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Karol wrote:

 DalekCheese wrote:

Karol wrote:

ccs 789376 10837565 wrote:

You've never heard of EBay etc I take it.
You can get everything on your list, individually, without extra models you don't want/need & often for prices not dissimilar to what GW'd charge you (if they ever packed these singly).

only on ebay you are paying scalping prices for stuff, and not even your local ones, you pay the price that is scalping for buyers from US or UK, or who ever is willing to pay the most.

Actually most of the time that’s false.

A month or so back I wanted a Primaris Ancient; I went on eBay, to buy-it-now, and iirc the cheapest was £3- and that wasn’t an anomaly. The prices have gone up somewhat now (probably due to Dark Imperium being packed up soon), but still many available that aren’t for silly money.

Ordering stuff from US, not only comes with the risk of getting a brick instead, but also comes with taxs and gigantic postal fees, that make the models cost as much as if you were buying them at the store. And I can promise you that the prices of models that people from the west may want, are always priced as if people from the west were suppose to buy them. And I am talking here about the scalping prices not the store prices, which are general close to each other .

we have our own version of ebay, and forums on facebook, but getting stuff like the marine part of dark empire, or riptides is always a problem, because there aren't that many people playing the game to have a huge secondary market. So people often opt to sell their stuff to players in germany, specialy if they live on the western border.

laughs in English

You have a very skewed view of this world I must say...

Your experience with eBay does not gel at all with the majority of the world, plus why the hell are you ordering from the US? There are scores of sellers out there and eBay protects the buyer up the backside, if someone is a sending a brick (which will cost more in postage than a bloody mini) to you then you report them to eBay and get your money back. It bears repeating again. eBay has so much protection for buyers its not funny.

 Daedalus81 wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
He asked a fairly simple question, and it almost seems as though people went out of their way to misinterpret what he said...

No, he shifted the goal posts.

Those models are available. He just doesn't like the manner in which they're available.

What "missing out" has occurred?

There were no goalposts. The OP asked a question about GW's marketing strategy, not whether starter or LE exclusive minis could be obtained by other means. You and a few others decided to be angry instead.

Sure, the contents of DI or any other two-faction box can be found on ebay or FB groups or whatever, but this A) does not change the fact that someone must purchase that box and B) The price of those minis is affected by the price of said box in which it was contained.

Anecdotally, I have observed in-production GW minis becoming increasingly more expensive on eBay.

Karol wrote:

 DalekCheese wrote:

Karol wrote:

ccs 789376 10837565 wrote:

You've never heard of EBay etc I take it.
You can get everything on your list, individually, without extra models you don't want/need & often for prices not dissimilar to what GW'd charge you (if they ever packed these singly).

only on ebay you are paying scalping prices for stuff, and not even your local ones, you pay the price that is scalping for buyers from US or UK, or who ever is willing to pay the most.

Actually most of the time that’s false.

A month or so back I wanted a Primaris Ancient; I went on eBay, to buy-it-now, and iirc the cheapest was £3- and that wasn’t an anomaly. The prices have gone up somewhat now (probably due to Dark Imperium being packed up soon), but still many available that aren’t for silly money.

Ordering stuff from US, not only comes with the risk of getting a brick instead, but also comes with taxs and gigantic postal fees, that make the models cost as much as if you were buying them at the store. And I can promise you that the prices of models that people from the west may want, are always priced as if people from the west were suppose to buy them. And I am talking here about the scalping prices not the store prices, which are general close to each other .

we have our own version of ebay, and forums on facebook, but getting stuff like the marine part of dark empire, or riptides is always a problem, because there aren't that many people playing the game to have a huge secondary market. So people often opt to sell their stuff to players in germany, specialy if they live on the western border.

Why don’t you just buy from UK sellers? We probably have the cheapest and most plentiful supply in the world, and international post prices here make a mockery of US postal services.

Edit: on topic.... I don’t think this is all FOMO, I don’t think you can call it FOMO when the models are available for years in some cases. GW know the second hand market is littered with these models, I think that’s the reason they haven’t bothered putting them out individually.

In other cases, such as the made to order stuff, sure there is a hint of FOMO, but that’s just the nature of limited time/print stuff. Buy it now or make peace with the fact you might not get it at all.

 Togusa wrote:

ccs wrote:

 Togusa wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 Daedalus81 wrote:
No, I think they have extremely limited production hampered by a once a century pandemic and a shortened release window.

You just ignored all the examples the OP gave. Most of what they mentioned has nothing to do with their recent shutdown.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
The aformentioned Captain (the Gravis one from DI) is also in the Know No Fear starter.

