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I buy off ebay or other non gw sources and i dont use gw paints. Rules like the apocalypse box is about all the money they get from me.

redboi wrote:


Emperor protect anyone trying to start out 40k these days

I think this is the key, and the problem. I can absorb the price increase, I already have multiple large collections [so buying a single box at a time is feasible, since I can buy it, paint it, and play it without also having to buy a starter force to go with it], and I'm not living hand-to-mouth.

However, a high schooler or middle schooler, the people who really need to be picking this up, can't afford to get into the hobby on internship/summer job money..

I stopped buying because of bad game design and principle. When the new cool Cryptek was released I liked the model, so I decided it was a $20 item and found one at under that price with free delivery on eBay.

 Inquisitor Lord Katherine wrote:

redboi wrote:


Emperor protect anyone trying to start out 40k these days

I think this is the key, and the problem. I can absorb the price increase, I already have multiple large collections [so buying a single box at a time is feasible, since I can buy it, paint it, and play it without also having to buy a starter force to go with it], and I'm not living hand-to-mouth.

However, a high schooler or middle schooler, the people who really need to be picking this up, can't afford to get into the hobby on internship/summer job money..

I made this point in the other thread as well. I almost never see teens or college students in the hobby shops around here anymore. It's almost exclusively people in their mid 20's-30's who either have good careers or have collected for decades. Younger kids wander in from time to time, but turn right around out the door as soon as they ask about prices. There is very little young blood coming in, in contrast to when I started in the early 2000's when the shops were populated by tons of high schoolers every weekend.


That is who the price hikes hurt the most and it's not good for the longevity of the game at all. I can make do just fine never buying an outrageously overpriced GW kit ever again, and occasionally sniping ebay when I see a good deal on something I like.

Yes. But only in the sense my backlog is so vast I haven't bought anything for months and it's still years of kits to work on.

This does show why some people don't care GW can be such a rip off but that aside. It's a complex issue.

I can afford it, but really don't like the cost bloat. A fool and their money are soon parted and I hate to feel like I'm giving money to a company that is actively trying to milk me. If I feel like it's a good buy, I'll pick it up, if its not, I won't. Many of the new kits are just too much for me to find them a good buy so I leave them until I may see them in a discount box or the like.

My collections are large and the higher prices make me pump the breaks and stick with what I have. No complaints but I won't pay 75$ for a rhino like transport for instance. Even I could get one here, or there it just doesn't feel like a good buy for me.

I get that company got to make money, they make plenty already and I've already given them many thousands, and my reward for that is phasing out my old marines. They showed how much they care, so why would I go out of my way to buy over expensive new kits ? I won't.

For their sake i hope the whales keep buying big for them, otherwise they will scare off the new players and more casual crowd with these prices.

#3 for me. After fifteen or so years playing and my only prevailing interest being the Guard (after Fantasy went bust) I pretty much have everything I want/need.

I'm not price immune, but I buy new items so rarely that it doesn't sting as much as it would if I was mid-way through building my collection. Could I afford it? Sure, but I'd probably not choose to.

I’m mostly set with my stuff. I’ve been collecting Daemons since they went plastic, and the new stuff I’ve needed, while not cheap, didn’t ruin things for me. I’ve made use of Start Collecting boxes (at least 3 for each god), and used online services before having a proper GW to go to (now I shop there cuz I play there). I don’t have anything I NEED anymore, unless a project bug tickles my fancy.

People who buy from ebay or other discount retailers are still affected by the price rise. Even used models will become more expensive when the other buy options rise in price.

The only people who wouldn't care as much about a price rise are people who have set aside a huge amount of money for the hobby and people who already have extremely large collections. But even for those people, every additional dollar you spend on one kit is a dollar that can't be spend on another and people who have large collection will certainly end up buying more models as more and more kits come out.

However, I do agree with some of GW latest price increases. The start collecting sets, for example, rose enough to match the inflation since they were released (which was about 6% and sure enough they went up by 6%). If you want them to stop doing that, you need to find another Ron Paul.

I don't play GW games anymore, so their prices are pretty much irrelevant to me.

That said, IF I spot a model second hand for a reasonable price, and it's one I'd wanted (from when I did still play) then I'll get it. Those days are getting further and further apart, though.

redboi wrote:

 Inquisitor Lord Katherine wrote:

redboi wrote:


Emperor protect anyone trying to start out 40k these days

I think this is the key, and the problem. I can absorb the price increase, I already have multiple large collections [so buying a single box at a time is feasible, since I can buy it, paint it, and play it without also having to buy a starter force to go with it], and I'm not living hand-to-mouth.

However, a high schooler or middle schooler, the people who really need to be picking this up, can't afford to get into the hobby on internship/summer job money..

