I've come back from the dead! Mainly so that I can just voice my complete outrage on what GW has done to us Australians. We used to be able to get around the fact that GW spent year after year gutting us with their over-inflated retail prices, to the point where lots of us used Maelstrom or Wayland as our primary means of getting our LOTR/40K fix. GW has single-handedly stopped me from ever making a GW purchase ever again, unless I decide to use eBay to pick up the odd mini.

There are now a couple of places which are speaking out against it and gathering support (this one seems to actually be organised for once) :

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=gro ... 97447&ap=1
http://kirbysblog-ic.blogspot.com/2011/ ... .html#more

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Available for commission painting, PM me if you're interested.

I guess you have not been to the grocery store. I am not talking about decades.No wages have not been keeping up with the current inflation. What part of taxes effecting cost do you not understand? If money is not worth as much you can not buy as much. That should be obvious.I also have realized the blisters still cost the same as lunch. Lunch cost more because of higher taxes in the form of regulation and my money is worth less.

I am optimistic that things will improve. No it is not a pain for me. I already have them all. It is not going to be a pain for retailers they just will drop the whole line.

I am no GW fan if they did not have the LOTR license I would not be a customer at all.


I am with you!

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But none were more dangerous than the Great Willow: his heart was rotten, but his strength was green; and he was cunning,

Real wages have gone down since the 1970s. And food inflation is a very real current issue, a strong contributing factor to recent global unrest. In the west food prices have gone down (as a percent of household expenditures) over the decades as a whole, but that trend may be over.

Anyway, as this relates to GW...the pricing increases bug me for a couple reasons. First, their competitors offer similar or better quality than GW for cheaper. GW is leveraging their brand, sure, but do they have to leverage it to that extent? Second, and this relates to Lorizael's comment about customer churn, I think they'd have less churn and a broader audience if they catered to some vets...seems to me vets are the bulk of the people who create cool terrain, do amazing conversions and paint jobs, help newbies find their way around the rules, etc.

My apologies for assuming otherwise. I tend to read into things a bit too much.

Well the question I have now, that GW will probably answer in the following months, is now that they're going out with metal (mostly), are all those models going to be resin or are they going to convert some to plastic as what some people may want? What do you guys think is going to happen?

Also how many of you will continue being GW clients despite the change in material, price hikes, and control of sales through web site stores?

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My Lotr backlog: 305/952[][][][][][][][][][]32% completed
Painting Lineup: Mumakil x2, Rohan Heroes x8, Haradrim, SKoDA

I have nothing to say on the material conversion right now, as I haven't seen the quality of the resin stuff. If it's similar or better then I'll be fine with it.
I'm being (very cautiously) optimistic due to the fact that, to my knowledge, we haven't seen anything indicating how many models will be in those "Finecast" boxes/blisters. If it's still 3 then I won't spend a dime on them. If it's 5 I'll consider them. If it's 8 then I'll but a few. Fact is, boxes of 3 troops don't make a whole lot of sense; it's entirely inconvenient for WoTR and makes little impact in the SBG.

GW's control of the market via newly drawn-up contracts is disgusting. Who are they to dictate how much a webstore or independent retailer sells their stuff for? MSRRP is the Manufacturer's SUGGESTED Regular Retail Price, not the price they damn well DEMAND you sell their stuff for.

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Gondor: 2339pts
Rohan: 1318pts
Dwarves: 2482pts
Elves: 1091pts
Mordor: 2305pts
Isengard: 1762pts
Moria: 1463pts
Evil Men: 381pts

I'll definitely be cutting back on my gw purchases. Aside from some foundation paints and washes I no longer get any hobby supplies from gw as I can get either better quality or cheaper stuff from elsewhere. Miniature purchases will be limited also. I may get a couple of finecast miniatures depending on the quality as showcase pieces. Everything else I'll source from ebay.

I don't hate gw for their business practices but they need to work harder if they want my hard earned cash.

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Don't care either way on the material as long as the quality is equal or better. Metal weapons used to bend all the time which was a huge pain and you can rarely get them looking great again. So some resin-specific issues aren't going to bother me.

The price per model does and will be the deciding factor if I continue buying. My biggest gripe right now is the lack of info though. I have several metal figures on my wish list but nothing critical. Most are Heroes that I'm not working on now and don't want to add more to my backlog at this time. But what if they stop doing them completely after the metal run sells out? What if they only come back as Finecast but at 150% of the current (already overpriced) cost? What if I have 6 weeks, or 6 months or 16 months to care?

Really [word deleted] customer care to be elusive with the customers, exclusive with the distribution channels, and excessive with the charges. GW must have had some graduates from Micro$oft school of business practices.

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Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

I've been to the grocery store plenty of times, and that's more than a little condescending. As for taxes, I understand them fine thanks. The degree in Economics I have really helped me out with that. Unless it's a specific tax on GW miniatures, the tax system hasn't been the cause for this price increase. Sure taxes on fuel may have an impact on GW pricing, but I already mentioned that (and it's still not a primary reason I'm sure).

As for real wages, they most certainly have gone up and up. I've already spent too much time hijacking this thread, so for the sake of avoiding the need to give a full on economics lecture, check out this. It's obviously not the most reliable source I could find, but it's the simplest.

