Battletech is dead to most FLGS . It's been a long time since I've seen Battletech on the shelf.
It's hard to support BattleTech without a proper jumping on point for new players.
The BattleTech Manual and TRO Succession Wars were a step in the right direction, but for a game advertised as a board game, the general absence of ways to get a map sheet board in physical format make it a hard push. Only being able to get Hex Pack Mountains and Canyons through trade channels makes life really difficult as a retailer since the board is a huge component to gameplay.
I know most players poo-poo the intro-level Record Sheet format as well, but Record Sheets 3039 was a good product for us, since we could up-sell it to those just starting out at the time as a rules expansion that allowed the inclusion of conventional forces in their games.
I'm speaking with my retailer hat on. PDFs products are great for me as a fan, but as a retailer, I need something tangible to be able to sell to support the game and it has to be a 'Complete' range (all the components in print must allow me to present the illusion that with the products currently available it is playable as a game on it's own).
The two introductory level box sets are a huge step in the right direction.
As a retailer who wants to carry the range, I NEED those to stay in print.
I do what I can for the veteran players as I can, but new players are always the lifeblood. It's financial suicide for me as a store to throw aggressive table time behind a game that has to be hunted off the dark corners of auction sites and online PDF stores.
Nothing I'm saying should be new information, but I felt the need to say it none-the-less.