2024 Pricing Update

[templargdt]

1 hour ago, Ripper.McGuirl said:

I miss the days when you could slowly add to units as you could afford them, by buying a blister of two guys now and again. Now, in order to add anything, you need to buy a whole box. I would drop $7 10 times throughout the year, but am unlike to drop $70 on anything anytime soon.

If I were starting the hobby now, I’d not know where to start, because you can’t just grab a couple models and see how you like it…most single models cost upwards of $30 USD

Does GW sell any models for 25 dollars or less now?  When my oldest was little I could buy him the 5 man cadian box or 3 man space marine box for 10 bucks and let him paint them in whatever colors caught his eye.  Easy purchase at the FLGS, couple hours of fun for a child.  For a while he was working on a wolves army until the prices went to plaid and it was unaffordable on a child with a regular persons allowance.  

[SkimaskMohawk]

3 hours ago, templargdt said:

Does GW sell any models for 25 dollars or less now?  When my oldest was little I could buy him the 5 man cadian box or 3 man space marine box for 10 bucks and let him paint them in whatever colors caught his eye.  Easy purchase at the FLGS, couple hours of fun for a child.  For a while he was working on a wolves army until the prices went to plaid and it was unaffordable on a child with a regular persons allowance.  

 

Some pre-existing old world infantry sized characters are the same price as blister packs. I can get a liche priests for $18 Canadian and apophas for $24.

 

So like, a handful of metal or resin models that are never restocked and online only lol. 

[Black Knight]

Not sure if this is the right one but this is a new link on the trade site.

 

https://trade.games-workshop.com/assets/2024/05/UKR DtT New Prices 06_24.xlsx

[Brother Christopher]

The worst bit here is that I can't read this thread from atop my high horse. After 3 years, I bought some 30 marines this year. Admittedly, half was second-hand and half was from an independent retailer but I feel dirty about that. I mean, it's a nice feeling, but the fact that I felt that the models I bought from the retailer "went to GW" left a really sour taste in my mouth.

 

By doing this, I managed to average the price of Marine model to 15 zlotys and this includes 5 character models and 3 bladeguards. To add some context, according to GW prices an Intercessor is 21 zlotys, a new Bladeguard Vet is around 50 zlotys and a character is over 100 zlotys. In terms of Space Marines, we're talking basically about the same model.

 

The prices are already ridiculous. Luckily, to me this isn't actually a matter of hobby-budget; it's a matter of principal. Especially since in the (war)gaming hobby space there are better, more complete products for a similar price.

 

In my opinion, GW deserves to be chastised. The good things they do gets lost in the problems with pricing, supply, horrendous repackaging of models (for an even more premium price, e.g. the SM combat patrol based on Leviathan leftovers) poor rules and dreadful information policies, especially in light of them discontinuing models and ranges.

 

I'm looking forward to them changing but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

Regardless, I'll be looking for that high horse of mine and after this relapse, I'll continue to watch GW's anti-consumer practices from the sidelines. After I'll do my penance, that is.

Edited May 10 by Brother Christopher

[Brother Captain Arkley]

15 hours ago, Halandaar said:

 

What I find sort of disingenuous about this is the idea that "struggling" people are being priced out by GW specifically, and not every other cost in their life. GW's prices aren't changing in a vacuum and even if the percentages across all costs were equal, the impact of those percentages is obviously way bigger on the larger costs.

 

Like I have said on this thread money is not the issue for me. I could goto GW direct and buy 3 of each marine item from the HH or 40k side and not bat an eye.

 

For me now its principle, I hate the FOMO side of their business so much now.

 

Oh you want this Ltd Book? Oh good luck? Oh you want just this model locked into box for months? Sucks to be you. The thing that sickens me to the core is a few years back I was that that defended all their crap.

 

The new Chaos Lords pissed me off so much - Both locked into different boxes for at least 3-6 months? Oh I get what they are doing 100% I am not dumb... But how many of our Chaos brothers want just the Lords? I know 2 dudes rl that have so much Chaos and just want the Lords.

 

I am not priced out, far from it. But I am done being a white knight for a corp. 

 

Costs overall have gone up, GW is a luxury product 100%, but GW have been screwing over other areas of this world long before the big rise in costs. Aus being a prime example. Its greed pure and simple.

