Lets hear some reasons to why we are all tolerating the price!

How do you justify the GW's pricing to them? or... even to yourself?
( lets leave the discount shop out of this one , because MSRP as it is, is still expensive )

I will not justify my purchases. They will continue to be at a discount of 20% or more off of standard prices.

Buy second hand, this is the best option.

Or buy from online sites that offer good discounts because they can actually gain the momentum to take advantage of GW's pricing structure.

GW will not get a single dime more of my money than I think they deserve.

Everyone (well, that I know) has a hobby. Some people buy tons of electronic gadgets, some buy a top of the line computer every year or two, some people buy hundreds of dollars on a bow/gun/golf club. Some people buy fancy toy soldiers.

Ha, I don't, I rant about it to my mildly sympathetic gf who smiles and reminds me it's my money and I do as I please with it. She does boggle at the prices though.

Well I have to justify my purchases to my parents, not because they're paying for them - I don't even live with them - but because I do send the deliveries to their place and that's where I pick them up from.

I can't justify the price (that's impossible), so I just justify that I can afford it and also about how much I saved.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Ha, I don't, I rant about it to my mildly sympathetic gf who smiles and reminds me it's my money and I do as I please with it. She does boggle at the prices though.

And what did you reply to that?

H.B.M.C. wrote:I can't justify the price (that's impossible), so I just justify that I can afford it.

Why is it impossible? because it makes no sense right? yet we make up reasons to buy it ( your reason is you can afford it )

Easy really, while not everybody has an actual hobby, everybody has some thing(s) they spend a lot of money on.

I've had friends question the price of my hobby and I pointed out that they smoke (while I do not). Somethings that's very expensive and once a sigarette is gone it's all up in smoke! While my minis last.

I point out to people that they like going out in the weekend to pubs or clubs and spend a good amount of money there. (while I only go out occasionally).

There's people who spend lots of money on their car/pets/fancy dinners/amusement parks/expensive vacations.

In the end my hobby is completely justifiable while many who first criticized its cost are left looking at their own spending patterns where they spend money on stuff that (very often) doesn't last.

I justify it by just telling my parents that I enjoy it.

When argued with that it is too expensive, I bring up the fact that many people have much more costly hobbies- like motorbiking.

Why should we have to justify how much something costs when we enjoy doing it anyway?

Anyways Luna, how do you justify the GW prices to your folks? (Thought it would be good to ask the OP their own question )

Cheers,

Jack.

I can't justify GW's prices. Period. Their stuff is stupidly overpriced. So I find discounts, and then when someone says "They cost so much!" I can say "Yes, but I got it for this much", and they feel better about it or ask "How", in which case I do what I usually do.

LunaHound wrote:

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Ha, I don't, I rant about it to my mildly sympathetic gf who smiles and reminds me it's my money and I do as I please with it. She does boggle at the prices though.

And what did you reply to that?

She knows I am going to do a complete and comfortable sized ork army then call it quits with GW minis unless I obtain them second hand. I still intend to build a full fantasy army for WHFB using models from other companies. I also intend to use the walkers from AT-43 to stand in as killa kans and deff dreads, I actually prefer the models and with some rivets and ork glyph plates and close combat weapons, they will look better than the original overpriced lumps of tin.

It's a shame, she was going to collect an eldar army and learn to play, she refuses point blank now, once we discussed the price it would involve, and I entirely agree with her. She also thinks GW are exploiting the younger players rather than old and bitter gits like me.

My gf is very supportive of my hobby though, it is rewarding to be dating a fellow geek.

K this is sort of interesting , people seem to compare it with the price for other "hobbies" along with their "budget".
all at the same time throwing the the common sense of "WTH? its stupidly over priced out of the window"

Hmm, is there no technical reasons to justify it at all?

Blightdron wrote:
Anyways Luna, how do you justify the GW prices to your folks? (Thought it would be good to ask the OP their own question )

Aslong as i dont lose money from it , my mom cant really do anything about it. I guess she sees it as ( getting to know how to take responsibilities , how trades work and stuff )
on the most basic lvl... so ... educational i guess?
Yes she is pretty confused to what i do with it . Reminding you i dont always paint , nor do i play. It just sits there to collect dust
so im sure anyone would be confused to why i have it ( including myself ) But recently i decided to challenge myself alittle to see how fast i can paint , and how they turn out.

I buy at a mahoosive discount and/or 2nd hand.
Although I don't really need to buy that much anymore. My last purchases for 5th ed are two valkyries and a skyshield platform (both for 35% off local rrp).

I don't envisage getting anything else before 6th ed - I have three armies all in excess of 3000pts (two of them are in excess of 10,000 pts).

She just rolls her eyes, calls me a bloody git and says it's okay just as long as other fun stuff is bought as well. Stuff like plastic guitars with bright buttons, movies or sexy heels. In the end, it all balances out.

Why the need to justify anything to anyone if your a responsable adult that keeps its responsabilities?

One to the important rules of being married is not to let your wife know how much you spend on hobbies.

If I actually had to justify the cash on a comparative value basis, I would point out that the money I spend on wargames is much less than what I spend on daily commuting and lunch, and the figures can be used for years and even resold if necessary.

well i have been in the model building hobby since i was 7. so initially my parents funded small buys so i was fine there, the justification there was @gives him something to build concentration on.

With warhammer buying. I dont justify it. if i want the stuff i'll buy it through work or go to Maelstrom. And i'll only pay full price on a release day at GW just to get into the spirit of the day and chat to equally mad people.

BoW- John

Look at that! Even the Beasts of War guys use Maelstrom.

Firstly, I don't have to justify the prices to anyone except myself. Me and my other half have our own hobby budgets and what we spend it on is our own business.

Secondly, wargaming is not an expensive hobby. It's quite possible to build a 2000pt army for less than £300. That's the same as a set of tyres for a day's motorsport. The 7500pt marine army I built this year cost less than some of my airsoft rifles.

Thirdly, I find GWs miniatures compare fairly well in terms of price and quality to the competition. Yes, they are at the upper end of pricing but they are also at the upper end of quality. Few other manufacturers have such extensive ranges of multi-part plastics and these are much better to work with in my opinion.

First of all, I can’t justify GW’s prices to myself, let alone my Partner. Having said that, my GW hobby costs me £0.00! That’s right, £0.00, and here’s how……………………….

I’ve just bought nearly £800’s worth of Orks in order to paint up my own Ork army. Prior to doing that I bought a load of Character models, painted them up, and sold them on Ebay. Once my profits were enough to buy all my Orks, I stopped doing that and bought my Orks to paint up. A lot of the models I painted and sold were shown on the modelling and painting forums. It took about 4 months worth of painting, but to me, I enjoy painting different models.

