Why I might stop
buying GW products (at least at retail price)
As this section title suggests I am seriously considering
slowing or stopping my support for my local GW store. This is a direct result
of price changes with items that I considered
the last of the appropriately priced items. I am talking about the troop boxes
for Lord of the rings plastics. Not too long ago these boxes were sold for around 25.00 and included 24 plastic miniatures.
This was a good deal for a GW product (other companies can and often do better.)
at the last price hike they jumped to 33.00 and that hurt a bit but what
happened next took the cake. recently I
was in my local GW and was looking over the LOTR mini’s in anticipation of the
new Hobbit release and noticed the troop boxes were smaller. They are now sold
in groups of 12 to match the current unit construction rules. My first thought
was ok so they have decided to make a cheaper set that allows for a unit in
a box just buy a leader and off you go
(Very old school GW if you know what I mean.) Imagine my surprise when I turned
the box over and saw the going price. 24.75! This is the same price 24 of them were just a
year ago. I’ve heard of inflation but this is ridiculous. BTW: the new Hobbit Orc hunters are 35.00 for just 12. Wow.
Another reason for stoppage is the New Hobbit stuff. All of
the new stuff seems to be more expensive than the rest of the stuff from this
company. Take the “Rules Manual” (GW
employees are not allowed to call it a rule book) is coming in at 85.00 (10.00
more than the 40K and Fantasy rules books) and is considerably smaller. The Boxed game (special edition) is 125.00 as
opposed to the 6th ed “DV” special set that sold for 107.00 just a
few months ago. It goes on… The white council
75.00 for 4 miniatures (are they made of gold?) pretty much all of the Hobbit
stuff is priced higher than LOTR stuff and most of it is Fail cast. I am pretty
sure the LOTR stuff will soon be matching the Hobbit and have another price
hike soon.
All this and I am hearing rumors that the new Hobbit system
is being made “Kid friendly” taken as a whole it does not bode well for me.
GW stuff is already inflated (in all their systems) and as
stated before other companies have proven that they can do it better. I feel
like I am rapidly approaching my price point limit and GW does not seem to be
close to stopping with unneeded price increases. Because of this I am seriously
thinking of abandoning my local GW store and the website and just stick it out
for a week or two longer and get stuff through a 3rd party
distributor as a big discount. I am also rapidly becoming a big fan of
alternate miniatures from these “up and coming” (and well established) companies.
I guess I will wait
and see what the new Hobbit stuff is like before I decide.
http://wargamesfactory.com/ Sci Fi and Historical/Fantasy
http://dreamforge-games.com/ -Sci Fi
http://hitechminiatures.com/ -Sci Fi
http://www.manticgames.com/Shop-Home.html -Sci Fi and Historical/Fantasy
http://privateerpress.com/ -Steam punk/ Fantasy
http://wyrd-games.net/ -Steam punk/ Fantasy
Till next time
RGH
Nice post, Bob. Thanks for showing all the numbers, calculations, and links. I abandoned GW "direct" a few years ago. It's one of several reasons that I promote alternative games at the quarterly Demo Days. Other games continue to gain market share in the hobby. In addition to Warmachine/Hordes, Flames of War, and Malifaux, our region sees a growing community for Dystopian Wars and Dust Warfare, among other games. With all of these games nipping away at GW's hegemony, the industry will eventually reach a tipping point.
ReplyDeleteSo, yeah, how 'bout that 100% annual inflation! GW must be taking economics lessons from the Zimbabwe central bank.