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I'm thinking about taking the plunge and making an order with FW soon.
Is there any online retailers that sell FW products at a discounted price?
Just curious. Appreciate any help or insight.

If you see anyone offering new Forge World kits at a discount, they are almost definitely recasters.

Even retailers with wholesale GW accounts pay full retail for FW stuff.

There aren't as far as I'm aware, no. There are Russian/Chinese recasts on ebay that you should be aware of - so that you can avoid them of course.

I hear the quality isn't too bad on them.

No - anything new under rrp+markup and you're looking at a recaster.

 Davylove21 wrote:
There aren't as far as I'm aware, no. There are Russian/Chinese recasts on ebay that you should be aware of - so that you can avoid them of course.

I hear the quality isn't too bad on them.

Disgustingly, some of the recasters in China produce kits that are such poor quality kits that there's nearly no cleanup to do and you can see all of the detail. For almost half the price! How this can be tolerated God alone knows.

The Russians, meh, they charge to close to RRP to be worth the hassle.

Yeah, you're basically better off ordering from Forgeworld directly.

The great thing about dealing with them directly is they're amazingly good at correcting issues. If you get a miscast part, they don't hesitate at all to replace it.

I even asked for a replacement part 8 months after getting my kit. It took me that long to crack open my Heirophant and really have a look, and I noticed the legs were badly miscast. I emailed them, and within a wekk, had replacement legs on their way.

If you decide to go the counterfeit route, while you'll wind up getting stuff much cheaper, you'll be dealing with miscasts yourself. I'd rather pay extra and have Forgeworld deal with miscasts.

TBH, and I have quite a bit of genuine FW stuff myself - the guys I know who went the recaster route didn't suffer the miscasts issues I did in the first place with one exception, and that was resolved surprisingly well.

 Bolognesus wrote:
TBH, and I have quite a bit of genuine FW stuff myself - the guys I know who went the recaster route didn't suffer the miscasts issues I did in the first place with one exception, and that was resolved surprisingly well.

Not saying you won't find a diamond in the rough when dealing with counterfeit model sellers, but it's not guaranteed. Good service from FW is guaranteed though. Regarding the quality of cast, that's all subjective. I've gotten one large mdoel with some bad components, and smaller models with perfectly fine components. I've seen recasts that look like they've gone through a lawn mower, and I've seen recasts that look fine.

I'd just prefer to go with the more reliably good seller.

Wow. Thanks for all the fast replies!
I'm aware of the FW recasters on Feebay. I've never really given them much thought.
Looks like I'm going the FW route.....

Go for the real deal, recasters are never worth supporting.

Dont bother with ebay for forgeworld imo. Stuff seems to go on their for too close to the rrp to be worth the loss of the fw customer service.
On top of which its next to impossible to tell if its real once the packaging has gone.

 -Loki- wrote:

 Bolognesus wrote:
TBH, and I have quite a bit of genuine FW stuff myself - the guys I know who went the recaster route didn't suffer the miscasts issues I did in the first place with one exception, and that was resolved surprisingly well.

Not saying you won't find a diamond in the rough when dealing with counterfeit model sellers, but it's not guaranteed. Good service from FW is guaranteed though. Regarding the quality of cast, that's all subjective. I've gotten one large mdoel with some bad components, and smaller models with perfectly fine components. I've seen recasts that look like they've gone through a lawn mower, and I've seen recasts that look fine.

I'd just prefer to go with the more reliably good seller.

True. I do wonder what special snowflake I'd have to be for FW to provide that mythical "fast" replacement of miscast components - in the cases I've had myself and those I've seen others deal with it's generally taken several weeks for anything to even be sent out. Response to CS queries is unbelievably slow in my experience.
All I'd say is that OP shouldn't expect things to be right the first time around - especially not when ordering the bigger, and especially older, stuff.

It kind of rankles me how bad the QC is for the price paid - looking at what others manage to charge for stuff of similar size (and at least technical quality) and how little miscasts we generally get in that, as well as the level of proficiency these better recasters have obviously accomplished, I'd really expect my stuff to be right the first time around - not something I'd have to get on the phone to beg for replacements parts for just so I can use it in the first place...

My only gripe with forge world.... Is the time it takes to throw my kit into a box and post it. And when i say throw... I mean THROW. (at least that what it looks like). However their replacement policy is definately peace of mimd for the buyer.

MB

Only ever had 1 issue with Forge Wold and that was my Big Mek kit. I didnt get round to painting him for about 6 months, Opened the bag to find him miscast to hell.

Emailed FW with photos and 2 days later a new body turned up. The next another body turned up lol.

