A wild Catachan is spotted!

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**Platuan4th**

Your conspiracy would be more accurate if it wasn't for the fact that Magic is what keeps stores afloat.

**Skinnereal**

My favoured FLGS is raffling their off.
Either:
Donate through them to the NHS,
Put in a local drop-off order, or
Put in an online order.
to get a 'ticket'.

They say they are getting 3 models, and had 28 of us asking about it within the first 2 hours.

**Arbitrator**

posermcbogus wrote:
TwilightSparkles wrote:
Both local FLGS confirmed they are getting , respectively , 1 and 4.

Which doesn’t even cover part of a day’s losses.

eBay is going to make morebon these than most FLGS.

GW had the right idea but needs to rethink this. One of the owners already said that he’s now in an awkward position of having multiple regulars all wanting the same thing , can’t please all of them so most are going to be disappointed. Any business owner will tell you that is a bad thing.

I’m not suggesting that GW reopens to make this , just rethink what the purpose of this is. You want to actually help indies ? Made to order this fir a week and give it a low trade price so they make more, just cover GW’s actual costs. One FLGS has thirty of us interested , so let’s say it retails £22.50. GW staff can buy a £22.50 model for £11.25. Let’s say it cost GW that (it won’t ) - that’s potentially £360 could be made and £720 put into the cash flow of the business assuming GW doesn’t want immediate payment from retailers. Even if the FLGS only has that money for a week , it could be enough to carry them through to limited reopening for sales or a decent delivery coming.

Now, I might have my cynicism hat on just a little too tight... but...

...could this whole "only giving FLGS 1-4 of these minis" be GW actually trying to very pointedly show these independent stores exactly what side of their post-corona bread is buttered?

Just about any FLGS is gonna be feeling the financial hurt right about now. Social distancing, lockdowns, customers in pretty dire financial straits - all of them have had their profits pretty surely kicked in the teeth - after all, if GW, one of the UK's safest companies is doing weird hustles like Made-to-Order, semi-re-opening, dragging out previews over 3 weeks and teasing SUPER FOMO ONLY THIS ONE TIME BUY IT OR YOU LOSE stuff...

...the nerdcave down the street is in the proverbial gak.

But 4 limited edition minis, of a really cool character, from a popular army that hasn't had any dedicated love in years? These are gonna sell. You could almost price them however you like, and they're gonna sell. You could even just sell them to your staff, as a kind gesture, to sell on ebay or something, because the staff are sure as hell not having a great time, monetarily. You could even go the same route yourself, and try and make paying rent on your store sting less.

but 1 mini? When you're the only FLGS for miles around? It's barely even going to be on the shelf. Could it be that GW are trying to illustrate just how reliable, just what a unflinching money-spinner their product is, just how much any FLGS needs them to stay afloat, especially after the beating that their profits are and will be taking?

More like it's just about good press for them. Another thing people can point at and use to justify buying from Games Workshop because 'they've changed! They totally donated free models to local stores!'

Like Platuan4thMade says all the upkeep money comes from Magic.

**Red Corsair**

My only real beef with the model is the feet. The dude must secretly also be Ronald MacDonald, his legs are 30% foot lol. Aside from that he's great. It is pretty lame that he's hardly being distributed, should have been made to order, but only through FLGS so they get the love.

**gungo**

Arbitrator wrote:
gungo wrote:
H.B.M.C. wrote:
tneva82 wrote:
Limited edition models are rarely cast in advance and these were cast and done before corona became even close to issue. So even if GW wanted to give more to stores they literally would have none. They were likely intended for some event exclusive/Whatever and stock was what they had available.
You're acting like they can't make more...

They literally can’t

Remember Sly Marbo? Just make a followup announcement stating the initial run will be limited but will get a wider release down the line, even if it ends up being 2021's Warhammer Day model. Most people would be happier waiting a year than not getting it at all. LFGS will still get their 'free' model in advance - which will no doubt sell out instantly anyway - GW gets to keep it's good PR and doesn't burn it all away by making it impossible to get again.

if they do remake it in the future which they might. It’s going to be a long time out even with their expanded production facility gw is months behind on production (I still haven’t got the ghaz box set) and they are already selling existing stock again which means even their base stock is now being depleted. They are months behind schedule and everything shows that even when they open production they will be social distancing and likely slowing down that production. They already have several promo models scheduled for production so gw will need to wait for a window to shoehorn in this model. I honestly wouldn’t expect this model this year if they decided to reissue it.

**Kanluwen**

GW isn't necessarily "behind on production". They're behind on distribution for sure, which is why you haven't gotten Prophecy of the Wolf.

It was in their warehouses here in the US, ready to go out...and then bam.