And you think that's sticking around once 9th hits?

It's amazing, it's like they know exactly what I am saying, but out of some need to argue they ignore it.

So for the first couple of posters, let me restate.

I cannot walk into a GW store or an FLGS and get:

Generic Primaris Lieutenant
Generic Banner Man
Obliterators
Suppressors
Gravis Captain
Greater Possessed
SP Sorcerer

To reiterate. I cannot buy JUST ONE of these models in its own box. So far, nothing has shown this to be something that will change. As it stands they are only available in SC boxes (as some of you mentioned) or in their original packaging bundled with a ton of other miniatures I might not want.

You've never heard of EBay etc I take it.
You can get everything on your list, individually, without extra models you don't want/need & often for prices not dissimilar to what GW'd charge you (if they ever packed these singly).

Jesus dude, are you guys not paying attention?
I AM TALKING ABOUT GW LITERALLY NOT PUTTING SPECIFIC MODELS INTO BLISTERS IN ORDER TO FORCE THOSE WHO WANT THEM TO BUY EXPENSIVE BOX SETS. I AM AWARE THAT YOU CAN BUY THESE MODELS ON EBAY. I AM AWARE. THE TOPIC OF DISCUSSION HERE IS "ARE THEY DOING THIS ON PURPOSE TO DRIVE SALES?"

Screaming like a little child....

No gak they do it on purpose genius. They do it because it works. They've done it (in varying amounts) for the past 30+ years. And they're going to keep doing it. So get over it & learn to cope.

ccs wrote:

 Togusa wrote:

ccs wrote:

 Togusa wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 Daedalus81 wrote:
No, I think they have extremely limited production hampered by a once a century pandemic and a shortened release window.

You just ignored all the examples the OP gave. Most of what they mentioned has nothing to do with their recent shutdown.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
The aformentioned Captain (the Gravis one from DI) is also in the Know No Fear starter.

And you think that's sticking around once 9th hits?

It's amazing, it's like they know exactly what I am saying, but out of some need to argue they ignore it.

So for the first couple of posters, let me restate.

I cannot walk into a GW store or an FLGS and get:

Generic Primaris Lieutenant
Generic Banner Man
Obliterators
Suppressors
Gravis Captain
Greater Possessed
SP Sorcerer

To reiterate. I cannot buy JUST ONE of these models in its own box. So far, nothing has shown this to be something that will change. As it stands they are only available in SC boxes (as some of you mentioned) or in their original packaging bundled with a ton of other miniatures I might not want.

You've never heard of EBay etc I take it.
You can get everything on your list, individually, without extra models you don't want/need & often for prices not dissimilar to what GW'd charge you (if they ever packed these singly).

Jesus dude, are you guys not paying attention?
I AM TALKING ABOUT GW LITERALLY NOT PUTTING SPECIFIC MODELS INTO BLISTERS IN ORDER TO FORCE THOSE WHO WANT THEM TO BUY EXPENSIVE BOX SETS. I AM AWARE THAT YOU CAN BUY THESE MODELS ON EBAY. I AM AWARE. THE TOPIC OF DISCUSSION HERE IS "ARE THEY DOING THIS ON PURPOSE TO DRIVE SALES?"

Screaming like a little child....

No gak they do it on purpose genius. They do it because it works. They've done it (in varying amounts) for the past 30+ years. And they're going to keep doing it. So get over it & learn to cope.

OP was responding to posters who read his original, simple question, turned it into something else, and attacked them for it. Like you just did.

Blastaar wrote:

 Daedalus81 wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
He asked a fairly simple question, and it almost seems as though people went out of their way to misinterpret what he said...

No, he shifted the goal posts.

Those models are available. He just doesn't like the manner in which they're available.

What "missing out" has occurred?

There were no goalposts. The OP asked a question about GW's marketing strategy, not whether starter or LE exclusive minis could be obtained by other means. You and a few others decided to be angry instead.

Sure, the contents of DI or any other two-faction box can be found on ebay or FB groups or whatever, but this A) does not change the fact that someone must purchase that box and B) The price of those minis is affected by the price of said box in which it was contained.

Anecdotally, I have observed in-production GW minis becoming increasingly more expensive on eBay.

No, he said:

I AM TALKING ABOUT GW LITERALLY NOT PUTTING SPECIFIC MODELS INTO BLISTERS IN ORDER TO FORCE THOSE WHO WANT THEM TO BUY EXPENSIVE BOX SETS

Those models are all available. He just wants them in blisters, but the start collecting boxes are cheaper than a ten man squad and a character and come with way more.

