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Was Warhammer Fantasy ever in the top five?

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Was Warhammer Fantasy ever in the top five?

yup as recently as summer 2013 it was in 4th (http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/27069.html)

in 2012 in 3rd (http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/24225.html)


(I also suspect a lot of the X-wing sales are to people who just want the Starwars ships and have no intention of playing, although the game's fun enough that they might change their mind once they have lots of them in the house)

EDIT: Wrong thread, my bad.

On topic: The thing to remember about these polls is that they represent measurable retail sales based on surveys and just in North America. So they represent a sliver of the market, but are a great indicator of what's going on in NA based game retail.

As GW shifts more and more things to direct only and makes the capital demands (due to higher prices) higher and higher, I think we'll continue to see a shift towards other games.

I am still curious where ICv2 gets their data from. Most stores that I have asked hadn't even heard of them and the one that had actually done their survey hasn't done one in at least three years.

If it's possible, I would totally try and get as much from distribution channels I could (rather than retailers).

But I think they are surveying random retailers. A few years ago, I know my LGS answered a survey along these lines.



That is a good point about GW shifting their focus to online sales through their own store. I know some stores appreciate GW for keeping their product from being super discounted online, and others dislike the online exclusive model that they're currently using.

The ideal situation for independent retailers is for GW to prevent discounting and allow them to sell as much as they can shift.

Also- I've known a number of independent retailers who don't appreciate that GW requires them to stock Lord of the Rings stuff.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Was Warhammer Fantasy ever in the top five?

Looks like it has been usually between #3 and #5. It has been off the list before, for example in 2007:

ICv2 Top 5 Non-Collectible Miniature Games
1. Warhammer 40K
2. WarMachine
3. Hordes
4. Reaper Dark Heaven
5. AT-43

Warmachine was nearly always #2 until X-wing came along.

Yeah. Man, it is sad to see AT-43 up there. That game did really well until Rackham decided to hang themselves.


- It's also odd to see Reaper there. I have heard that ICv2 stopped reporting Reaper's Dark Heaven as one of the top five because the game is totally defunct. That might have happened (it is reasonable) or maybe Reaper's Bones sales have divided their sales up enough to take them out of the top 5 (I suspect that Reaper isn't doing worse than in past years).

Since there never was a Bones game, so I'm pretty sure that those numbers aren't getting reported to ICv2.


- And on a side note- X-Wing must be doing awesomely well. I wonder how a third game in that system (D&D Attack Wing) will affect the top 5. I doubt that it will do poorly, since it is using basically the same rules set as the other two 'wing' games, and who doesn't like dragons?

D&D Attack wing? Wow, how many different settings they're going to license the system in? What's next, B5 Attack Wing, BSG Attack Wing, or do they already exist? Hmm, how about Battlefleet Gothic Attack Wing?

Actually that would be totally awesome...

Just one more: Fairy Wing: Blood on the Hyacinths.

This survey always spurs some interesting conversation but it seems utterly flawed as anything other than a conversation piece.

"Utterly flawed" is something of an exaggeration.

It's a survey, not a total market analysis, but it has some value for indicating the ups and downs of games in the independent sector.

 odinsgrandson wrote:
Also- I've known a number of independent retailers who don't appreciate that GW requires them to stock Lord of the Rings stuff.

Every store I've ever talked to has called it the "lord of the Rings tax" because they know it would never EVER shift.

You also tended to see them unofficially go on sale pretty often.

 MrMoustaffa wrote:

 odinsgrandson wrote:
Also- I've known a number of independent retailers who don't appreciate that GW requires them to stock Lord of the Rings stuff.

Every store I've ever talked to has called it the "lord of the Rings tax" because they know it would never EVER shift.

You also tended to see them unofficially go on sale pretty often.

Stores don't HAVE to carry LotR, they choose to so they can get their annual GW bribe. If you want all the stuff, you have to carry required stock.

 Moktor wrote:

 MrMoustaffa wrote:

 odinsgrandson wrote:
Also- I've known a number of independent retailers who don't appreciate that GW requires them to stock Lord of the Rings stuff.

Every store I've ever talked to has called it the "lord of the Rings tax" because they know it would never EVER shift.

You also tended to see them unofficially go on sale pretty often.

Stores don't HAVE to carry LotR, they choose to so they can get their annual GW bribe. If you want all the stuff, you have to carry required stock.

That's true- and I know one store manager that decided against keeping whatever status GW was offering. I don't remember the details, though.

How does it work? I am really interested in how GW is interacting with a LFGS. The store applies for a trade account and then 'climbs up the ladder' whenever he orders more from GW? Or does the store pay for packages so you cannot decide what you want? I heard about a 'percentage system', allowing shops to get GW's product cheaper when they offer gaming tables, in-store painting tables, tournaments etc. Is that how they do it?

Last I heard there where varying levels a stockists can apply for, each having different stock levels that MUST be maintained. So the top level means you carry everything a GW store does. The lowerst is probably just a shelf or two and mostly starters. The level you are doesn't effect your discount much (if at all) but it limits how much additional stock you can order and how often you can. I believe people of the lower level are allowed only a couple of hundred worth of stock ordered monthly or fortnightly while the highers get what they want weekly.