The company we all love to hate

[Goblin-King]

So a while back I posted this video about a certain miniature gaming company:


0:45 and forward. Hear me out... Space Marine Space Marines! A Space Marine inside a Space Marine!
Oh my god!


So to celebrate, let's discuss what we hate (and love?)about GW!
I'll start.

The fact that prices reflect a unit's usefulness, not the amount of plastic used to cast the model. A single man-sized character costing £12-15!

[IvenBach]

I've only sinned twice (but they were minor things) and bought 2 washes to see how they'd work. In light of that I'd say I like GW because it shows to all the other miniature companies out there what happens when you quit caring about what you are making and care more about screwing over your fanbase than making them happy. Because of this I'm guessing they have caused more mini manufacturers to come into existance than they care to acknowledge. Were it not for them there would have not been as many other options to choose from, there'd only be space marines as your choices. I'm flabbergasted that a single character (some emerald fish thing) which was about the same plastic volume as a goblin was priced at $20. I think that finecaste was them going back to making quality minis and charging more. This is just my opinion from an outside and second-hand info source.

Plus after actually looking at their prices at my local hobby shop I'll be able to laugh whenever I'm sad. Something I've been needing for a long time.

[Goblin-King]

One thought just occurred to me. We have the space marines. Genetic super soldiers in high tech power armors. Then we have the Imperial Guard. "regular soldiers running around with minimal armor and lesser firepower.
So... Why are the super soldiers tucked away in mini mechs while the normal people run around with no protection?
Wouldn't it make more sense to put the weak people in the power armors and let the super soldiers actually utilize their super powers?

And in regard to "finecast": Why is it so soft!!! I'm almost afraid of picking them up!

[IvenBach]

Was thinking about it some more.

HOLY CRAP BATMAN!!! GW stuff is budget-rapingly overpriced.

I'm almost afraid of picking them up!

You should be. I'm guessing that it's made that way so the slightest breeze will break something on it causing the owner to go out and pick up another one. Sarcasm: 'Cause I mean honestly $20+ for a small fragile figure isn't expensive. /Sarcasm

I'm figuring the flesh is expendable while the suits & armor aren't. And your key word I saw was normal. Pretty sure the GW discussion went something like this:

In order to make our bottom line look better we are only going to show casualties of specialty units and them normal units will be expendable and wont really count... That way we minimize the casualties of battle.

[Hinks12]

All I know is I spent to much money on their lord of the rings minis, though I love them and I have extra orcs, golbins and even trolls, the nine and about another hundred asorted minis I spent to much money on that hobby, I have no one in my area to play either Hero Quest or Lord of the rings so I am stuck with all these miniatures and naught to do with them

[mako-heart]

C Space marine blood angel is GW ? maris calgar comes to mind. I love the harlikin kiss weapon GW has made for the eldar.. I think the company makes nice stuff. not too pricey , what bothers me is that the games are Broke, Space marine or UD or tryaids all have been broke in the past. Its's fun to play a game not argue about rules thats why i think GW is bunk. I'd still prime my "Fine cast"
I

[Tott]

I'm always a bit in two minds regarding GW - yes their single models are way over priced, BUT their units are usually pretty good value when you think about. the average unit of skeletons, goblins, etc usually work out at about £1 - £1.50 per mini, and they are all very customisable and have a vast number of options per mini.
one thing about GW is - they are a business. and like all business's they are in it to make money. they have a business strategy and it works for them, very well from the looks of things! also think about their role in the industry in general, where would table-top gaming/miniatures be without them? i think it would actually be a lot worse off. plenty of other companies are far less business oriented. they sell their minis at a much lower profit margin, these companies are no where near as big and often don't last as long.

[knightkrawler]

My take on the matter:

...That British company wants to push all retailers (especially online-only retailers) out of business so that the last tiny bit of the manufacturer's business comes in house.
That way, they need not sell a box for, say 10 quid to a retailer, who sells it for 20 quid.
They can sell directly to you (because you'll find no other place where you can buy stuff of that particular manufacturer) for 20 quid which doubles their margin.
BLINGBLING

Then they'll lower the prices, just a tiny bit, so that every nerd out there says, "Look, these people from that British game and miniature manufacturer are true heroes. Let's buy more of that stuff".
Then they'll start to raise prices again, like before, a little each year - and their gains 2016 will have doubled from the gains 2012.

That, in my theory (heavily influenced by others, of course), is you-know-whose longterm business plan.
And that is why I will not put money into unused (new) stuff from that particular manufacturer.

I repeat: I do not buy new GW stuff, through any retailer or from GW themselves, and applaud everyone who makes the same decision.
It's not difficult to use ebay (for now), and I seriously doubt that GW can push through C&D orders on any sale of their products by a private seller, for instance.

[IvenBach]

where would table-top gaming/miniatures be without them? i think it would actually be a lot worse off. plenty of other companies are far less business oriented. they sell their minis at a much lower profit margin, these companies are no where near as big and often don't last as long.

I agree with you that there has been some good things that have come from them. There'd only be Monopoly, Risk, Sorry and all those other utterly horrid bored games that the average person thinks are fun; about as much fun as kissing your sister. I still question their pricing because it's way too high for me. Economics probably has them properly priced to maximize current profits but I feel that too many companies are hyper focused short term and not long term. Again I only got into minis within a year of now so I really have no qualified or substantive argument Sarcasm: just a loud mouth 'Murican's opinion that he's right about any and everything. /Sarcasm

PS: Is there some way to make a sarcasm tag? Maybe with pink background and non-standard text?

[Sjeng]

you mean like this?