I ordered a Contemptor pattern dreadnought with arms and I had a few slip mould issues so a quick email and a week later I had anoter - amazing customer service.

Yeh FW direct is great. And by the time I actually get around to starting 40k it may be cheaper to do a FW army rather than a gw one seeing how GW prices are rising.

 Bolognesus wrote:
True. I do wonder what special snowflake I'd have to be for FW to provide that mythical "fast" replacement of miscast components - in the cases I've had myself and those I've seen others deal with it's generally taken several weeks for anything to even be sent out. Response to CS queries is unbelievably slow in my experience.
All I'd say is that OP shouldn't expect things to be right the first time around - especially not when ordering the bigger, and especially older, stuff.

It kind of rankles me how bad the QC is for the price paid - looking at what others manage to charge for stuff of similar size (and at least technical quality) and how little miscasts we generally get in that, as well as the level of proficiency these better recasters have obviously accomplished, I'd really expect my stuff to be right the first time around - not something I'd have to get on the phone to beg for replacements parts for just so I can use it in the first place...

I feel very much the same way. I love a lot of FW sculpts but I am pretty much done with getting directly from them at this point. I have put in many, many orders with them, and constantly had lots of minor issues - miscasts mostly, the quality never matches Kromlech or MaxMini. The last order I put in with them just didn't show up at all. When I called they did sent out a replacement express (and tossed in a bonus as well) but I would have greatly preferred to just have gotten the model I wanted in the first place since at the end of the day it took about 2 months for the replacement to show.

I wish they would run things like a multi-million dollar business, and not like a 2 person garage casting hobby. I'm not saying I won't buy from them, I do, but I do seek out alternate venues like used/ebay/craiglist/etc first now.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 GaussGuy wrote:
I ordered a Contemptor pattern dreadnought with arms and I had a few slip mould issues so a quick email and a week later I had anoter - amazing customer service.

That's not "amazing", IMO. You paid a premium price, they sent you a sub-par product, when you called them on it, then they sent you what you paid for in the first place. That's the lowest level of "acceptable", in my book.

 alarmingrick wrote:
I'm thinking about taking the plunge and making an order with FW soon.
Is there any online retailers that sell FW products at a discounted price?
Just curious. Appreciate any help or insight.

Discounters on FW stuff are rare. Hell, resellers of FW stuff are rare (other then eBay).

FW is pretty much the only source of real FW models. If you just want FW (and don't care so about the 'real'), then China and Russia have what you're looking for. Otherwise it's straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

 Ouze wrote:

 GaussGuy wrote:
I ordered a Contemptor pattern dreadnought with arms and I had a few slip mould issues so a quick email and a week later I had anoter - amazing customer service.

That's not "amazing", IMO. You paid a premium price, they sent you a sub-par product, when you called them on it, then they sent you what you paid for in the first place. That's the lowest level of "acceptable", in my book.

Yes - I have always been "amazed" by what people have come to consider exceptional customer service. When you are a company like GW and would like to charge a premium price for a product - it should come with premium customer service (as well as premium QC which would avoid the need for a lot of the premium customer service). Everything that GW (and Forgeworld for that matter) does is sort of basic in terms of service - heck, I get the same service from Walmart...if something I buy there isn't right - they exchange it with no questions. They will often even refund it with no questions (or very few questions).

Some smaller miniature companies are a bit slower on the turn around - but I don't think I know of any which are still around that have given me any issues regarding things like mold slips. All of them though take care of it, generally as soon as they possibly can. It might be a week or two wait - but that is one of the downsides of dealing with one man shops who use contract casters.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
If you just want FW (and don't care so about the 'real'), then China and Russia have what you're looking for.

As long as you don't care about the quality. I have a few recasts and while the infantry were good the tanks were just garbage and only good for wrecking and making terrain out of them. And judging by the pictures I've seen on ebay they were hardly the exception to the rule. FW may have quality control issues, but at least overall they're pretty good and you know you'll get a replacement if they screw it up too badly.

I think we should ever-so-slightly reorientate ourselves away from this line of discussion before the thread catches a nasty case of the red texts.

 Peregrine wrote:

As long as you don't care about the quality. I have a few recasts and while the infantry were good the tanks were just garbage and only good for wrecking and making terrain out of them. And judging by the pictures I've seen on ebay they were hardly the exception to the rule. FW may have quality control issues, but at least overall they're pretty good and you know you'll get a replacement if they screw it up too badly.

I hate to say it but my experience was somewhat the reverse. I got much better quality from the recasters than I did from FW. Both had comparable customer service and shipping. So.... cavat emptor w matter which way you go.

