Yodhrin wrote:

Kijamon wrote:

Now I'll admit I know nothing about the sizes of these moulds or their values...

Then why are you holding forth on the subject? Unless FW are being gratuitously wasteful with their silicone, they should be able to fit all the molds for any given product entry(a squad of infantry, a tank etc) into a shoebox for all but the big stuff. Hell I could probably store most of FW's range just by lining the walls of my one bedroom flat with bookshelves. The only real "cost" in keeping low sales volume products available is when the molds wear out and need to be replaced, which can require a good few hours of labour, but stored properly molds will last for years and years without being used, and good quality silicone properly cared for(which FW do, judging by the amount of 'orrible greasy mold release you often find on their stuff when you order) can get dozens of flawless pulls and sometimes hundreds of slightly imperfect ones after that depending on how many overhangs and intricate & rough details are on the cast, so if they're only having to cast something say five times a year it could be a decade or more before replacing the molds becomes a consideration. And doing the actual casts isn't some epic, production line-disrupting task like it is with injection molded plastics, you literally just mix a cup of resin, pour it in, stick it in a pressure chamber for a wee while and then pull the cast, most commercial casting resins have a demold time of a few hours at most.

As for "what's the point" - goodwill? Giving customers the impression that you're committed to the products you produce and aren't going to just discontinue half of them while people are only part way through buying armies from you at great expense? Maintaining the appearance that FW is a boutique entity distinct from GWHQ that exists to cater to artistic whim and veteran customers with high quality niche products? Dismissing "intangible" value is the reason GW canned the specialist games last time around, but as usual they seem to have learned the lesson only in very specific terms and continue to make the same mistakes elsewhere.

 Peregrine wrote:

timd wrote:
Molds take up quite a bit of space, especially if you are being efficient and making gang molds (multiple casts of a piece or pieces from a single mold) and apparently space has become an issue at GW. With a set of gang molds you also end up with multiple sets of cast miniatures, not just one, so the excess sets need to be stored until someone orders another one.

Space is cheap. The cost of the warehouse space required to store all of FW's molds is a rounding error in GW's overall budget. This is what I mean about treating FW like one guy running a garage kit business. You expect that kind of operation to discontinue stuff because they run out of space in the garage and can't afford $100/month to put their spare parts in a storage unit, you don't expect it from a company with hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

 Rolsheen wrote:

 Yodhrin wrote:

Kijamon wrote:

Now I'll admit I know nothing about the sizes of these moulds or their values...

Then why are you holding forth on the subject? Unless FW are being gratuitously wasteful with their silicone, they should be able to fit all the molds for any given product entry(a squad of infantry, a tank etc) into a shoebox for all but the big stuff. Hell I could probably store most of FW's range just by lining the walls of my one bedroom flat with bookshelves. The only real "cost" in keeping low sales volume products available is when the molds wear out and need to be replaced, which can require a good few hours of labour, but stored properly molds will last for years and years without being used, and good quality silicone properly cared for(which FW do, judging by the amount of 'orrible greasy mold release you often find on their stuff when you order) can get dozens of flawless pulls and sometimes hundreds of slightly imperfect ones after that depending on how many overhangs and intricate & rough details are on the cast, so if they're only having to cast something say five times a year it could be a decade or more before replacing the molds becomes a consideration. And doing the actual casts isn't some epic, production line-disrupting task like it is with injection molded plastics, you literally just mix a cup of resin, pour it in, stick it in a pressure chamber for a wee while and then pull the cast, most commercial casting resins have a demold time of a few hours at most.

As for "what's the point" - goodwill? Giving customers the impression that you're committed to the products you produce and aren't going to just discontinue half of them while people are only part way through buying armies from you at great expense? Maintaining the appearance that FW is a boutique entity distinct from GWHQ that exists to cater to artistic whim and veteran customers with high quality niche products? Dismissing "intangible" value is the reason GW canned the specialist games last time around, but as usual they seem to have learned the lesson only in very specific terms and continue to make the same mistakes elsewhere.

And as you seem to know nothing about resin moulds maybe you should stop your yakking as well. I've been a Patternmaker for 23yrs so I know what nonsense your spewing

GoatboyBeta wrote:Could be that they have noticed the surge in demand when things go on to last chance. So there in the really odd position of wanting to build up stock before they discontinue something.

 Peregrine wrote:

tneva82 wrote:
Worktime of employer also costs money. Along with storage.

Storage is so cheap that it isn't worth considering, and labor costs are already included in the cost of the kit. Remember, you still have to store the molds for all of the in-production stuff, so the additional labor costs of keeping everything are negligible things like the employee doing the casting having to spending 10 seconds more to pull a set of molds off a shelf a few steps farther down the row in the warehouse.

 zedmeister wrote:
Looks like one of the Knight head has Sold Out - No Longer Available:

https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/Imperial-Knight-Head-VII

 CragHack wrote:

 zedmeister wrote:
Looks like one of the Knight head has Sold Out - No Longer Available:

https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/Imperial-Knight-Head-VII

Heard some rumors from someone who heard some rumors that FW Knights might be on LCTB tomorrow...

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
The FW Knights? That's absurd!

 zedmeister wrote:

 CragHack wrote:

 zedmeister wrote:
Looks like one of the Knight head has Sold Out - No Longer Available:

https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/Imperial-Knight-Head-VII

Heard some rumors from someone who heard some rumors that FW Knights might be on LCTB tomorrow...

I highly doubt it. More likely you'll see transfers and the heads go. Possibly the Terryn upgrade kit.

 BaronIveagh wrote:
If FW is really being shifted to handle Specialist games, they're gonna phase out everything eventually.

aldo1234 wrote:
I'm hoping its not too long before the Van Saar weapon packs get released, I want a full group of breach and clear suppression lasers and shields

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 BaronIveagh wrote:
If FW is really being shifted to handle Specialist games, they're gonna phase out everything eventually.

And this is based on... ?

 BaronIveagh wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 BaronIveagh wrote:
If FW is really being shifted to handle Specialist games, they're gonna phase out everything eventually.

And this is based on... ?

Because FW lacks the manpower, storage, money, and equipment to have too many projects simultaneously. So, eventually they'ed have to pick 40k or these other projects. Since GW says they want them doing the other projects, then it only stands to reason what happens next.