I have a large Mortgage and all the bills associated with running a house and a car (£1.10 a ltr for petrol in the UK!) so I can’t afford to go and spend money on GW’s stupid prices, everything from paints, brushes, models are all bought off Ebay or from a discount online shop. GW aren’t getting a penny more out of me than I have to and I’m old enough now that if I had any rich parents, which I don’t, they wouldn’t buy it for me anyway. When I started I had a paper round in order to fund the hobby, although back then it was reasonably priced. I’ve cringed when some spoilt brats have come in the shop with ‘mummy or daddy’ who just forks out a couple of 100 for an army set and paints for their little angels.

My Girlfriend (soon to be Wife) with my friends and brothers Wives / Girlfriends have formed the WAG’s Association. This is the Wives & girlfriends Against Gamesworkshop Association who have to put up with the swearing, bitching and moaning from us about how our latest Forgeworld model simply just does not fit together, or how stupidly priced that latest release is.

When we meet up and play at GW HQ in Nottingham as a group, the WAGs association normally comes along with us, to ensure that they receive equal spending money as to what we intend on spending at GW, and then bugger off in my car (s) to Nottingham Town Centre shopping Arcade. I don’t have to justify the hobby to my girlfriend, who is also Chairperson of the WAG’s Association, as a trip to GW, is seen a trip to the shops for her!

I don't, there's no point because however you look at it they are hideously expensive in themselves and don't compare well to other manufacturers. Basically, I buy very little GW stuff now because I can't afford it, my wages are low and I have to support myself and my wife leaving very little disposable income. What we buy tend to be one-off treats, not whole armies.

I'm sure this is why GW target teenagers living at home who have generous pocket money or small jobs but who have no overheads because their parents feed them and put a roof over their head. The rest of us have jobs and bills which consume all our time and money.

I have a fair stockpile from over the years and I buy things in sales and second hand particularly at wargames shows. I very very rarely walk into a GW store and buy things off the shelf, I much prefer to buy the odd thing from my independent store though.

The thing to remember is, although the hobby in general is expensive it's often no more so than many others. Any idea how much a season ticket for your favourite football team costs? It's cheaper than smoking at about £40 a week (puffing a pack day) and it keeps you in the house doing something constructive rather than going out drinking every night.

As the "main breadwinner" in the house I don't justify spending to anyone other than myself. I am much stricter with my personal spending than my wife would be and only allow myself a certain amount of "self indulgance" money, as in a very real sense every penny I spend on myself is a penny that I have taken away from my wife and children.

So, with that background, I get the best value I can find for indulging in my hobby. By definition therefore, any GW goods I buy must pass this value test. So its got to be fun to paint and also be likely to see the tabletop regularly when it is painted. Occasionally I buy stuff and then go off it, or find I don't want to use it after all. In which case it goes straight back on eBay and the funds are recycled.

Given that it is a value test, and anyone who has followed any of my posts will know how little value I feel GW generally offer for the money they ask, then you will not be surprised to find I buy very, very little GW stuff. Even second hand or at discount. I am (slowly, because I don't see any point in buying stuff before I will get a chance to paint it up) building up a Space Marine army from deep discounts and second hand stuff I see (Last week I even repainted my RTB001 beakie marines from 1989 which never ever saw action in 5 editions of the game!) And I have bought occasionaly terrain pieces, as compared to resin alternatives and commisioned items the plastic stuff is often relatively good value and will see a lot of use in various games, and compared to totally scratch building stuff it is much easier and quicker to get on the table.

So in summary, I justify any gaming purchase on the basis that I need a hobby to keep myself sane (believe me, I spent 8 years with no time allocated for a hobby, and that lack of outlet and safety valve contributed to a nervous breakdown and almost the breakdown of my marriage when the stress of a bad job got too much). The key is that provided the total amount of money I spend is not excessive compared to what goes on the family and other responsibilities (I give more to charity every month than I spend on toy soldiers) and I don't waste what I do spend on stuff that will just sit around gathering dust, then I don't feel guilty at all and enjoy it!

A note on this preponderancy we all have to accumulate a pile of unassembled, unpainted boxes and blisters and baggies of models.

It is actually a mild psychological disorder I believe. Its simply "shopaholicism". We buy stuff because we believe buying stuff will make us feel better. The advertising hype convinces us that if we buy X our lives will improve immesurably. We also equate buying toys for ourselves with giving ourselves a little present, and we all like getting presents! A hobbyist accumulating a lead pile is just the same as his wife filling her closet with handbags and shoes. No difference at all.

The sad truth is that all we are doing is spending money on stuff we will never use. And that is clearly an irrational act.

As I said, we all suffer from the syndrome. It is part of normal human nature. The problem comes when a) irresponsible corporations use the hype on vulnerable individuals and when we don't use our common sense to spot when something has got out of control.

For me, that tends to mean I only buy any volume of stuff for my birthday and for Christmas. The rest of the year I paint up and assemble what I got at those times. Very, very occasionally I will buy a new unit for a game, if it is not very expensive (£10 - £15 or so) and I know for definite I am going to use it in a game imminently. But those occasions are rare. That way I find it relatively easy to control the "urge to splurge" for most of the year.

Of course paint, glue, brushes etc., need to be bought, but those amounts are truly trivial and can always be justified in that they are essential to do the hobby.

Meh.
Even if I spent 100 a week on gaming, it would be still cheaper than many people's vices. Much, much cheaper.
You only rent vodka (beer for that matter). Heroin & coke rents you.
The minis you get to keep, without hangover or hook.
It's all win, and the silver lining is around golden clouds.
Thus, no explanation is necessary.

I still hold that gaming is an inexpensive hobby, especially compared how much entertainment time and networking you get for the dollar.

I spend less on 40k than the people i know spend on stuff like Navmans, MP4 players, fuel etc. I don't justify the prices, i just buy second hand.

Osbad wrote:It is actually a mild psychological disorder I believe. Its simply "shopaholicism". We buy stuff because we believe buying stuff will make us feel better. The advertising hype convinces us that if we buy X our lives will improve immesurably. We also equate buying toys for ourselves with giving ourselves a little present, and we all like getting presents! A hobbyist accumulating a lead pile is just the same as his wife filling her closet with handbags and shoes. No difference at all.

Yes it is most definitely a real disorder and while I cannot say GW is any worse than a shoe company, the fact that they employ these tactics and possibly influence children into worsening a possible disorder, and I actually feel sick because of it.

Find support here if you need it, people care, and you can find better ways to cope with what you feel.
http://www.shopaholicsanonymous.org/

Errrr my mum knows that it stops me from playing computer games so shes happy that i get down the local GW store to play...

As for prices... yes ouch. I collect Vostroyans... and at the same time am trying to save up for a new vespa so i can ride it when im 16 this october.. IM DOOMED!

