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But when I can buy a fully articulated and detailed Master Grade Gundam kit in a Yodobashi camera for 3500 yen and a static, monopose Wraithlord costs 6100 yen, it's hard to see the appeal.

Ah, but you see, the Gundam is just a Gundam, but the Wraithlord is among the finest toy soldiers in the world! 6100 yen (almost 80 USD for those who haven't been to Japan in a while) is a steal for a miniature of such exceptional quality!



....Five posts on this forum and I think three of them are nothing but sarcastic jabs at GW.

Wow, I am shocked to learn there was more than one hobby center in Japan at all. I lived in Yokohama-Tokyo from 2007-2009, and my wife worked near the Zinbocho (or "Jimbocho") store, and sometimes I'd pop in there to take a look around when I was in the neighborhood. Here's hoping that the closures don't hurt the hobby and cause the players there more headaches.

JOHIRA wrote:

wilder wrote:Once again, I cannot stop laughing how native some people are.

Why would you laugh at how native someone is?

Come on guys, he obviously meant naïve, not native. Give him a break. And the space/storage thing is indeed an issue in average Japanese dwellings.

Hey when you guys are referring to 4x6 are you talking foot or meters? I'm having trouble imaging 4x6 foot floorspace, but meters makes a little more sense.

-MightyG

wildger wrote:Once again, I cannot stop laughing how native some people are. GW products are scheduled to failue in Asia countries no matter. It is a matter of time. Why? Physical space is essential especailly in Japan. it is hard to have an area os 4x6. Storage is always a problem, especially at home. The Japanese anime figures are far more exciting and interesting that these GW gothic junks. There is still no toy to match to those Bandai or Yamoto Macross figures in this WORLD! People in Far East look at these miniatures as joys, not as collections. Most will not play more than $1 per figure. Only those hardcore GW fanboys with no knowledge of what are games are availabe still love them.

Oh, No.... Not another one of those.....


Automatically Appended Next Post:
To the Topic at hand,


Does this count as a profit?

wildger wrote:Once again, I cannot stop laughing how native some people are. GW products are scheduled to failue in Asia countries no matter. It is a matter of time. Why? Physical space is essential especailly in Japan. it is hard to have an area os 4x6. Storage is always a problem, especially at home. The Japanese anime figures are far more exciting and interesting that these GW gothic junks. There is still no toy to match to those Bandai or Yamoto Macross figures in this WORLD! People in Far East look at these miniatures as joys, not as collections. Most will not play more than $1 per figure. Only those hardcore GW fanboys with no knowledge of what are games are availabe still love them.

Physical space. Indeed.
But we do play. We do stock.
Problem is price. When compare to Gundum thing....
Anyway,I don care anime figure. I dont like it.

agnosto wrote:I visited Yellow Submarine once or twice; I have to admit the biggest reason for me to go to Akiba was for GoGo Curry, miss that place. :(

Nice place indeed.

spaceelf wrote:GW has a long history of opening stores and then closing them. However, I am surprised about these closings because employees in the US were told the Japanese shops were very successful. They had only a small amount of space and limited stock, but did gang-buster business. Also the sheer scale of the closings is surprising.


Last year GW tried to make its business appear to be more successful by cutting lots of staff. I guess the only thing left to do is close stores.

Really? I cant believe. I think there was only little success.

JOHIRA wrote:That's too bad. I've been to the Machida store a couple of times. I didn't want it to close, but the last few months it was looking pretty dire.

Hey, Sir Motor, you mentioned Infinity. Do you know anyone in Japan who plays?

Me. I (am going to) play Infinity. I'm now translating rule book for who cant read English.

Kilkrazy wrote:Machida to Ikebukuro to Akihabara is roughly a couple of hours by train and costs about 1,000 yen. So yes, the shops are fairly close together.

OTOH, the gap between them covers half the greater Tokyo megalopolis with a population of 31 million people. Perhaps the two shops left will get even more crowded than before.

Too close in deed. Too Close.

JOHIRA wrote:

BrassScorpion wrote:Someone else said the store are always packed in Japan, so while I understand the usual negativity here, just bashing GW over their prices doesn't really add to the conversation. Clearly if the stores are always packed in Japan, someone there is buying GW product.

