The Hobbit minis; are those prices for real??

[Dr. The Viking]

I'm willing to pay if they're all cast by blonde blue eyed big breasted virgins

[admiraldick]

we all realise that this hobby is all about luxury items, and we all like to complain about how much it costs, but the latest round of releases are something else. I've always felt that GW stuff was expensive, but i've never felt genuinely out priced of their products until now. they don't seem expensive, but out and out wrong.

£25 for a frankly megre character on horse and foot is not exactly good value. i'm not even sure it constitutes bad value. terrible value is much closer to the mark. their Warhammer and 40k releases are even worse though. i can't quite get my head around the new Slaughterbrute, which is in its own right a reasonable enough model. but I just can't justify the price tag of £50. particularly considering its a multipart plastic model that basically cannot be personalised in any way and is stuck in a moronic pose.

[Timbor]

50 quid is not that bad compared to the $100CAD price tag for that guy...

Funny thing, I was just comparing the regional prices for a couple of the chaos releases and it makes no sense!

Slaughterbrute = 50GBP = $85USD = $100CAD = $96AUD = $113NZD

Dragon Ogres = 35GBP = $60USD = $70CAD = $79AUD?? = $94NZD??

Throgg = 36GBP = $58USD = $70CAD = $96AUD?? = $113NZD???

Somehow when you go below the equator, Throgg goes up about about 40% in cost comparatively...  ignore the fact that 50GBP is actually about $80CAD.  Kinda weird how the relative price of each figure is not consistent geographically 

[beefcake]

I think their argument is they have to pay for a warehouse in the Southern Hemisphere and that's why they increase the price for down here. Personally I don't give a crap about a warehouse, I'd like to just order direct from the uk, postage isn't that much different tbh especially considering postage is $20 for me. It used to be that postage was free at $40orders now its at $80 orders. It costs less getting a package from the uk. Usually that sets me back $12, (£6)
What's the deal with Throgg?

[former user]

Hundreds of tiny miniature companies can exist because the cost of a short production run of figs high as it is, IS still competitive when compared to GW pricing and in a lot of cases the sculpts are as good as or better than the GW fare.

these are actually remarkably valid points!

Pricing is always about what people are willing to pay - GW has long ago started to target the wealthier parents, we are not what counts in the calculation

the GW lament always reminds me a bit of middle aged guys lamenting a long lost love interest 

[Viper]

the GW lament always reminds me a bit of middle aged guys lamenting a long lost love interest  

Sometimes even the things you love end up taking too many resources to keep in your life and you just have to walk away.

Of course unlike with a person most people don't follow what the person they left is doing on the off chance they stop being so high maintenance.
 

[former user]

 
true

I must say I find this a very attractive approach
the same way one can deal with the throwaway clothing industry by buying 2nd hand one can treat GW
buy 2nd hand, support Your retailer

[beefcake]

Yep, in the past ten years I've only bought one GW miniature new, but a huge amount second hand, most of which I have now sold again to make them third/fourth hand and counting.

[Mason]

Yep, in the past ten years I've only bought one GW miniature new, but a huge amount second hand, most of which I have now sold again to make them third/fourth hand and counting.

That is me you are talking about there!
I have bought their old washes in the past, but it is AT LEAST ten years since I bought any miniatures direct from them.

In this case, ebay is your friend.
 

[Arlequín]

I'm willing to pay if they're all cast by blonde blue eyed big breasted virgins

Some of them are, Bob's quite touchy about his 'glandular problem' though...  

The bulk of GW customers are either; largely blissfully unaware of there being anything outside of the GW hobby, hence there being nothing to compare the price to, or that GW 'brand awareness' is so entrenched (hence all the threats of law suits), that anything else is just seen as 'cheap knock-offs', like those two-stripe training shoes you used to find on markets a lot.

In a society that changes its mobile phones every two minutes, GW's prices aren't seen in the same light as we see them. I think it comes under 'conspicuous display of wealth' when you're sat there with your gaming buddies comparing models.  

the GW lament always reminds me a bit of middle aged guys lamenting a long lost love interest  

  Very close to the truth... you even get all of the stages they went through to deal with the loss.