I don't justify how much I spend on it, I just have to justify re selling or trading armies/minis that I have no use for anymore.

I don't justify the price. If I like the model, and I can afford it, I buy it. There's no justification required.

I don't feel the need to justify anything to anyone. It's my money. The bills are paid, we have no CC debt, and I'm paying for my wife to go to college. If I drop a grand or two on toy soldiers after these responsibilities have been met, that's my choice.

After all, I could be hitting the bars and strip-clubs, buying $6 drinks, $5 packs of smokes, and $20 lap dances instead.

Simple, very few other companies have shops that they sell only their own products in
and provide advice and lessons on how to useand make the most of their products
That's what we pay for

How can you justify it? GW's prices are unjustifiable. Though for me personally I do what a lot of others on here do and buy second hand.

My friends all mock my cheapness but I've got twice the number of models they do plus I haven't got a job like them either.

Even second hand prices are exorbitant. 4 GK's for NZ$40 (US$25ish?) is pretty rich even for GW. AND that's second hand.

I spend less money on GW than my girlfriend does on shoes/handbags.


On the other hand I can't tell my parents/GF to buy it for me. $30 on one piece of pewter is a bit much for some.

Had more trouble justifying the costs of my other hobby, triathlons. Have spent £800+ this year on a bike, wetsuit, goggles, trisuits, running shoes, not to mention entry fees.

Could have bought Spear of Sicarius for that! (I wouldn't have though, because I refuse to buy a huge box set that doesn't constitute a saving).

As for GW models, as long as I don't go mad, she's usually fine with it. £25 per month is my own set limit, which normally gets me a box set and any additional paints, glue etc that may be required.

OK... Justification for the prices is very different then justifying the expenditures to folks outside your realm.



PRICE justification

From a strict inflationary standpoint CPI purchasing power of $1.00 has declined from 1988 to today. Essentially you should be able to buy $1.00 worth of 1988 goods for $1.82. you can find this information on Burea of Labor Statistics




These are 2 RT purchases I have in my inventory of figs. Now.. I don't believe the labels on them are list price but discounted to sell in a retail environment. However, taken at fact:

The inflation on a Wartraxx from $9.74 in 1988 to $25.00 is 257%. The rate of inflation of a single Space marine went from $1.50 to $3.50. The inflation rate of 233%. (remember this is on the high side of the equation b/c I believe these prices to be discounted).

However if you take the inflation rate with 20% retailer discount you get to 187% for the marine and 205% for the wartraxx.

I'd argue that the marine plastic kit is considerably better then the metals with the options available.

So from the standpoint of creating an army, GW has kept its prices inline with inflation in this example. I'd argue that it the advent of plastics has (as a measure against inflation) actually made the price of playing an army lower in todays dollars then 1988 dollars (especially true of WHFB).

http://www.natoonline.org/statisticstickets.htm

I've also included the rate of inflation on Movie Tickets - 173%. This rate is published by the theater owners. I'm taking it with a grain of salt.

I'd love someone to be able to find the rate of inflation of a sporting event ticket since these are all "entertainment" dollars.


Now... How to justify spending the money to yourself and anyone else.

EXPENSE JUSTIFICATION

I justify my expense as "entertainment" dollars.

If I buy a single metal figure for $15. It will take 5 hours to assemble and paint. I get $3.00 and hour in hobby time.

if I go to a movie it cost 7.18/2 hours = $3.59 an hour. Already the GW hobby is cheaper by the entertainment hour.

Now lets factor in 2 more bang for your buck with miniature hobbying.
a) Play with my figure
b) sell them

PLAY:
If I have a 50 figure army, I may play 50 games before I get bored and sell this army. So 50 games at 2 hours a game is 100 hours of play. Divided by 50 figures = 2 hours of net play per figure.

My $15 figure purchase has now netted 7 hours of entertainment reducing its cost to $2.14 an hour.


Sell the figure.
If I can sell the figure for a mere 20% of retail value (or more http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/27619-Eldrad.html ) then my actual base cost is 12.00/7 hours or $1.71 an hour.


So compared to Movies as a "base" form of entertainment this is a win... Not even counting a bucket of Popcorn.

Man... I feel so good I might have to go to the forgeworld site.

I preferred it when they all had different colourful packaging. Now it's all generic Grimdark stuff.

Wrexasaur wrote:

Osbad wrote:It is actually a mild psychological disorder I believe. Its simply "shopaholicism". We buy stuff because we believe buying stuff will make us feel better. The advertising hype convinces us that if we buy X our lives will improve immesurably. We also equate buying toys for ourselves with giving ourselves a little present, and we all like getting presents! A hobbyist accumulating a lead pile is just the same as his wife filling her closet with handbags and shoes. No difference at all.

Yes it is most definitely a real disorder and while I cannot say GW is any worse than a shoe company, the fact that they employ these tactics and possibly influence children into worsening a possible disorder, and I actually feel sick because of it.

Find support here if you need it, people care, and you can find better ways to cope with what you feel.
http://www.shopaholicsanonymous.org/

Compulsive Buying Scale © Valence. D’Astous & Fortier
Express the extent to which you agree or disagree with each of the following statements.


When I have money, I cannot help
but spend part or all of it.

I am often impulsive in my
buying behavior.

For me, shopping is a way of facing the
stress of my daily life and relaxing.

I sometimes feel that something inside
pushed me to go shopping.

There are times when I have a
strong urge to buy.

At times, I have felt somewhat guilty
after buying a product, because it
seemed unreasonable.

There are some things I buy that I do not
show to anybody for fear of being perceived
as irrational in my buying behavior.

I often have an unexplainable urge, a
sudden and spontaneous desire, to go and
buy something.

As soon as I enter a shopping center or mall,
I have an irresistible urge to go into a shop
and buy something.

I am one of those people who often
respond to direct mail offers.

I have often bought a product that
I did not need, while knowing that I have
very little money left.

I am a spendthrift.

I have sometimes thought “If I had to do it
over again, I would…” and felt sorry for
something I have done or said.


Calculating your score:
• 5 for “strongly agree”, 4 for “somewhat agree”, 3 for “neither agree nor disagree”, 2 for “somewhat disagree, and 1 for “strongly disagree.
• Add together the 13 numbers for your Xs to get your total scale score.
• Compulsive buyers tend to score 42.2 or higher.

jgemrich wrote:
From a strict inflationary standpoint CPI purchasing power of $1.00 has declined from 1988 to today. Essentially you should be able to buy $1.00 worth of 1988 goods for $1.82. you can find this information on Burea of Labor Statistics

Although, the inflation number that you're referring to isn't the whole story. Try to buy $1 of 1988 gasoline for $1.87... Some resources have outpaced the average inflation (among them, oil, which is used in the creation of plastic toy soldiers, and tin, which is used in the production of metal toy soldiers), while other things track below the average inflation (goldfish (the pets, not the snack crackers), for example, don't cost anymore today than they did in 1980.)