Uh... Machida was always dead. Even on weekends. Not all GW stores are packed.

wilder wrote:Once again, I cannot stop laughing how native some people are. GW products are scheduled to failue in Asia countries no matter. It is a matter of time. Why? Physical space is essential especailly in Japan. it is hard to have an area os 4x6. Storage is always a problem, especially at home. The Japanese anime figures are far more exciting and interesting that these GW gothic junks. There is still no toy to match to those Bandai or Yamoto Macross figures in this WORLD! People in Far East look at these miniatures as joys, not as collections. Most will not play more than $1 per figure. Only those hardcore GW fanboys with no knowledge of what are games are availabe still love them.

Why would you laugh at how native someone is?

This isn't a really accurate assessment though. Yes, storage space is a big problem in Japan. Yes, Japanese model kits are usually very good. But finding a 4x6 space is not impossible, and I met plenty of Japanese people who liked GW's models. The issue is more likely to be finding a variety of people to play with when GW's models in Japan are so expensive. They're expensive compared to other miniatures, they're expensive compared to GW's miniatures in other countries, and they're expensive compared to other entertainment options available in Japan. But Japanese people will happily pay more than $1 per figure- I'm sure some people's figurine/gunpla collections would be astounding.

But when I can buy a fully articulated and detailed Master Grade Gundam kit in a Yodobashi camera for 3500 yen and a static, monopose Wraithlord costs 6100 yen, it's hard to see the appeal.

I rarely see store is packed.
Reason?
1. Too less player.
Yes.

2.Word banning
We,experience player,use some English based word. Like "Wounds". But In hobby center,we cant use it. We must call it "Ki-du"(Translated version "wounds"). We cant play in English.Even a word.

3.Color banning
You painted slann(lizardmen big toad-like wizard) in gold? No place to play.

4.No big game
Over 1500 pts? Play other place. You cant play.

5.Give way,veterans!
Veterans cant play there without reservation.

Who want to play hobby center?

Sir Motor wrote:
2.Word banning
We,experience player,use some English based word. Like "Wounds". But In hobby center,we cant use it. We must call it "Ki-du"(Translated version "wounds"). We cant play in English.Even a word.

3.Color banning
You painted slann(lizardmen big toad-like wizard) in gold? No place to play.

4.No big game
Over 1500 pts? Play other place. You cant play.

5.Give way,veterans!
Veterans cant play there without reservation.

Who want to play hobby center?

2. WHAT?

3. What?

4. WHAT?

5. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

You're saying that the GW Hobby Centers in Japan actually have restrictions like this? That's completely over the top. Next thing they'll be asking players who lost the game to commit seppuku afterwards.

And I though the whole 'say something slightly disparaging about GW in one of their Hobby Centers and get kicked out' thing was bad. Man, we've got it easy.

Number 3 scares me the most.

Holy gak. Color banning? "No, you can't paint your Dark Eldar that way! YOU'RE DOING THE HOBBY WRONG! GTFO!"

I've been to the Nakano store a half dozen times. Every single time the place was dead. Recently, they got a new manager who gave me a very strong "come on guy, just leave so I don't have to interact with a foreigner" vibe. The previous guy was much better. Also, the Nakano store, for those who don't know is located in a place called Nakano broadway. Other than Akihabara, I have never seen a more geek-centric space. Unfortunately, they decided to rent the the furthest corner the get almost no geek traffic. I mean, there is even another tabletop wargaming store in the same mall with a better location.

Hold on a second here.

First, before you start blasting GW on this, maybe some facts need to come out.

Are GW products sold at a higher cost anywhere else in the country?

What's the cost of rent and labor in Japan? The prices might have been high to try and make ends meet. What about import taxes?

Australians constantly complain about GW prices, but everything over there seems to cost more, mostly due to the price of running a retail business. High minimum wage etc. Do a google search on it.

I'm always amazed at the sense of entitlement people have regarding GW products. Even if GW lowered prices so that a box of marines were 5 dollars and a land raider 10, people would still whine.

Just to point out something.....GW closed off internet sales to he south to try and help retail stores out. The OP did not support his store, and ordered from the UK. The store closed. Proof that GW was right.

Where GW was wrong was in understanding the mindset of the people.....

General Hobbs wrote:

Hold on a second here.

First, before you start blasting GW on this, maybe some facts need to come out.

Are GW products sold at a higher cost anywhere else in the country?

What's the cost of rent and labor in Japan? The prices might have been high to try and make ends meet. What about import taxes?

