"GW's Lord of the Rings/Hobbit game dead?" Topic

Both, in all likelihood. Space Marines have been such a hot seller for so long that there are immense numbers of them in the secondary market, and not a single thing GW can do about that legally. So they keep adding and replacing, and anything they can now make in Finecast will have to be repurchased in a few years.

Hello for folks still reading this . Sadly I think GW has given up Careing . In the USA this is this Worst economic time I or my Uncle who was 82 have ever seen as far as Profit and making real Money . I have lost my Home flipping business in the last 2 years it is not coming back up where I'm from :-( I would think that Games Workshop would cut there loyal fans some Slack . But they have gone higher for A much lower rather poor product :-,( That cost them Less! Why I ask in this hard time when many gamers have less money would they give you less for more hard earned money ?? I always think of that Very Cool part of the Movie Mr. Mom when his wife talks the Tuna Seller in to Lowering his price to help folks ? ( till these trying times are over as the owner says ) You would think that you and I as long time Fans supporters of GW would be giving a lil back till money comes a bit more for the Hobby ?? But they don't Really care as far as I can see ? Well I do not have any of the Hobbit minis as yet I might buy one or of the Plastic sets but I think not on the fine cast . There is old LOTR hobbit minis you can still find the Super Nice Black Tree for some needs or the Very Nice Mithrel Great prices for other bits . I have even gotten some of the Wiz kids bit ( not bad ) and even old Grenadier models some are very nice even older lines . All metal . All workable ( at least I think for the price ) and many fantasy lines can still be used. I Think Games Workshop should Start Showing they care about the Fans they have and turn back on this over priced fine cast stuff it's killing them :-( I wonder why the guys that started GW that are left Don't think about the Days in the one room Appartment when makeing nice minis was an Art and I think from the Hart not just making money to buy them selfs Nice things:-( I have been a Fan from the first but I'm NOT a fan of them Not Really Careing about my pocket ! I was told at a GW store Buy it or Don't we Don't care lol . Sad way to treat loyal and new buyers . Just my two cents Grey in Va. USA

Well this is GW we are talking about.

It will not be the first time they stop supporting something.

Either will it be the last.

GW exists only to screw with their customers.

In the past decade they have done wonderfully at doing just that.

Original boxed plastic GW LOTR troops such as Uruk Hai= £20.00 GBP for 24 figures, in the ideal ratio of 8 archers: 16 hand weapons where applicable to fit the War of the Ring movement trays of 8 figures and rules on number of archers allowed. Then £15.00 GBP for 12 figures. The Hobbit plastics released at £20.00 GBP for just ten figures, causing headaches in planning armies in the correct ratios. The latest troop releases (rather nice Gundabad orcs) £15.00 GBP for just THREE figures in 'finecast'.

Now that basic army building block of 24 miniatures that used to cost £20.00 GBP would set you back £120.00 GBP! Bearing in mind my modest warriors of Minas Tirith army will be 128 figures strong when painted, and only cost me an equally modest amount buying odd sprues over time on eBay, a matching Gundabad army would cost over £640.00 GBP!

The GW LOTR sculpts are my favourite fantasy range ever sculpted and I've spent more than I ever intended (or would disclose to my other half!) trying to complete my collection, but since GW discontinued most of the range prices on the second hand market have reached levels I can't afford; and the new releases are silly money and in a material (finecast) that I'm simply not interested in unless it's used for large monsters which were always a pain to assemble in metal.

I remember buying 24 plastic GW LOTR Orcs for £12.00 GBP when they first came out. They increased to £15.00 GBP pretty quickly but they were still great value.

I suppose it's worth pointing out that several models have been conspicuously removed from various online stores, too.

Neither Girion nor the Gundabad orcs, who were literally just released, are available in the American online store, and I guess Azog is absent in some other countries' online stores.

I am thinking that GW are releasing minimal Hobbit miniatures as a result of a contractual obligation with the cinema mob. They probably recognized that they were going to take a big hit with the royalties sting and decided to continue with a minimal and cost effective figure release (ie resin rather than plastic as I believe production costs are cheaper) rather than break the contract and pay big bucks in compensation.

I remember buying 24 plastic GW LOTR Orcs for £12.00 GBP GBP when they first came out. They increased to £15.00 GBP GBP pretty quickly but they were still great value.

