The company we all love to hate

[knightkrawler]

No, that looks like flirtspeak.

[IvenBach]

That would work. I'd just have to make myself a formatting and use it consistently. I'll have to get off my butt and do that.

[mako-heart]

Where you at Goblin-king, POST!!! what say you? Should we send goblin sappers to GW head quarters...

[Goblin-King]

A few of my viewpoints...

All in all GW is pretty good quality for the masses. Their minis are mostly pretty cool. Their paint is pretty good. Their two main settings (fantasy and 40k) are actually pretty damn cool.
GW has made miniature gaming and painting available for a broad audience.

But then we have the greed aspect...

Oh man... gotta continue this post later... gotta go to work!
Edit: Apparently I just got fired.

moving on:

* Models are very expensive in their own rights.
* Then we have crap like champions and elite units being more expensive even though they are not composed of more material.
* And official rules on "what you see is what you get" on the battlefield. You glued scything talons on those? Well you better buy a new box if you want a unit with rending claws.
* Despite the WYSIWYG rule, there is always tons of units that are never officially released.

A more debatable point is that GW has started making only high quality products. Have you seen the new rulebook or codexes? (or spell cards, templates, dice or whatever!)
Full colour hardback. They really are very very nice. And they really are very very expensive!
Once you get them you will have them forever. My old paperback Orcs & Goblins armybook was a tattered mess.
So the question is: Do you want to throw your super nice book in the backpack when going out? Can it take the abuse of being shuffled through during games when looking for some rule?
They just released a "light" edition of the 40k rulebook. And that one is ALSO super nice hardback full colour! Wat? There is no cheap alternative! You either buy the expensive book or the very expensive book.

(it IS very nice though...)

/rant

[torilen]

I'm gonna weigh in lightly here:
First, I don't play warhammer...any edition of it. SO...the price of the minis matters little to me.
Of course, my local game shop does have wargaming nights, and I would maybe play IF the minis weren't
so outrageously expensive.

I suppose warhammer is supposed to a "collectible mini game" - much like popular collectible card games??

Secondly...goblinking mentioned the price of the books, that they are very nice hardcover books. I really could
care less about rules books that are nice. Rules books should be just that...rules and little else. Paper back, few
illustrations, even fewer colored illustrations, etc.

If the company wants to put out nice books, make them flavor books that are just for fun...similar to the new
Elminster's Forgotten Realms book put out early this year.

If this model was followed by more companies (games workshop, wizards of the coast, etc.) maybe more people would
get involved in the games, and then would spend money on the minis and other products afterward.

Oh well, that's my piece.

[Daedalus]

A discussion of the cost of a figure shouldn't be limted to just the cost of its material (though metal is only getting more expensive) as mold cost is also key. Plastic figures require high temperature, pressure, and metal molds which routinely cost about US$ 20,000. High-volume runs bring down overall cost, but the singular personality figures GW likes to create don't benefit from high volume.

RTV rubber molds are cheaper, and so they are a good choice for low-volume runs. These molds wear out quickly, however, so that significantly adds to cost as well.

Then there is GW's retirement plans for their execs...

[Goblin-King]

I know it's not only materials. But it's not just single characters either. Look at this:

200 kr (I can't get it to show £ so it's in Danish crowns)


225 kr


300 kr


How are the third ones so much more expensive?

[knightkrawler]

The only reason for GW's pricing is deterring retailers from further buying from them.
I know this sounds outrageously stupid and counter-productive for any business plan, but read what I posted earlier in this thread.

[Jewels!]

How are the third ones so much more expensive?

The bowling-pin heads are made of solid platinum?

[Goblin-King]

And in regard to GW's business plan.

Once every 2-3 years they'll release new armybooks/codexes changing just enough that you need to buy new minis.

That's a fact Jack!