Gotta stand with Thommy on this one. Ok, the rumors about White Dwarf going weekly were true, and the same source stated that Finecast will eventually be abandoned (yay!)… But eradicating 3 armies and closing all stores in Germany? That… Just doesn’t sound right.
It makes sense in a way. As a retailer, to sell GW stuff you have to have a minimum of ‘X’ amount of shelf space. By taking out the products that don’t sell, they make room for others. But what others? I’ve heard they sell more Space Marines than they do the entire line of fantasy combined. So if 40K is where they are making their money, it makes sense to put their resources there. However if they do abandon support/phase out those three armies, that leaves a big gap to be filled. I could see them bringing Chaos Dwarfs over to GW main. And maybe introduce a Cathay or a Nippon army. Who knows. It’s definitely a shake up. And from where we sit as customers, it looks bad now but there is an opportunity there as well. I’ve no idea how this will work itself out but I think the Yoymarts* of the world have GW worried** and they’re scrambling to try and fix things. In general I really like GW products so I really do hope they find a way to pull their heads out of their collective back-sides. As a side note, I don’t think we’ll see too many more price increases; I think they have realized (or should have realized by now) their current pricing/marketing/production system is unsustainable in today’s world and they now need to play catch-up.
*Yoymart one of a number of small companies that rips off GW stuff, uses their logos, and prints off entire sprues at a fraction of the cost yet the miniatures are just as good. I’ve no doubt GW has tried to shut them down but Mr Yoymart just flipped them the bird and said “screw you hippies! I live in China and you can’t do sh!t about it!!”
**they’ve suddenly realized that they’re business plan of being a miniature company is about to come crashing down thanks to advances in technology, better competition, and China ignoring copyright laws.
Someone on Warseer has already talked about how this information is from a German source that misunderstood what they were told, and now their rumours are being mistranslated into English. It’s Chinese (or German, rather) Whispers.
The European HQs are being consolidated. Finecast is disappearing - we knew that though because it was always a stopgap before the move to all-plastic. I’d imagine the existing Finecast range is therefore going to direct-only, which just happens to mean a lot of older armies’ stuff. All the ranges mentioned only have a few (outdated) plastic kits left, so they may go direct-only before they get revamped, that’s all.
No one will get “squatted”. GW fans love to throw that term around online, as if it’s happened a bunch of times, but the only army ever written out of either setting is the one the phenomenon is named for, and even then the miniatures had been OOP for over a decade with no new gaming material for even longer. GW is not in the business of making your toys unusable. Even Sisters of Battle got a digital Codex this year. Rumours said it would happen to Necrons, Dark Eldar and, yes, Chaos Dwarfs. It never did.
Let’s hope this is not right as I have a full metal beastmen army I was going to paint this year and I was also planning on redoing my arabyonnian (araby bretonnians) too.
All the ranges mentioned only have a few (outdated) plastic kits left, so they may go direct-only before they get revamped, that's all.
Thommy H
I am not sure I'd describe it like that though. Very few of the plastic kits for the armies mentioned are really that dated. At least IMHO. TK Skeletons could do with a refresh, but most of the rest I don't exactly see as outdated. Eg the Beastmen plastics are all newer than a large part of the core Empire range.
I agree with the idea that all those armies would be dropped is silly. You can't just replace 4 fantasy armies with more Space Marines and think that's going to work out.
One interesting thing which I feel GW should think long and hard on though. What does this say about their reputation among their customers and GW's inability to communicated effectively.
Very few of the plastic kits for the armies mentioned are really that dated.
I mean chronologically. They're some of the oldest Fantasy kits still in circulation, I think. They might not get replaced, but they'll certainly be supplemented with more the next go round since they're just for Core units for the most part. Taking those three ranges as a whole, they were all developed at the time when basic units got a kit and everything else was metal. None of them have their elites in plastic (Beastmen being the exception with Bestigors and Minotaurs) so if you take out the Finecast there isn't actually that much left. Hence it makes some sense to make them direct-only for a little bit.
One interesting thing which I feel GW should think long and hard on though. What does this say about their reputation among their customers and GW's inability to communicated effectively.
I hardly think every half-baked rumour is their responsibility. If people are dumb enough to believe anything they read online, I'm surprised they're managing to buy GW products without gluing plastic soldiers to their faces by accident. These are customers they can do without, frankly.
As a general rule, don’t believe rumours that a miniatures company who have invested large sums in plastic injection moulds for certain armies, are going to scrap them.
Especially not if you know some collectors of the armies. That’s generally a sure indicator that they’re popular enough to reinvest in.
Very few of the plastic kits for the armies mentioned are really that dated.
I mean chronologically. They're some of the oldest Fantasy kits still in circulation, I think. They might not get replaced, but they'll certainly be supplemented with more the next go round...
... Hence it makes some sense to make them direct-only for a little bit.
Thommy H
No disagreement there. Dark Eldar went DO for a awhile and was revamped into one of the nicest releases I've seen. Had GW been more customer friendly I would have bought them.
One interesting thing which I feel GW should think long and hard on though. What does this say about their reputation among their customers and GW's inability to communicated effectively.
I hardly think every half-baked rumour is their responsibility.
These are customers they can do without, frankly.
Thommy H
First, the idea that you can do without some customers is a very dangerous one. That is one sure step towards business damnation. Many companies have been surprised to find they did indeed need their customers after all.
However, I didn't mean it like that. 10 years ago people would have scoffed at the silliness of the rumours outright, now the majority seem to take them as potentially serious. People no longer trust in GW so to speak. They have little credibility among customers and few give GW the benefit of doubt.
No disagreement there. Dark Eldar went DO for a awhile and was revamped into one of the nicest releases I've seen. Had GW been more customer friendly I would have bought them.
snowblizz
If you like it much and think the price is reasonable, buy it anyway is my advice.
No disagreement there. Dark Eldar went DO for a awhile and was revamped into one of the nicest releases I've seen. Had GW been more customer friendly I would have bought them.
snowblizz
If you like it much and think the price is reasonable, buy it anyway is my advice.
Admiral
No.
I do not reward companies that I feel do not perform adequately. It's doing that which validates GW's perception that they do not need to consider what I as a customer want.
Everywhere I’ve read… Wood elves are the next wfb release (after dwarfs)
Supposedly in May .
. Some of it seems believable but why would they get rid of wood elves? They are a fantastic range of models even now being a few yrs old …
I hope that parts not true … Was really looking forward to them wood elves after I finish my cd’s. Plus my birthday is in May so they would be just in time
Someone on Warseer has already talked about how this information is from a German source that misunderstood what they were told, and now their rumours are being mistranslated into English. It's Chinese (or German, rather) Whispers.
The European HQs are being consolidated. Finecast is disappearing - we knew that though because it was always a stopgap before the move to all-plastic. I'd imagine the existing Finecast range is therefore going to direct-only, which just happens to mean a lot of older armies' stuff. All the ranges mentioned only have a few (outdated) plastic kits left, so they may go direct-only before they get revamped, that's all.
No one will get "squatted". GW fans love to throw that term around online, as if it's happened a bunch of times, but the only army ever written out of either setting is the one the phenomenon is named for, and even then the miniatures had been OOP for over a decade with no new gaming material for even longer. GW is not in the business of making your toys unusable. Even Sisters of Battle got a digital Codex this year. Rumours said it would happen to Necrons, Dark Eldar and, yes, Chaos Dwarfs. It never did.
Like I said: obvious nonsense.
Thommy H
What about my 10,000 pts worth of dogs of war. Now I have over 300 pikemen gathering dust.
so they would be just in time