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It’s worth noting GW are currently trialling a sprue recycling scheme. You can drop off your old sprues and paint pots at specific stores, from where they’ll be collected and recycled.

Provided the pilot scheme works out, it’s another piece of the puzzle saving those little grey rectangles of joy from landfill.

Removing the shrink wrap is another small step on that path. Shrink wrap is superfluous. It’s not ablative armour for a box, but a way to demonstrate the product is mint and sealed. The sticky tabs on the boxes I mentioned in an earlier post achieve the same thing, using far less plastic.

Just to touch base with the first post - the plastic shrink-wrap won't even protect a box from bumps and dings and damage. If you've had products arrive with missing content or significant damage to the exterior of the box, then the shrink-wrap wouldn't have protected it one bit


As for resale value, when you trade even brand new in the box untouched models you won't get a good price. Because the sort of person looking in the secondhand market for that kind of item is looking for a discount (otherwise they'd be buying from retail). The only time the value goes up is when an item is out of production and there is no more stock to get.

Yes Shrink-wrap can make it look neater, but honestly most "mobile phone" photos on ebay of secondhand goods hardly even show if a box is wrapped or not and for most gamers the wrapper doesn't matter half as much as the sprue inside the box.





I get the complaint, but in the end the cardboard is the main protective element and if the stores you're buying from are getting stock in very bad condition then the shrinkwrap won't have saved them. Something is going on - customs getting into them; stores shipping badly or getting from suppliers who ship badly etc....

I've seen two types of boxes from GW: Ones that just have a removable lid, always in shrinkwrap, and those that have fold out ends (sometimes with a sliding bit inside). Sometimes that second one is shrinkwrapped, other times it is not.

Ashes of Faith was the first type, but for the first time ever it wasn't shrink wrapped. Instead it had two stickers to keep the lid on.

This thread had “started to have arguments” writ large and, well, OP didn’t disappoint.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
It’s worth noting GW are currently trialling a sprue recycling scheme. You can drop off your old sprues and paint pots at specific stores, from where they’ll be collected and recycled.

Provided the pilot scheme works out, it’s another piece of the puzzle saving those little grey rectangles of joy from landfill.

That at least sounds significant, unlike removing wraps.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Removing the shrink wrap is another small step on that path. Shrink wrap is superfluous. It’s not ablative armour for a box, but a way to demonstrate the product is mint and sealed. The sticky tabs on the boxes I mentioned in an earlier post achieve the same thing, using far less plastic.

Yes the tabs are sth, though I was told they are not a given, and received a few boxes without those. I think most or even all of WH Underworlds warbands I bought came without those.


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 Overread wrote:
As for resale value, when you trade even brand new in the box untouched models you won't get a good price. Because the sort of person looking in the secondhand market for that kind of item is looking for a discount (otherwise they'd be buying from retail). The only time the value goes up is when an item is out of production and there is no more stock to get.

That is exactly my case. I try to buy stuff I like when it is in danger of being phased out, even when I don't play or build them for years. It's enough for me to turn around to see around 50 wrapped boxes, most of those worth way more than the initial price. I don't do it for profit, but it makes it much more comfortable to buy.


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 JohnnyHell wrote:
This thread had “started to have arguments” writ large and, well, OP didn’t disappoint.

Happy to provide. Believe it or not though, I didn't expect sth as absurd as being called entitled for wanting a wrapped box. I can troll and troll hard heh, but this thread I was just curious whether this is indeed what is happening, and what people think. I guess I know now, funny times heh.

I think its important to note most of us here are hobbyists not investors.

Even if many of us have a huge backlog of unopened/unbuilt models, we buy with the express intent to build and paint those models.

That's our hobby for the majority



Buying for investment doesn't really enter into it. Resale value and storing up stuff with the intent of hoping it will increase in value doesn't really happen for most of us. It's just not on our radar to be concerned about at all.

Any reduction of plastic counts.

Sure, a given removal might be 0.0001% of a given company’s usage of plastic. And, taken on a box by box count, seem futile.

But it all adds up. Shrink Wrap achieves nothing at all which strategically applied tape doesn’t.

It’s still plastic removed from the cycle, and let’s face even if it is recyclable in itself? It’s something most of us will simply shove in a bin and end up in landfill.

I really feel like you’re just looking for an utterly pointless fight. Spesh as you’ve already confirmed you used hyperbole. Why? I neither know nor care. But maybe try putting your efforts and energies toward something which will make a difference if you’re all that fussed. Which I suspect you’re not.

Removing any one use plastic is good. The argument that it's just "one a month" or something is daft. If GW shift 10,000 unit that now don't have shrink wrap then that's a massive plus. Less non-recyclable plastic is always a good thing weather the actual sprues get recycled or not

Not to mention the argument that warhammer takes a back seat to our ability to survive on the planet. Period.

 morganfreeman wrote:
Not to mention the argument that warhammer takes a back seat to our ability to survive on the planet. Period.

