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SlaveToDorkness wrote:Why not learn a valuable life lesson by saving up money for things you want?

Totally un-American I realize, but you can buy almost anything doing that. Hell, I'm a saving up for a Reaver Titan.


Yes, I'm insane.

I was going to do that but can't justify the price compared to use for myself.

Price increases have put my GW purchases on full stop. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of disposable income; it's just that they have now priced themselves beyond my perceived value of their product. It's fine if others will continue to buy but as for me, no thanks. What I may do is start a new fantasy army (since they axed my chaos dwarfs) using miniatures from alternative companies (there's no GW in my state so no worries about being denied access to opponents).

When the last hike took effect I decided that I was not buying anymore new stuff, instead I thought I'd try the second hand route. I had an itch to build a Crimson Fists army which I thought had been scuppered by the price rise. I visited this year's Claymore show at Edinburgh and see what I could find. In total I spent £55 and got 50 marines including some metals and five terminators. There were some problems,the previous owners had went bananas with the glue, others had templar's shoulder pads which were impossible to remove so I left them! A soak in dettol and the itch has been eased!
I think we are close to the point where metal models will disappear simply because less people are willing to pay the high prices. Unfortunately it looks like plastic is going the same way. In the UK there is an expected VAT rise due in January, does that mean we will for example, see a marine tactical squad priced at £25?

loranafaeriequeen wrote:Right now my husband and I are using our credit card rewards points on Amazon gift cards and only buying new models using those. We are still buying paint at our local store because if you only need a couple colors the shipping is more expensive than the paint. Most sellers on Amazon are cheaper than GW.

This is a totally legit way to do things, I can vouch for this method. I buy most of my everyday things with an Amazon credit card (and sometimes even on Amazon). I average about two $25 gift cards a month with what I spend. That's $50 of free stuff from Amazon just by buying gas, groceries, toiletries, sundries, and everyday stuff with my Amazon card. And now I realize I sound like a total tool, practically advertising for Amazon for free.

But it's the truth. My Tau army was filled out with free models from Amazon.

I think the thing with GW and miniature gaming in general is that once you have your mini's there's very little you need outside of the books. so they have to charge more for the minis. especially since the game has been around for so long and for the most part you can still use models from almost any generation of the sets. some of the rate hikes I agree is insane I will agree as far as AOBR almost doubling in price shrinking the size of squad sets etc . But i can see why they do have to increase prices.

I have to admit, I am finding that WH40K is becoming too expensive for me to maintain as a hobby, particularly as due to school-work I barely have time for it anyway. It's a pity, but I may have to lay off the hobby for a while due to this, at least until Uni.

SlaveToDorkness wrote:Why not learn a valuable life lesson by saving up money for things you want?

Totally un-American I realize, but you can buy almost anything doing that. Hell, I'm a saving up for a Reaver Titan.


Yes, I'm insane.

Or maybe you're just being obnoxious, becuase we DO save up for what we want.

That does not change the fact that it is too expensive.

Gorskar.da.Lost wrote:I have to admit, I am finding that WH40K is becoming too expensive for me to maintain as a hobby, particularly as due to school-work I barely have time for it anyway. It's a pity, but I may have to lay off the hobby for a while due to this, at least until Uni.

I hardly did anything during my undergrad, didn't have the time.

firstly, yes it is an expensive hobby(but look at the cost for 18 holes of golf lately?) If you want to get a second or third army. Go through the stuff that you have now, look at the lists that you play and see what you don't need anymore and trade that what I am currently do. Getting rid of my orks, eldar, SM to get Tau. As for them upping the prices I noticed that a while back. And back in the day when everything used to be pewter and now all plastic and the prices never went down when the switch happened! I do still go to my local GW all the time, even though I, my brother and a close friend all have tables at our houses. Because I like the people there, and like to get random games going.

It's expensive, and yeah so is everything else.

But the point is it needn't be as expensive as it is. Charge what it's worth, not what you can get. We are tabletop gamers, not drug addicts and we deserve to be treated like people with brains.

Price increases have had no effect whatsoever on what I buy, at least for my Marines-- generally, the kits have improved accordingly and you get more bang for your buck, even with the increases. The one exception is that metal characters seem less worth it now, but that may be because of the wider range of plastic bitz available for conversions.

We'll see what happens with Dark Eldar, which I'm considering starting up once the new 'dex comes out.

Codex creep seems to also help with the price. The more effectively we can build lists the more effectively we can spend our money. I think DE will be very cost effective, especially with the wych cults.

