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<h2>Rick Priestley reports on some important revisions to our range, and the way Games Workshop's mail order and online store service is changing.</h2>

The wind of change is blowing through the dung-encrusted hole in the ground where niffy Trolls labor day and night, fulfiling your mail orders in the time-honoured fashion endowed upon Troll-kind by nature and society. Actually, our mail order chaps don’t much like being referred to as Trolls… it makes them all tearful. They stick out their lower lips and mumble, “…I wanted to be a Space Marine…sniff”. Pitiful really. Anyway, changes are afoot in the Trollery, and consequently some bright spark thought it a good idea to ask me to write few brief words all about it. Even now, you can imagine said bright spark entertaining doubts concerning the wisdom of his decision. I know I am. Ah well, press on.

For years I’ve been banging on about improving our mail order service and adding more interesting and characterful models to the range. “Banging on” obviously pays off, because last year I landed the job of reviewing the range and making recommendations for the future of mail order. Some of those recommendations are being worked on at the moment and will start to take effect next year. This includes simple and obvious things such as being able to order a specific individual model from our webstore rather than a random one, making it possible to buy multi-part models as a single purchase rather than having to order every bit separately, and putting previously discontinued models back on sale where there is no current alternative.

We’ll also be offering a range of models just for mail order, including some new top-notch design work from our finest sculptors - someone will doubtless reveal more once these are ready (my lips are sealed… which goes some way to explain the dribbling of course). There is also a new range of converters’ components in preparation, featuring all manner of useful and inspiring bits and pieces such as individual weapons and equipment, including such things as comms gear and ammo-packs for Warhammer 40,000 and banners and magic items for Warhammer.

So that we can get on with all this new stuff we have to clear the decks a bit and take a lot of our back-catalog and all of the currently available individual components off sale. This means we won’t be selling some very old models any more - although popular collectable models for Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 will be transferring over into the new ranges once these are ready. The individual components will also be disappearing for a while, but only to give us time to reorganise and relaunch our new “Bitz” range. The best and most useful components will be incorporated into the new range alongside new designs and will be available in due course.

If you collect models from our back catalog of otherwise discontinued miniatures, then now is a good time to make any purchases you need whilst they are still available. If you’ve always meant to add that coveted “classic” to your collection, then this might be your last chance. Similarly, if you particularly want individual components for conversions, and don’t want to wait until the new range is launched next year, then it’s recommended you buy what you want straight away.

I can’t tell you exactly which models we’ll be dropping as we’re working through the ranges as I write, so instead please take a look at our web site and online store for up-to-date information. In case anyone was wondering, the ranges for our Specialist Games will be largely unaffected (aside from components). The Specialist Games and models will continue to form part of the range and will be available via mail order and the online store as before.

The wind of change is blowing through the dung-encrusted hole in the ground where niffy Trolls labor day and night,

Insert joke here.

So they'll offer unique content to which retailers won't have access?  And temporarily suspending bits?


If I'm misreading this, someone please tell me.

Posted By Witterquick on 09/14/2007 4:34 PM

The wind of change is blowing through the dung-encrusted hole in the ground where niffy Trolls labor day and night,

Insert joke here.

So they'll offer unique content to which retailers won't have access?  And temporarily suspending bits?


If I'm misreading this, someone please tell me.

They already do offer mail order only models, but I think they're obviously looking to offer even more items.

And yeah, it sounds like they're temporarily suspending bits but it does appear that this will be done with the overall goal of making improvements to the system.

I will restate what I said in my post from ten minutes earlier.

Now we know part of what's going on with that several million dollar webstore change.

Meh. I figured something was going to happen after GW stopped posting the contents of new kits like 3 years ago. *sigh*

On the upside- if this leads to an improved bitz service and more exclusive models I'm happy

Anyone want to bet if they'll start selling plastic bits?

I'd better order that Warhammer Quest stuff today...

BYE

Maybe I'm reading this wrong. Is he really saying they are taking away the functionality of letting us buy old models in order to give us back the functionality of buying bits that they (mostly) took away from us before?

What I'd actually like is for the price of ordering something in Bitz to match the price of ordering it separately. For instance, ordering a Kasrkin Sergeant requires the Sergeant and his backpack. Ordering the two items is more expensive than buying the blister. This doesn't make sense.

BYE

Posted By H.B.M.C. on 09/14/2007 6:35 PM
What I'd actually like is for the price of ordering something in Bitz to match the price of ordering it separately. For instance, ordering a Kasrkin Sergeant requires the Sergeant and his backpack. Ordering the two items is more expensive than buying the blister. This doesn't make sense.

BYE

Actually, if you factor in the labor involved with pulling bits out, making things cost more as individual bits does make some sense.

Vale,

JohnS

Except....your not taking into account what it costs to blister it up(or box it up).

Yeah, I'd say that packing a blister with the base, piece of felt, putting the components in, and then sealing the blister takes a bit more effort than looking up a part code and walking to the part of the wearhouse that has that drawer.

