Thursday, May 24, 2012

GW Price Increases coming again!



Well, it is that time of year and we are bracing for another Games Workshop price increase.  Rumors are a 4% across the board increase, but other retailers have said the price increase is 5-20%.  Here are two examples which would, frankly, be SHOCKING.

$ 82 for a Stormraven
$ 75 for a Land Raider

Now I was just paying $ 50 for a Land Raider two years ago.  You mean to tell me they will rise 50% in just two years?  A Stormraven is That is ludicrous.  With inflation so low to be almost non-existant, there is no justification for these price increases.  And while I readily admit to being a GW fanboy, I can't justify these constant, excessive price increases.  There is no macro-economic justification for this.  In addition, there is a real economic impact on GW.  And it means the hobby is more expensive and will thus attract less new people.

The simple fact that a start box has risen from $ 50 to $ 100 in the past 4 years shows you that there are some serious strategic decisions that are being, IMHO, mishandled.  It is EASY to sell a parent or kid a $ 50 boxed set, especially one with so much value as Assault on Black Reach.  But ask them for $ 100 and you have made an easy impulse purchase into a major decision.

Now take gamers and ask them to start spending $ 82 on a Stormraven?  That is a huge chunk of change.  And almost every gamer I know has changed their buying habits in some way  They have:

1)  Started buying from discounters.

2)  Have cut back in their purchases.

3)  Slowed the rate of their purchases.

4)  Limited impulse purchases.

Now I have done ALL FOUR.  Being single and with no kids, I have more disposable income than most.  But I have slowed way down because of the price increases.  Even my Forgeworld orders have slowed down, because they release so much stuff!

Well, those are my thoughts.  What are yours?

Loken


18 comments:

KP said...

Impulse buys are definitely out and eBay purchases are up. For me, however, this is a catch 22 as my FLGS is a GW store. If I don't buy from the store, the store goes away and I'm left with few/no local gaming locations...

CaulynDarr said...

I would have been happier with them making the Land Raider OOP than charging $75 bucks for it.

Rabscutle said...

I've done all 4. While I'm prepping for the War Games Con Narrative Event I've been buying a few things, but my impulse purchase are almost non-existent at this point when it comes to 40k. All of my 40k purchase are well planned, especially Forge World. I want many things, but will look to do more made from scratch/kit bashing because it just costs too damn much.

Online retailers off too much of a discount to want to buy this stuff at the FLGS. God love 'em, but tax on top of $100 worth of minis vs $70 free shipped is just no contest. I get more with my money online. I always make sure to buy things at the FLGS, but it has become less and less GW and more about terrain for a home table or other games.

I would already be building a Blood Angels and an Ogre Kingdoms army, but the pricing just makes me think better of it. Those models are gorgeous, and the idea of all Sanguinary Guard or All Ogre Cav makes me giddy as a builder, but the price is just too high.

Especially with games like Warmachine/Hordes and Dust out there, the alternatives are available. If you haven't looked at Dust Warfare, it is fantastic. I bought a full army (800 points, which is more than I will likely ever play in 1 game) for under 200. It is that cheap, and the game is EXCELLENT. W/H is a favorite because of how different a pace it is and I like the rule set.

But I digress.... The cost of this game has always been a luxury, but this has become ridiculous.

Unknown said...

Is this a rumor or is it confirmed?

SandWyrm said...

At some point, the fun just isn't worth the expense.

Three years ago, I switched to buying mostly from eBay.

Two years ago, I started scaling back my purchases to only the most cost-effective, well-planned expansions.

One year ago, I stopped buying GW's products completely. I only have a Necron codex because I could buy it with tourney winnings.

Eventually, I just stopped playing 40K altogether. I still have 2 armies, but I'm just not interested in the game anymore. Why? Well I got into another game with a very low cost of Entry, better rules, and less expensive model options.

So now I play Flames of War. For the same cost as a cheap $400-$500 Marine army, I have enough Germans (5000 points) for 3-4 good builds that each play very differently. When I want to try a new unit, I pay between $12.50 and $24.00 at the local store for it. In metal. Mostly in blisters.

It's enormously freeing. You don't realize how stressful GW's 'hobby' is until you finally break free. :)

AsherPR011 said...

"$75 for a Thunderhawk"? ...typo?

jmvllm@gmail.com said...

I basically here in Spain, in GW stores buy little, only the essentials, the rest we buy from Maelstrom, that even this in the UK, I find it cheaper than here. Some things have no choice, such as special matrices, but practically everything I buy in Maelstrom. The truth is that the price rise is brutal and more like this around here in Spain the issue of labor. Also I must say that the alternatives in these last years have won many integers, for example recently ordered the Crazy Box Mantic for 35 euros with shipping included, and were coming 86 minis.
And right here in this country we have many alternatives as they do a fantastic Gamezone miniatures for Fantasy, Avatars of Wars, Tercio Creativo with 1650 and some more that I can not remember right now.