 

I get why people turn to FORGEworlds, 2nd Hand and 3D Printing. Each have their shades of grey - But its your hobby. 

 

Our journey to whatever outlet is different. 

Edited May 10 by Brother Captain Arkley

[GreenScorpion]

To be honest the most important step for me was realizing that my hobby was building, converting and painting, not buying GW miniatures.

The last direct purchase I made from GW was 2019, the last models I bought through a retailer were purchased in 2020 and the last item from GW was in mid 2021 (the paint and tools kit from 9th edition).

After the difficulty in getting GW stuff from retailers in 2021 and my return from Ireland to Portugal in the same year (with a quite obvious change in income, roughly to half) it was just not worth it to get GW models when I could have the same hobby enjoyment with models from other companies.

Strangely enough most of what I have been buying is still from the UK (through EU retailers) but those items don't have as much trouble with availability or knowing which ones are limited production or regular items and the prices are also significantly lower without any major problem in terms of quality (meaning that the reason they are cheap has nothing to do with doing a very low effort, quite the opposite).

 

I am not saying that I won't buy a GW kit in the future if I think it is worth the price tag for me, but most items on my wishlist aren't sold by GW and I am happy with that (which still doesn't mean I buy everything that I like, money is a limitation as well as space inside the house).

[Mogger351]

2 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Not sure if this is the right one but this is a new link on the trade site.

 

https://trade.games-workshop.com/assets/2024/05/UKR DtT New Prices 06_24.xlsx

There seems to be a lot of kits simply not listed, so unclear atm if that is comprehensive, but if it is they've reached a 3% average as advertised.

 

Am I being blonde, is UK for UK retail? I assumed so as the prices for the bigger items looked to match in £, but some others I've spotted are way off. Nobz are £24 in the webstore and showing as increasing from 35-37.

Edited May 10 by Mogger351
Adding context

[darkhorse0607]

1 hour ago, Brother Captain Arkley said:

I hate the FOMO side of their business so much now.

 

Oh you want this Ltd Book? Oh good luck? Oh you want just this model locked into box for months? Sucks to be you.

 

Yeah, I wonder if in the long term their business practices will cause more of an impact than their prices.

 

Anecdotally, for me, I've skipped buying stuff more because of the background stuff more than because of how much it costs. Granted there are some exceptions, like I've wanted a Cerastus Knight since the plastic ones launched but can't justify the cost right now and for those that are truly priced out of the hobby I really feel for you

 

But that pales in comparison to all the purchases I've skipped because of the business practices along side of it

 

-chaos lord is a perfect example. I want the new lord on rock. I don't need/want the whole box. They won't let me buy lord on rock by itself so I just don't get it. Eventually it might come out separately but thanks to GWs marketing cycle, my eyes may be somewhere else (or I just forget/lose hype) so I just never end up getting it. Thats applied to so many products over the last two years that I have lost count.

 

-limited edition fomo is another one. Book gets announced, really like the LE variant. Try to buy it and it's a nightmare like it often is (hello end and the death), eventually don't get it and it puts me off from the process of attempting to buy it so much that I either don't get it, or just get the audible version

 

-the extended hype cycles. Maybe I'm the only one that it applies to, but when they start hype cycles literally 4-6 months in advance I'm so sick of hearing about it that whatever hype I had is dead

 

Those are just some examples and while I don't think they all apply to everyone,  I think many eventually encounter their (as in the issue that breaks that particular camels back) issue. Unfortunately for GW, it seems as though they have more of these issues over time, not less, and if you combine them with the high cost of living/pricing issue, it might affect them more than just the prices alone

 

Oh well. I'm sure they don't care much for the customer experience as they keep posting record profits

[TheArtilleryman]

1 hour ago, darkhorse0607 said:

I want the new lord on rock. I don't need/want the whole box. They won't let me buy lord on rock by itself so I just don't get it. Eventually it might come out separately but thanks to GWs marketing cycle, my eyes may be somewhere else (or I just forget/lose hype) so I just never end up getting it. Thats applied to so many products over the last two years that I have lost count.

 

EBay box splitter - job done. If you want that Lord then someone will be selling it separately on eBay.