Though if you really want good stuff, go Chapterhouse or some of hte other studios. Prices are a bit lower than FW and quality can be pretty much the same.

They have great customer service because they are charging you for two+ kits! If you accept the first one, then they win huge! It's just like finecast. If they could get their manufacturing done properly then the costs would drop. Well not really, it is a GW company so you will never see a price drop.

Honestly, find the kit you want and go for the real deal. FW will replace absolutely anything you have a problem with if you go through them directly. I'm thinking that they wouldn't be able to do that if you went with a store that resells actual FW kits because they couldn't confirm the kit was actually bought in the first place. And really I have not bought a FW kit other than rhino doors that I didn't call and have something replaced on. That last statement is a sad one but it's the reason buying from FW directly is important IMO. That being said, I love their finished product and their customer service is great as long as you call them directly and get a live person.

I won't rehash all of the "FW is better than recasters" deal, since I strongly support that too, BUT

IF you're planning on buying 2nd hand/from ebay, make sure that the product comes in the original bag. Each FW bag is tagged and labelled with a serial number that FW uses to track orders and parts, and is pretty much the best way to determine if a model is genuine. If someone is selling a model without the bag, it's probably a fake recast.

What's a 'fake' recast?

Is that like a legitimate cast, or is it a forged fake? That is, a recast that is itself a recast, like a recursive recast?

Yes, the customer service might be better direct from FW, but the recasters will often have the product for 1/3 the price and have free shipping at less than £250 - AND have better quality control.

 Enigwolf wrote:
IF you're planning on buying 2nd hand/from ebay, make sure that the product comes in the original bag. Each FW bag is tagged and labelled with a serial number that FW uses to track orders and parts, and is pretty much the best way to determine if a model is genuine. If someone is selling a model without the bag, it's probably a fake recast.

That's too harsh. The mere absence of the original bag doesn't mean it's a recast, not everyone saves the bag for every model they buy just in case. The best way to figure out if it's a recast is to look at the seller: if it's an obvious business with an inventory of kits all selling below retail price (especially if it's located in China/Russia/etc) then it's a recaster. If it's a random person selling a single FW kit then it's probably just someone getting rid of a model they don't want anymore, even if they threw the original bag in the trash.

 chromedog wrote:
Yes, the customer service might be better direct from FW, but the recasters will often have the product for 1/3 the price and have free shipping at less than £250 - AND have better quality control.

And they're selling an illegal and unethical product. If you're willing to sacrifice your integrity and buy illegal recasts because it's cheaper, fine, but don't pretend that we're comparing two equally legitimate sources for a product.

I generally don't like buying recasts because it makes me feel dirty. I don't know, it's a weird feeling.

Generally, you can find cheaper FW on places like eBay. Just be wary of ordering from places like Russia or China if you want to avoid recasts. They're not the only ones who do it, but they are definitely the most frequent.

 Darth Bob wrote:
I generally don't like buying recasts because it makes me feel dirty. I don't know, it's a weird feeling.

I would get the same feeling paying GW retail prices.

Peregrine wrote:

 Enigwolf wrote:
IF you're planning on buying 2nd hand/from ebay, make sure that the product comes in the original bag. Each FW bag is tagged and labelled with a serial number that FW uses to track orders and parts, and is pretty much the best way to determine if a model is genuine. If someone is selling a model without the bag, it's probably a fake recast.

That's too harsh. The mere absence of the original bag doesn't mean it's a recast, not everyone saves the bag for every model they buy just in case. The best way to figure out if it's a recast is to look at the seller: if it's an obvious business with an inventory of kits all selling below retail price (especially if it's located in China/Russia/etc) then it's a recaster. If it's a random person selling a single FW kit then it's probably just someone getting rid of a model they don't want anymore, even if they threw the original bag in the trash.

Yes, while harsh, I will say that this is your only way of guaranteeing authenticity and quality. Additionally, if you buy it second hand and there are miscasts in the product, FW has shown that they are willing to send replacements if you have the order number and code too, despite the fact that you ebay'd it. Therefore, it's in your best interests to have that bag with the order number on it.

chromedog wrote:
Yes, the customer service might be better direct from FW, but the recasters will often have the product for 1/3 the price and have free shipping at less than £250 - AND have better quality control.

And not only will you be supporting an illegal enterprise, you are failing to support the original creators of the game. Like the movie and music industry, the original creators won't receive any of the money that you put out for the purchase, and if everyone does this, you'll literally drive the company to its knees. Boom. There goes the hobby.