GW and their recent approaches

[chapter master 454]

So in recent news, did the battleforces for necrons and space marines just never go on pre-order or was it just like indomintus? Gone before any human being could get a real pre-order in? So that would make 4 occasions now where GW have not estimated demand quite so well. Starting to become a theme with releases revolving around big factions like the space marines and with their recent pushes necrons...come now, running out of stock within the hour is just silly. Suppose we can wait and see if the other battleforces sell out by the time they release but if they do I think we can soundly say GW are needing to maybe invest more in actual market analysts and not just dave the intern for how many of something they should make, maybe less on the IP lawyer budget and more elsewhere I think.

[Dark Shepherd]

Marines, Necrons, BA dice sold out right away

Tau and Nids not long after

 

Its a bit harsh to attack them for badly underestimating demand when we know theres severe production issues and 3rd party sellers got so few boxes and some couldnt even get them

 

Even going back to Indomitus for how much covid is messing up orders/estimates, they sold 25k sets of Dark Imperium, but they made 5 times that many copies of Indomitus and they still sold out right away. How far in advance production is scheduled cant be written off

 

That said they shouldve made more dice

[WARMASTER_]

I second that people need to realise they’re suffering badly under covid restrictions and cut them some slack it’s not currently their fault demand is out stripping supply, they can’t even keep up with general stock items intercessors have been sold out this week, I’m been told from quite a few employees they’re at 50% production at best

[Noserenda]

I know the build a character plastic sets from a while back sold reeeeally badly which put the kibosh on that project originally, a more modern version might do better because you could squeeze the options onto one medium frame rather than two though, and it mostly got applied in fantasy which always sold less than 40k. So i wouldnt say its impossible but youd be pushing that boulder uphill.

Id be interested to hear how the Necrons are doing actually, anecdotally well but thats always a bit worthless :D Its a big test of whether a xenos race can pull in the sales when given a big push ala marines though i think.

[Dark Shepherd]

Necrons seem to be doing great

Conaidering their longstanding reputation in the meta then Nids still seem to be a fan fav too

[Bryan Blaire]

I realize how frustrating it is, I'm still waiting on an order I placed with them two and a half weeks ago to even ship, but production has definitely been impacted, and frankly, they aren't going to catch up until COVID is no longer causing restrictions. About the only thing you could really blame GW for with that is introducing items that people really want knowing that they won't be able to meet demand, but which would you rather have, nothing new or limited stock? Who knows, maybe they will do another MTO situation. On production, let's cut GW slack, it's only right.

[Dark Shepherd]

All of the Combat Patrols selling out their initial productions runs when theyre not even limited edition adds weight to this

 

SW still sold out

[WARMASTER_]

Let’s also not forget that when supplies at its lowest demand is highest ever most people are stuck at home looking for hobbies to do

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

This thread has devolved into looking for things to knock GeeDub now rather than actual issues.

[Noserenda]

Does anyone know why GW doesn’t do preorders like the general term implies? Meaning (and this may be my outdated understanding of what preorders used to be) they honor and make enough stock for everyone who preordered. The way it is now just seems to be a regular buy now, but you have to wait a week for the item to ship and if you’re not the first 100 in queue you’re SOL forever.

 

That doesn’t seem in line with the term to me. If they take preorders then they have their money, why can’t they use that to make and meet the actual demand?

There are a few versions of Preorders and GW does both methods you describe :D Typically the turnaround on production is too long to do make on demand for everything though. I mean look at the products they do use that method on, they usually have considerably less orders but still take months to get into your hands.

[Rik Lightstar]

Scalping is a dramatically increased issue with any product that's got limited supply, we've seen it recently with consoles, even the Nintendo Switch has sold out and that's hardly a new release but scalpers have bought up every current console in sight so they can rinse the Christmas Market.

 

If you think this isn't the root of these stock issues then I think you're kidding yourselves. People are buying these boxes to either resell on ebay or split and sell.

 

Covid related production and shipping issues, especially with regards to the boxes that are printed in China WAY in advance, are certainly a contribution to the picture.

 

And unless we as a community refuse to buy at over RRP from anyone it'll continue to happen.