[skylerboodie]

2 hours ago, Mogger351 said:

There seems to be a lot of kits simply not listed, so unclear atm if that is comprehensive, but if it is they've reached a 3% average as advertised.

 

Am I being blonde, is UK for UK retail? I assumed so as the prices for the bigger items looked to match in £, but some others I've spotted are way off. Nobz are £24 in the webstore and showing as increasing from 35-37.

Yeah this list seems helpful but a lot of missing stuff for some reason.

 

The Orks at £35 appear to be the recent Made to Order ones (there are quite a few MTOs on here, as well as OOP stuff), so the increases seem to have been applied without much checking.

[Mogger351]

33 minutes ago, skylerboodie said:

Yeah this list seems helpful but a lot of missing stuff for some reason.

 

The Orks at £35 appear to be the recent Made to Order ones (there are quite a few MTOs on here, as well as OOP stuff), so the increases seem to have been applied without much checking.

I think it's direct order only kits.

[Robbienw]

I don't get the anger over new models in box sets first thing.  They are just trying to tempt you to buy a big set, resist the urge to have the new model instantly.  The model/squad will be out within 2-3 months.  And if you really want it now you can probably get it from someone on ebay or a bits site that breaks the contents up, probably for similar price to what it will be on single release. 

[Lupercals chosen]

As someone who's been in the hobby for the best part of 30 years, even though we knew this was coming, this still makes me sad to see. Not just the price increases but the outcry from what feels like the community as a whole. Yes, there are cheaper hobbies out there. Yes, noones putting a gun to my head to make my spend my money on this hobby. And yes, there are other minature makers out there. But I like this one.... I just don't think they like me back in the same way....

 

The warcom post felt a bit tone deaf, cold even but maybe give us a carrot for a change and not just the stick? Sure increase prices again if that's really what you have to do, but recognise the financial strain it might put on your target audience and follow that up with a 15% discount off this line/faction this month or a 3 for 2 sale on certain boxes to help sugar coat the pill. I know the whole topic of discounts and sales has been discussed elsewhere so I'm not looking to open that can of worms but give us something, please....

 

[Kallas]

43 minutes ago, Robbienw said:

I don't get the anger over new models in box sets first thing.  They are just trying to tempt you to buy a big set, resist the urge to have the new model instantly.  The model/squad will be out within 2-3 months. 

Here's the thing: it didn't used to be like this. You used to be able to buy models in their own kits, separately.

 

A new Chaos Lord came out fifteen years ago? Ok, you can buy the Chaos Lord.

New Chaos Lord today, you have to buy the box or wait. 

 

That's the thing, they're pushing FOMO business practices ("You've got to buy it now, in this big box, or else you're gonna have to wait for 2/3/6/8 months until it comes out on its own, and who knows how long it will stay in stock when it does!") and you're defending it as a moral failing on the individual's part while entirely ignoring the insidious business practice that literally preys upon human psychology.

 

Also, you claim "The model/squad will be out wihtin 2-3 months" - tell me, when did they release the Suppressors as a separate kit..?

[Robbienw]

Suppressors is a different thing though, they were part of a set and came on mixed sprues, they've just never been realised as a separate unit on their own for some reason.

 

I'm talking about Characters like the Chaos Lords and stuff like the Kill Team squads that come out in big boxsets and are then invariably released as single sets 2-3 months later in 99.9% of cases. 

 

They've done this for a while now, its not a new thing.  Its not as bad a thing as the army sets in the 2000's that would contain a single limited model that never got a re-release.

 

Just wait for 2-3 months to buy the model, resist the urge to have it instantly, its not long to wait.

 

 

[Mogger351]

13 minutes ago, Kallas said:

Here's the thing: it didn't used to be like this. You used to be able to buy models in their own kits, separately.

 

A new Chaos Lord came out fifteen years ago? Ok, you can buy the Chaos Lord.

New Chaos Lord today, you have to buy the box or wait. 

 

That's the thing, they're pushing FOMO business practices ("You've got to buy it now, in this big box, or else you're gonna have to wait for 2/3/6/8 months until it comes out on its own, and who knows how long it will stay in stock when it does!") and you're defending it as a moral failing on the individual's part while entirely ignoring the insidious business practice that literally preys upon human psychology.

