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yes, I suspect the print run that has just sold out was a single run of the cardstock. A second print run won't move as quickly, so it might not make financial sense to do it.

 Commander Cain wrote:
Just looking at GW's profits compared to a few years back when all they released were a new flavour of space marine each month I think it is clear that these regular releases are the best thing they could have done.

I am personally much more interested in the game than I was a while back and with the release of Titanicus, am also considering yet another army, something that I promised I would never do!

The greater question here is sustainability.

In my opinion the reason sales and profits are up at the moment (excluding royalties) is the combination of non-stop releases and the unpredictability surrounding the products. GW, all to often, makes only a single production run (with zero intentions of doing a second) and are far to willing to outright cancel a product shortly after its release. GW has done such a fantastic job of creating this cloud of uncertainty surrounding their products that it has influenced (and probably intentionally so) the purchasing habits of its customers.

We joke about the term 'plastic crack', but the unfortunate reality is that it's probably not too far from the truth. Addiction can be psychological and this... anxiety, about the product, molds the customers mindset to buy-buy-buy before it's all gone.

So going back to my original point of sustainability; I don't think that it is. I believe that eventually customers are going to throw in the towel... because all we've been able to do is accumulate plastic & paper our shelves. Plastic & paper that we've done nothing with before it's on to the next thing. We all have a limit, whether we're aware of it of not; this limit could be monetary, physical space to store these things, or perhaps even mental capacity to remember all of the rules. Whichever the case may be, GW is racing frantically to the threshold rather than pacing themselves.

 oni wrote:
In my opinion the reason sales and profits are up at the moment (excluding royalties) is the combination of non-stop releases and the unpredictability surrounding the products. GW, all to often, makes only a single production run (with zero intentions of doing a second) and are far to willing to outright cancel a product shortly after its release. GW has done such a fantastic job of creating this cloud of uncertainty surrounding their products that it has influenced (and probably intentionally so) the purchasing habits of its customers.

Or more simply releases by their very nature sell most of what they will release within few months of it's release...Thus GW NEEDS to release new stuff or they would be out of business soon. Just selling old stuff isn't as profitable as releasing new.

So going back to my original point of sustainability; I don't think that it is. I believe that eventually customers are going to throw in the towel... because all we've been able to do is accumulate plastic & paper our shelves. Plastic & paper that we've done nothing with before it's on to the next thing. We all have a limit, whether we're aware of it of not; this limit could be monetary, physical space to store these things, or perhaps even mental capacity to remember all of the rules. Whichever the case may be, GW is racing frantically to the threshold rather than pacing themselves.

Of course that assumes GW's business plan is selling for same guys rather than "new customer, sell, bye bye, NEXT!"

I've always been more concerned with the fire-and-forget or limited run nature of some of the releases, though I think that drives a lot of the sales. "Buy this thing on release week because you might not get it later!" will encourage people to buy it just in case, and I see a lot of that in gaming groups, where it's often possible to find people have got unopened copies of stuff they'll never use.

I'd much rather be able to buy anything at any point, so I can go back and pick up AT next year, or whatever, as I actually get round to it. Feeling unable to keep up recently has resulted in me just not paying too much attention to the new releases because there's enough risk that by the time I get around to it, it just won't be available anyway.

Herzlos wrote:
I've always been more concerned with the fire-and-forget or limited run nature of some of the releases, though I think that drives a lot of the sales. "Buy this thing on release week because you might not get it later!" will encourage people to buy it just in case, and I see a lot of that in gaming groups, where it's often possible to find people have got unopened copies of stuff they'll never use.

I'd much rather be able to buy anything at any point, so I can go back and pick up AT next year, or whatever, as I actually get round to it. Feeling unable to keep up recently has resulted in me just not paying too much attention to the new releases because there's enough risk that by the time I get around to it, it just won't be available anyway.

A year or more from now, there would probably be no point picking up Adeptus Titanicus. Probably nobody will still be playing it.

I hope it's still available then, even if no one plays it. Best time to buy.

Just because GW puts something out doesn't mean it's aimed at me.
KT? Blackstone? Other games? Not interested in them.
AT? Not at those prices. Maybe I'll ask Santa for it. My cousins always need a Christmas idea or two.....
Whatever the newest Knight is? While more useful than a 1/2? scale titan for a game nobody around me will play, I'm not in the market for a knight yet. And when I eventually am? I won't have any problem getting one.

My next GW purchases are already planned: Codices & cards for Necrons, Eldar, Orks, Tau, & Chaos Marines. Probably some bitz for those forces as well.