Switch Theme:

Would GW releasing pre-painted minis affect how you enjoy the game?  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in gb
Malicious Mandrake




It would make no difference to me. I'd expect prepainted to be a decent quality, but I've fielded some really horribly painted (and unpainted) figures myself, but still enjoyed the game.

The logistics of likelihood of supply are an entirely different question.
   
Made in us
Resolute Ultramarine Honor Guard





 tauist wrote:
Breton wrote:
 tauist wrote:
I'm not seeing how prepaints'd be a viable strategy for GW tbh. How much shelf space does a typical GW store have? Now, imagine, all that shelf space being filled with differently coloured Space Marines, instead of having any actual model selection. Sounds fun? Thought so


Nah, Pre-paints would be a Special Order Upsell if they were anything. Mom and Jr Come in, Junior wants to play, Mom starts making a Christmas list, Sales Clerk tells her they'll either need to get a bunch of paints, glue and brushes, or go to this section of the website and order them already finsihed.


Still not seeing it. The amount of SKU's required would go through the roof. Delivery timetables would be impossible to guarantee during peak business times. The amount of incorrectly fulfilled orders and having to redeliver missing items in a timely fashion, all of that. Just not seeing it as a realistic option for the scale of sales GW does.
I don't see it either, but only because there isn't enough upside not because there's some imagined downside. You're still going to have Artsy Mom and Testors Corvette Dad buy the normal way so they've got a Parent/Child activity to do with Little Timmy - even if they never get around to it. Which means Soccer Mom who buys the prepaints to save her new carpet and hardwood floors just isn't going to generate enough sales.

My WHFB armies were Bretonians and Tomb Kings. 
   
Made in cl
Insect-Infested Nurgle Chaos Lord






Breton wrote:
 tauist wrote:
Breton wrote:
 tauist wrote:
I'm not seeing how prepaints'd be a viable strategy for GW tbh. How much shelf space does a typical GW store have? Now, imagine, all that shelf space being filled with differently coloured Space Marines, instead of having any actual model selection. Sounds fun? Thought so


Nah, Pre-paints would be a Special Order Upsell if they were anything. Mom and Jr Come in, Junior wants to play, Mom starts making a Christmas list, Sales Clerk tells her they'll either need to get a bunch of paints, glue and brushes, or go to this section of the website and order them already finsihed.


Still not seeing it. The amount of SKU's required would go through the roof. Delivery timetables would be impossible to guarantee during peak business times. The amount of incorrectly fulfilled orders and having to redeliver missing items in a timely fashion, all of that. Just not seeing it as a realistic option for the scale of sales GW does.
I don't see it either, but only because there isn't enough upside not because there's some imagined downside. You're still going to have Artsy Mom and Testors Corvette Dad buy the normal way so they've got a Parent/Child activity to do with Little Timmy - even if they never get around to it. Which means Soccer Mom who buys the prepaints to save her new carpet and hardwood floors just isn't going to generate enough sales.


Plus, it's not in GW's M.O. The painting part of the hobby is a big upsell and persuasion tactic (if you will) given to sceptical parents. The staff in the GW I used to go in always went on about things like teaching the kid fine motor skills, patience, and being able to flex their artistic side. Have them all prepainted and it will be an even more difficult sell to those mums and dads who think these things are firmly in the category of kid's toys.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/01/19 16:52:43



Games Workshop Delenda Est.

Users on ignore- 53.

If you break apart my or anyone else's posts line by line I will not read them. 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





Biloxi, MS USA

Breton wrote:
I'll be honest, I'm shocked GW hasn't hired a few people from Mattel to start creating minis with the GI Joe figure pre-"paint".


GIJoe is Hasbro(who own WotC, interestingly enough), not Mattel.

And we know GW already has a working relationship with Hasbro.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/01/19 18:07:54


You know you're really doing something when you can make strangers hate you over the Internet. - Mauleed
Just remember folks. Panic. Panic all the time. It's the only way to survive, other than just being mindful, of course-but geez, that's so friggin' boring. - Aegis Grimm
Hallowed is the All Pie
The Before Times: A Place That Celebrates The World That Was 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Provided the hypothetical pre-paints don’t replace anything?