I made this point in the other thread as well. I almost never see teens or college students in the hobby shops around here anymore. It's almost exclusively people in their mid 20's-30's who either have good careers or have collected for decades. Younger kids wander in from time to time, but turn right around out the door as soon as they ask about prices. There is very little young blood coming in, in contrast to when I started in the early 2000's when the shops were populated by tons of high schoolers every weekend.


That is who the price hikes hurt the most and it's not good for the longevity of the game at all. I can make do just fine never buying an outrageously overpriced GW kit ever again, and occasionally sniping ebay when I see a good deal on something I like.

We have a few teenagers at our club, at least one of them has a part time job. Another one has a number of Forge World units, so I'm guessing thats a parent-funded collection.

 Insectum7 wrote:


We have a few teenagers at our club, at least one of them has a part time job. Another one has a number of Forge World units, so I'm guessing thats a parent-funded collection.

We're also comparing the prices we paid as kids vs what else we paid for as kids to the prices kids today pay compared to what we paid as kids.

3 months of an online MMPORG is basically the same cost as a box, and the box will last longer. But the MMORPG has more instant gratification. I don't know that - inflation-adjusted dollar for dollar - comparatively speaking kids are spending more of their parents money than they did before - but they have options that both fit better into the kids-like-instant-gratification and come-in-smaller-chunks paradigms.

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:
None of the above, I think. There should be a 5th option:
Is willing to save up for a little longer to get what I want.

Aside from this 5th option, I suppose I'm a combination of 2 and 3 - the increases aren't big enough that I couldn't save for them, and I've already got large armies that require a few units to bring to what I'd call "complete".

This. I have shopping cart content saved on some store offering heavy discounts and a can I stuff money in once a month. If that money exceeds the costs of my cart's contents, I order it.

Many of my expensive models have been presents from family and friends, I probably wouldn't have bought them myself.

Both my Death Guard and my Orks are numerous enough so I don't actually need to buy anything, but I want to.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Breton wrote:
3 months of an online MMPORG is basically the same cost as a box, and the box will last longer. But the MMORPG has more instant gratification. I don't know that - inflation-adjusted dollar for dollar - comparatively speaking kids are spending more of their parents money than they did before - but they have options that both fit better into the kids-like-instant-gratification and come-in-smaller-chunks paradigms.

Most kids aren't playing MMORPGs anymore though. A start collecting box can easily buy you a tripple-A title (including console tax) or multiple less expensive games on a sale. Or a pile of loot boxes/cosmetic assets in a FTP title.

The one box of models though? It's useless and you'll struggle to get a game in with your start collecting box, if it is a legal army at all. You also haven't bought glue and paint yet, making the buy-in even less attractive, compared to other hobbies.

Then again, I didn't start 40k in my teens either, because it was too expensive for me.

Most of the stuff I've bought over the past good few years has been solely from Ebay. Now and again I will splash out on a boxset, depends on the contents, but is a very rare event nowadays.

I'm not a fan of the Primaris so I think my 40k journey has stalled, which is sad.

As for the prices putting off newcomers; I've always questioned how many are drawn into the hobby? Any hobby will attract newcomers regardless but think about the massive sales increase GW has posted; can it be put down to newcomers? I don't think so, it's us lot the players and collectors who are GW's demographic and if they attract youngsters,fine.
More like;

1) People buying multiples of the boxsets when they are released, it's not uncommon to hear of people on Dakka buying 4 or 5 boxsets at a time.
2) The Conquest Magazine. Established players were buying up every single copy on day of release just to bolster their forces cheaply, good luck to any newcomer trying to get a copy!
3) Boxsets. Most are now near the £100 mark> how many kids have that kind of money?
4) The endless procession of codexes, supplements etc.. you need to stay in the game. It never ends.

Feel free to pay what you want but I'll stick at where I am!

3 and 4. Though I have decent enough job not to particularly care, i'm not really someone who is into spending money just for the sake of it when there's a reasonable alternative.

As such, I don't think i've bought a new model direct from GW in the last 7 or 8 years. I have bought paints, plastic glue and green stuff from them though.

Usually go for eBay or a third party seller. In fact, i've bought a 1.5k Tyranid army, piece by piece, from eBay for less than £50 in the last two years. If you have patience, I don't see why you wouldn't use eBay unless you're excessively blessed with cash.

#1 until the price truly takes the piss for me. SoB Seraphim and the new BSF add on are two things I want, but don’t feel I can bring myself to buy. I have thousands of points for several armies, so i’m fine with splashing out, but I have my limits.

I'm having a particularly expensive year so I've noticed the prices for the first time.

Next year I won't care again.

That's a hard one... I kind of fall into 3 categories but by the same token the price hike is definitely going to impact on my purchase decisions.