**blaktoof**

But I did get prophecy of the wolf in the US.....

**Kid_Kyoto**

It occurs to me there will be look alike STLs of this all over Patreon by next week.

So I guess we can calm down?

**Yodhrin**

You know, I would laugh really really hard if in the end GW put out two super-duper-limited Catachan models, get everyone's hopes up, and then a few weeks after the lockdown they put out a new Catachans supplement with a big song & dance and it's just the same 20 year old mutant plastics in a new box.

I hope you're right though Kid_Kyoto and this thing gets 1:1 duplicate sculpts done for 3D printing, same for the sergeant lady most of us will never see a proper one of.

**xKillGorex**

Although it will never happen but maybe Gw could have released this model as a charity thing, I don’t know maybe calling it something along the lines of Frontline Heroes for Frontline Heroes where 2 thirds of the money made from each sale goes towards fighting this crappy pandemic.

**Mentlegen324**

It's a very nice model and I'd get one if possible, but reading the comments here the situation seems just absurd. It sounds like it's being handled extremely poorly. It being "free" for the store doesn't mean it can't be criticized for how they're doing this.

I get that it's a limited model so regardless of how it was done there wasn't going to be a huge amount of them....but to claim it's to "support" independent stores only to allocate nowhere enough for a small shops staff or even a tiny portion of just their regulars, let alone just customers in general, is just baffling.

The idea of it being used to get people in the store in hope sof getting it and them going on to buy other things while there doesn't even seem to apply. With so few there's absolutely no chance, and it's going to sell for just ludicrous amounts of ebay - even more so than limited stuff usually does. There's already not a huge amount of independent stores in the first place (there's none in my area), which makes it worse with how few models are available. If they really wanted to help and reasonably support stores, they could make it an actual independent store exclusive, as a made to order item ordered via those stores.

I just don't see how giving out a model that no one can get, won't actually do anything to provide financial support and will only annoy customers is meant to be a positive thing, beyond the basic "here's a free thing" side. It just feels like its a token "charitable" gesture that will make them look good while potentially doing more harm than help.

**tneva82**

So they should not have done? Because options were: Do this as is or don't do. They can't generate more sprues out of thin air. In case you aren't aware sprues are generated by machines. Machines that are shut down. Machines that can't do anything.

Miniature sprues aren't made out of thin air with wave of hand like some people seem to think. And # of models made was decided months if not year ago when there was no corona worry or anything to worry about and this was completely different purpose model.

**Mentlegen324**

tneva82 wrote:
So they should not have done? Because options were: Do this as is or don't do. They can't generate more sprues out of thin air. In case you aren't aware sprues are generated by machines. Machines that are shut down. Machines that can't do anything.

Miniature sprues aren't made out of thin air with wave of hand like some people seem to think. And # of models made was decided months if not year ago when there was no corona worry or anything to worry about and this was completely different purpose model.

I don't see how that makes much of a difference, they can make more of them, just not currently. The same situation applies to Games Workshops other limited miniatures, too - other "made to order" stuff (like the 2 available right now) which currently can't be made because they can't manufacture anything, is still still available for pre-order and will be sent out once they're made. They could have done that with this too.

The page for this on the community site even mentions "made to order" with this, despite it not being.

**Excommunicatus**

Most of this thread wouldn't look out of place on r/choosingbeggars.

Ugh, stop giving stuff away wrong.

**Mentlegen324**

Excommunicatus wrote:
Most of this thread wouldn't look out of place on r/choosingbeggars.

Ugh, stop giving stuff away wrong.

You don't see a problem with making the claim that it's being done to help "support" FLGS and then do it in a way that does very, very little towards that, rather than a more reasonable way? Beyond the basic premise of "here's a free thing", how is this being handled in a way that both those shops and their customers should have pleased about?

**Excommunicatus**

I'm just not writing in a plot-convenient number of sprues so I can get all angry about a narrative I've invented.

Sometimes five fish is just five fish.

They had some sprues sitting around, they gave them away. Everything else is invention and invective.

**BroodSpawn**

So GW should have given, freely, 10-20 models to every store and sucked up the cost of development, production and shipping (worldwide shipping too I'm betting)... and because they haven't/couldn't/can't the fact they're giving any out to stores is a .. bad.. act?

Because those other wargame companies are doing the same thing right, they're giving out free stuff for stores to sell and taking a hit financially to do so?

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

BroodSpawn wrote:
So GW should have given, freely, 10-20 models to every store and sucked up the cost of development, production and shipping (worldwide shipping too I'm betting)... and because they haven't/couldn't/can't the fact they're giving any out to stores is a .. bad.. act?

Because those other wargame companies are doing the same thing right, they're giving out free stuff for stores to sell and taking a hit financially to do so?