Back on track, I'm with all you guys with respect to the strangling of Maelstrom and similar independent retailers. It totally sucks, and as an Australian I've no choice but to head to eBay now. Thing is, that and Maelstrom have been the only places I've bought models from for a couple of years now anyway, so GW's move isn't going to channel any of my dollars their way.

Having said all that, someone asked what right they have to demand a price for their products. Well, every right really. As you said (sorry for not quoting properly) the range is their product. If we refuse to buy their products for their prices, well we're perfectly entitled to do that. Businesses can charge whatever they want for their goods; it's not as if they've a gun to our heads demanding payment.

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Feel free to check out my galleries and painting guides! www.freewebs.com/necromancer7

The point I was making (if you were referring to me) wasn't about what THEY charge for their stuff. It was about them dictating what their distributors charge for their stuff. At my FLGS, when something has been sticking around for months and months, it gets 20% taken off the price in an effort to clear the inventory and at least get back the money they paid for it. Sounds like this practice will have to stop, by GW's new policies.

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Gondor: 2339pts
Rohan: 1318pts
Dwarves: 2482pts
Elves: 1091pts
Mordor: 2305pts
Isengard: 1762pts
Moria: 1463pts
Evil Men: 381pts

No need for apologies l should have been more careful. That did follow your post.I can see how that could have been a misunderstanding.

Mr Necromancer I made a statement you dismissed it in effect calling me a lair; If you merely meant to be dismissive or condescending or something else entirely it is up to you to say.
At this point gentlemen will demand satisfaction.To be fair I will forgo pistols. Swords or bowie knives will do.

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But none were more dangerous than the Great Willow: his heart was rotten, but his strength was green; and he was cunning,

Yeah that's a fair point, but I think most businesses would do the same if allowed. From GW's perspective, they're selling to independent stockists for cheaper than they sell to us, and then these retailers are selling at a point between what they pay and what we pay from GW. Effectively they're undercutting GW and potentially making more profit than GW. I think we can develop a habit of confusing fairness for sensible business practice, and what GW are doing in respect to these prices is much smarter than allowing other companies to steal your revenue.

Old Chestnut - I didn't dismiss your points, I responded to them. Something which I'm not going to further hijack the thread with. If you want me to prove you wrong, throw me a PM and I'll be happy to discuss it.

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Feel free to check out my galleries and painting guides! www.freewebs.com/necromancer7

No point really. I will make an effort not to be condescending if you will do the same.

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But none were more dangerous than the Great Willow: his heart was rotten, but his strength was green; and he was cunning,

At the end of the day, METAL models are superior to resin or plastic. They feel better, weigh something in the hand, tradition and all that stuff.
So price of metal has gone up, so why havent cars gone up by stupid prices? or metal tool in the DIY shop.
Its just GW having to please its share holders by making bigger profit, thats fine but dont upset your customer base.

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Harfoots-The first of the Hobbit people to cross over the Misty Mountains and enter Eriador.

No: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_wage
(cites actual data)



In case anyone is taken in by this link, it's a classic case of presenting an argument, twisting it to make it sound obviously dumb, rambling off on issues that are only peripherally related, all while pontificating in a superior manner. Economists are possibly less useful than astrologers, and more easily bought by vested interests.

But anyway, darn that GW! I had a $250 order sitting on GW's site, the start of a new fiefdoms core, and I was waiting for this announcement to see if that would change it. I actually expected I might add stuff. But the whole thing has left a sour taste in my mouth, and I think I'm going to wait a while. Who needs Imrahil? Some people have hinted at a possible "big" LotR release this year. It had better be compelling, at least on the order of the Galadhrim revamp.

Wikipedia. Really? If you're going to complain about my source (which I said wasn't the most reliable) then don't come back with Wikipedia which, I might add, shows a graph that has current real wages as higher than 1964. Seriously, look at that graph you're saying shows a decline, from the start point the line is now higher at the end point. Sure there was a downturn just after the massive economic crises of the 70's, which I don't think should surprise anyone. Inflation isn't the only thing you need to adjust real wage figures by if you want anything meaningful to come from them.



Wow, you really can't stand being disagreed with huh? In case you're ranting about the entire article, I only referenced it for the first point (and pointed out that it obviously wasn't the most reliable source). Also, I'm an Economist so thanks for the insult

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Feel free to check out my galleries and painting guides! www.freewebs.com/necromancer7

I apologize to the board for making a snarky post, I should have taken OldChestnut's cue and left it alone. Plenty of places to hash these things out, it doesn't need to be dragged into here.

@Necromancer7: I don't agree with you, but I didn't need to be so caustic.

at the end of the day we all are friends because we have one thing in common, this game.

So hey, ya, maybe some of use don't agree on some stupid price increase, but should that stop us from keeping this place as a haven for happiness or cheer, NO.

let's put aside the differences and be friends!

You are right...

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I am a ranger of the north.

That's a matter of opinion

Metal models don't break as easily though. The one thing i hate about them is the way the paint chips on raised areas, but that isn't too much of a problem if you take care of them

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A new power is rising