I'm 35 years old and work for my money. I justify none of this to anyone.

Justified by time spent enjoying the purchase. Building, painting, playing, travelling for big events are all enjoyable - each purchase gobbles up a lot of free time enjoying my hobby.

This is ultimately what money is for, right?

I justify GW's pricing through the vast discounts indies offer although now I'm inclined to purchase more of their GW direct metals since plastics are likely going to be just as expensive in the near future. DAMN YOU GW FOR SOMEHOW MAKING ME WANT METALS ARRRGHHH WHY DO I LOVE IG?!!?! I also buy military kits to supplement my IG army; when the Valkyrie came out I went ahead and converted one out of a 1/48 HinD and bitz and my Demolisher is based off of a $15 tank as opposed to GW's ~$50 one.

How would I justify buying full retail? I don't. I realize the prices are a sham and that I'm addicted but I've really got no one to "answer to" since I'm not around those types of people. I was raised in a family where my dad collected hobby trains (from tiny ones to LGB scaled) and coins so I guess it was inevitable that some of that would rub off on me and become a part of my life.

Compared to past hobbies like paintballing and learning to fly an airplane; GW products are cheaper and sometimes have more value since a days worth of paintballing at a field costs at least $50 whereas $50 of GW stuff will still be around unlike your splattered paintballs. Not the best of comparisons but you get my drift.

I too justify none of my purchases to anyone, unless she who must be obeyed catches me sneaking through the house with bags of stuff or intercepts parcels before I can reach them.

Then any and all discounts received become insignificant when comapred to the true horror that is the Missus getting her revenge by buying her own treats (shoes of course!) with my credit card!

I don't justify it. It is something I want so I buy it. If we don't have the money for it I sell other minis to get the money for it.

Sounds to me like a more appropriate word would be "rationalize".

And I don't because I buy what I want when I want it.

It's easy:

I am not in the bar every night anymore
I quit smoking
I don't upgrade my Computer every 3 months anymore
I only have 1 car
I don't play in a band/buy guitars & amps anymore
I'm the breadwinner

My wife's just happy I am using my artistic abilities. I also sell painted stuff and bits to accommodate, which helps pay the bills as well.

I just looked up some prices on regular plastic models of heavy tanks and such, around $40-$50

GW Heavy Support Prices (for space marines anyways) falls into the same range, so it seems fair to me.

Edit: I do see however, that the 'better' heavy supports seem to be overpriced (Nearly $60 for a Battlewagon or a Land Raider?) I'm trying to think about it and buy smart though.

I don't tell her how much I am paying. Once she starts helping balance the checkbook then we can talk about justifying the prices.
She knows it is a hobby I love and get excited about. I like moding models, and she knows that I don't go out and spend tons of cash on other things. The way I see it, if I tell her about the things I DIDN'T buy, she will be happy won't mind the occasional small purchase...

I point to the car they drive, the dresses they wear, the music they listen to, the movies they watch, the sound system they purchased, the cigars they smoke, the booz they consume, the clubs they frequent, the kayak they own, and the makeup they wear. Then I remind them if they wanted to give all that stuff up, then they too could play with little plastic men with toy guns.

Trasvi wrote:I spend less money on GW than my girlfriend does on shoes/handbags.

I spend less money on GW than my wife saves.

Wait...

I don't justify my spending to anyone else. I have a modest personal annual hobby / entertainment budget that I stick to. Thus, I only need to justify any GW expenditures to myself.

For a very long time, I haven't accepted GW retail prices, except for the occasional bitz order which would be cheaper than ordering via 3rd party. But my primary preference is to trade stuff on discount pre-increase that I can trade for other stuff.

Spending more? Only if it's awesome, like a Baneblade, Shadowsword, or Valkyrie. But even then, I only buy on deep discount.

The prices are insanely over inflated. I cant stand seeing how much these can cost. But I truly love this hobby. There is a point where Ill just say no friggin way and stop paying it.
Hobbies are usually expensive tho. You think this is pricey? Get into mud bogging. Now thats an expensive hobby. I got lucky and bought a truck that never broke down on me lol. But my buddy on the other hand, in 1 summer had to replace 2 front axles, a motor, a transmission 1 tire a bent drive shaft and I think he broke a head light lol.

starbomber109 wrote:I just looked up some prices on regular plastic models of heavy tanks and such, around $40-$50

GW Heavy Support Prices (for space marines anyways) falls into the same range, so it seems fair to me.

Edit: I do see however, that the 'better' heavy supports seem to be overpriced (Nearly $60 for a Battlewagon or a Land Raider?) I'm trying to think about it and buy smart though.

Yes but for that you are getting a scale model kit. It's supposed to accurate to real life and someone, or some people, have measured the real thing and then someone has sculpted an exact scale replica, the level of intricate, fine detail is much greater. GW has none of those issues because they are making something fictional. There's no such thing as it being "the wrong shape/size". That's what you're paying for from companies like Tamyia, Dragon, Revell, etc, the two aren't comparable.

I show my wife how much it is on the GW website and then I show her how much I am actually buying it for. That and how much I saved in my coin bank just to buy it.

I rarely buy new stuff, I used to build armies off of tournament winnings and trading...

I have a ton of minis I dont use, I bought (traded) these 5-10 years ago. Funny enough I think of GW stuff as investments, the value will only go up with the price increases and kit trooper quantity shrinkage.

Ive become fortunate enough to form a small miniature company and I have good distributor connections to get good prices on stuff I do need. I just bought a Land Speeder Storm and Ironclad at you-cant-beat-em prices..

Unfortunately I just bought some Vulcan (20$) and Khan (17$)models direct and my butt still hurts from the GW Direct rapage... but if you play tournaments you have to use the real models...

In any case, I am pretty much done buying GW models, Ill trade, convert or newly sculpt and cast what I need now, too bad not everyone has access to sculptors and casters to feed the habit.

Perhaps "justifying" is not the word i should be using , and the sibbling / parents / to be justified are just an example ( since players of VARIOUS ages all post on dakka )
There is no need to throw in whether someone can afford , and who pays for it into this.
(after all , humans constantly try to justify their actions for everything no? whether you should walk faster , drink extra cup of water or not , even the minor things )
unless im using the wrong word.

If i can find an example to what im trying to ask is... equivalent to the pic below . Surely anyone can afford $5 , but is that all there is to it?
i liked the variation of answer of "the hobby and time i can spend on it is rather cheap"

I guess I'm lucky. I don't have to justify it to anyone because it's my money and I'll spend it however I wanna

Some people smoke, some people are hardcore gamers, some people go to Alaska or Chile to catch trout (really, we got this card in the mail advertising that). Some people drop half a dozen Franklins on hunting gear, then more on a gun. Some people have more golf clubs than they do clothes.