So he's not missing out on models. He just wants blisters, which isnt the same as missing out.

You *do* miss out on savings, but that wasn't the argument.

I get what the Op is saying and I think people really need to stop digging in on semantics..

Do we really think this sort of psychology and analysing has no place in decision making process when it comes to selling product?

I have said this when the shadow spear first came out.
It seems to make partitioning and selling the kits harder for scalpels as well as making the sprues more efficient.

The oblitarators, greater possessed and venomcrawler are integrated into the sprues with chaos space marines.

In order for these to get speparate kits they would have to create a whole new injection mold.

It seems its more efective to ram as much as you can on a sprue so you only need to cast 3 sprue frames for all of these units rather then do 3 separate molds to then do however many separate casts.

I think thats the reason they dont come on separate sprues.

FOMO absolutely is a factor in driving sales for collectables. Yes there is ebay. Like if I knew something might go OOP and I might enevr get that somethign for my collection Im more likely to buy on impulse.

TO be honest im surprised they dont do it for more stuff. Like the FW dragons trhats just went OOP. If I knew I had x months to buy them I would ebcasue they are hard to find on ebay and they cost now nearly 3x the original price simply because they are OOP.

SO all these minuters fall in the same realms of collectibles in my opinion and I think it does drive sales.(I would not put it as a main startegy though simply becasue they are not appearing to be capitilising on it as much as they could when stuff is about to go OOP)

The only thing im not surprised is that they dont use more of this technique especially for FW. The high elf dragon mage and skycutter for example are double the original price on ebay if you can find one so this will be the same for any other minature sooner or later(apart from maybe tactical marines) which feeds the FOMO from a pricing perspective as well as actual availability perspective. Yes you can kit bash anything but if you want a specific minature for a collection there is only one way to get it and tahst before it goes OOp and dissapears entirely.

I think there is some credit to the theory.. will never know for sure.

 Nazrak wrote:
Wow. I mean, someone literally offered a solution (you can buy things parted out) and you’ve dismissed it because, er, that way you don’t get to work yourself into a frothing rage about GW? Probably just quit the hobby if it’s causing you this sort of consternation; it can’t be good for you.

Do you know how to read? This topic is not about "Where do I get them?" It's about asking the question does the company do this on purpose to drive sales?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Argive wrote:
I get what the Op is saying and I think people really need to stop digging in on semantics..

Do we really think this sort of psychology and analysing has no place in decision making process when it comes to selling product?

I have said this when the shadow spear first came out.
It seems to make partitioning and selling the kits harder for scalpels as well as making the sprues more efficient.

The oblitarators, greater possessed and venomcrawler are integrated into the sprues with chaos space marines.

In order for these to get speparate kits they would have to create a whole new injection mold.

It seems its more efective to ram as much as you can on a sprue so you only need to cast 3 sprue frames for all of these units rather then do 3 separate molds to then do however many separate casts.

I think thats the reason they dont come on separate sprues.

FOMO absolutely is a factor in driving sales for collectables. Yes there is ebay. Like if I knew something might go OOP and I might enevr get that somethign for my collection Im more likely to buy on impulse.

TO be honest im surprised they dont do it for more stuff. Like the FW dragons trhats just went OOP. If I knew I had x months to buy them I would ebcasue they are hard to find on ebay and they cost now nearly 3x the original price simply because they are OOP.

SO all these minuters fall in the same realms of collectibles in my opinion and I think it does drive sales.(I would not put it as a main startegy though simply becasue they are not appearing to be capitilising on it as much as they could when stuff is about to go OOP)

The only thing im not surprised is that they dont use more of this technique especially for FW. The high elf dragon mage and skycutter for example are double the original price on ebay if you can find one so this will be the same for any other minature sooner or later(apart from maybe tactical marines) which feeds the FOMO from a pricing perspective as well as actual availability perspective. Yes you can kit bash anything but if you want a specific minature for a collection there is only one way to get it and tahst before it goes OOp and dissapears entirely.

I think there is some credit to the theory.. will never know for sure.

THANK YOU.

This is what I am talking about.

On the topic, I'm a bit concerned that this isn't going to be healthy for the game. If I'm am new player who pops up in 2020 and wants to get a gravis captain for my army, I'm not squat out of luck. In what way does this make business sense?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Daedalus81 wrote:

Blastaar wrote:

 Daedalus81 wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
He asked a fairly simple question, and it almost seems as though people went out of their way to misinterpret what he said...

No, he shifted the goal posts.