 

Rik

[WARMASTER_]

Scalping is a dramatically increased issue with any product that's got limited supply, we've seen it recently with consoles, even the Nintendo Switch has sold out and that's hardly a new release but scalpers have bought up every current console in sight so they can rinse the Christmas Market.

 

If you think this isn't the root of these stock issues then I think you're kidding yourselves. People are buying these boxes to either resell on ebay or split and sell.

 

Covid related production and shipping issues, especially with regards to the boxes that are printed in China WAY in advance, are certainly a contribution to the picture.

 

And unless we as a community refuse to buy at over RRP from anyone it'll continue to happen.

 

Rik

I personally think you’re way off on this and that GW make all the models in house and they also now print in the UK books wise because of all the china leaks, I can’t speak for cardboard boxes themselves but CV19 is having an ungodly effect on on production in the UK as is the demand sky rocketing because of people getting back in the hobby because they’re suddenly off work and being paid (in most cases in the UK)

 

Chalking everything up to scalper while admittedly an issue is underestimating the pressure on GW to churn the kits out on a skeleton crew and having loads more people suddenly interested

Edited November 28, 2020 by BladeOfVengeance

[Dark Shepherd]

A lot of the printing still seems to be in China, codex supplements and spike at the very least

 

Think 9th rulebook was UK, not sure if theres been any others

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Everything I’ve pre-ordered the past year has not been any issues.

[Noserenda]

They are moving a lot of book printing to the UK, probably because of Brexit tbh but some stuff will have been printed a while back or have other entanglements.

Tbh given how apparently straightforward it is to set up scalper bots i suspect thats just going to be life going forward for anything which could be scalped :( 

[chapter master 454]

I am afraid nothing is ever just rainbow and roses, I do admit that this thread has gone much further than I expected, I expected it to get to page 5, go cyclic then have the Emperor's Mercy but here we are 17 pages now and while you may say it is fishing, many posts have been large and thought out to and fro about matters that people have felt negatively about. Part of the negativity I feel is due to the world wide COVID issue which certainly doesn't help, we hobby boys need games to play and not doing so can make us quite grumpy. All paint and no play makes player bored!

 

With regards however, you yourself must admit to some failings of GW, primarily the shift away from the E-Pub distribution has been a major hit and especially in these times such a move wasn't the best idea. The App is not a replacement that hasn't met any expectations and that bar was practically a kerb to begin with! The lack of ability to just purchase a digital key to the factions we want without needing to buy a hard-copy codex is actually a major blunder and IMO a major sticking point as personally I don't see why not, effectively you can sell a "rules only" version of the codex. Kind of weird how we keep coming back to options and their declining number.

"Call now and you too can adopt an option, these endangered things are rapidly vanishing from an eco-system!"

 

I also admit to it being a personal matter of complaint that the Primaris kits are not as modular or cross-compatible with each other but it stands that others here have agreed on it, for what that is worth to you. I mean, I am surprised by the complete absence of Ishagu; you say Primaris 3 times and he will appear behind you with an executioner built, painted with a squad of aggressors to go with it :D

Regardless of humourful rhetoric it is something of a legacy of the marine kits to be so cross compatible and universal. You could kit-bash a captain, lieutenant and a command squad (bar banner) from just Tactical, Devastator and Assault kits. Now however you need to find that specific entry with that exact load-out and find that exact model for sale and use that exact one. I mean this is just silly that there are two gravis captains in the marine codex but...where do we get them? One is yet to be released and the other hasn't had its own release yet despite being the first primaris captain of the whole thing. I do wonder what their plan was with that one.

 

People have complaints not only have people aired their annoyances and gripes but also have had fraters poke holes, explain certain issues and even help some understand maybe less understood moves GW has made. This thread however I do feel...is way past its bedtime guys. Let it rest...it has served and served well.

[WarriorFish]

By request, this topic is now locked.

 

This is a good example of how anything appropriate to the 40k hobby can be discussed with fair and considerate posting. However it is unfortunately also a good example of how this was still only possible with the intervention of the Mod team. Enough posts needed hiding to help keep things on track and the topic open, and we really should be doing better.