Facetious comments aside, since I don't hunt, don't golf, and can't smoke, I play fourtykay. I am a bit of a gamer, and fish, but I don't have those little SONAR devices and stuff like that which not only ruin the sport but cost an arm and a half. I buy all my models second hand, if I can, and thus rarely (if ever) buy from GW these days.

It's my little nerdy pasttime. The girlfriend understands, the family understands(ish), and I enjoy it. In the end, that's all that really matters.

Rico.

Necros wrote:I guess I'm lucky. I don't have to justify it to anyone because it's my money and I'll spend it however I wanna

I know i know , again i apologize , it seems like justify is not the correct word .

What im trying to ask is , how do you decide to spend $70 for $5 plastic , over say saving up for a new computer ( for example , maybe car , video game etc etc )

I buy very little anymore. What I do buy, is to justify the use of the gaming store. Not to kind to show up and play, and never buy anything. Most of my hobby money goes to getting my stuff painted now.

djones520 wrote:I buy very little anymore. What I do buy, is to justify the use of the gaming store. Not to kind to show up and play, and never buy anything. Most of my hobby money goes to getting my stuff painted now.

Thank you , this is the type of answer im looking for.

I don't buy much anymore. I've sold all but one of my armies (VC WHFB, when I finish it I'm selling it though). But I do plan on building three armies and my own gaming table. Not soon but in about a year or two when I'm out of this stint of schooling. I'll start building them really slowly but occasionally I mention how much I spend on a single box of miniatures (16 DA [is that right?] is 35$, 10 CSM is 35$, a SM dreadnaught is 40$). It's never been an issue but I always look at it in terms of food pricing when I go out to eat. I can either take my gf out to dinner tonight (Applebee's) or I can buy a box of miniatures. If people ask I just confess and tell them I waste tons of money on overpriced plastic toy soldiers, but then I tell them "I have money to waste though".

In that case, I buy it because I love to paint the miniatures. I have always enjoyed art since I was in kindergarten. Unfortuantely, I don't use those skills in the job I am in. I co-manage two manufacturing companies...not the most visually creative avenues of employment, especially as I find myself dealing alot with cost accounting and handling our financing.

So this is really my creative outlet as well as a system of stress relief...and after a long day of dealing with employees, customers, and suppliers, I need the outlet.

I suppose there are cheaper outlets for painting that I could pursue, but I enjoy the added benefit that the strategic element of game play provides as well as the social elements. Also, I have been exclusively painting miniatures for over 10 years now; accordingly, my other artistic skills have lasped. Though I could get back into the groove of canvas and water color painting given time, the added investment would be a hurtle that I am not in a rush to overcome.

Lastly, given my employment coupled with my single status, I have the discretionary income to support the hobby.

wyomingfox wrote:
So this is really my creative outlet as well as a system of stress relief...and after a long day of dealing with employees, customers, and suppliers, I need the outlet.
I suppose there are cheaper outlets for painting that I could pursue, but I enjoy the added benefit that the strategic element of game play provides as well as the social elements.

Very nice , those 2 reasons do help justify the cost / worth.

well as far as justifying to myself I set aside a little bit of cash out of every pay check for my toys.. that might go to models, or a new video game, or movies.. if there's nothing I feel like buying, I save it so I can also afford new gadgets or whatever. As far as justifying the costs involved, I don't worry too much. To me even with the high prices I feel I still get my money's worth, if I didn't I'd stop buying it

Necros wrote:I feel I still get my money's worth, if I didn't I'd stop buying it

Wait wait , can you elaborate on that? ( i think the answer for that is what im looking for)

"I could buy miniatures or I could be spending the money drinking at the bar with my friends"

My money goes to bills first, then to entertainment.
I do not justify how I spend my entertainment money.
I do not expect people to justify their spending to me.
Maybe I'll change the second one when I have kids.

Ok, so you're asking how do we value these things...

Here's my answer:

First, I work with computers. I stare at a screen all day, and for this I get paid. (And also get to play on dakka...)

When I go home, the last thing I really want to do is spend more hours staring at screens. I don't have cable, and while I play the occasional video game on my PC, I don't do console games, and I don't spend a lot of time on PC games either.

I want my free time to be spent doing something besides staring at a screen.

During the summer, my wife and I travel on motorcycles, we do some yard work, but these things can't be done in the dark (well, not much), and they're not all that social either.

I justify buying GW figures because I've enjoyed painting miniatures for nearly twenty years now. It's creative, I enjoy the modelling, I enjoy the painting, and I enjoy gaming with my friends, with whom I get together at least twice a month, and usually more often, for a beer and some dice rolling.

I justify it because I know that I'm going to get enjoyment out of all of those phases of the hobby. I also buy miniatures from other companies which I think have quality sculpts. I have bought, and painted, at least half of the Ultraforge Demon offerings. I have a collection of Freebooter miniatures, some Reaper figs, and a number of micro-art studio's Discworld minis, plus a handful of CMON figures. And, honestly, the price difference between these and the GW models is negligible. For the models I choose to paint, it's generally $10+ for a single metal model. GW's prices are not excessive when compared to other miniature company's offerings of the same quality (in my view).

Ultraforge demons, for example, will run you somewhere in between the cost of a GW greater demon and a FW demon. They're extremely nice models, though the quality level is slightly below FWs - but so is the price. Again, GW isn't horribly overpriced in relation to these alternatives.

I know that, should I choose to sell any of my painted models, I'll make back as much as I paid for them, if not more. The few times I have ventured onto eBay to sell models that I've painted, I've come out ahead (in terms of raw material, not necessarily the time I spent).

So, how do I justify this all?

1) I'm going to enjoy putting the model together.
2) I'm going to enjoy painting the model.
3) I'm going to enjoy gaming with the model.
4) When I'm done with, it, I'll make my money back - it's a hobby that holds its value (at my painting level, anyway)

How do people justify paying for cable tv? The quality isn't there and you never get your money back... Picking minis over cable seems like a no-brainer to me.

I used to say you were paying for the enjoyment you got out of it, rather than the physical miniature, but Ive long since given up attempting to justify it, the prices are ridiculous.

Fortuantely I don't need to as shes just as likely to be looking for something for herself. Or being over critical of something in one of the cabinets.

Although we rarely buy from GW stores tbh, mostly get from discounters now.

If its something I want sooner rather than later she might throw the old joke 'how many extra RPG game sessions do I get for that' but shes not serious.

Her problem atm, is her Tyranids are poor against my CSM and Orks, so shes using Marines but not really enjoying them while waiting for Dark Eldar.