They usually then look for something like they once had...

[Argonor]

I surely won't be buying anything 'new' from them in any overseeable future, and probably ever again.

As stated, the second-hand market is the only sound way to go about it these days, if there's something one 'must' own.

My initial post was more of a shout out in disbelief that anyone is actually willing to pay that much for so few models; I think I reached my limit at about €10 for a mounted Saruman (metal) - actually one of the last LotR models I bought in Kiel several years ago.

I don't question a company's right to price their product(s), I am merely wondering how far they can stretch that business model before the market reacts in a negative way.

Microeconomics theory tells us, that even in a market with monopoly (and I think it fair to say that GW has a kind of monopoly, at least a psychological one), there has to be an equlibrium price, even though it's higher than in a free competition market. So, at some point sales should be affected, lest the fanboy crowd be so brain-washed, that it'll rather buy miniatures than food and clothing (and, yes, many of the targeted customers do not make the buying decision themselves, merely influencing their - hopefully wealthy - parents, but that just - to me at least - suggests that the utiilty-choices should weigh even stronger).

I still think they make the occational cool mini, but, frankly, most of their stuff these days is completely over the top (bigger, skullier, spikier, etc.), and as stated, I never really liked their cumbersome rules, so it's not really a big thing for me to turn my back. I would have loved to complement my LotR collection with some of the Hobbit stuff, but prices and choice of material really puts me off.

The only thing I really lament, is the possibility that maybe fewer new hobbyists are 'created' through the 'GW-hobby', put off by the sheer cost of collecting a battle-worthy force; whatever anyone thinks of GW, many of us started collecting, painting and gaming with GW minis, because they were the product readily available. Maybe companies like Mantic will take over that role in the future, but only time can tell what happens.

[Dr. The Viking]

Interesting points about price elasticity there Niels. But I think the strongest point here is the fact that the topic comes up again and again and... well!

I for one would really like to get my hands on some of the new stuff, especially one of the ork fighter planes or one of the big IG tanks or just some of the plethora of new LOTR things that fail to show up 2nd hand... but my budget of ~£30 a month doesn't get me anywhere these days. 

And it seems hard to justify putting out money for plastic kits I will rarely use instead of some more things for what I'm already doing.

[Commander Vyper]

Hey hey, don't forget you get a tiny little boat and a little rock too.
 

And there's bricks and motar overheads to consider too. Misty mountain caverns dont pay for themselves.   

[Argonor]

Interesting points about price elasticity there Niels. But I think the strongest point here is the fact that the topic comes up again and again and... well!

I know, I just can't help thinking that they must, eventually, reach a turning point if they keep pushing it that way.

At the end of the day, I don't really care about it anymore, though, as I'm not buying their stuff, but I can't stop wondering, never the less. It just seems so unreal, somehow

[admiraldick]

I for one would really like to get my hands on some of the new stuff, [...] but my budget of ~£30 a month doesn't get me anywhere these days. 

this is exactly how i feel. i actually really like GW games, miniatures and the worlds that they create. i'd love to be able to continue to take part in them, but i just can't square the expense with the level of reward; particularly when you consider the innumerable other game systems out there that don't require so much monetary investment (and in the end, they'll be the one's getting my cash, not GW).

the sense of value has become even more poignant since the birth of my daughter last summer. its a long way off yet, but i want to be able to introduce my children to the wonderful world of miniature wargaming that i've discovered and i would love for them to be able to see the games that got me into it for themselves. but i as it stands i can't see that happening. GW aren't going to be making more money from me with their price hikes, they'll just see that same money going to their competitors.

i worked for GW in 2011 and i knew that they were not particularly interested in the customer base, but when you visit the HQ and see 'behind closed doors', you really get a sense for just how little they care about their customers (to the point of loosing money). issues of a lack of ethic and gender diversity amongst customers were raised, simply from the point of view of new markets to make more profits from, and they were brushed off saying, 'we already make stuff they can buy if they want to get into it'. its this same callous thinking that i think motivates the pricing. they want more money, and they aren't willing to consider what impact raising prices will have.