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Seriously, what happened? Back in the good old days, battlewagon bits (the original, not the post-warstore battlewagon bits) used to carry like... everything. Nowadays there are a dozen different bits retailers, and half of them don't have the kit you're looking for, and the other half that do... don't have any of the bits you want in stock. Anyone know of any good sources of bits that have both variety and inventory? I'm specifically looking for eldar support weapon battery bits.

Ebay happened. If you want something specific odds are Hoard O' Bits has it.

Demand outpacing supply and the range growing by a huge amount. There's just too much to keep on hand now, so they only stock bits that sell, and those bits sell very well.

Aerethan wrote:Ebay happened. If you want something specific odds are Hoard O' Bits has it.

Yup...thats where I get 99% of my bits...well ebay anyways. I use Hoard and a few others.

5th edition happened.

Everyone is out of Meltaguns, combi-meltas, and missile launchers.

What happened is that bits sellers wound up being stuck with stuff that just wouldn't sell.

chaos0xomega wrote:Seriously, what happened? Back in the good old days, battlewagon bits (the original, not the post-warstore battlewagon bits) used to carry like... everything. Nowadays there are a dozen different bits retailers, and half of them don't have the kit you're looking for, and the other half that do... don't have any of the bits you want in stock. Anyone know of any good sources of bits that have both variety and inventory? I'm specifically looking for eldar support weapon battery bits.

People don't need bits.

They are told pretty much that you will play with the red, green and blue crayon marines, and don't even think to try to go out of the lines when coloring.

Blame it on Mass Production and GW shoving it down your gob.

They activly discourage creativity, now.

The bitz shops realized after two weeks, that they sit on a ton of bitz noone wants. And that buying complete kits so that everyone gets their multimelta doesn't pay the bills.

Chowderhead wrote:5th edition happened.

Everyone is out of Meltaguns, combi-meltas, and missile launchers.

This is what I think best explains it. Simple supply and demand.

As untendable for GW as it was to have a full metal bits service, I wonder if they've shot themselves in the foot by completely discontinuing it. There are enough popular options for units that can't be built strait from the box that surely there's some market for bits. They do (did?) sell meltas, but there are many more popular options that could probably support a small bits line.

chaos0xomega wrote: Back in the good old days, battlewagon bits (the original, not the post-warstore battlewagon bits) used to carry like... everything.

This does give me a bit of a chuckle though. The "good old days" you mention were almost yesterday. In the real "good old days" right through a few years ago, you could order any metal bit or any figure (amost any sprue even) from GW directly.

It wasn't cheap, and you couldn't get individual plastic bits, but even metal bits weren't as expensive as some of the "premium" bits go for these days. You can bet there are some GW bits and figs I wish I'd picked up when I had the chance.

Yeah I remember WD's section at the back with all the codes for the metal bits. Ed used to work at GW HQ and apparently pretty much every order would end with "...and I'll take one of the necromunda weapon sprues".

And bits by weight at Games Day!

And GW employees bought them by weight. I have a lot of ex GW guys in my area, every once in a while someone cleans out a closet and brings stuff in to trade for stuff in the store. Wonderful little bags of odd bits from projects never started....100 of a chaos lord head.....20 ushabti glaives,... that sort of thing, where you can theme a whole unit or army, and it was so cheap!

Grot 6 wrote:
People don't need bits.

They are told pretty much that you will play with the red, green and blue crayon marines, and don't even think to try to go out of the lines when coloring.

Blame it on Mass Production and GW shoving it down your gob.

They activly discourage creativity, now.

I sincerely hope you're trying hard to be ironic, because in that case, your iron-o-meter is off the charts. If you're being serious, then sheesh are you off by a country mile. Almost every day in What's New Today they showcase somebody's personal army, which is as full of conversions and kitbashes as any of ours. There's nothing to stop you personally creating your own regiment, chapter, hive fleet, clan, or what have you and painting it how you want. Yeah, GW is a cruel and greedy company, but I fail to see how they're "actively discouraging creativity" as you put it.

Kroothawk wrote:The bitz shops realized after two weeks, that they sit on a ton of bitz noone wants. And that buying complete kits so that everyone gets their multimelta doesn't pay the bills.

That's one of the problems. A lot of people try to set up bits stores, because they see others doing it and think that it's an easy way to make some cash. Just buy kits, cut them apart, and profit, right?

Yeah... not really. There's a very careful balancing act required in order to do it profitably and not wind up stuck with a whole bunch of stuff nobody wants.


eBay was what pushed me out of seriously pushing bits. Fees kept going up, every Tom, Dick and Harry and his dog were getting in on the act, and it got to the point where it simply wasn't worth the bother any more. So I turned the bits selling into a part-time hobby funder on my own website instead. I don't try to carry a full range... it's just there to clear out what I don't need.


The other thing that I suspect kills a lot of bits sellers is that after two weeks or so of cutting bits off sprues, you realise that what seemed like a really easy way to make some cash is in reality just mind... numbingly... tedious...

So I would guess that a lot of the bits stores set up by gamers as a quick business idea wind up collapsing when their minds finally snap after cutting that 1347th left arm chainsword off the sprue...

Bits sellers need to specialize and not try to carry everything.

Someone should open "mek's workship" and stock all Ork bits. Somene else should open "Craftworld bits" and stock all eldar bits etc.

The big problem is all the bits services want to claim they carry everything and yet just don't have the time/dedication/funds to do it properly. They end up having nothing in stock, and never in the quantity to meet demand...

insaniak wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:The bitz shops realized after two weeks, that they sit on a ton of bitz noone wants. And that buying complete kits so that everyone gets their multimelta doesn't pay the bills.

That's one of the problems. A lot of people try to set up bits stores, because they see others doing it and think that it's an easy way to make some cash. Just buy kits, cut them apart, and profit, right?

Yeah... not really. There's a very careful balancing act required in order to do it profitably and not wind up stuck with a whole bunch of stuff nobody wants.


eBay was what pushed me out of seriously pushing bits. Fees kept going up, every Tom, Dick and Harry and his dog were getting in on the act, and it got to the point where it simply wasn't worth the bother any more. So I turned the bits selling into a part-time hobby funder on my own website instead. I don't try to carry a full range... it's just there to clear out what I don't need.


The other thing that I suspect kills a lot of bits sellers is that after two weeks or so of cutting bits off sprues, you realise that what seemed like a really easy way to make some cash is in reality just mind... numbingly... tedious...

So I would guess that a lot of the bits stores set up by gamers as a quick business idea wind up collapsing when their minds finally snap after cutting that 1347th left arm chainsword off the sprue...

Couldn't have said it better myself! I personally just sell FW bits (no shameless link here to my stuff PM if you actually want to know that bad lol) Anything else and my research told me id be stuck with way to many bits. Even now, I regularly get stuck with bits from a FW set no one wants. Arms on most sets are basically worthless then the plastic variety from Hoards or Widowbox, 2 very well know bits sellers.

In the end its best to just go with selling bits you don't need or buying those that you do. Anyone that try's to be a full time seller is doomed to fail, mostly because of the insane ebay/paypal fees. They are single company btw.

Lord.Serpius wrote:Anyone that try's to be a full time seller is doomed to fail, mostly because of the insane ebay/paypal fees. They are single company btw.

I would disagree with this, actually. I think it's still a viable business, but it needs to be very carefully managed. When eBay stopped being profitable enough, I chose to downsize not because I didn't think that a standalone bits website could succeed... but just because I decided it would be more work than I wanted to put into it at that time.

If you are willing to put in the investment (both in time and stock to get a decent range up there) and can handle the complex price juggling required, it's still viable. It's just a lot more work than most people realise.

WarMill wrote:Yeah I remember WD's section at the back with all the codes for the metal bits. Ed used to work at GW HQ and apparently pretty much every order would end with "...and I'll take one of the necromunda weapon sprues".

It was a good sprue, i admit. There was also a plastic Space Marine character weapon sprue that was a good buy, as well as a Mordheim Accessory sprue that was a great find to help detail characters and scenery.

The Bitz service closed roughly around the time I burned out on 40k... I still wish I had bought the parts to make Inq. Stormtroopers out of Steel legion with SM shoulder pads and Kasrkin backpacks. Would not have been cheap in the end, but I think it would have looked cool.

Balance wrote:
The Bitz service closed roughly around the time I burned out on 40k... I still wish I had bought the parts to make Inq. Stormtroopers out of Steel legion with SM shoulder pads and Kasrkin backpacks. Would not have been cheap in the end, but I think it would have looked cool.

The day the Bitz service ended my friend put in a £2800 Mail Order.

Of which over £2000 was Bitz.

Admittedly he did get a vast chunk of what he needed for his IG and SoBs.

I'm still finding everything I need on eBay between Hoard o Bits and Blackdagger Games/Windowbox.

@CT Gamer try http://fox-box.co.uk/

In Britain I just use Bitzbox should I need any parts.

I wouldn't say that GW is "discouraging" creativity per say, but they ARE limiting players through sheer unafordability. While it is easy enough to get weapons and option parts, the problem arises when one needs multiple BASE kits to complete one's creation.

$86.50cdn - Custom Crisis Suit: Crisis Suit ($29.75cdn) + Stealth Suit Squad ($26.75cdn) + Phirrana ($30cdn)
$93.00cdn - Custom Demon Prince: Plastic Demon Prince ($39.50cdn) + Talos ($53.50cdn)
$95.00cdn - Custom Terminator Captain: Marneus Calgar and Honor Squad ($65cdn) + Lysander ($30cdn) - (Before anyone says this is OTT... I bought all the parts necessary for this at $30 before bitz service was discontinued)
$128.75cdn - Custom Tervigon: Arachnarok Spider or Trygon ($69.25cdn)+ Carnifex ($59.50cdn)
$154.75cdn - Custom Raptor Squad: Khorne Berserkers ($44.75) + Raptor Squad x2 ($110 for chaos jump packs) - (Before anyone says this is way OTT... I made these too... before the bitz service was discontinued.)

Certainly, there are some less expensive 3rd party workarounds for some of the above and some of the above can be accomplished significantly cheaper if one is willing to compromise on their vision. Unfortnately, what this results in is that most conversions look pretty damn similar to most other conversions, due to the limited pool of affordable parts available to most players, much like how tournament lists have a degree of same-ness due to a limited pool of effective models.

Par for the course I'm afraid.

CT GAMER wrote:Bits sellers need to specialize and not try to carry everything.

Someone should open "mek's workship" and stock all Ork bits. Somene else should open "Craftworld bits" and stock all eldar bits etc.

The big problem is all the bits services want to claim they carry everything and yet just don't have the time/dedication/funds to do it properly. They end up having nothing in stock, and never in the quantity to meet demand...

That's what we're working on doing. We're not quite in a position to stock all Orky things yet but we're building up to it. We're trying to strike a balance between range and growth. Expanding our range is risky as we don't know which kits will pay off and every pound counts at this stage.

Cheers for mentioning us, zinge!

zinge wrote:@CT Gamer try http://fox-box.co.uk/

Thanks for the link. Will be checking it out.