Although she has just about finished her Chaos Warriors starting force, so we might get some Warhammer next week, which would be our first fantasy battle in ages. (Well proper 1500pts one since we quite Fantasy 4yrs ago.)



To friends not in the hobby I just usually say, how much did you spend on booze last week, they'll throw back a figure in the £20-40 range, and I'll say, mine was zero. End of discussion.

I don't justify it one bit. I let my wallet do the talking, and right now it's walking away from GW.

I have more trouble justifying the time spent every Friday night, sometimes Saturday or Sunday that I spend playing. Sometimes i definitely go a little overboard, but I need the creative outlet too. It's just a matter of keeping the creative outlet to a level that it doesn't harm my responsibilities or my responsibilities don't torture me to the point of insanity.

As others have said, it's not particularly expensive compared to (a) a lot of other hobbies, (b) a lot of other model kits & miniatures (many of them not up to GW standards), or (c) a lot of other uses of one's entertainment pounds/dollars. So I don't worry too much about justification, though I am careful, these days, to make at least some attempt to avoid the "house full of impulse buys still in the packet" syndrome. Right now, I'm collecting Dark Angels and Daemonhunters, only; and I'll not be buying much more for either army till I've painted most of what I already have.

Redbeard said:$5 packs of smokes...

thats so god damn cheap..

But yeah if I can justify cigs which cost around average $12 AU and they kills you, just cause I like em and they make me feel good/relaxed.. They I can justfy GW..

plus I smoke about a pack everyday.. so thats $84 a week or $4380 a year..

So yeah GW is nothing.

It's my hobby, I'm not obsessive about it, and I do some side work that pays the majority of it these days.

I need to build something every once in a while or I will go mad.

I, like most of other posters here, don't justify GWs pricing, because it's so hilariously, un-understabable. I, too, sometimes just have to point out that my brother bought drums, which I have nothing against, that costed about 600 euros. And while playing instruments is a great hobby, I just point that out. Also pointed things are that I'm not ever gonna smoke, never gonna drink alcohol (or at least buy myself). My parents also don't see a problem with my expensive hobby, cause they don't literally support it (budjet-wise) expect sometimes buying me glues and tools, but never figures itself.
Oh, I have stopped buying from LGS, as I found www.maelstormgames.co.uk

Like many said before, you cant justify it. Telling someone who isnt addicted to the game/models what you buy the stuff for is a sure way to be classified as a nutjob. Heck, even the rest of the contaminated crowd still shakes their heads and wonder whats wrong when they hear what stuff costs these days.

Since some time back second hand is pretty much the only way I will ever buy GW stuff again.(and good counterfeits for a cheap price) With the exception of some spectacular single pice(around 1/year id say).

Kallbrand's got it in the bag with this one.

Why justify?

Just pretend it doesn't exist and nobody will ask you how much it costs!

This summer I spent under $300 and managed to buy about 1500 points of Orks, all of them secondhand and still on their sprues. This will keep my hobby hunger satisfied for a good long while, save a small expansion of my Space Wolves force come October.

I justify it by not doing what fellow college students do. I don't drink (expensive and I hate the taste) and I don't smoke (more expensive and I hate the smell) I don't buy videogames that often, I borrow movies and music from friends instead of buying them, and I just do what I can to save money.

My dad has been wargaming since the 70s or so, so he understands completely. My mom's used to it from him, so she doesn't mind me. My girlfriend is fine with it as she knows it keeps me happy and relaxed. Hell, she's even gotten me a model or two for anniversaries and the like. I justify it to myself because I enjoy it immensely, and painting figures is pretty much my only relaxing activity nowadays, since videogames are seldom relaxing and animating is more of a job than a hobby these days. Been in the miniatures wargaming hobby since I was 6 and I'm not stopping now.

What a lot of others said my hobbie is way cheaper than a lot of there vices .

I cant justify GW prices accept for they ofeer very good consistent figures and have the nicest plastics I have ever seen for any table top game , Its also the more popular one and easy to find players and tournaments .

I justify it to my wife I have a son who plays also so its double justification , I usually make the money through the hobby to pay for itself so its not to bad . Also I can sell it and make most of my money back so its never really money lost .

For me it is a nice quiet hobby that I can be creative with and develope some skills in a real environment with exant objects. In other words, I can show off my display case of models, but no one wants to see my Pokemons.
I have a handfull of other hobbies, but most require other people, being outside, lots of driving and fairly large amounts of cash as well, so modeling and 40k are a nice thing that I can do pretty much any time I want, though the 40k bit of course requires at least one person.

My wife likes the hobby since I don't get hurt (well as much as SCA fighting) and doesn't require driving all over the place, so I can sit and paint while we watch a movie or whatever. Plus she can talk to me while I do it without me getting cranky, like when she tries to chat while I am reading (HERESY!)

So I gotta have a hobby or 3, and of the three or so I have, it is a hobby that has little negative impact on the rest of my life, and while I think it should be cheaper, I can spend enough on it to keep me busy and happy without cutting into any other things that need money.

Wehrkind wrote:but no one wants to see my Pokemons.

Nor hear about your pokemons ! Naw, I am just kiddin ...Don't hurt me!

I haven't justified a wife to my collection of unpainted GW stuff.

Lets face it a wife is really expensive!

Time and money!

How do I justify it.

I buy from Maelstrom Games.

Also it is my only hobby so my wife knows what I am doing...

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:How do I justify it.

I buy from Maelstrom Games.

Also it is my only hobby so my wife knows what I am doing...

And after looking around their site, I shop there too!

"I could be going to the strip club or play golf, honey!"

How do I justify it to my wife. Well she paints the most expensive army out there SOB which she picked for me to play because she liked the models. I get away with my other two models by not complaining about her buisness of selling AVON which takes up most of my house and then she is into fitness which she spends about 100 bucks a month on that one so if I only spend 50 here and 50 there its no big deal since she spends each month to stay in shape. She looks good don't get me wrong but when it costs over 100 bucks to do it a month then she can't say much. Pluse we never are doing without so if i spend money for the models she can't complain.

40k is the cheapest hobby I have so my justification or rationalization is pretty easy.

I buy a lot of used models. I also sell a lot on ebay. I find cheap lots of stuff, keep what I need and sell the rest. In the past 6 months all of the money that I've spent has come from ebay sales. Meanwhile I've doubled the size of my orks, vampire counts and lizardmen. I've also built a bretonnian army and a space marine army from scratch.

I lie about the price, simple as that.

Its good therapy to me. When I am painting or scraping paint off models or whatever I dont really think of anything else but my little guys. Even though my painting will never go above table top standard its still a helluva lot better then other peoples I see at FLGS or the local GW place. I live with my parents and pay half the mortgage and pay all the utilitys so I dont have to justify the cost to anyone but myself.