Those models are available. He just doesn't like the manner in which they're available.

What "missing out" has occurred?

There were no goalposts. The OP asked a question about GW's marketing strategy, not whether starter or LE exclusive minis could be obtained by other means. You and a few others decided to be angry instead.

Sure, the contents of DI or any other two-faction box can be found on ebay or FB groups or whatever, but this A) does not change the fact that someone must purchase that box and B) The price of those minis is affected by the price of said box in which it was contained.

Anecdotally, I have observed in-production GW minis becoming increasingly more expensive on eBay.

No, he said:

I AM TALKING ABOUT GW LITERALLY NOT PUTTING SPECIFIC MODELS INTO BLISTERS IN ORDER TO FORCE THOSE WHO WANT THEM TO BUY EXPENSIVE BOX SETS

Those models are all available. He just wants them in blisters, but the start collecting boxes are cheaper than a ten man squad and a character and come with way more.

So he's not missing out on models. He just wants blisters, which isnt the same as missing out.

You *do* miss out on savings, but that wasn't the argument.

Read brother. Read, Blastaar is 100% correct in his interpretation. Some of the people in this thread are nitpicking semantics and purposefully being obtuse.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

ccs wrote:

 Togusa wrote:

ccs wrote:

 Togusa wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 Daedalus81 wrote:
No, I think they have extremely limited production hampered by a once a century pandemic and a shortened release window.

You just ignored all the examples the OP gave. Most of what they mentioned has nothing to do with their recent shutdown.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
The aformentioned Captain (the Gravis one from DI) is also in the Know No Fear starter.

And you think that's sticking around once 9th hits?

It's amazing, it's like they know exactly what I am saying, but out of some need to argue they ignore it.

So for the first couple of posters, let me restate.

I cannot walk into a GW store or an FLGS and get:

Generic Primaris Lieutenant
Generic Banner Man
Obliterators
Suppressors
Gravis Captain
Greater Possessed
SP Sorcerer

To reiterate. I cannot buy JUST ONE of these models in its own box. So far, nothing has shown this to be something that will change. As it stands they are only available in SC boxes (as some of you mentioned) or in their original packaging bundled with a ton of other miniatures I might not want.

You've never heard of EBay etc I take it.
You can get everything on your list, individually, without extra models you don't want/need & often for prices not dissimilar to what GW'd charge you (if they ever packed these singly).

Jesus dude, are you guys not paying attention?
I AM TALKING ABOUT GW LITERALLY NOT PUTTING SPECIFIC MODELS INTO BLISTERS IN ORDER TO FORCE THOSE WHO WANT THEM TO BUY EXPENSIVE BOX SETS. I AM AWARE THAT YOU CAN BUY THESE MODELS ON EBAY. I AM AWARE. THE TOPIC OF DISCUSSION HERE IS "ARE THEY DOING THIS ON PURPOSE TO DRIVE SALES?"

Screaming like a little child....

No gak they do it on purpose genius. They do it because it works. They've done it (in varying amounts) for the past 30+ years. And they're going to keep doing it. So get over it & learn to cope.

Reported.

The character poses in a set are usually unique to the set. That's why you would buy the set. That's definitely FOMO, but there's plenty of lieutenants and captains that unless you want every captain sculpt there is, you have an adequate supply of captains and lieutenants that you can buy separately.

That said, I am surprised that Oblitz, Suppressors, and I guess GP that haven't found their way into new kits. I doubt this is intentional, and have a suspicion that they were planned for "at some point", but since their shadowspear sprues are ETB and perhaps they weren't as popular as hoped, they just got backslid on the schedule to make room in the release line for new stuff.

 Inquisitor Lord Katherine wrote:


That said, I am surprised that Oblitz, Suppressors, and I guess GP that haven't found their way into new kits. I doubt this is intentional, and have a suspicion that they were planned for "at some point", but since their shadowspear sprues are ETB and perhaps they weren't as popular as hoped, they just got backslid on the schedule to make room in the release line for new stuff.

All those are in SC. I doubt we'll ever seen Oblit kits until they redo Mutilators. And like GP they will have few, if no options.

Suppressors may not ever get a kit, because all the other roles are filled elsewhere and their gun is pretty specific to their name. Inceptors took a long time to pick up plasma.

Inquisitor Lord Katherine wrote:The character poses in a set are usually unique to the set. That's why you would buy the set. That's definitely FOMO, but there's plenty of lieutenants and captains that unless you want every captain sculpt there is, you have an adequate supply of captains and lieutenants that you can buy separately.