Australians constantly complain about GW prices, but everything over there seems to cost more, mostly due to the price of running a retail business. High minimum wage etc. Do a google search on it.

I'm always amazed at the sense of entitlement people have regarding GW products. Even if GW lowered prices so that a box of marines were 5 dollars and a land raider 10, people would still whine.

Just to point out something.....GW closed off internet sales to he south to try and help retail stores out. The OP did not support his store, and ordered from the UK. The store closed. Proof that GW was right.

Where GW was wrong was in understanding the mindset of the people.....

Actually from what the OP said, the stores closed AFTER the embargo was placed. So, now that the people in Japan could no longer buy GW products at more affordable price, why would they go to their local GW centers? Especially with the restrictions placed on the players.

So, this is not proof that GW was correct in placing the embargo. If anything, it may be proof that their embargo is actually hurting their own business.

Anyway, who's blasting GW over closing their own stores? Good for them - maybe they'll be able to make better quality stores elsewhere, especially if the GW hobby in Japan can be taken care of by other internet retailers and local hobby stores.

The only 'blasting' I can see were the absolutely insane restrictions placed on players at the GW centers.

Sir Motor wrote:2.Word banning
We,experience player,use some English based word. Like "Wounds". But In hobby center,we cant use it. We must call it "Ki-du"(Translated version "wounds"). We cant play in English.Even a word.

Holy cow! Really? That's crazy. I wish I had actually played a game so I could see that.

3.Color banning
You painted slann(lizardmen big toad-like wizard) in gold? No place to play.

Wow, that's even crazier.

JOHIRA wrote:

Sir Motor wrote:2.Word banning
We, experience player, use some English based word. Like "Wounds". But In hobby centre, we can’t use it. We must call it "Ki-du"(Translated version "wounds"). We can’t play in English. Even a word.

Holy cow! Really? That's crazy. I wish I had actually played a game so I could see that.

3.Color banning
You painted slann(lizardmen big toad-like wizard) in gold? No place to play.

Wow, that's even crazier.

2.
Our flgs is run by foreigners and they are always taking to each other in um. I don’t know what the language is.... It’s not Japanese or Chinese though.

3.
I’m guessing that is because it resembles Buddha?

Actually from what the OP said, the stores closed AFTER the embargo was placed. So, now that the people in Japan could no longer buy GW products at more affordable price, why would they go to their local GW centers? Especially with the restrictions placed on the players.

So, this is not proof that GW was correct in placing the embargo. If anything, it may be proof that their embargo is actually hurting their own business.

Anyway, who's blasting GW over closing their own stores? Good for them - maybe they'll be able to make better quality stores elsewhere, especially if the GW hobby in Japan can be taken care of by other internet retailers and local hobby stores.

The only 'blasting' I can see were the absolutely insane restrictions placed on players at the GW centers.

The embargo is too recent to have affected the stores. What you are saying makes no sense. Buying cheaply from the UK helps keep the stores...which are now selling no product....open. The OP clearly states he did not shop at the store but bought from the UK...nothing to do with the embargo.

GW was right.

Ledabot wrote:

JOHIRA wrote:

Sir Motor wrote:2.Word banning
We, experience player, use some English based word. Like "Wounds". But In hobby centre, we can’t use it. We must call it "Ki-du"(Translated version "wounds"). We can’t play in English. Even a word.

Holy cow! Really? That's crazy. I wish I had actually played a game so I could see that.

3.Color banning
You painted slann(lizardmen big toad-like wizard) in gold? No place to play.

Wow, that's even crazier.

2.
Our flgs is run by foreigners and they are always taking to each other in um. I don’t know what the language is.... It’s not Japanese or Chinese though.

3.
I’m guessing that is because it resembles Buddha?

2. Your point has very little to do with anything. I've never heard of this kind of thing happening. Hell, Japanese seem to love appropriating English (and occasionally French) words and using them freely. Of course, I don't have first-hand experience as I don't speak much Japanese so if a place told me I couldn't use English words, well... I wouldn't've understood them anyway.

3. Naw, the overwhelming majority of Japan is, in my experience, pretty secular and really has no sense of blasphemy, so to speak. Even if I'm mistaken, I'm fairly certain 99% of Japanese would not care one iota if some pewter (well, now FINECAST(TM) Resin, which is the awesomest thing ever!111) frog was painted gold and vaguely looked like a Buddha. It sounds like the managers of that GW store were just gakheads.