Get a grip its only money, it was only going to get spent on something.

Well, I'm a grown man so my parents have no right to complain. I don't have a wife, and it wouldn't be a problem anyway since whoever I marry will just have to accept that I have unpopular hobbies.

The only real problem I have is trying to justify it to myself. The prices were hard enough to swallow in the first place, and then I found out that they have yearly price increases. It's just too much sometimes.

I tell them it's not like I have a heroin habit! Well, it's not as bad as having a heroin habit.... Ok, so maybe it is kind of like that , but it makes me happpy and keeps me off of the streets, away from decent folks......

Tauzor wrote:Get a grip its only money, it was only going to get spent on something.

No offence but "its just money" type of reply is just.... Nothing to do with any of this

Would you pay a dollar for a thumb tack?

I feel no need to justify whatever I spend my spare cash on, after I paied for my part of the household.
What´s left is mine to spend as I see fit; afterall, I´m the one who worked for the money in my pocket.
Same goes the other way around with my gf, would never ask her for any explonation why she needs
20something pair of shoes, when she still only have two feets. Her choice.

/Grom

Wrexasaur wrote:I will not justify my purchases. They will continue to be at a discount of 20% or more off of standard prices.

Buy second hand, this is the best option.

Or buy from online sites that offer good discounts because they can actually gain the momentum to take advantage of GW's pricing structure.

GW will not get a single dime more of my money than I think they deserve.

Sorry to rain on your parade there skip, but GW make more profit selling via a third party than their own sales channels.

But hey, discount is discount!

HI all.
As GW PLC can not justify the prices they charge , other than 'we are greedy and you are stupid'.
I fail to see how any of thier customers can justify buying from GW apart from 'I want to , so there!'

Its your money spend it how you want to.
I prefer to get better value for money , but thats just me.

Happy spending,
Lanrak.

I don't justify GW prices. It is still cheaper then what I pay for cable every month. I spend more time on my computer then I do watching tv.

rzsanguine wrote:I don't justify GW prices. It is still cheaper then what I pay for cable every month. I spend more time on my computer then I do watching tv.

QFfethingT. How do we justify paying for any luxury item? Because we want it.

LunaHound wrote:

Tauzor wrote:Get a grip its only money, it was only going to get spent on something.

No offence but "its just money" type of reply is just.... Nothing to do with any of this

Would you pay a dollar for a thumb tack?

QFT. The fact that money is made for spending has nothing to do with spending it on... w/e. Spending in such a superfluous fashion is a good part of the reason the recession even happened. Yes... south park was right.

Sidstyler, you my freind are absolutley right. We don't have to justify our hobby to anyone. They'll just have to accept that we have an expensive hobby.
Sory if I sound bitter. That's what the world does to some.



(A very bitter) LLF

In all seriousness, the prices are unjustifiable to the casual passer by. I was in my FLGS a few years back when a mother strolled up with her two kids. We were playing a 1500 point game with fully painted armies. When she took me aside to ask how much my army had cost... I struggled to present it in a way that wouldn't imediately kill sales for the store...

I just repriced the army I was using, and the cheapest way of buying it new, taking FULL advantage of the box sets was still $600+ Cdn before tax. Even after an internet discount of 20%, that's stilll a lot at 1500.

Of course, that's if you do it cheap. My army was an IW army with a converted hybrid vindicator with old metal parts and forgeworld spaced armor - built before there was a plastic vindicator. That tank alone cost me over $100 to build. All my sgt models were techmarines. The terminators in it were converted from imperial plastic terminators with chaos arms and heads, as the Chaos plastics hadn't been released yet. The army used huge quantities of IW bits. Now that bits service is largely gone, I'd never try building an army like this again... it'd put me in the poorhouse for sure!

So... I shook my head and lamely pointed them at Battle for McCragge, which was the starter set at the time... The $75 on McCragge didn't faze her - but the woman was a cunning one though... a few looks at the $45-$55 squad boxes behind it, and she shoo'ed the kids out the door.

I'm still buying, though at a hugely reduced rate.

YMMV.

Wrexasaur wrote:Spending in such a superfluous fashion is a good part of the reason the recession even happened. Yes... south park was right.

Sooo...you're saying if no one spent their money then the economy would have been better off?

Hi Sidstyler.
I think he was saying if people spent the money they have on stuff they need, rather than borrow money they can not afford to pay back , to buy stuff they didnt need , the economy would be better off.

Greed make fools of everyone apart from the 'corperate directors' with 'golden parachutes' apparently.

Wow...

This took a little bit of time to descend into economic theory (which spins as much as a good politition!).

Manchu said it best,
we spend and justify the prices in the end because we want the product and the associated elements around this BECAUSE we want it enough to get over that hurdle.

There are somethings that I cannot justify in price. The Steamtank being the same price as the valk is one (I want both, but only would be able to justify the price to myself for one of them),

If I cannot justify the prices to myself, then I do not try to do so with my wife. That's my simple rule.

A friend of mine said that you're not paying for the figures as much as you're paying for the sheer number of opponents. Pretty much anywhere you go you'll find someone willing to play 40k, while the same can't be said for a number of other systems, even more popular ones like Flames of War, Warmachine, and Battletech.

Personally I find it hard to justify the price for their product although nonetheless I can see the reasoning behind it after all games workshop as a business doesn't generate a lot of money for itself in regards to profit lately so I'm a big fan of eBay let someone else buy at the full price get bored, and then I shall buy it from themn simple the only problem is everyone else seems to be doing exactly the same thing which means that generate it's hard to find bargains.

My parents just know the laws of supply and demand that's the justification.

Its cheaper than the beer I used to spend money on, and less bad for me. Its also less intrusive than the Playstation - I can paint and fake a conversation with the GF, whilst the PS is all absorbing.

Justfying the mess and the space - thats a different story!

1: I buy discount

2: I stopped playing Halo.

Those two combined convinced my wife.

My wife plays the stock market. The money she seems to lose would work out to a new GW army a month. As such, she doesn't complain about my hobby ...

randyc9999 wrote:My wife plays the stock market. The money she seems to lose would work out to a new GW army a month. As such, she doesn't complain about my hobby ...

That sounds ok still , most people i hear that does stock for a living always end up going near bankrupt o_o

The one time my wife asked if buying a $50 plastic tank was a wise investment choice, I pointed to her $600 purse she begged me to get her for her birthday.

Ever sense that shes accepted that what little money I get from my check goes to a hobby that keeps me happy, and one that I can include my daughter in. Something she had a major issue with when I used to play WoW and other video games (Iv cut back to a few hours a week for those, much to her approval)

I just try and not think about it - I never, ever pay full retail for anything other than books and occassionally brushes or green stuff if I need it on the fly.