BYE

Arrrrgh! They're discontinuing even MORE old models!!! Arrrrgh! Arrrgh! AARRRRRRGHH!!!

Ahem. Sorry.

Good thing I got that Genestealer Patriarch a few months back. Is there anything else I need?

I like how they want everybody to scramble for classics right as people are trying to save for apocalypse stuff. Classic GW timing.

all very nice and uninformative, but what about a hard date that the bitz services will "turn off?"

A date would be nice. And a list of what they're discontinuing.

Posted By H.B.M.C. on 09/14/2007 7:02 PM
Yeah, I'd say that packing a blister with the base, piece of felt, putting the components in, and then sealing the blister takes a bit more effort than looking up a part code and walking to the part of the wearhouse that has that drawer.

BYE

It would seem that way at first, but it is not. The assembly line procedure they can do to make blisters ends up being incredibly cheaper per model, where as the fill bits order separately is slower and therefore costs more labor. It really adds up over time.

If course depending on how they do the molds for non sprue models (is there a separate model per bit? I have no idea) they don't want to end up with a warehouse full of bodies because people just wanted the different backpacks for magnetized models. That's why the bits has only sold by the sprue for the sprue kits online. Maybe they will sell sprue bits like Battlewagon did, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Okay, I went through the catalogue and ordered some old stuff, just to be safe. There really wasn't that much left that I wanted any more anyway. I ordered one each of the old Tyranid Squigs (the Grabber-slasher and the Coffin-crawler), the original Lictor's head, and a couple of sprue of Deathwatch shoulder pads.
I completely forgot to look at Necromunda and Mordheim stuff. Oh well.

Q4 must be right around the corner!

Apocalypse - mad dash to build up your forces! (Or so GW hopes!)

Bitz Alert - Your favorite classics may be discontinued forever! Bitz sales temporarily suspended, for who knows how long! Buy lots now! (Or so GW hopes!)

Now, I'm all for GW making as much as they can, but can't they just call this what it all really is?

Yes because there were three shooters,... oh, I mean GW is evil and is just trying to reap more and more profits. It's all a big, evil, insidious plot.

I guess they are ready to cut a little deeper to pay off the shareholders. This post doesn't tell alot, other then they are geting ready to lay a few more trolls off.

 

I like the fact that they are proud to discontinue models, and fall in line with Jervis's kids world order.

 

The whole reason behind the mail order bits was to get things without having to pay full price, as well as get the bits that you wanted. Bang up job, keep up the great work, doing absolutly nothing to help the bottom line.

 

Any other reason that you can't just cave in and do the right thing?

Oh darn. I was going to order some old Adeptus Arbites models and a handful of Necromunda enforcers components for Christmas (I figured I'd have managed to reduce my backlog sufficiently by then), but now there's a very good chance both the Arbites and individual Necromunda components and weapon sprues will go the way of the Dodo, and for the moment, all my "modelling cash" is tied up waiting for Apocalypse.

Drat.

Can't they just call this what it really is?

Baby killing.

 

EDIT: Crappola.  I forgot about Apocalypse.  I hope I have enough money to buy it once it comes out, on top of my bitz order.  My wife claims that the phone bill must be paid, as well!

looks like I can wait a bit before I put all of my old Fantasy Chaos and 40K Chaos Renegades up on ebay.

that will put it closer to christmas anyway. which is always a good thing.

Posted By Toreador on 09/15/2007 1:49 PM
Yes because there were three shooters,... oh, I mean GW is evil and is just trying to reap more and more profits. It's all a big, evil, insidious plot.

Because pumping up quarterly profits is evil and insidious?  And here I was thinking it was capitalism.  Toreador, you're not a pinko commie are you?

Sheesh!

I was kidding! And since I'm not a huge fan of "smiley" icons...

Oh well!

In other words, GW will do whatever it can to maximize profits (indeed, the *have* to!), but it won't make everyone happy (obviously!)...

It is just funny to read, repeatedly, how much of a favor they are doing us...

I was being a little facetious too

The changes are leading to some very odd bits becoming unavailable, and some huge price increases.

I was looking for the old fiends of slaanesh, I found a left body side, a right body side, both head options but only one out of four claws. DOH!

Mordheim nurglings have gone from £1 to £2.

Here's hoping they get this nonsense sorted out before I abandon GW altogether.

While I'm nervous, I'm still optimistic. No matter how badly GW duffs other things, their bitz and mail order have been the two best aspects of the company for a long time now. The incentive to customize, coupled with the huge back catalog of available bitz is what separates the GW hobby from PP, SST, clix, etc. Messing up bitz too bad would be kililng the goose that laid the golden egg.

I'm guessing things will be lean for a while, some prices will go up, but we'll have a deep and broad bitz catalog soon. I hope.

Hopefully this will allow us access to some really cool, specialized models that wouldn't sell well at the retail level.  I also really like the idea of bitz specially designed for conversions.