It’s a narrow squeak though 😂

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 morganfreeman wrote:
Not to mention the argument that warhammer takes a back seat to our ability to survive on the planet. Period.

It’s a narrow squeak though 😂

Only. Though if it does go that route, maybe I can finally get through my pile of shame!

Bobug wrote:
Removing any one use plastic is good. The argument that it's just "one a month" or something is daft. If GW shift 10,000 unit that now don't have shrink wrap then that's a massive plus. Less non-recyclable plastic is always a good thing weather the actual sprues get recycled or not

Massive plus to whom? All it causes is that trash from rich countries end up in poorer and/or more corrupt countries, like my own. On top of that the changes make everything more expensive. My old school stopped selling food to students, because plastic cups and cuttlery was removed, and unlike people in some countries not everyone can afford or wants to eat at KFC every day.
Everything that comes through the customes should be wraped up. Because if not, they will open the box and look what is inside, and this means potential damage or stuff being lost. The same will happen at the post/inpost. It is like asking for stuff to go wrong. And all can be avoided with a shrink wrap.

Bobug wrote:Removing any one use plastic is good. The argument that it's just "one a month" or something is daft. If GW shift 10,000 unit that now don't have shrink wrap then that's a massive plus. Less non-recyclable plastic is always a good thing weather the actual sprues get recycled or not

By the time GW ships 10000, food industry ships 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000^10 (my estimation heh). It's such a tiny drop in the ocean that it's completely irrelevant, no practical difference, empty move etc etc. Completely not worth the fatigued boxes. Massive plus, 10000 wraps less per what, a week? 2? Please.

Once a month was just my usual rate of purchase, number doesn't matter, I can buy 20, it's a low volume niche hobby where the wraps on boxes make no difference to the environment in the global context.

What's daft is the smoke and mirrors eco frenzy with its misguided and pathetic pseudo moral posturing.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Any reduction of plastic counts.

Here we go again.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Sure, a given removal might be 0.0001% of a given company’s usage of plastic. And, taken on a box by box count, seem futile.

It's also futile en masse in this case.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
But it all adds up. Shrink Wrap achieves nothing at all which strategically applied tape doesn’t.

That's not true. The wrap protects from wear and tear, from dirt and fatigue, especialy if the box is going to spend a lot of time at the store shelf.

And yes it adds up, stop explaining that, it's not some mysterious math theory. It adds up to an irrelevant number. It is some wraps but being bothered by that particular amount relative to the total and acting on it, is like not going out anymore because you stepped on a bee once.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
It’s still plastic removed from the cycle, and let’s face even if it is recyclable in itself? It’s something most of us will simply shove in a bin and end up in landfill.

Not at all. It's what they want you to think, how the company that has its very toxic heart made from all that almost non recyclable crap and dropped so much of it into the soil is now doing something. They are not by removing wraps, and you are not by supporting their sham moves. Even that sprues recycle, while good on paper, most people will still be throwing them to the bin for the years to come.

Again, if removing wraps on expensive niche product is so important, then GW hobby dying would be an environmental revolution. You should all stop supporting immediately, stick to wooden tokens, maybe cut the bloodflow from the recasters veins, imagine how eco that business is heh. They are doing mostly GW/ FW, so the sooner the better. GW hobby is after all not necessary, it achieves nothing that playing with stones on the floor doesn't.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I really feel like you’re just looking for an utterly pointless fight. Spesh as you’ve already confirmed you used hyperbole. Why? I neither know nor care. But maybe try putting your efforts and energies toward something which will make a difference if you’re all that fussed. Which I suspect you’re not.

Yes hyperbole to describe the damage. It's obviously not looking like chewed by dog, as that would be just returned. Why, figure of speech, idk, how dare you use hyperbole, discussion terminated. I wasn't looking for the fight, I just think the eco argument for the wraps is petty and ridiculous, so now debate that.

Yes I'm not that fussed about the boxes and a wrap, I might stop buying or sth but I'm not really moved by it either way. I'm a bit mind blown about what constitutes common sense now though, at least here heh.

*Shrug*

Most people here don't care if the box arrives scruffier so long as the contents are intact, and therefore see the wrap as pointless waste that is good to remove. Some, like me, actively find the wrap a nuisance to unpacking the box.

You do not, and like the box to look nice. I think you are in the minority here.

Also, the benefits to wrapping meat and cheese are considerably greater than cosmetic appearence. Cheese dries out and meat is a hygeine risk if unsealed. Stuff like vegetables that were commonly shrink wrapped or otherwise packaged in plastic are moving to paper or reusable packaging much more. Either way, no reason that a person cannot be supportive of reducing single-use packaging in every setting.