But its still a ridiculous expense - this is why I'm painting, instead of buying more. The only way I could consider buying anything more at all would be to buy massed armies off of ebay well under their resale value, take what I want, and then sell the rest in small lots to cover the cost.

I myself am trying to get employed so i can pay for it myself, I always say MoM/dad/person with money, would you rather me go on drugs then Warhammer?

I don't have to justify my 40k spending to my wife...half the time she buys stuff for me.

Why?

She knows that I have a stressful and busy job, so she understands that I need a hobby for stress relief. She also sees how happy I am when I am converting and painting new minis.

Plastic Tank $50. Paint and supplies, $20. A few hours of stress relief and happiness....priceless

Nurgleboy77 wrote:"I could be going to the strip club or play golf, honey!"

I wish I had those options when I was a kid!

Would have been so much better invested that the boxes in my garage at the moment.

LunaHound wrote:

Tauzor wrote:Get a grip its only money, it was only going to get spent on something.

No offence but "its just money" type of reply is just.... Nothing to do with any of this

Would you pay a dollar for a thumb tack?

If they came in the =I= shape... yea I would buy a box :-P

combatmedic wrote:The one time my wife asked if buying a $50 plastic tank was a wise investment choice, I pointed to her $600 purse she begged me to get her for her birthday.

What exactly is it with women and spending, anyway? They'll hound you for buying toys or games, but then insist on insanely-priced clothing (or "accessories") and insist on a brand new car every 6 months. And let's not forget that big fething rock she has to wear on her finger because a simple gold band just won't do.

GW puts powdered crack into all of their boxes so everytime you open one you get addicted to the crack and have to buy more.

GW probably justifies their high prices because people don't buy straight from them. If you were a company selling only bulk orders to other distributors who jack up the price higher than what they paid, but lower than what you offer from your own stores, you'd probably be losing a lot of money.

I saw somewhere a chart with GW's income over the years from the different games and they've been steadily going down, except for a spike in LOTR sales due to the films.

I've only made one purchase of miniatures, it totaled about three hundred American and has kept me entertained just as much as three hundred dollars worth of video games would. SIXTY DOLLAR CDS! If I hadn't gotten into 40k, I'd probably be dropping tons of money on video games, accessories for my video games, downloadable content, etc.

I played WoW for four years, I bought the original game and the first expansion. That came out to be a significantly large amount of money that I'm never going to see again, I can't just sit down and admire my achievements in the game like I could a pile of Orks and Eldar. Though, I did trade my friend my WoW account for his Dawn of War 1 and its expansions not long ago. It would have been worth nothing else otherwise.

I judge the value of a video game based on how long I will be playing it, both single and multiplayer. WoW cost a lot, but also got a lot of my time, which is both good and bad. Games like Halo 2 only cost fifty dollars but got at least five hundred worth of play value out of me.

With Warhammer, I have the potential to play for a near infinite amount of time, not to mention the fact that my army(s) will always be expanding so long as I play and I'll be finding new people to play with. Another plus side is that 40k is a very social game, unlike, say, Fable.

Furthermore, Orks are fairly cheap and customizable, and they happen to be my first army.

Summing it up, that's why I tolerate GW's pricing.

GW's prices aren't high, thats how. Take up golf at 150 bucks a round, or shooting, 5.56 is over 500 dollars a case of ammo, which you can easily go through in one day if you are like me. Go ahead and flame me if you like but I get so sick of people complaining about spending one or two hundred bucks a month on their hobby, I spend that every weekend at the bars for gods sake!

brockb1 wrote:I get so sick of people complaining about spending one or two hundred bucks a month on their hobby, I spend that every weekend at the bars for gods sake!

I'm going out on a limb and saying you're single. When it comes to wife & kids having that two hundred bucks to spare is very rare indeed, you have to choose between ba

My justification is:

Girl spends $80 every two weeks on manicure / pedicure about $200-$300 every three months on hair..

I spend that on 40k and other goodies I want.

brockb1 wrote:GW's prices aren't high, thats how. Take up golf at 150 bucks a round, or shooting, 5.56 is over 500 dollars a case of ammo, which you can easily go through in one day if you are like me. Go ahead and flame me if you like but I get so sick of people complaining about spending one or two hundred bucks a month on their hobby, I spend that every weekend at the bars for gods sake!

It sounds to me like your only reason for posting here is to brag about how much money you have.

GW prices aren't high for you, that doesn't mean they aren't high, and that sure as hell doesn't give you the right to come in here and talk down to me because you're one of the lucky few who can afford to waste $200 at the bar every weekend.

brockb1 wrote:GW's prices aren't high, thats how. Take up golf at 150 bucks a round, or shooting, 5.56 is over 500 dollars a case of ammo, which you can easily go through in one day if you are like me. Go ahead and flame me if you like but I get so sick of people complaining about spending one or two hundred bucks a month on their hobby, I spend that every weekend at the bars for gods sake!

Im sure billionairs can affort to wipe their **** with 100 dollar bills .

That doesnt make it any less expensive or stupid to do?

My point is , its hard to compare direct prices vs how much they cost to produce. ( hence why im asking what other reasons
are there to justify it ) certainly not the gold plated minis.

Being unemployed forces me to sell of items that I have to fund my new purchases.

Well, they're high for me (money conversion, shippings and all), but still, when I want something, be it WH or not, I just save money, and if it takes a year, it takes a year then; perseverance is the safest road on the long term.

And when it goes to justify, I don't justify my expenses to anyone and I can differenciate what a priority and what's not.

How I justify it?

To my siblings:
I pay for it. You keep complaining and I'm not going to buy you any ice-cream.

To my self:
I enjoy. I really do. That's what I keep telling myself.

It is hard to justify the cost of any interest/hobby to someone else that doesn't share the same interest/hobby. They see the minis as essentially just a piece of plastic/metal that just sits there, where as those of us who are into the hobby see the cost refelcting the fun in building/converting/painting and gaming. Also certain models are priced higher because of their value within the game.
Don't get me wrong I would still like GW prices to come down (I fondly remember my early days of gaming in the begining of the 90's when prices were substantially cheaper then today), but it is a hobby and not an essential bill that has to be paid, so I am ok with paying the required prices when I can afford it. It just means the times I can buy something are few and far between, I think the last model I bought was an Empire Captain to use in Warhammer Quest last October.

I don't bother trying to justify it to myself, I just know I enjoy it and that's enough for me.
In terms of my wife I just don't tell her how much I've spent when I do get to buy models, though I don't hide the fact I've bought them. She knows they are pricey, but also that I only buy them when I can afford to, rather then forgoing paying the bills so I can own a shiny new mini. Still, that being said, every now and again she still likes to give me a lecture about the price of the Hierodules I bought a few years ago. Why oh Why does Forge World have to put the price paid showing on the outside of the box!!!