General Hobbs wrote:

...

Anyway, who's blasting GW over closing their own stores? Good for them - maybe they'll be able to make better quality stores elsewhere, especially if the GW hobby in Japan can be taken care of by other internet retailers and local hobby stores.

The only 'blasting' I can see were the absolutely insane restrictions placed on players at the GW centers.

The embargo is too recent to have affected the stores. What you are saying makes no sense. Buying cheaply from the UK helps keep the stores...which are now selling no product....open. The OP clearly states he did not shop at the store but bought from the UK...nothing to do with the embargo.

GW was right.

*cough*

Sir Motor wrote:I rarely see store is packed.
Reason?
1. Too less player.
Yes.

2.Word banning
We,experience player,use some English based word. Like "Wounds". But In hobby center,we cant use it. We must call it "Ki-du"(Translated version "wounds"). We cant play in English.Even a word.

3.Color banning
You painted slann(lizardmen big toad-like wizard) in gold? No place to play.

4.No big game
Over 1500 pts? Play other place. You cant play.

5.Give way,veterans!
Veterans cant play there without reservation.

Who want to play hobby center?

Sir Motor wrote:2.Word banning
We,experience player,use some English based word. Like "Wounds". But In hobby center,we cant use it. We must call it "Ki-du"(Translated version "wounds"). We cant play in English.Even a word.

3.Color banning
You painted slann(lizardmen big toad-like wizard) in gold? No place to play.

5.Give way,veterans!
Veterans cant play there without reservation.

Who want to play hobby center?

I was asked to stop playing in my not FLGS in Osaka because my army is full of non GW miniatures (tho it was not an GW official store in any way) that "could confuse japanese players" so these three restrictions do not surprise me at all if we take them together. After all we don´t want our future drones deviating from official fluff lest they find there is a world out there that doesn´t revolve around GW.

Still I don´t think it´s GW Japan policy, looks more like something local to preserve the "harmony" of the manager AKA I don´t want to bother with things out of the manual so blanket ban on everything save for the main target that it´s to target newbies.

M.

Buzzsaw wrote:

General Hobbs wrote:

...

Anyway, who's blasting GW over closing their own stores? Good for them - maybe they'll be able to make better quality stores elsewhere, especially if the GW hobby in Japan can be taken care of by other internet retailers and local hobby stores.

The only 'blasting' I can see were the absolutely insane restrictions placed on players at the GW centers.

The embargo is too recent to have affected the stores. What you are saying makes no sense. Buying cheaply from the UK helps keep the stores...which are now selling no product....open. The OP clearly states he did not shop at the store but bought from the UK...nothing to do with the embargo.

GW was right.

*cough*

Sir Motor wrote:I rarely see store is packed.
Reason?
1. Too less player.
Yes.

2.Word banning
We,experience player,use some English based word. Like "Wounds". But In hobby center,we cant use it. We must call it "Ki-du"(Translated version "wounds"). We cant play in English.Even a word.

3.Color banning
You painted slann(lizardmen big toad-like wizard) in gold? No place to play.

4.No big game
Over 1500 pts? Play other place. You cant play.

5.Give way,veterans!
Veterans cant play there without reservation.

Who want to play hobby center?

Haha! So we're both wrong. Nothing to do with the embargo - just GW Japan being too restrictive in their centers!

heritics must be punished you see.

Hobbs...honestly, should I care? Is GW a charity or a business, because when people complain about prices you guys come out of the woodwork screaming "BUSINESS!", but here you are blaming us for GW's failure, saying that the stores closed because we're not giving them enough money.

Here's a very simple question: why aren't people buying from the stores then? And what could GW do to fix this? So far their answer to falling sales and dead stores is to raise prices and place an embargo on the southern hemisphere. It doesn't seem like either one worked.

Sidstyler wrote:Hobbs...honestly, should I care? Is GW a charity or a business, because when people complain about prices you guys come out of the woodwork screaming "BUSINESS!", but here you are blaming us for GW's failure, saying that the stores closed because we're not giving them enough money.

Here's a very simple question: why aren't people buying from the stores then? And what could GW do to fix this? So far their answer to falling sales and dead stores is to raise prices and place an embargo on the southern hemisphere. It doesn't seem like either one worked.

OK...let's step back a second, because you must be unfamiliar with what happened. Nor did you seem to read my first post.