I looked up the recycling thing. Both polystyrene and most of the various plastics used to make shrink wrap are easily recyclable from a technical standpoint. However, neither of them are for commercial reasons. The shrink wrap is not marked so you have no idea what kind of plastic it is to recycle, and is low density so not worth enough to be economic. Polystyrene is most commonly foam, so not worth setting up recycling facilities for a low-density product as the profits are low.

However, polystyrene is easier to recycle if the political will is there, because the plastic is marked. There will still be debris from constructing models, but that is much less than the sprues. There is apparently an underserved market for recycled polystyrene.

 Haighus wrote:
*Shrug*

Most people here don't care if the box arrives scruffier so long as the contents are intact, and therefore see the wrap as pointless waste that is good to remove. Some, like me, actively find the wrap a nuisance to unpacking the box.

You do not, and like the box to look nice. I think you are in the minority here.

Maybe I am, hard to say I'm debating 10 people or sth. I'd say most are not bothered enough, even if wrapped box is better, idk though. I don't expect GW to start wrapping or anyone following me on this either, just state my opinion on this.

But then, people who actually care for color reproduction, black levels or whatever in their TV are in the minority too, which doesn't make it ok to skimp on quality for manufacturers. I've introduced quality systems to companies for almost 2 decades now, one of my favourite quotes defining it, "quality is meeting requirements that the consumer doesn't even know he should have". So, while both are not directly applicable here, I'd say the mob rule doesn't conclude it.

 Haighus wrote:
Also, the benefits to wrapping meat and cheese are considerably greater than cosmetic appearence. Cheese dries out and meat is a hygeine risk if unsealed. Stuff like vegetables that were commonly shrink wrapped or otherwise packaged in plastic are moving to paper or reusable packaging much more. Either way, no reason that a person cannot be supportive of reducing single-use packaging in every setting.

That's not the point. Let's take some basic numbers and get a ballpark.

It is estimated that the world dumps 160 000 plastic bags per second on average. Let's assume that GW adds 10 000 wraps per day (it doesn't) and that the thin, fraction of the featherweight wrap is an equivalent of a plastic bag (it's not).

It's 1 wrap per 1 382 400 plastic bags dumped. So the real number taking into account weight and actual boxes shipped per day would be sth between 1 per ten million and 1 per a hundred million, or more.

That's your important change, massive plus, environment saving move. Any luxury, low volume company that does it, it's just PR and making a fool out of you, or like said above to meet some quotas, or to mask how bad they really are in that regard etc. It's not GW wraps overwhelming the system. If you fixed the worst offenders (like the food industry), the wraps would be dealt with immediately with zero problem. So yes small steps in the mall like you mention are important, from GW not really.

Blindly applying the whole tiny steps, small change thing to everything, especially niche low volume and expensive, doesn't work. It's something you tell children, which btw is how it felt here discussing with some - like with a child who lectures you because it just had its first eco talk with a teacher.

 Haighus wrote:
I looked up the recycling thing. Both polystyrene and most of the various plastics used to make shrink wrap are easily recyclable from a technical standpoint. However, neither of them are for commercial reasons. The shrink wrap is not marked so you have no idea what kind of plastic it is to recycle, and is low density so not worth enough to be economic. Polystyrene is most commonly foam, so not worth setting up recycling facilities for a low-density product as the profits are low.

However, polystyrene is easier to recycle if the political will is there, because the plastic is marked. There will still be debris from constructing models, but that is much less than the sprues. There is apparently an underserved market for recycled polystyrene.

Yes polystyrene is bit easier to recycle than pvc, but it's academic at this point. The wrapping blocks standard machines so is rather a nuisance, polystyrene there is no infrastructure to press it afair and much harder to introduce, hard to say at this point which is worse for the long run. Polystyrene biodegrades longer but thats 500 (up to 1000 depends of ver) vs 450 or sth so not really significant heh. The point is, GW dumps much more polystyrene than wrap, I'd still say relatively not much, but just a reminder for those finding comfort in removed wrap heh.

Another thing is there are replacements for pvc in wrap, all with their own problems but maybe worth looking into for GW, they wrapped things for so long and still do (books). This is not what they want though, they want their propaganda of the bare, eco box, and obviously it works.

It's just plastic wrap. Who cares.

A premium item should be premium packed. Especially if you are a collector, where it counts if an item is new and in mint condition or not.

ITT: The only thing tangentially related to 40k GD is the content of the boxes that were purchased.

Well done Dakka!

Hamburger Helper wrote:
It's just plastic wrap. Who cares.

Exactly, just leave it on instead of making a global histeria over it.

Unless helping with hamburgers ofc.

Cyel wrote:
And what are you going to do with the models and what with the plastic on the box? I assume the moment you open the box the wrapping goes into the bin. Models get continuous use over years or decades even. Hardly comparable levels of plastic pollution.

There's at least as much plastic in the sprues that generally get thrown away as there are in the models themselves. WAY more material than in the plastic wrap sealing the box.