"GW melting down its stocks of metal miniatures" Topic

Bell of Lost Souls and other GW fan forums are reporting that trucks are leaving GW warehouses containing stocks of metal miniatures destined for the smelter. Wow.

Wow. GW Death Throes Commencing!

Got any links? I wonder how anyone would know that, are there miniature gamers that camp in front of the GW warehouse? How did they manage to know what those trucks are carrying?

Since they pretty much said they're getting out of the metal casting business, why is this a surprise?

Damon.

Yep, I'm calling shenanigans on this since it's posted without a source.

-Will

It was going to happen at one point or another. If this isn't true, it will be at some point. No symptom of defeat, just elimination of unsold stock. Considering the price of tin, I suspect it'll be a net gain for them.

If this true, then it is a smart move on their part. Metal prices are good, and what is being melted down has been redone in plastic or resin and have a higher price point and acceptance for those entering the hobby, then melt down the metal and sell it back.

Remember, GW target audience is one that is governed by parents concerned about the metal poising.

Yup, this does make sense from a market point of view. As long as they cover the production costs and make even make a small profit they have a net-gain

All I am saying is that a major fan forum is reporting this--I am not saying it is true, but it is a rumor out there. I am not asking you to accept the underlying truth of it as fact.

link

No matter the price of tin, one would think a better price could still be fetched online. Imagine selling it on eBay as "out of production figures", setting the price at half retail, and let the madness begin. They could even use a sock puppet account so they wouldn't ever have to admit GW once had a sale.

In the near future, there will be only plastic.

There will also be gamers who wonder why the heck these so-called miniatures that non-GW players are playing with are so heavy.

Seriously, the Grand Experiment paid off. They invested heavily in the plastic casting machines, and the mills to make the molds. These molds need never be replaced either, since they will never wear out.
Keep the mills running 24/7, since they are not making money for you idle. Make EVERYTHING in plastic. (or finecast, whatever that is…)
They found that people will pay prices even higher for plastic one-offs than they did for metal. So, all is good.

I think melting down old stock that isnt moving makes good business sense.

If true, I wonder if the Sisters are destined for a final journey to "meet the Emperor" as it were.

Ahh well, reason to find a new favorite I suppose.

Surely this is the opening of the 7th seal for a GW Apocalypse !

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only restic.

Sure its an old book keeping trick. Sell something off as scrap and show it on the books as false profit, because they will not show the cast of buying the medal or the cost making the product or making the molds used up. (that will be moved back into the past and not seen by the stock holders)

It's not a false profit. They're taking an asset they already paid for and own (the metal) and selling it (hence the profit).

The cost of buying the metal and making the molds and product would have shown up in past reports as the cost of material and labor.

I'm sure they'll also somehow arrange to show a loss on the actual miniatures themselves, for tax purposes, but that's a separate issue.

They're dead to me so… meh.

Maybe this move will recoup some of the hit their stocks took in the last quarter, but it's no long term fix in a soft market.

What a load of rubbish. Lorry fulls? Really?

That is GW for you.

" He who controls the past . . . "

Actually dandandan, "lorry fulls" is not an impossibility.

Years ago they had an open house tour at the then US Headquarters in Glen Burnie MD. Me and the one day to be ex-wife went in, and the warehouse had what looked like more than one semi tractor load on the shelves. They were shipping to the entire US.

Of course it was years ago, and if the base rumor is true, it would be what was left over after trying to sell it off.

What a load of rubbish. Lorry fulls? Really?

Yes, really. I was sent this pic. It is a bit grainy but I think that is because it was taken without a flash so the GW security didn't see the photographer.

I guess the company never recovered when their van was stolen.

These molds need never be replaced either, since they will never wear out.

Not to run afoul of the OFM, but plastic molds definitely wear out. The figures lose detail and gain flash as the molds wear out.

Yes, the mold for the 25mm base wore out eventually. I cant recall which year it was but they do indeed wear out.

Grimm

I had heard rumors that some of the molds GW use are actually aluminum rather than steel. This came up when a spate of plastic terrain models went OOP for no discernible reason. If they were using aluminum molds, however, that would be the answer I think (they wear out faster)…

Damon.

The miniature game equivalent to abortions?

"Bell of Lost Souls and other GW fan forums are reporting that trucks are leaving GW warehouses containing stocks of metal miniatures destined for the smelter."

Is somebody planning an Ocean's 11 type heist to intercept them before they get melted…? LOL

^^That would be the nerdiest movie of all time!

That picture looks legit to me!

And why flood the market with a sale. They figure we will spend our money on their current stuff anyway. Sad waste, but makes sense to me.

If they were smart they would ship the OOP to an undisclosed address and sell on Ebay. Just the rumor of being smelted will jack up the secondary market prices.

I used to work for them. I could see the lead pile taking up a couple trucks easily. The warehouse is ridiculously huge and it looks like the geekiest Sam's Club in the universe inside. What would be even more insane is all the molds for the metal castings. Oh my God there are so many rubber molds taking up so much space. Rack after rack after rack of molds.

I also got the chance to see the plastic injection machines in operation. I'm trying to find the picture I have of the mold chamber. The metal was bright and shiny and to me looked like aluminum.

@CorpCommander – They had their van stolen?

The easy way to check would be to go onto GW's website and see if all the metal models are now listed as "unavailable".

YouTube link

I was at Reaper once and saw several shopping carts worth of still- blistered CAV minis destined for the smelter. Not quite Lorries but same idea.

GW would not only be selling the metal to make back some money by getting rid of the stock they no longer have a "Carrying charge" for all the old stock. (or whatever it is actually called, getting taxed for inventory on hand is a pain!)

Too true ArmymenRGreat, molds do wear out over time. It was estimated that one can get about 3/4 of a million pressings before you begin to see wear on a steel mold injecting plastic. A lot of that has to do with machine preasure and stress on the mold too. Of course, 3/4 of a million pressings on a mold producing 10-minis per press is 7.5-million soldiers.

A silicon mold for metal, on the other hand, gets you between 1,000-3,000 figure before it starts to wear (on average; the spikier the model, the lower the life expectancy of the mold).

If you check out the preorder page for WHFB on their website, you'll see that they are offering a unit deal with 30 metal Dwarf Slayers, so it seems unlikely that they smelted all their metal figures.

They would be playing into ebay dealers hands. Please do melt them down, I have a few left that would be nice to make a profit on for once.

Perhaps they are disposing of their stocks of metal. Not metal figures, but the metal to make them. If they did have such stockpiles, it would never be used, making disposal a surety. As long as someone, somewhere, will pay a few dollars for 25 cents worth of metal shaped like a guy… I would think they would keep trying to sell them as such. But I am merely a consumer. This wouldn't be the first time a corporation baffled me.

It's cheaper labor to pay one guy to melt them down in a week than pay scores to ride herd over selling discontinued/obsolete minis for years on end….

It seems a lot of stuff is unavailable from their site, so I am guessing they're scaling back hte metal stuff rather than getting out of it altogether.

GW's beautifully sculpted Lord of the Rings line is virtually gone in metal now, and consequently eBay prices have reached ridiculous level.

Discontinued plastic movement trays that were available for £4.00 GBP per pack of 3 until a few weeks ago are now going for close to double that, and single characters priced at around £7.00 GBP- 8 are going for £50.00 GBP- £70.00 GBP in some case.

A shame as I'd really like to have filled in the few gaps in my collection :O(

Lame….Metal modles are the best.Well I go to other companies now its good that they still use metal.