Easy dude. Easy.

GW’s gesture is a solid one. But, many think the execution is a bit wonky.

10-20 free? Nope. Say, 5 three, and being able to order more at standard Wholesale? Much, much better.

Which is exactly what I put in my email to GW asking them to reconsider expanding this somewhat.

**Excommunicatus**

Literally nothing and nobody says these are all the sprues and there's no more ever being produced; tough [Expletive Deleted]s, sucks to be you.

For the sake of easy maths, lets say there's 1m game stores worldwide and GW have 2m sprues. How do you send ten sprues to each store?

Them having a small number of sprues currently available is a complete explanation. Why you're all trying to find a conspiracy is quite beyond me.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

There’s a comment a friend received from GW on their 40k FB page.

Seems they had 10,000 already cast up, and this is them dishing them out.

With that lens in place, the numbers being sent do make sense.

But, that there’s no pledge to provide more as Made To Order is a wee bit odd. Even if they placed a cap on the number, to maintain some kind of exclusivity.

That’d give people an excuse to seek out their local FLGS - assuming the cap was equal across all FLGS (say, 50 per store, as a purely illustrative example).

FLGS gets a trade boost (not just from this. It’s a rare Nerd that only buys what they went in for! Spesh in the current Paint Drought) and more people get the chance to pick one up.

Yes, people are still going to miss out - but fewer than current.

**Arbitrator**

BroodSpawn wrote:
So GW should have given, freely, 10-20 models to every store and sucked up the cost of development, production and shipping (worldwide shipping too I'm betting)... and because they haven't/couldn't/can't the fact they're giving any out to stores is a .. bad.. act?

Because those other wargame companies are doing the same thing right, they're giving out free stuff for stores to sell and taking a hit financially to do so?

Retail 101. Customers who have a bad experience are surprising difficult to bring back to your store.

Bob goes to his LFGS to get this model, or perhaps he phones up in advance. Turns out they only got four of them and they were already reserved, or maybe the staff just kept them for themselves, who knows. Bob knows there's no chance of seeing this model again unless he goes to the Ebay scalpers - oh and there's already bids up to £250 on one a LFGS staffer put up. Needless to say Bob isn't happy with his local LFGS. The blame will likely land on the store owners themselves, whilst GW will have another session of their Defence Forces going "l-look! They gave away free models! Bestist company ever!"

The Bobs who went to the store to get one won't spend any money because they didn't get what they wanted and never will. Promptly do an about turn and leave. This is contrasted by if GW promised to fulfil orders the LFGS puts in for say... two weeks. I'm sure most store owners would rather pay GW their usual amount and get their hands on this exclusive, limited model than get just four of them for free and a boat load of annoyed customers.

**Kanluwen**

And by that same vein, the Bobs wouldn't have been able to get it from their independent to start with if GW hadn't decided to ship the ones they made for their own shops to independents instead.

Because it's apparently another anniversary model:

Spoiler:

Image is making the rounds on twitter at the moment, predictably with "OMG why is it going for so much!".

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Well said Arbitrator.

It’s all kicked off a bit in the Loot Group, as some FLGS have bunged some on eBay. Given we’re anti-scalping, the sentiment is understandable, but for me, misguided.

Why? As I said in the group...

Me, in the Loot Group wrote:
Folks.

Thoughts on the Catachan Colonel, with some insight that you may not have considered.

The Covid-19 lockdown has hit small businesses hard. Some may have had to shed staff, few if any will have been given a reprieve on their rent and other overheads. Government Loan schemes are dragging like a Seal’s Ringpiece.

Even those with online stores that’ve remained open? They’ve run out of in demand stock. So even their takings will be down a considerable amount.

Bills, as you’ll know, wait for no man. Could be a spod like me, could be a Sole Trade, Micro-Enterprise or larger. Doesn’t matter. The Bills keep on marching through the letterbox, demanding their cut of whatever money you have.

Yes, Business Interruption Insurance is a thing. Except......due to my profession, I’ve read a few policy wordings for friends trying to make a claim. Did you know that not one of the policies I’ve read explicitly covers Government Mandated Shutdown due to Pademic? Well, you do now.

The poor sods affected have been sitting with their bums out the window the past few weeks. They’ve no influence on events. Stores HAVE to close. Insurers are NOT paying out. Sure, something could work out in the end.....but that takes time.

Few FLGS work on substantial profit margins. So few will be sitting on a handy pile o’cash for these extreme times. Doesn’t matter if they usually make ends meet of a month when you’re facing this sort of cash flow disruption.