 

Also, you claim "The model/squad will be out wihtin 2-3 months" - tell me, when did they release the Suppressors as a separate kit..?

They also used to put limited ed minis in box sets and never release them 20 years ago, it took a long time for a necron lord with staff of light to release iirc.

[Kallas]

3 minutes ago, Robbienw said:

Suppressors is a different thing though, they were part of a set and came on mixed sprues, they've just never been realised as a separate unit on their own for some reason.

Yes, it's almost like they're not released as a separate kit...which is counter to what you say happens. Sure, it definitely does happen for almost all kits - but the point is that this practice is, simply, quite predatory. It is fueling the FOMO aspect that you seem to think doesn't matter.

 

4 minutes ago, Robbienw said:

They've done this for a while now, its not a new thing. 

That doesn't make a practice good (for the consumer, anyway), it's just means it's persisted. Also, as mentioned, prior to this being a thing, you could just buy the individual kit without having to wait - and that was fine for people, but GW decided that the less consumer-friendly system needed to change.

 

4 minutes ago, Robbienw said:

Just wait for 2-3 months to buy the model, resist the urge to have it instantly, its not long to wait.

Personally, I haven't bought anything GW for well over a year and a half - because the last thing I bought was a pair of Ironclad Dreadnoughts before they canned them and handed me my final straw. I'm not succumbing to FOMO (nor am I succumbing to it in the various digital games I'm playing either), but that doesn't mean I should just sit back and let FOMO practices proliferate without pushback, especially when people like yourself are perfectly fine with anti-consumer practices just because you aren't affected, apparently.

 

Simply, these practices aren't consumer friendly. They are designed to take advantage of people, and when it's combined with supply chain issues (either unintended or deliberate, it's hard to tell) it creates the feedback loop that drives FOMO. 

  

8 minutes ago, Mogger351 said:

They also used to put limited ed minis in box sets and never release them 20 years ago, it took a long time for a necron lord with staff of light to release iirc.

Does that make it ok now somehow?

[Robbienw]

13 minutes ago, Kallas said:

Yes, it's almost like they're not released as a separate kit...which is counter to what you say happens.

You are picking on a single case of a unit on a mixed sprue to be deliberately argumentative.  If you are upset by that you should contact GW to ask why they've never done a multi-part version.  The new units I am talking about in boxsets are usually released within 2-3 months in 99.9% of cases.

 

13 minutes ago, Kallas said:

That doesn't make a practice good (for the consumer, anyway), it's just means it's persisted.

 

Doesn't make it bad either.  Businesses do all kinds of things to tempt customers.  No one is forcing people to buy the models this way.

 

13 minutes ago, Kallas said:

Personally, I haven't bought anything GW for well over a year and a half

 

So why are you complaining then? 

 

13 minutes ago, Kallas said:

Simply, these practices aren't consumer friendly. They are designed to take advantage of people, and when it's combined with supply chain issues (either unintended or deliberate, it's hard to tell) it creates the feedback loop that drives FOMO. 

  

Does that make it ok now somehow?

 

Its waiting 2-3 months for a model.  That is really not long.  It seems your only complaint is you can't get the model the moment it first becomes available, this can be alleviated by buying one off a box splitter if you must have it asap.

 

If collectors as a whole were patient and waited for the model to come out seperately, they would stop doing these boxsets with early new models 

Edited May 10 by Robbienw

[Mogger351]

8 minutes ago, Kallas said:

 

Does that make it ok now somehow?

No, but you made the statement:

 

Quote

A new Chaos Lord came out fifteen years ago? Ok, you can buy the Chaos Lord.

New Chaos Lord today, you have to buy the box or wait. 

That Necron lord was in their 3rd ed limited run launch box. That loadout was never produced again until 5th ed which is obviously far worse than now, see also, Anghor Prok, Archaon on foot and many other minis that were never again seen due to being limited run despite being legitimate game entries. So in contrast, yes you can wait 2 months, it's an improvement even if not perfect. There's a big leap between "you can never get this thing again" and "practice a small amount of patience which you can easily circumvent via ebay", even if it's not ideal.

