confusing as it sounds, a vestige of the original Diamond — now effectively owned by the lending banks and creditors — apparently retains control of the product held on consignment and refuses to return any part of it. Approximately 128 retailers and publishers have been affected, including giants such as Marvel and DC Comics. Paizo, Green Ronin Publishing, and Lionwing Publishing are among the tabletop companies now bereft of books they believed Diamond would put in the hands of large distribution channels such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and local libraries.

Glicker’s lawyer reviewed the paperwork and informed him that the old, bank-owned Diamond is taking advantage of a loophole in the Uniform Commercial Code, arguing that the “the consignors have not satisfied the requirements under applicable law to perfect their interests in this consigned inventory" by failing to file an extremely specific UCC financing statement, and thus bestows Diamond “the right to transfer title to this inventory free and clear of the consignor's interests.” Normally, product held on consignment still belongs to the publisher, which takes a cut of money (anywhere between 30-50%) alongside the distributor when the latter sells it through large retail channels. This wrinkle puts Roll for Combat and its fellow companies at the mercy of bankruptcy courts, which Glicker’s lawyer claimed almost always side with the filer.

“It’s not as bad as you think it is,” Glicker recalled his lawyer saying in their conversation. “It’s much worse.”