GW stores cost money to run. So do regular brick and mortar stores.

In other countries besides the US and UK it may cost more money to run those stores. So GW has to protect the stores by selling according to the economic market and by stopping out of the country mail order stores from undercutting their prices. We know this was happening.

This is why the ban was made on internet retailers selling to certain parts of the world.

Now, I did not say this was happening in Japan, but I would like to know if the cost of doing business was more than in the US or UK. I would suspect the answer to be yes.

My point then is, if so, then GW was correct in that buying from out of the country hurts the local game stores, whether GW or independant.

So yes, I am blaming YOU for putting the stores out of business. That being said, perhaps GW should recognize this and not have stores anywhere but where product can be sold without having a non-world competitive price. I'm sure many hobbyists and hobby stores in Australia etc would not mind GW no longer having a retail presence or selling their stuff via retailers there. You could always buy from the UK or US and invite your friends over to play and paint and have tournaments in your basement or apartment.

General Hobbs wrote:

Sidstyler wrote:Hobbs...honestly, should I care? Is GW a charity or a business, because when people complain about prices you guys come out of the woodwork screaming "BUSINESS!", but here you are blaming us for GW's failure, saying that the stores closed because we're not giving them enough money.

Here's a very simple question: why aren't people buying from the stores then? And what could GW do to fix this? So far their answer to falling sales and dead stores is to raise prices and place an embargo on the southern hemisphere. It doesn't seem like either one worked.

OK...let's step back a second, because you must be unfamiliar with what happened. Nor did you seem to read my first post.

GW stores cost money to run. So do regular brick and mortar stores.

In other countries besides the US and UK it may cost more money to run those stores. So GW has to protect the stores by selling according to the economic market and by stopping out of the country mail order stores from undercutting their prices. We know this was happening.

Well, this is what we were told what was happening. From GW.

This is why the ban was made on internet retailers selling to certain parts of the world.

Now, I did not say this was happening in Japan, but I would like to know if the cost of doing business was more than in the US or UK. I would suspect the answer to be yes.

My point then is, if so, then GW was correct in that buying from out of the country hurts the local game stores, whether GW or independant.

So yes, I am blaming YOU for putting the stores out of business. That being said, perhaps GW should recognize this and not have stores anywhere but where product can be sold without having a non-world competitive price. I'm sure many hobbyists and hobby stores in Australia etc would not mind GW no longer having a retail presence or selling their stuff via retailers there. You could always buy from the UK or US and invite your friends over to play and paint and have tournaments in your basement or apartment.

The problem here: There is no where in the world that GW can sell their product without having a 'non-world competitive price'. The only places they can do that now is in places now affected by the embargo. And do you know why people were buying from online retailers in those areas?

Because of GW's price disparities.

Yup. GW went and made 2 wrongs to try and make a right. But, instead of simply buying at the retail price in their areas, they won't buy anything now.

Really, the only place where GW could keep their Hobby centers would be in the U.K., and even then you have Wayland, Maelstrom, Dark Sphere, etc., who all sell GW products at cheaper prices than at hobby centers.

Colour and word bannings?

You can't say "wound"? WTF?

This requires further explanation.

In Japanese there is a native word which means wound. However the veteran players were using the English word "wound" when playing.

I don't know what the Japanese rules use.

And the colour ban KK? What are they about.

Maybe you're right, maybe they do have to charge more because it costs them more to operate in other countries. Still doesn't change the fact that they're asking for ludicrous amounts of money for little plastic men, and that the full retail price is more than what most people are willing to pay. They can go on insisting that their prices are reasonable or that they have to charge what they do, and they can go on closing stores because that's not enough to convince people to shop there.

Like it's been said though, it sounds like these stores had other problems besides ridiculous prices.

The Giant Toad has signifacance in Toaism.
and Naruto

Does anyone paint their flying magetoad gold anyway?

If Japan's religious scene is what I think it's like, then painting a Slann like the Buddha is not the craziest they've done to a religious figure, and I doubt anyone would care.

Forgive my ignorance above.

I haven’t seen any GW stores in NZ. We have stocklisters though. The products I get are the same value as they would be if I ordered them online.

And if they get Wrathlords over there at 6100yen, that’s only $5 NZ more than our ones. I fell like we could be in a bad price region too.

If prices in stores are being undercut by buying from the site, why dont they just increase the sites prices for the country to match?