I'm by no means rolling in money, I have a pretty middle-of-the-road paying job that but I do have an income that allows me to indulge in things. I have a $50 a month subscription to books - that's a luxury. I often pay a carwash rather than clean my own car, another luxury. Warhammer is definitely a luxury and now that I'm a parent and have a mortgage it's become the a luxury I scrutinize the cost of significantly more than when I was single and lived with mates. I CAN absorb the cost of the price increase, but I don't really want to right now. So I won't.

I already have a backlog of stuff, including other miniature games, so until I feel that I'm in a better position to absorb the cost I'll just work on that.

I try to buy from my local GW, but some things I just fundamentally disagree with the price of. $40 for a clam pack Chaos lord on foot? No thanks, I'll pick it up on ebay. $55 for a pack of Raptors? Yeah sure, if I was going to spend around that much anyway I might as well support the store.

So overall I wouldn't say I'm immune to it, but the price increase won't kill the hobby for me.

On another note I actually quite like most of the current Start Collecting boxes and starter sets

 Jidmah wrote:


Most kids aren't playing MMORPGs anymore though. A start collecting box can easily buy you a tripple-A title (including console tax) or multiple less expensive games on a sale. Or a pile of loot boxes/cosmetic assets in a FTP title.

The one box of models though? It's useless and you'll struggle to get a game in with your start collecting box, if it is a legal army at all. You also haven't bought glue and paint yet, making the buy-in even less attractive, compared to other hobbies.

Then again, I didn't start 40k in my teens either, because it was too expensive for me.

I didn't really have a whole lot in the way of video games until university really. I never owned, and presumably will never own, a console. I started 40k in high school through a combination of gifts and asking for things from my parents, and this was fairly well received since I already built scale models played wargames and it was deemed a much better hobby to have than video gaming.

Back to other things kids could do though: a movie costs like $15 for about an hour and a half of entertainment that isn't even interactive. A video game is better, and while I generally make sure to get several hundred hours of play out of any video game [and rarely but them for more than $10], big-name video games don't tend to have particularly great standard play times for a single playthrough, on the order to 10-40 hours. I'm fairly convinced that the cost-to-entertainment rate of miniature gaming stacks up well against video games and especially movies, especially considering the fact that it's also an inherently social activity, encourages creative expression, and also provides something that's very much real that can be made and held and played with, so each hour is also an inherently better hour than an hour playing a FPS or watching a movie.


The high startup cost is a big choke though, if you're just looking at price tag and comparing it to houw much a kid has in his/her pockets. [That also said, I suspect that kids spend way more of their parent's money on far less useful and more ephemeral things, like eating out, on a routine basis.]

I'm semi price immune but GW hasn't really released anything outside of side games I'd have any interest in a while. I bought Kill team and Black Stone and I'm looking forward to SOB finally getting the support they deserve but as a marine player I have less then zero interest in anything to do with Primaris.

I'm living in a country where the average salary is a fraction of that in the UK, and while my salary is substantially above the average here, it's still substantially below what I could earn in the UK for the same work, which is all fine for the most part, because the cost of living here is largely reflective of the income. Unfortunately, the cost of Warhammer stuff does not adjust itself to the income levels here, so my hobby budget is already stretched pretty thin as it is. My collection is fairly modest and nowhere near complete. Ebay is not available here and the community is far too small to sustain any worthwhile second hand market.

So, no! I'm absolutely not immune.

There is a lot of models i would like but is way to much to buy for what i get, And with GW wanting the big models soo bad. I feel that is happening far to much.

I find i buy a lot of minis from other places just to paint, over even buying as much for play from GW.

 Ginjitzu wrote:
I'm living in a country where the average salary is a fraction of that in the UK, and while my salary is substantially above the average here, it's still substantially below what I could earn in the UK for the same work, which is all fine for the most part, because the cost of living here is largely reflective of the income. Unfortunately, the cost of Warhammer stuff does not adjust itself to the income levels here, so my hobby budget is already stretched pretty thin as it is. My collection is fairly modest and nowhere near complete. Ebay is not available here and the community is far too small to sustain any worthwhile second hand market.

So, no! I'm absolutely not immune.

Aww man, that sucks. Persevere if the hobby makes you happy. There's nothing wrong with accumulating an army gradually.

2 and 3.

I’ve got a large collection, so don’t really need anything. There is a lot of stuff I’d like though.

Financially I’m in an odd spot. I’m living within my means, but without a lot of slack. I do however have a healthy amount in savings, so I can splurge if I want. But the vast bulk of my hobby purchases are with gift cards I get and/or earn via rewards programs at work. (This restricts me to stuff I can get via Amazon for the most part)

So my budget is relatively fixed. I’m probably going to spend the same amount on GW products, I’ll just get less minis then before.