Yup. And I can buy a box of Wargames Factory orcs that are multipart and wonderfully easy to use for conversions, figures stylistically inspired by the LotR artwork of Angus McBride for a fraction of the costs "Games Sweatshop" charges. I can find scores of suitable hobbits, elves, dwarves, wizards, dragons, and men to serve muster brilliantly for the various factions of Middle Earth, all of a quality as good or even superior to what is offered by "Games Sweatshop" these past twenty years, and especially of higher production quality and value for my hard earned money that the laughably named "Finecast" resin.

I can play a fantasy skirmish game or mass battle using a number of very enjoyable rules systems by simply setting them in Tolkein's fantastic Middle Earth without giving "Games Sweatshop's" frankly greedy, silly corporate leadership a penny towards their inflated paycheck, and do so with a smile worthy of a Kzinti that just finished running riot through a chicken ranch.

"Games Sweatshop" lost me when they went corporate stupid after the apparently unexpected success of WH40K Rogue Trader, and I have not looked back since.

Until they decide to admit the err of their ways and start acting right, the odds are very slim to nil that "Games Sweatshop" will get so much as the time of day out of me. Until then, I'll just keep right on promoting our shared hobby of *Miniature Wargaming* and how to enjoy it without going broke! as I for one never have agreed with the "Games Sweatshop" idea that this should be solely a rich man's game.

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

I think it was a mistake to rename the game… it should have been LOTRSG-TThe Hobbit. Don't you think?

Since GW relaunched their website, fewer and fewer of the figures are available for the original Strategy Battle Game- they've even stopped doing the movement trays specifically desgned for War of the Ring.

Ebay prices are insane- a single Halbarad foot figure with banner recently went for £101.00 GBP; a two- figure command group for Mauhur's Marauders £42.00 GBP; three- figure blister packs of Mahud warriors with blowpipes going for about £40.00 GBP a pop; and a single figure of Duinhir I bought directly from GW for £7.20 GBP last summer fetching about £50.00 GBP

Xintao – This cracked me up…. if any figure was ever meant to be made in finecrap it has to be Thrain the Broken!

"This resin kit contains 3 components with which to make Thrain the Broken armed with a dagger."

I thought that I would come back to this topic after more than half a year to post some additional thoughts. With the more obvious signs that GW is no longer going to be supporting the LotR/Hobbit in the near future, I've noticed (as have many others, I'm sure) a decided spike in the prices people are asking for the figures on eBay. Now, you see terms like "OOP", RARE, and "Limited Release" referring to the older metal figures that for better or worse were never re-released in "Finecast". The inflation is all due to GW's actions. Plastic kits second-hand are increasing in price to match the Hobbit current GW prices, and metal figures, particularly characters, and especially some of the older vignette boxes are going absolutly nuts. And people are buying them, knowing that they may not get another chance. There is only a finite number of them, and that number can only go down as fewer and fewer are available. A lot of people who are more collectors than gamers are desiring these figures, and they're willing to pay a little more for them than a gamer would. So if you happen to be interested in putting together a LotR SBG army, be prepared to pay, a lot. God forbid if you are playing War of the Ring with its greater figure count – you'l have to take out a loan!

You have to do that today with 40K & WFB.

There is no way I could afford replacing my nine armies that I have for 40K & WFB with today prices.

Because it would be in the five figure range.

So I switched to 1/72 Dark Alliance and Caesar plastic figures. Bring it on…

My group now plays fantasy with WotR rules but use the thousands of Warhammer figs instead of the 22mm figures the game was designed for. It is a most excellent rules set, and perhaps the best part is they aren't releasing updates! 😷

The move trays for WotR were only available for a very short period of time.

Supposedly the Hobbit hasn't done well, especially the third movie. All the armored dwarves were released in finecast. That's especially disapointing, if they were in plastic it would have been a must-have purchase.

Complaining about GW prices is old hat, but the single character figures are quite expensive as well – $20 USD for a Laketown Militia Captain? Really?

I think GW knows The Hobbit has its core group of fans, and is milking them for all they're worth.

The move trays for WotR were only available for a very short period of time.

For those that still play or want to play WotR, Litko bases makes laser cut versions of the OOP GW movemnt bases with the proper number of cut outs for both infantry and cavalry bases.

As for finecast…haven't tried it. Don't plan to.

I'm in the process of filling the holes in my LOTR/Hobbit collection. Unfotrunatly, some of the Hobbit figures were only ever available in Finecast, and even for the older LOTR figures, the metal stuff is going for a double premium (for being OOP and for being metals) and given the number of minis I sill need to buy, I just can't afford the premium so unless they are truly OOP.