Yeah also the fantasy stuff like the blood knights are 90$ for 5? really? I had a long long talk with a guy who use to work plastics and metals. Cost 50 cents to produce and ever since most of the plastics are built in china it costs even less. Though the sculpts cost at least 10$ to make.

Though I highly doubt this is the case.
Though it should cost less amount of money as the black reach and all the new plastics stuff should not be that over priced.

I don't really understand why Battleforces are $90US and $150AU. The exchange rate is like 95c.

Keep in mind that making the molds involves massively expensive sunk costs.

Oh and it's not the cost of the plastics, it's the cost of the moulds and machines. I have a buddy who studies engineering explain the process to me and we aren't as hard done by as it appears. It's overpriced yes, but it's not THAT bad.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also keep in mind they have shareholders to please, stores to run that often have very little turnover and staff to pay.

Fetterkey wrote:Keep in mind that making the molds involves massively expensive sunk costs.

Lets see.
http://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Injection-Molds/dp/B000EOTKA8
Hmm. 248$ for this piece of crap. Damn. I take it all back. Not really.

Are you joking? That's a DVD. Actual plastic injection molds cost thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Other companies are doing it Fetter, which is the issue at hand.

sorry.
I only typed plastic molds. In google.....
O.o
54 mm 9 mm 1:33.867 Collectible figures, a good match for 1:35 models, but oversize 54 mm figures would fit better with 1:32 models. Plastic dollar-store Army Men are often sold at this scale.
Heres a rough thing from the unreliable wikipedia!
If someone who actually works on or at plastic places. Please give me a rough amount i believe a mold would cost around 552$, and also as it is world wide. I really doubt that GW needs to have the costs for the models that high. DO they think that just because they already make millions of dollars a year that they can make us pay more?
Yes. Yes they do
Also ever since if it is made in china, and I know that all major companies now make chinese people work as it is cheaper than Western people. So these guys in China work for 1$ a day! While this European works for 25$ an hour! Lets see....... Who would save me money?

That's their right as a company, and their responsibility to shareholders. Aint nobody operating at cost price.

Melissia wrote:

SlaveToDorkness wrote:Why not learn a valuable life lesson by saving up money for things you want?

Totally un-American I realize, but you can buy almost anything doing that. Hell, I'm a saving up for a Reaver Titan.


Yes, I'm insane.

Or maybe you're just being obnoxious, because we DO save up for what we want.

That does not change the fact that it is too expensive.

Wasn't talking to you, Girly. I was responding specifically to the poster above mine who said he couldn't afford specific things to expand his existing army. Which is ridiculous if you can save even $1 a day. He'd have enough for either vehicle in less time than it would take to make a cardboard version.

Now I'm being obnoxious...

I must be confused. Are people on here really ranting about GW pricing? I ask those people - why rant and complain. Think of GW as a politician and you don't like what he/she is doing. What would you do to resolve that - you would vote him/her out of office. Do the same thing with GW. Vote with your wallets.

Every time you choose not to spend money with GW and give it to another company or to towards a different hobby or need (ex. power, food, etc.) you are voting against them. Just like in politics, if enough people vote against someone - they are removed. In GW's case, this means they would go out of business.

A rampant decline in purchases would force prices to come down. Its called supply and demand. Plastic dog poop is far cheaper than diamonds. But if a bunch of reality stars started wearing plastic dog poop from their ears and on their wrists - plastic doggie poo will be the new rage and everyone will want some. Demand will increase which will result in the supply decreasing. This will cause the the prices to increase. (This model is not considering a high-end fashion line of plastic doggie poo - perhaps coach doggie poo bags.) So to summarize, if you don't like it - don't pay for it.

Also, if you are buying new stuff from an online dealer remember that you aren't sticking it to GW. GW still makes and sells the product. You are hurting the stores that you are not buying from. If you have a GW store in your area you are kind of hurting GW, but not really. If you are not buying from you FLGS than you're hurting that store. That store that provides room for you to play with air conditioning, power, bathrooms. If you can play in your basement, good for you, but I want to get out of the house.

If you really like GW games but are hurting for money - get a job. If your are underage - try finding some lawns to mow or extra chores around the house. If you're in college a great part-time job is delivering pizzas. Its surprising how much money you can make in a short time. If you have a regular job - maybe take a 2nd. I know several people who work at a FLGS as a 2nd job just for extra cash to spend on their hobbies.