That said, I am surprised that Oblitz, Suppressors, and I guess GP that haven't found their way into new kits. I doubt this is intentional, and have a suspicion that they were planned for "at some point", but since their shadowspear sprues are ETB and perhaps they weren't as popular as hoped, they just got backslid on the schedule to make room in the release line for new stuff.

Daedalus81 wrote:

 Inquisitor Lord Katherine wrote:


That said, I am surprised that Oblitz, Suppressors, and I guess GP that haven't found their way into new kits. I doubt this is intentional, and have a suspicion that they were planned for "at some point", but since their shadowspear sprues are ETB and perhaps they weren't as popular as hoped, they just got backslid on the schedule to make room in the release line for new stuff.

All those are in SC. I doubt we'll ever seen Oblit kits until they redo Mutilators. And like GP they will have few, if no options.

Suppressors may not ever get a kit, because all the other roles are filled elsewhere and their gun is pretty specific to their name. Inceptors took a long time to pick up plasma.

Both cases have their pieces integrated in multi miniature sprues. The suppresors share with infiltrators and eliminators.

The stand alone eliminators are different sculpts to the shadow spear ones because they has to be redone completely as the sprues would make no sense otherwise i think.

I think its intentional but not for any overtly sinister reason. I think they are just trying to ram as much as they can into the mold space and make as many runs of it as possible making is as cost effcient as they can. This also does make reselling/scalping abit more difficult as you have to cut the bits from the sprue in order to sell just those units which takes some value away and also if you mess up you will loose money. sure if this is was intential or not or just a win for GW as a by product.

Space marines being space marines obviously got eliminators on their own because GW = Space amrines so they culd justify the extra mold design even though they already had a mold design for elminators integrated into bigger sprues. Not that im salty about the fact others have to eat the failcast turd sandwich..

It's not just a coincidence that boxes have exclusive models. It is very much to try to get people to make a larger purchase than they otherwise would, in order to get the model they want.

Whether that's "FOMO" or not is a subjective call.

yukishiro1 wrote:
It's not just a coincidence that boxes have exclusive models. It is very much to try to get people to make a larger purchase than they otherwise would, in order to get the model they want.

Whether that's "FOMO" or not is a subjective call.

Well if you dont get the box you might not get that particular sculpt if ebay runs out. And ebays runs out eventualy.

Thus far all the big army boxes have had their contents released as individual models - for the most part. There are some that slip the net (often when GW makes the really annoying choice to put unique models on duel moulds for two different armies - making the core-set cheaper to cast; but also meaning that unique sculpts to it have to be remade or retired). Granted sometimes it took a year for those models to appear on the market, but by and large they do appear for sale.

It's just a waiting game.


In general the worst are the duel army starter sets for unique models that never get a release. I believe there's an AoS beast that still hasn't had it - whilst in Old World the Skaven got a huge update of models along with high Elves - both locked to a duel army box (Island of Blood). Again it always seemed short sighted of GW to make such a cheap box full of new sculpts, then never get to release them on their own. In effect making a model iteslf cost double in moulds.

 Daedalus81 wrote:

Blastaar wrote:

 Daedalus81 wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
He asked a fairly simple question, and it almost seems as though people went out of their way to misinterpret what he said...

No, he shifted the goal posts.

Those models are available. He just doesn't like the manner in which they're available.

What "missing out" has occurred?

There were no goalposts. The OP asked a question about GW's marketing strategy, not whether starter or LE exclusive minis could be obtained by other means. You and a few others decided to be angry instead.

Sure, the contents of DI or any other two-faction box can be found on ebay or FB groups or whatever, but this A) does not change the fact that someone must purchase that box and B) The price of those minis is affected by the price of said box in which it was contained.

Anecdotally, I have observed in-production GW minis becoming increasingly more expensive on eBay.

No, he said:

I AM TALKING ABOUT GW LITERALLY NOT PUTTING SPECIFIC MODELS INTO BLISTERS IN ORDER TO FORCE THOSE WHO WANT THEM TO BUY EXPENSIVE BOX SETS

Those models are all available. He just wants them in blisters, but the start collecting boxes are cheaper than a ten man squad and a character and come with way more.

So he's not missing out on models. He just wants blisters, which isnt the same as missing out.

You *do* miss out on savings, but that wasn't the argument.

You are cherry-picking. Here is the original post, which you chose not to read:

Fear of Missing Out.