Not a jot. Ropey as pre-paints can be, as others have said it’s infinitely preferable to Horde O’Grey. And I say that as a dedicated Tin Boy.

   
Made in gb
Junior Officer with Laspistol





The Shire(s)

GW have done it before to a very limited extent, but only for collectors pieces. I don't see that changing.

This chapel was prepainted. Wish I'd got one back in the day.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/01/19 19:07:44


 ChargerIIC wrote:
If algae farm paste with a little bit of your grandfather in it isn't Grimdark I don't know what is.
 
   
Made in us
Slaanesh Veteran Marine with Tentacles






Lots of companies offer pre-painted miniatures already. X Wing, D&D, Wings of Glory, Axis and Allies, Mage Knight and MechWarrior Dark Age. They certainly wouldn't have the customization that some kits have, but in a world of mono-pose minis that isn't too big of a difference. I imagine 10x pre-painted guardsmen, cultists, and other chaff horde units would be popular.
   
Made in us
Keeper of the Flame





Monticello, IN

If they kept it at the current prices it would almost justify the cost.


Still, there are several armies I'd love to pick up for 3rd Ed. that I'm not bothered by paint scheme and would buy preassembled and painted from GW.

Fantasy'd be different with the exception of Brettonia. I'm NOT looking forward to painting that army again...

www.classichammer.com

For 4-6th WFB, 2-5th 40k, and similar timeframe gaming

Looking for dice from the new AOS boxed set and Dark Imperium on the cheap. Let me know if you can help.
 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
Its AoS, it doesn't have to make sense.
 
   
Made in us
Resolute Ultramarine Honor Guard





 Grimtuff wrote:
Breton wrote:


Plus, it's not in GW's M.O. The painting part of the hobby is a big upsell and persuasion tactic (if you will) given to sceptical parents. The staff in the GW I used to go in always went on about things like teaching the kid fine motor skills, patience, and being able to flex their artistic side. Have them all prepainted and it will be an even more difficult sell to those mums and dads who think these things are firmly in the category of kid's toys.


Yep as I mentioned that works on Artsy Mom and Testor Dad. Prepaints would work on Helicopter Mom, but not enough to justify.

My WHFB armies were Bretonians and Tomb Kings. 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

Breton wrote:
 Grimtuff wrote:
Breton wrote:


Plus, it's not in GW's M.O. The painting part of the hobby is a big upsell and persuasion tactic (if you will) given to sceptical parents. The staff in the GW I used to go in always went on about things like teaching the kid fine motor skills, patience, and being able to flex their artistic side. Have them all prepainted and it will be an even more difficult sell to those mums and dads who think these things are firmly in the category of kid's toys.


Yep as I mentioned that works on Artsy Mom and Testor Dad. Prepaints would work on Helicopter Mom, but not enough to justify.


Oh please. Pre-painted models would far out sell some of the existing kits.
For ex; the Hammerfell Bunker. Anyone ever seen one of these being sold? Seen one used in a game - as part of a force? And yet GW keeps this thing in stock/production....
   
Made in us
Resolute Ultramarine Honor Guard





ccs wrote:

For ex; the Hammerfell Bunker. Anyone ever seen one of these being sold? Seen one used in a game - as part of a force? And yet GW keeps this thing in stock/production....


Yes. I bought three on release. If they're ever reliably placeable and usable, I'd be thrilled. And people generally won't buy a prepainted Bunker that they wouldn't buy in Basic Grey.

My WHFB armies were Bretonians and Tomb Kings. 
   
Made in fi
Locked in the Tower of Amareo





ccs wrote:

Oh please. Pre-painted models would far out sell some of the existing kits.
For ex; the Hammerfell Bunker. Anyone ever seen one of these being sold? Seen one used in a game - as part of a force? And yet GW keeps this thing in stock/production....