Kurorahk said...

Well this will make it a lot harder to work on my armies, at this point I am relying on sales from none GW stores and hitting up Ebay at times for parts. Because this is just maddening. I still am not over the $30 USD price point of just Cadian Shock Troopers, now it will be going up again for barely anything.

But then again, already limited myself to 1-3 GW products per month so long as they are under $40. Sorry I love 40K but this is turning me away.

Also frightens me to think how much 6th edition codex's and the core rule book is going to cost.

Loken said...

Typo corrected, Land Raider, not Thunderhawk.

Alec

Anonymous said...

Agree 100%. This is just Tom Kirby making a cash grab. I used to be tempted by every new army release, but now I'm much more calculated. I've managed to resist temptation on every army in the last 5 years except Dark Eldar.

Ironically enough, these prices would probably be more difficult to resist if I had time to save up for them, but with the new release window of a week it's no problem to say "oh well, didn't need it anyway."

Almost a decade ago I saw pics of the Kasrkin at a games day and over the next 6 months I saved enough to start a guard army that has grown to 10k points. That wouldn't happen now.

CLBenarius said...

Well i too only buy from discount retailers, no longer impulse buy and only purchase what i have time to paint and is essential to my army. The only exception is my primary army, for which i want every option. However i have also been buying more miniatures from other manufacturers and expect this too increase as gw cuts on its tourneys, i attend more independant tourneys and the other brand stuff is getting better and better in quality.

In do wonder how this move fits in your opinion of the CEO since you said your convo with him convinced you he is a competent executive. Can you elaborate on this Loken?

Unknown said...

While price rises are no laughing matter, I can't help but give a slight chuckle that you're upset at the prospect of paying $82 for a Stormraven. How would you loke to be paying $110 for a Stromraven? That's what GW charges for one here in Australia and bear in mind there's only a few cents defference between the USD and AUD. So in Oz dollars your $82 is actually $84, still not $110.

Anonymous said...

Well, I have done ALL FOUR and then some. I typically only purchase the larger sets (one at my birthday and one at Christmas when I have "disposable" income), and then I kit bash as much as possible to get a better bang for the buck!
- Wild Bill

Globalsmack said...

Its a catch 22. Buying less leads to raising prices to compensate for loss income.

I urge people to wait until we see the 6e comp rules. I have a feeling that we will see the need for more core troops vs the extras. Notice marines and rhinos are only seeing a slight increase. It may end up being hard to get more than one landraider into a list. Thus they wont sell as many and we see the big price hike.

Anyways as i always say as long as they dont re-do your mini it will appreciate in value with time. FOW and warmachine cant offer that.

Col. Dracus said...

These price increases are really pushing me into only getting product from local tournament winnings and not from out of my own pocket. This is also making me think more and more about moving over to WarmaHordes.

Aarghal said...

WarmaHordes may be one of the best game ever. But you need players and Games Workshop is THE leader in miniatures games.
I already have a 3000 points DA painted army and enough stock to add some more 3000 points. The prices increase won't affect me much...
But what about the new players ? It's already difficult to convince people to accept to pay 150 bucks for an incomplete army, new prices won't help it.

Great Escape said...

I'd suggest a 5th strategy, that goes along with the others. I've had to focus my army collections. Gone are the days when I could dabble in other forces, or even pick up the Codex for an army and paint a model or two to see if I like it.

I'm down to One WFB force (Orcs and Goblins) and Two 40k forces (Orks and Tyranids). Selling the Imperial Guard and Space Marines to fund new stuff for these... Alas.

stompa said...

You know, as a teacher, I've often told students that just because you can, doesn't mean you should...Now, attach this logic to GW.

They know they can raise prices, under the auspices of trying to turn a profit for shareholders, staying relevant, creating new models, blah blah blah....But, should they? Couldn't they go one or two years without a price increase that will eventually drive people away? Don't their marketing and researcher geeks understand what an economic mess the world is in? Hey, gas may only be at $4.50/gal, but why don't we raise the price of our standard models x% just to drive home how little disposable income is really out there?

I'm not going to abandon GW products because of the increase. I've lived through too many of these events for 20+ years. Like other commenters, I'll just be more prudent and less impulsive when buying. Or...I'll look to other less expensive lines of minature to "count as" for my forces...I seldom tourney play, so why not?

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