That said there are minis I will not buy on principle due to their price point. Infantry sized monopose characters should not be $30-35. The new Repulsor is not a $100 kit. I love the models, and if they show up in a bundle box (or gifts) I’ll gladly paint and use them. But at that price they have been priced out of my hobby. If the pricing trend continues and everything ends up at that level, I might start breaking down and buying them. I try to stretch my hobby budget as far as it can go, and the enjoyment to cost ratio of those kits is just too much. There are other things I covet more that cost less.

I usually host any games I want to play with friends and family. That means I was buying all the Battlefleet Gothic ships and 40k minis for everyone who might want to play.

When Battle of Black Reach (5th Ed) came out, I convinced one friend to buy a box of ork Boyz because I wouldn't. He was flabbergasted at the price and complained that I browbeat him into spending a ridiculous amount for one box. He still goes on about it to this day.

So, yeah, my friends are even more price sensitive than I am. I haven't played 40k since 4th edition and the fluff that kept me interested has lost a lot of its appeal. Now that we are living in the golden age of boardgames, I can buy dozens or hundreds of minis for the cost of 5 GW minis, pick up a rule set for $20 or less (unless they hoist the shipping up to $18. ), and host whatever game I want in whatever setting I want for a fraction of the cost of a Necromunda gang.




I do plan to buy some SOB though.

Someone complains about a box of Ork boyz? I spend more on one glass of wine at a fancy restaurant.

 Ishagu wrote:
Someone complains about a box of Ork boyz? I spend more on one glass of wine at a fancy restaurant.

We don't all come from the same strata.

I also wouldn't take this friend to a fancy restaurant unless I was paying.

Also, value is subjective, and he does not value game pieces or models. As someone who sees no value in wine, what you paid sounds like a rip off to me.

I wouldn't say immune at all. I was a bachelor when I got into the hobby in 2015. And, as a bachelor living on my own, I had discretionary income that I could throw at GW almost as quickly as new box sets came out (well, not as fast as they are coming out right now, but pretty quickly).

Now, I'm happily married, have a stepson, and my wife is an amazing stay at home mom. So, I'm definitely not price immune... especially to the pretty large hikes that GW has made recently to the bigger models.

As an example... I really didn't have any interest in owning the Archaon model until Warcry reveals starting coming out. Then I looked at the price... $165. While I still might own him one day in the future, that's insanely expensive. It's A LOT of models I could own at near the same price when comparing against Shadowspear or Dark Imperium.

I do have three Imperial Knights, but all of those were bought off eBay or at like 15% to 20% off the "Renegade" box set when it was out. So, HUGE discounts on those.

If I were to buy the Archaon model, he would be, by far, the single most expensive model I own.

SG

Price immune?

Nope.

Being disabled and out of work in an ever shrinking jobs market in the UK I'm on a fixed income. Been that way most of the last 20 years. Best I ever get is minimum wage temp work for a year or so.

Over the past 20 years GW in particular have been steadily and increasingly pricing myself and others like me out of the tabletop hobby. I can't get a game of anything tabletop wargaming, let alone GW, in my area, despite living between 2 GW stores, 11 miles away in one direction and 16 miles the other - which, of an evening, i.e. games night, are inaccessible by public transport to/from where I live! Getting to/from anywhere for a job is difficult/expensive enough on public transport - forget about travel for leisure!!

It's all well and good to sit there and say "I'm rich I don't care about price hikes", however the more prices go up, the more people like me walk away from the hobby and the more people don't even pick up the hobby...

£200 minimum for a decent sized 40k army to start properly with, similar cost for AoS, £20 a pop minimum for the codices/battletomes, with over 20 now for 40k, and you generally need to buy them all yourself to understand/know what you're up against - Sun Tzu, Art of War, know your opponent...

£600 minimum initial outlay for starting in 40k if you don't want to do a half assed/piecemeal job of it!! And I haven't even factored in paint...

Think on that before you say the hobby is cheap...

This hobby is definitely not cheap. You have to accept that and chose to be involved or not.

Going out for drinks regularly costs more than 40k
Golf costs more than 40k
Hobbies are generally expensive as they are non essential persuits.

There are many things which I would love to do but simply cannot afford. Heck, I'd love to own a Ferarri and take it out on track weekends! That's a hobby for some, but not for me unfortunately. Am I going to complain about the price of Ferraris? I am invested in cars after all.

GW hasn't increased the plastic prices of kits for a while - old kits last had an increase 3 years ago, however the new releases are getting more and more pricey. It's no longer a thoughtless purchase for me, as I said. So yes - it is getting worse.

The important thing is to know your limit and not to put financial strain on yourself, even if it means collecting at a slower pace. If the hobby gives you more negative feelings over positive ones it's time to stop or take a break.