Rolling for Initiative is a weekly column by Scott Thorne, PhD, owner of Castle Perilous Games & Books in Carbondale, Illinois and instructor in marketing at Southeast Missouri State University. This week, Thorne reviews where tariffs are now, and shares some gaming accessories that do well in his store.
After a week’s worth of tariff news (see “Returning to Tariffs” for a roundup), the SCOTUS heard the arguments from both sides. From the line of questioning from most of the justices, they appear skeptical of the administration’s claims the International Emergency Economic Powers Act gives the executive the power to levy tariffs on countries as broadly as it has been so doing (see “U.S. Supreme Court Justices Skeptical on Administration’s Tariff Claims“). Said NPR, the administration argued the IEEPA give the president the power to deal with two emergencies he declared: the amount of fentanyl entering the United States and the trade imbalances the U.S. has with other nations. Solicitor General John Sauer argued the statue gives the President wide latitude to deal with emergencies and that the ability to levy tariffs is an aspect of foreign policy which is under the purview of the President. The justices seem skeptical of this argument, pointing out the Constitution specifically reserves the power of taxation, which includes tariffs, to the Congress and that a future President could declare global warming an emergency and used that declaration to justify tariffs on gas-burning automobiles.
When it came to questioning those opposing the tariffs, Lawyer Neal Katyal got questioned as to why words in the IEEPA allowing the President to regulate imports and licensing fees were not tariffs. However, the justices appeared most concerned about what would happen should the court rule the tariffs were unconstitutional. What would happen to the billions of dollars already collected under them? Would they stay in the Treasury or get returned to the businesses that had paid them? A decision to reimburse businesses would be, in the words of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, “a mess” and their decision may take that factor into account. I would not be surprised to see the Court rule the tariffs are unconstitutional but, due to the difficulty in returning it to those who paid it, the money collected remains in the Treasury with some form of compensation issued to companies that paid them, possibly in the form of a tax credit. Of course, that is solely a guess.
Due to the impact of tariffs on the economy, the indications are that rather than waiting until the end of the term next year, the justices will render a decision early in 2026. The sooner the better, as tariffs have already done significant harm to the U.S. economy, as I have noted elsewhere (see “Tariffs and a Final Fantasy Weekend” among others).
I missed last week’s Gaming Accessories week (see “ICV2 Gaming Accessories Week 2025“), but wanted to toss in my two-bits about accessories selling well for us or items I would like to see.
Mystery Dice Sets. We stock in sets from Sirius Dice, Foam Brain and Black Oak Workshop and they sell steadily for us, with the Foam Brain sets at a low price point (half that of the sets we get from Sirius and Black Oak). I am interested in the sets from Mystery Dice Goblin but currently shipping from their U.K. warehouse is too high for us. The company says they will open a U.S. warehouse sometime in 2026 so we will revisit the company then.
Gridmaps. Chessex Battlemats and Megamats sell steadily for us, as do the Paizo flipmats, especially the generic ones. I hope Wizards of the Coast comes back with their Adventure Grid and Tiles sets, as both were steady sellers for us.
Comments? Send them to castleperilousgames@gmail.com.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
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