I've been noticing for a while that a lot of the GW releases seem to have elements of the idea of FOMO in them. Look at DI. The Captain, Lieutenants, The Ancient never got a box release and so far, there is no indication that they will. From Shadowspear, we still haven't seen a kit for Suppressors or Obliterators, including the Possessed or the Sorcerer. With this new set coming, we're told that it's a limited run, and I can already see the same thing potentially happening. The characters might not ever get a release, though, maybe they will.

It all got me wondering, do you think that GW is capitalizing on FOMO in order to drive sales?

Those models are all available. He just wants them in blisters, but the start collecting boxes are cheaper than a ten man squad and a character and come with way more.

So he's not missing out on models. He just wants blisters, which isnt the same as missing out.

You *do* miss out on savings, but that wasn't the argument.

That isn't saving money, that's a hefty anchoring bias.

 Daedalus81 wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
He asked a fairly simple question, and it almost seems as though people went out of their way to misinterpret what he said...

No, he shifted the goal posts.

Those models are available. He just doesn't like the manner in which they're available.

What "missing out" has occurred?

Time exclusives is directly tapping into FOMO.

For AoS if I actually wanted to seriously play with my KO again, I'd need a model that is currently only available in a box set that is no longer being sold. That is FOMO. Creating an extensive gap between a bundle and a kit release is trying to get consumers to buy that bundle NOW and damn if they actually need all the models in it. They also make it difficult to parcel between more then two people since everyone playing a faction needs that one model.

Ebay is not, in fact, an alternative as the key models that this bundles come with usually end up going for extensively large amounts of money because of their exclusive nature.

Don't forget that in some instances, having a separate blister pack for a model can have potentially negative impacts on GW's business. In the Gravis captain example, I can't imagine demand for that single (monopose) model will be very high, as most people would already have it from the hugely popular starter set (or will have used ebay as many posters have already suggested). Therefore, it's not necessarily worth the 'cost' of developing packaging etc., and the shelf space that it takes up, which restricts what other things store owners can keep on the shelves.

Also, I should add that I agree fully with points made by Daedalus81 and Overread above.

Plus, as someone else noted: what you're describing isn't FOMO. FOMO is like what they did with Space Hulk.

I only need the bikes and chainsword dudes, and I kinda like the new Chaplain way better than the trenchcoat pimp cane guy.... so I'll be at the mercy of ebay...

 Daedalus81 wrote:

 Togusa wrote:


Jesus dude, are you guys not paying attention?
I AM TALKING ABOUT GW LITERALLY NOT PUTTING SPECIFIC MODELS INTO BLISTERS IN ORDER TO FORCE THOSE WHO WANT THEM TO BUY EXPENSIVE BOX SETS. I AM AWARE THAT YOU CAN BUY THESE MODELS ON EBAY. I AM AWARE. THE TOPIC OF DISCUSSION HERE IS "ARE THEY DOING THIS ON PURPOSE TO DRIVE SALES?"

Yea we get it and its bs.

You're saying GW "forces" you to buy this BIG BOX of models or which half you don't want and this is a problem, because you don't want to buy the SMALL BOX of models, because it isn't that specific unit.

You're presupposing people are rushing out to buy extra models, because they can't handle buying less models.

Of course then you add ebay premium. They aren't doing it for charity afterall. Unless you want to buy dubiously assembled and/or badly painted.

To reiterate. I cannot buy JUST ONE of these models in its own box. So far, nothing has shown this to be something that will change. As it stands they are only available in SC boxes (as some of you mentioned) or in their original packaging bundled with a ton of other miniatures I might not want.

My hypothesis for some time now is that GW will start to move towards bigger "band boxes" in the long run. For those who are decrying the Shadowspear minis and the Dark Imperium minis, I can tell you that they already did this in Age of Sigmar 1.0 with Khorne and Stormcast units from the starter. I want to run several Khorgoraths? Then I better shell out for a few SC Khorne kits.

I don't think it has anything to do with FOMO and more to do with the fact that it is safer for them to make x amount of a set of sprues and sell those together than make individual sprues. By having one slightly larger box they are saving out on having several smaller ones.

Honestly, this is nothing new for GW. It's always been this way. A few minis that, inexplicably are available only in a certain box, that never quite get around to receiving their own separate release. It's been this way, pretty much always with the minis, and I don't think it has nearly so much to do with fomo as it does with production planning, road maps, and the fact that they can't quite seem to get on the same page with the community.

Where I think FOMO deliberately comes into play is with things like "collectors editions codexes" etc. Where they very clearly use the concept to move the merch.

I guess my question would be, why do we care? There's been a few threads like this lately where someone points out a case of GW using standard marketing practices that are used the world over in every industry. You wouldn't bat an eye if another company were doing it, but GW suddenly engages in actual concerted (and fairly textbook) marketing efforts and everyone gets in a tizzy.

I don't get it. lol

EDIT:

Not that I thought the OP's original question was necessarily over the top or agitated in any way. I just don't get why it suddenly matters so much.

Is it fomo or is it tapping into the the idea that people like to collect things and will spend silly money to get things that are limited

mrFickle wrote:
Is it fomo or is it tapping into the the idea that people like to collect things and will spend silly money to get things that are limited

For me, I've watched the EC games industry slide slowly into a pit of anti-consumer culture and it has made me extremely jaded. I see the same thing starting to happen in this hobby.

One of the things that really bugged me about the new Primaris line was the PC with Power Fist and PP. He's his own separate data sheet in the 8th edition codex. Why? Why didn't they just put a Power fist and PP bit in the box with the full kit?

I mean, honest question for anyone else who has marines. Does it not feel as though the primaris line is poorly thought out? 10 copies of three "different" bolt rifles for intercessors, with no special weapons.... Heck, there aren't even any chainswords in the basic kit, even though the Sargent can take them. So why split up the data sheets for the captain, but then have Sargent in the box with wargear that have no bits? It's like the company can't even stay true to its own logic about "no model, no rules."

The cynic in me says that the first launch of Primaris were left intentionally bland so that in a couple of years they can roll out a whole new line of primaris with all the bits that make them look and feel like old marines, so that we will all have to buy them again. Probably not true, but with how much crappy stuff you see in the world today, it wouldn't surprise me. We already have what amounts to DLC skins for this game in terms of upgrade kits, at least for marines.

One of the things that really bugged me about the new Primaris line was the PC with Power Fist and PP. He's his own separate data sheet in the 8th edition codex. Why? Why didn't they just put a Power fist and PP bit in the box with the full kit?

I mean, honest question for anyone else who has marines. Does it not feel as though the primaris line is poorly thought out? 10 copies of three "different" bolt rifles for intercessors, with no special weapons.... Heck, there aren't even any chainswords in the basic kit, even though the Sargent can take them. So why split up the data sheets for the captain, but then have Sargent in the box with wargear that have no bits? It's like the company can't even stay true to its own logic about "no model, no rules."

The cynic in me says that the first launch of Primaris were left intentionally bland so that in a couple of years they can roll out a whole new line of primaris with all the bits that make them look and feel like old marines, so that we will all have to buy them again. Probably not true, but with how much crappy stuff you see in the world today, it wouldn't surprise me. We already have what amounts to DLC skins for this game in terms of upgrade kits, at least for marines.

None of that has anything remotely to do with FOMO though. And has ALWAYS been the case for GW to one extent or another. Why have CSM Terminators NEVER had the full options for guns/melee in one kit, why have I always needed to buy 5 boxes of devastators or havocs (or go to bits sellers) to equip them all with the same gun? Etc etc. That's not FOMO. At all.

Tycho wrote:

One of the things that really bugged me about the new Primaris line was the PC with Power Fist and PP. He's his own separate data sheet in the 8th edition codex. Why? Why didn't they just put a Power fist and PP bit in the box with the full kit?

I mean, honest question for anyone else who has marines. Does it not feel as though the primaris line is poorly thought out? 10 copies of three "different" bolt rifles for intercessors, with no special weapons.... Heck, there aren't even any chainswords in the basic kit, even though the Sargent can take them. So why split up the data sheets for the captain, but then have Sargent in the box with wargear that have no bits? It's like the company can't even stay true to its own logic about "no model, no rules."

The cynic in me says that the first launch of Primaris were left intentionally bland so that in a couple of years they can roll out a whole new line of primaris with all the bits that make them look and feel like old marines, so that we will all have to buy them again. Probably not true, but with how much crappy stuff you see in the world today, it wouldn't surprise me. We already have what amounts to DLC skins for this game in terms of upgrade kits, at least for marines.

None of that has anything remotely to do with FOMO though. And has ALWAYS been the case for GW to one extent or another. Why have CSM Terminators NEVER had the full options for guns/melee in one kit, why have I always needed to buy 5 boxes of devastators or havocs (or go to bits sellers) to equip them all with the same gun? Etc etc. That's not FOMO. At all.

I..I didn't say that this was FOMO. I said this was an issue that I had with GW and it's system for designing units.

I..I didn't say that this was FOMO. I said this was an issue that I had with GW and it's system for designing units.