I know people who have it.

Not being seen on table has nothing to do being sold unpainted. And the ones i know wouldn't have been bought prepainted as they were bought for painting project as they suck in game.

2024 painted/bought: 109/109 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

Yeah, I'm still betting that a pre-painted squad would out-sell the Hammerfall Bunker.
   
Made in gb
Mighty Vampire Count






UK

Love prepaints - hate painting and its costly to get them done

 Haighus wrote:
GW have done it before to a very limited extent, but only for collectors pieces. I don't see that changing.

This chapel was prepainted. Wish I'd got one back in the day.


Managed to get one back in the day - lovely piece of terrain

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/01/20 16:26:00


I AM A MARINE PLAYER

"Unimaginably ancient xenos artefact somewhere on the planet, hive fleet poised above our heads, hidden 'stealer broods making an early start....and now a bloody Chaos cult crawling out of the woodwork just in case we were bored. Welcome to my world, Ciaphas."
Inquisitor Amberley Vail, Ordo Xenos

"I will admit that some Primachs like Russ or Horus could have a chance against an unarmed 12 year old novice but, a full Battle Sister??!! One to one? In close combat? Perhaps three Primarchs fighting together... but just one Primarch?" da001

www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/528517.page

A Bloody Road - my Warhammer Fantasy Fiction 
   
Made in us
Morally-Flexible Malleus Hearing Whispers




I mean, it'd be really nice not to have to pay over 100USD for a well painted centerpiece model for my army. Trajann looks amazing when done well, and looks like the worlds worst accident when done poorly.
   
Made in us
Slaanesh Havoc with Blastmaster






It didn't go so well for Rackham.
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





Biloxi, MS USA

 Fluid_Fox wrote:
It didn't go so well for Rackham.


It went fine for Rackham. They literally couldn't keep up production with the demand for AT-43 and were looking to solve the issue until they got bought out and the owning company shut them down because they thought they were buying a toy company.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/01/23 14:32:08


You know you're really doing something when you can make strangers hate you over the Internet. - Mauleed
Just remember folks. Panic. Panic all the time. It's the only way to survive, other than just being mindful, of course-but geez, that's so friggin' boring. - Aegis Grimm
Hallowed is the All Pie
The Before Times: A Place That Celebrates The World That Was 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

 Platuan4th wrote:
They literally couldn't keep up production with the demand for AT-43



This is one big downside I see to pre-painted miniature wargames.

From what I've seen many lines that go that way with wargames have the issue that they can often run out of supply and have huge issues meeting demand. However at the same time whilst popularity is high, its still a niche market, so its not high enough to justify massive investment in production growth to meet the demand more readily. And nothing kills a game like an inability to actually get the product. Games rely on hype and production meeting buyer demand, if you miss that then people drift away because they can never get what they want and they spend the money they have on things they can get.

Sure every brand has supply issues from time to time, but prepainted ones seem to get stuck in it very early and digging out is hard. Especially if whilst trying to dig out, the sales drop or never grow to justify/pay the investment to properly grow.



A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Morally-Flexible Malleus Hearing Whispers




So anyone know how much an individual GI Joe costs? About 15-20 dollars. Upwards of 60 for the vehicles

Source: https://www.walmart.com/browse/toys/4171_2065565_2550311_5318328

That means a pack of 5 (With all bits included) costs about 60-80 dollars. Guess what a pack five intercessors costs, with extra sprus, paint, brushes, and special decoder ring? About 80-100 bucks.

Are we really gonna say they can't make pre-painted minis? Hasbro does it just fine right now.

Lets say we wanted to do SQUATS instead.

A pack of Lego people costs 50 bucks and comes WITH TERRAIN

Source: https://www.walmart.com/ip/LEGO-NINJAGO-Legacy-Tournament-of-Elements-71735-Building-Toy-283-Pieces/610062521?athcpid=610062521&athpgid=AthenaItempage&athcgid=null&athznid=siext&athieid=v0&athstid=CS004&athguid=-uX0f7OAN_ZVT_gWYnqrEhqjE47r3tCsZyIU&athancid=null&athena=true
   
Made in fi
Locked in the Tower of Amareo





Lol you can't seriously use lego's as example?