Yes, some have put that lovely new model on eBay, for a price that’s a bit eye watering. But this isn’t classical scalping. This isn’t Captain Neckbeard leaving only Dorito Crumbs upon the shelf, planning to eBay up enough profit to buy a new Waifu body pillow, their old one having worn through in places they’re embarrassed to explain to their Mum.

These are small businesses taking any chance they can get in the current climb to get some form of cash flow going. Time is not on their side. Insurance is not on their side. You simply cannot adequately plan for a clusterfeth like Covid-19.

Bear this in mind, and chill. The model will be available again - likely at new Store Openings. And we will have each other’s backs when that rolls around.

**The Phazer**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
There’s a comment a friend received from GW on their 40k FB page.

Seems they had 10,000 already cast up, and this is them dishing them out.

With that lens in place, the numbers being sent do make sense.

But, that there’s no pledge to provide more as Made To Order is a wee bit odd. Even if they placed a cap on the number, to maintain some kind of exclusivity.

That’d give people an excuse to seek out their local FLGS - assuming the cap was equal across all FLGS (say, 50 per store, as a purely illustrative example).

FLGS gets a trade boost (not just from this. It’s a rare Nerd that only buys what they went in for! Spesh in the current Paint Drought) and more people get the chance to pick one up.

Yes, people are still going to miss out - but fewer than current.

Yep.

This situation creates bad feeling and lots of work for indies for no financial reward.

A made to order situation for them even if it's months down the pipe makes that go away and everyone is happy.

And this should have been entirely forseeable.

**Ghaz**

Arbitrator wrote:
BroodSpawn wrote:
So GW should have given, freely, 10-20 models to every store and sucked up the cost of development, production and shipping (worldwide shipping too I'm betting)... and because they haven't/couldn't/can't the fact they're giving any out to stores is a .. bad.. act?

Because those other wargame companies are doing the same thing right, they're giving out free stuff for stores to sell and taking a hit financially to do so?

Retail 101. Customers who have a bad experience are surprising difficult to bring back to your store.

Bob goes to his LFGS to get this model, or perhaps he phones up in advance. Turns out they only got four of them and they were already reserved, or maybe the staff just kept them for themselves, who knows. Bob knows there's no chance of seeing this model again unless he goes to the Ebay scalpers - oh and there's already bids up to £250 on one a LFGS staffer put up. Needless to say Bob isn't happy with his local LFGS. The blame will likely land on the store owners themselves, whilst GW will have another session of their Defence Forces going "l-look! They gave away free models! Bestist company ever!"

The Bobs who went to the store to get one won't spend any money because they didn't get what they wanted and never will. Promptly do an about turn and leave. This is contrasted by if GW promised to fulfil orders the LFGS puts in for say... two weeks. I'm sure most store owners would rather pay GW their usual amount and get their hands on this exclusive, limited model than get just four of them for free and a boat load of annoyed customers.

Then I guess it would be in the FLGS best interest to find a way to give everyone as close to an equal chance to get the mini, be it a silent auction, a raffle or a random drawing instead of just blaming GW.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Oh, and if Gw change tack in the next few days?

I claim all the glory because of that email wot I sent. So nyerrrrrrrrrrrr

**Mentlegen324**

Just because this is something GW have decided to do for free doesn't mean any sort of criticism of the way they've decided to do it should be avoided.

How does being sent 1-2 miniatures for free do much worthwhile, compared to making that miniature made-to-order (even at manufacturing cost) and making both customers and the shop happy? Them deciding to give the miniatures for free is obviously a commendable and generous thing, but the lack of availability for both the shops and the customers isn't suddenly a non-issue because of that.

**Kid_Kyoto**

tneva82 wrote:
So they should not have done? Because options were: Do this as is or don't do. They can't generate more sprues out of thin air. In case you aren't aware sprues are generated by machines. Machines that are shut down. Machines that can't do anything.

Miniature sprues aren't made out of thin air with wave of hand like some people seem to think. And # of models made was decided months if not year ago when there was no corona worry or anything to worry about and this was completely different purpose model.

Accept preorders but only through FLGSs.

Done.

**ValentineGames**

Eh. Its a pretty lame underwhelming sculpt to be honest.
But it'll appeal to the "Hey! It's the Aliens/Halo guy!!!".

**Ghaz**

Mentlegen324 wrote:
Just because this is something GW have decided to do for free doesn't mean any sort of criticism of the way they've decided to do it should be avoided.

How does being sent 1-2 miniatures for free do much worthwhile, compared to making that miniature made-to-order (even at manufacturing cost) and making both customers and the shop happy? Them deciding to give the miniatures for free is obviously a commendable and generous thing, but the lack of availability for both the shops and the customers isn't suddenly a non-issue because of that.

A silent auction could bring in a fair bit, depending on the store's clientele and how bad they want the mini (and believe others want it as well).