You quite literally did though:

To reiterate. I cannot buy JUST ONE of these models in its own box. So far, nothing has shown this to be something that will change. As it stands they are only available in SC boxes (as some of you mentioned) or in their original packaging bundled with a ton of other miniatures I might not want.

In the EG (Electronic Gaming) world, FOMO has been used to drive sales and force players into buying expensive "starter sets" or "Limited Edition" box kits that sell for far more than just getting the basic game. It does appear, that GW has been doing this with their recent release.

And you seem to be stuck on the concept that this is some kind of new phenomenon. Maybe you're new to the GW side of the hobby? It's always been this way. At times it probably was a marketing tactic (some Eldar boxes in particular have been eyebrow raising), at other times it was technical limitations, and at still others it was, more than likely just somewhat poor planning, and/or not realizing that what GW thought we wanted, and what we actually wanted were different. The examples you're using aren't really deliberately anti-consumer in the same way a lot of say, EA's anti-consumer policies are. There's a vast gulf between some simple mistakes and technical problems, and deliberately structuring something to take advantage of the consumer in a very underhanded way.

You actually CAN pick a few things that are truly anti-consumer from GW, but so far I haven't seen you use those examples and, honestly, even those are more likely due to reasons other than under-handed policies on GW's part.

 Togusa wrote:

I..I didn't say that this was FOMO. I said this was an issue that I had with GW and it's system for designing units.

I can't remember which it is, the rules drive minis or the minis drive rules. I think its the latter. So someone at GW comes up with some concept sketches (and we have no idea what the brief was for primaris), draws a couple of different bolt weapons, biggerizes them, and then they get handed off to design for mold making and for rules to be made. I'm sure there is some level of communication between all of the above, but the discussion was probably "let's make basic marines a la 30k legions for these guys, keep em siimple". Ergo simpler models (though really nice in execution), limited options (a somewhat recent phenomena in GW land over the last couple years - remember the Space Marine Commander box? That had options!), and rules to make them better than regular marines, and off we go. They'll slowly release new kits with more options, but it'll be with the idea that you're buying new kits, not updating your old ones.

With regard to FOMO, I don't think GW is that crafty. Sure, people snap up LE stuff all the time, and for stupid prices sometimes. I think GW is simply managing warehouse storage and keeping those costs next to negligible by underproducing kits, making them "limited runs", and then selling them out. They don't want the stock hanging around. And they can't always split out every model or character or whatnot, simply because they would have to keep track of those SKUs, and they already likely have multiple thousands of SKUs across all of their expanding lines. Would it be great to be able to get that character from that box alone? Sure. But they're not in it to make sure we get what we want. Heck, I'd like to buy some of the models from Warcry by themselves, but even the characters come with doodads to play that game, which I totally don't want or need. But they're part of the price. So I skip it.

This is exactly the problem with GW's plastics approach. Bear with me. Its great to have models available in plastic, but its come with some limitations: 1) way back in the old days, plastics was heralded as a way to provide less expensive models to the players because Tin and other metals for metal models was going up in price, so plastics would keep prices manageable. Of course, we all know how that turned out. 2) From what I understand, GW keeps its production machines running 24/7 already, and things have to be fit into available slots, or wait for something to open up. They probably need a really good reason to re-run some Land Raiders, instead of the new whatsit for Underworld. 3) You can't just up and cast a plastic mini. Unlike metals and their rubber molds, they could, if they wanted, go back and re-cast a handful of metals to order. Now, if that character is in plastic, it needs machine time, which is money. Plus, add in how they design sprues, and its may not even be possible to just run that character through.

So I think GW's business model is what is creating this artificial FOMO feeling, and stuff being sold out all the time, but its a byproduct, not intentional. No company likes to leave money on the table, and GW, I'm sure, is no exception.

 Nightlord1987 wrote:
I only need the bikes and chainsword dudes, and I kinda like the new Chaplain way better than the trenchcoat pimp cane guy.... so I'll be at the mercy of ebay...

They’re not going to have developed assault marines and bikers and then not sell them separately.

 DalekCheese wrote:

 Nightlord1987 wrote:
I only need the bikes and chainsword dudes, and I kinda like the new Chaplain way better than the trenchcoat pimp cane guy.... so I'll be at the mercy of ebay...

They’re not going to have developed assault marines and bikers and then not sell them separately.

Let's hope so, but the question is how long is this going to take? I personally did not pick up the 8th Starter set before it rotated out so how long do I have to wait now before I can get a malignant plaguecaster for my DG? If it is going to take them too long I assume people like me will have kitbashed their own at some point before it releases, and then who wants to pick it up then?