Well of course if you want GW intercessors to look simple like lego bricks

First picture also shows models are rather simplied there which is what GW would need to do. Forget all the finer details as you need to do special moulds for these versions which gives you less parts to assemble(like 2-3 at most) but to avoid undercuts then need to drop large amount of details.

Yes you can do it cheap but of course then you get what you pay for. Pay for cheap job, get a cheap job.

Would it make economically sense for GW to set up whole different line doubling production costs(before adding paint job)?

If they would just go for one mould then that WOULD affect those who don't want prepainted as they would need to use much simplified lower quality models to paint.

2024 painted/bought: 109/109 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Another thing is production country and workers. GW produces the bulk of their plastics and products in the UK (at Nottingham). Packaging and print material is done overseas, but otherwise the bulk of plastics are cast in the UK.

Now you compare to Gi Joe which is basically Hasbro who produce the bulk of their products in places like China, Vietnam and India. Basically countries where the labour costs are vastly less and which are geared up for mass market mass production.
GW would have to do the same and setup similar factories if they were to achieve pre-painting models.

Not to mention as Tneva notes, the level of detailing would have to change to accommodate very fast painting methods so that the models would look good with a very fast slap of paint.


Lego is interesting because that's another pathway - full automation. Their factory (at least on youtube) is fully automated - everything is machine done. So if GW had a vast glut of money they could go the other way of investing in a huge series of pre-painting machines. However the upfront costs for that would be huge and they'd never need parts in the same volume that Lego needs them in

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in gb
Morally-Flexible Malleus Hearing Whispers




Wait, wait, wait.

Hold the press. A major toy corporation would have to off load it's production to the countries where labor practices and employee pay laws are non-existent?

SHOCKED EMOJI.

But seriously. Would it really surprise anyone to learn that GW has been using "cheaper labor" for decades?
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Terrain in plastic and some sets (eg underworlds) have been made in factories in China for a long while now.

GW also spent many millions building a new factory in Nottingham and it wouldn't surprise me to see them expand there again and perhaps bring things like terrain back into their local production system.


I mean sure their basic workers at the Nottingham factory won't be paid super wages, but they are like as not paying a lot more in rates, rents, utility costs, worker costs, upkeep, taxes and more by having their production facilities in the UK as opposed to fully overseas.

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





Biloxi, MS USA

tneva82 wrote:
Lol you can't seriously use lego's as example?

Well of course if you want GW intercessors to look simple like lego bricks


Then how about we use MegaBloks/MegaConstrux and their micro-action figures? Same size as Lego minifigs, comparable or lower price, much better quality, fully painted, and fully posable with ball joints.


You know you're really doing something when you can make strangers hate you over the Internet. - Mauleed
Just remember folks. Panic. Panic all the time. It's the only way to survive, other than just being mindful, of course-but geez, that's so friggin' boring. - Aegis Grimm
Hallowed is the All Pie
The Before Times: A Place That Celebrates The World That Was 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




think the issue wouldn't be the model being painted, more the trouble storing and transporting them fully assembled.

model kits have been made by others with pre-colour for decades - Matchbox used to do it, PECO still do for model rail stuff

what you get is a kit with there parts are on different coloured frames

e.g. think of a space marine, the bulk say blue plastic, but with a frame in black or a dark gun metal colour for weapons, vents for the backpack, grenades etc - providing very basic pre-coloured models when assembled, add decals and go
   
Made in cn
Stealthy Space Wolves Scout





I do occasionally buy pre-painted miniatures/scaled models/etc. from other manufacturers, to strip the paint off or just prime them for another paint job. If it's a good sculpt I can deal with a lot.
   
 
Forum Index » 40K General Discussion
Go to: