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So I've been trying to find some reliable bitz stores in the UK since Ebay is apparently either going to fail me on providing stock or a good price for some bitz that I'm after.

Thus far I've found :

www.bitzbox.co.uk

http://www.bitzbarn.com/

www.spikeybits.com (who don't appear to need emailing for information on bits)

www.bitsandkits.co.uk - from what I can tell from googling they appear to be poor with communication when contacted; decently reliable but poor to communicate with even if they do resolve issues (most problems I found were in 2012 unsure if they've improved in the last year or so).


Has any one any experiences of the above to share or any other reputable bits stores in the UK to recommend (I'm not opposed to over-seas but most of the time postage+import costs will typically take the price noticeably higher)

Outside of a few eBay sellers, Bitzbox have been reliable and efficient for me. They also have a facility to set an email alert when an item is restocked (which they do at a very reasonable pace) that makes it easier to bag some of the harder to get bits (such as plastic wings for Daemon prince conversions, which is what has been most useful for me)

This will be useful, good idea to post this. Just seems that you get ripped off on ebay when buying separate bits.

 Glaiceana wrote:
This will be useful, good idea to post this. Just seems that you get ripped off on ebay when buying separate bits.

I've never seen, with perhaps the odd exception of a private seller off loading some FW bits or similar, anyone really gouging on eBay for bits. You have to bear in mind that if someone is breaking a box, they have to make more back than it costs them (about double the investment cost by traditional retail thinking) and that many pieces of a kit will be essentially worthless, either because loads of spares and options already come with the kit, or nobody wants them.

I don't begrudge anyone in business making a profit out of me, and if I can get one bit I need for £4 and avoid spending £25 on a whole kit, I'm ok with that.

Of course, nobody should forget that GW still do offer a (limited) bits service directly, and some things they do offer are often quite good value (melta and plasma guns for instance) and there are plenty of places offering alternate weapons etc which can be cost effective too.

On ebay it tends to be more that you get bidders willing to pay more than anything else - most bits sales are reasonable - its just whenever something is on auction the prices go up quick.

GW though I thought weren't doing any bits sales barring the specific items listed under "bits" on their web-page (ergo you couldn't order specific sprues from them direct any more).

That's right, but they still offer some properly useful things which often cost less per unit than what you commonly see on eBay. Nothing that would require the splitting of a box though.

They offer a lot of wings for instance (plastic Balrog wings especially) which are useful if you're converting models for Daemon Princes like I have been recently.

True - I wish they'd offer more mounts though. Lions, Cold ones and demigriffs would be viable options to have on their own sprue and to have for modding

I'd kill (well.. Not quite!) for a reliable source of heroic 28mm big cat mounts. I've had an idea for an army using the SW codex but substituting wolves for big cats and "brr, its cold" Viking shenanigans for a Jungle motif, but not found any cats to my liking outside of the HE lions, and even then I'm not sure, but could use them.

Only thing about the HE lions I don't like is their chin beards - however that's a very simple thing to snip off!

I do agree that its odd how fantasy is so heavily mundane at times; heck it was only when HE started getting lion chariots and phoenix that they started being (to my eyes) a fantasy army and not just an army of pointy eared men with spears and bows.

The downside is that even at bitz prices 16 lions isn't going to be cheap.

http://www.manticgames.com/mantic-shop/sale/product/borne-unto-battle-sisterhood-army-deal-30-figures.html

Not from GW, no, but these guys, while I'm not sure I prefer them to the Chariot Lions, are on offer for £1 each. I don't think they're bulky enough to make Marine mounts, which is what I'd want them for, but as Elf mounts? Should do nicely.

I have always used Let the Dice Decide in the past though haven't had much need for a few years.

My work PC won't let me on their site but it looks like they're still going.

I love mantic game prices - though I'm not the biggest fan of their designs. Not sure if I like their cats - would make a good combo with the GW lions - males for leader/hero and then the smaller female lions from mantic for the rest (quite like a pride then).

But I think the GW lions, whilst more costly, just look better and a little less "boxy" in design

I've regularly used:

www.bitsandkits.co.uk
www.modelbits.co.uk
www.letthedicedecide.co.uk
www.bitzbox.co.uk

in the past for bits and have not had problems with them.

eBay wise I would recommend bmf-bits. They always deliver quick and combine postage. I use them a lot.

The bitz websites are OK, I've used bitzbox and bitsandkits before, but all the good stuff goes out of stock really quickly after they get in a new batch so you can never rely on finding what you need. Now, that's true of ebay as well, but at least the format on ebay only shows the items they have in stock, as opposed to listing everything they ever sell and you have to dredge through looking for anything you wanted without the "Sold Out" icon next to the name.

I mostly use:
Valhalla Gaming for Forgeworld bitz and common 40K stuff.
BMFBitz if I need Marine bitz that Valhalla doesn't have in stock.
The Bitz Store if I'm after some Xenos or Fantasy parts.
From Fire and Flame are nice to visit once in a while as well, as they tend to have an interesting selection of OOP and old Specialist Games stuff, as well as a few 40K and Fantasy bitz.

As an aside, if anyone happens to spot the bare head from FW's Medusan Immortals kit floating around anywhere, I'd be eternally grateful if you PM me with a heads-up, they vanish almost immediately when the kit gets restocked on any bitz seller.

I've used both Bitzbox and Bits and Kits without any complaints.

Thanks guys!

Shame that high elf lions are some of the harder to get items (ergo more popular). Also looking at the rough prices I'm starting to think it might be cheaper to simply buy chariot boxed sets - take the lions out and then ebay the chariots.
Bitz Box has them at £4.25 a lion which for two with postage is £10.10. At a guess I could probably sell the chariot in box without the lions for £10 and most stores have them around £14-16 online for a full boxed set.

Dark Elf Cold ones are about the same; nearly the same price as a full boxed set just for 5 cold ones.

It's a shame GW don't do bits anymore - I don't begrudge the bitz stores (they have to make a profit and many bits from a kit won't be wanted half the time); but still looks like I might shift them back to being for the odd bit instead of for a block of bits.