And remember to keep an eye out for the new fashion wave of plastic dog poop. When you see it start, find out what companies make them and buy stock in them. You'll be rich and then can afford whatever GW prices come your way!

This is why I started to build my tanks and such out of cardstock.

I still buy infantry (preferably in battle forces or online), but blockish vehicles can be made to look really cool with card, scrap and like 5$ worth of GW doodads per 20 vehicles. (The impirial eagle thing they have online is golden)

No LGS within 3 hours drive of me, No gaming community except my friends.

Got a 8ft by 10ft board for apocalypse games in the basement unfold-able.

Unlike say the PC gaming industry, which can legitimately die off without support, I'm reassured by that the price for plastic in china is what, 50 cents per box once you get it mass produced?

Then in the store, it sells for 60$?

what?

how?

^ because GW wants to be an exclusive rich man's club

Stick it to the man! Build your own damn tanks!

I'd rather spend the money than waste all that time and effort building vehicles out of card stock.

Honestly, no one who's complaining about the price seems to have any idea what they're talking about when it comes to running a business. The thread shouldn't be about how terrible GW's price point is, it should be titled:

"I can't afford GW products. Boo hoo."

As Vrakk pointed out, if you don't want to pay the prices, don't. Prices will drop if demand does. Behold the most basic of economic principles. It's the same reason that combi-fething-meltas are 9.99 at the Warstore! I love you Neal but really? Why don't you use a gun?

Vrakk wrote:I must be confused. Are people on here really ranting about GW pricing? I ask those people - why rant and complain. Think of GW as a politician and you don't like what he/she is doing. What would you do to resolve that - you would vote him/her out of office. Do the same thing with GW. Vote with your wallets.

Every time you choose not to spend money with GW and give it to another company or to towards a different hobby or need (ex. power, food, etc.) you are voting against them. Just like in politics, if enough people vote against someone - they are removed. In GW's case, this means they would go out of business.

A rampant decline in purchases would force prices to come down. Its called supply and demand. Plastic dog poop is far cheaper than diamonds. But if a bunch of reality stars started wearing plastic dog poop from their ears and on their wrists - plastic doggie poo will be the new rage and everyone will want some. Demand will increase which will result in the supply decreasing. This will cause the the prices to increase. (This model is not considering a high-end fashion line of plastic doggie poo - perhaps coach doggie poo bags.) So to summarize, if you don't like it - don't pay for it.

Also, if you are buying new stuff from an online dealer remember that you aren't sticking it to GW. GW still makes and sells the product. You are hurting the stores that you are not buying from. If you have a GW store in your area you are kind of hurting GW, but not really. If you are not buying from you FLGS than you're hurting that store. That store that provides room for you to play with air conditioning, power, bathrooms. If you can play in your basement, good for you, but I want to get out of the house.

If you really like GW games but are hurting for money - get a job. If your are underage - try finding some lawns to mow or extra chores around the house. If you're in college a great part-time job is delivering pizzas. Its surprising how much money you can make in a short time. If you have a regular job - maybe take a 2nd. I know several people who work at a FLGS as a 2nd job just for extra cash to spend on their hobbies.

And remember to keep an eye out for the new fashion wave of plastic dog poop. When you see it start, find out what companies make them and buy stock in them. You'll be rich and then can afford whatever GW prices come your way!

I'm not saying you are wrong or anything but I just never have seen the whole supply and demand thing work as it should normally in these niche hobbies. I've read about other games companies going belly-up and never really had price decreases. I don't have a source, just the stuff I read on dakka and around the web.

Anyone have an example of prices decreasing in our niche hobby?

I think it's all in real vs. perceived value. I can buy a box of plastic army men or a plastic tank OR I can buy a new tire for my car....a golf club (not an awesome one mind you)....a new video card for my computer (1gb cards run about $60 on tigerdirect).....a new pair of shoes.....a whole week's supply of groceries for two... All of which I, personally, would get more use out of than the tank that sees use maybe a couple of hours per week.

If I played several times per week it'd be a different story but I just don't feel the need to pay that much for something that sits in the closet most of the time...

That's my point. My perceived value of the product is not as high as the current price point, YMMV.

Then it is official we must stop buying GW PRODUCTS! For 1 month!

Pfff.. I'll just paint more commissions and buy with that.

SlaveToDorkness wrote:Which is ridiculous if you can save even $1 a day. He'd have enough for either vehicle in less time than it would take to make a cardboard version.

Really? There's models that cost less than a dollar?