[Halandaar]

2 hours ago, Kallas said:

A new Chaos Lord came out fifteen years ago? Ok, you can buy the Chaos Lord.

New Chaos Lord today, you have to buy the box or wait. 

 

Battle Standard Bearers in Fantasy were routinely locked into army sets and never released as standalone minis. The idea that this is a new/recent practice is incorrect. 

[Kallas]

2 hours ago, Robbienw said:

So why are you complaining then? 

Because the hobby becoming worse is something I don't want. If it wasn't getting worse, I probably wouldn't have left; and if it stopped getting worse and started getting better I would get back into it, but all signs point to GW pushing further into less healthy practices and more into anti-consumer ones.

 

2 hours ago, Robbienw said:

You are picking on a single case of a unit on a mixed sprue to be deliberately argumentative.  If you are upset by that you should contact GW to ask why they've never done a multi-part version.  The new units I am talking about in boxsets are usually released within 2-3 months in 99.9% of cases.

Yes, it's an extreme example of course. But the point is still about the consumer unfriendly practices.

 

2 hours ago, Mogger351 said:

That Necron lord was in their 3rd ed limited run launch box. That loadout was never produced again until 5th ed which is obviously far worse than now, see also, Anghor Prok, Archaon on foot and many other minis that were never again seen due to being limited run despite being legitimate game entries. So in contrast, yes you can wait 2 months, it's an improvement even if not perfect. There's a big leap between "you can never get this thing again" and "practice a small amount of patience which you can easily circumvent via ebay", even if it's not ideal.

34 minutes ago, Halandaar said:

Battle Standard Bearers in Fantasy were routinely locked into army sets and never released as standalone minis. The idea that this is a new/recent practice is incorrect. 

And the point of it still being consumer unfriendly still stands, regardless of the minutiae of how many were available separately over time - I'll concede there were certainly more previously than I thought, but it's still not a good practice for the consumer.

 

But no, of course it's just customers being entitled, nothing that the company does is ever wrong.

[Mogger351]

15 minutes ago, Kallas said:

Because the hobby becoming worse is something I don't want. If it wasn't getting worse, I probably wouldn't have left; and if it stopped getting worse and started getting better I would get back into it, but all signs point to GW pushing further into less healthy practices and more into anti-consumer ones.

 

Yes, it's an extreme example of course. But the point is still about the consumer unfriendly practices.

 

And the point of it still being consumer unfriendly still stands, regardless of the minutiae of how many were available separately over time - I'll concede there were certainly more previously than I thought, but it's still not a good practice for the consumer.

 

But no, of course it's just customers being entitled, nothing that the company does is ever wrong.

Both Halandaar and I simply asserted your statement about it being a decline in practice was wrong. My words were "it's not perfect" to have a time delay on releasing on their own. Neither of us said it was good for the consumer, nor that GW was beyond reproach.

[Halandaar]

Agree it isn't great, but it doesn't really fit into the category of FOMO because you aren't going to miss out by not buying the army box; these things are going to be regular range items in just a few weeks/months (and if we're all being honest with ourselves, that's probably before we've painted our existing stuff anyway). 

 

Another side though is what are the actual models/units involved, because that does actually make a difference. If it's essentially just a rescale/glowup of an older model that already had a mini then it doesn't really matter that you can't get the newer, better looking version for a couple of months. On the other hand, if it's a brand new unit or character or something like that, that's significantly worse because in a supposedly competitive wargame, people's ability to field a unit being contingent on whether or not they could afford (or get their hands on) a big army box in a specific time window is completely terrible.

[SkimaskMohawk]

But fomo isn't confined to events/opportunities that are never available again. It's honestly pretty broad and even ties into bandwagonning.

 

[GenerationTerrorist]

As a pauper working for the NHS, my disposable income is becoming increasingly rare.

(Not the fault of GW, I grant you!)

I bought the Deathwing Assault box, because Dark Angels have always been my main collection since I started with the 2nd Edition box in the early 90's.

 

To be honest, I am at the stage now where I think "Oh, man, that looks amazing. YES - Get it, get it, get it....Oh, I have to queue now? Why does this website not work? Ah, :cuss: it, I'm going to take my Dogs for a walk instead"

 

I doubt I will buy anything model-related from GW for a while. Which makes me very sad.