"What are GW 40k figs so expensive per figure?" Topic

What reasons does GW give for charging the amount they do for plastic multipose figures? Monolopy so charge whatever customers will buy?

I'm confused with the recenr movement back towards plastic multipose figures in 28mm in Ancients, Napoleonics, ww2 etc., how they continue to charge insane amounts for figures. Why can move like the Perrys or Warlord Games produce boxes of 30 guys for $30 USD or so or Warlord 12 cav figures with horse for $30 USD or so. BUT GW 40k charge $45 USD US for 10 figs?

I just don't get the logic or justification other then monopoly on barnd etc., so charge what consumer will pay???????

Because some people will pay that, for some reason.

Yes, they charge what the consumer will pay. Or at least some people (their target market?) will pay those prices. As long as enough people see value in their price point, they will continue to charge it.

In tournament or shop gaming, you may only use GW figures or models. So it's a captive market.
In addition most of the players have not been exposed to other manufacturers so are unaware they are being gouged.

They are very nice figures but come on….

Also since GW owns the intellectual property, GW can decide what the figures are supposed to look like. Which limits the choices further, even if a player was inclined to look at other manufacturers.

Supply and demand.

There's a sucker born every minute.

$45 USD per 10 figures is a bargain compared to $70 USD for ten witch elves considering you need at least three boxes for an effective unit.

Wow.

so charge what consumer will pay???????

That would be how an actual business works, yes.
Welcome to the really real world.

In tournament or shop gaming, you may only use GW figures or models.

Only for GW run tournaments and stores.

Independent tournament organisers and store keepers are free to decide what models they will allow on their tables.

Games workshop also has much larger overheads than say the Perrys. They have thousands of staff, dozens of shops plus their main HQ that all have to be paid for….plus a nice bit of profit for the shareholders.

I would say it is since fools and their money are soon parted, but I suppose that would be insulting to someone so I won't…

Because stupid does GG. I was stupid too once upon a time just looked at their pricing 15 years ago when I was stupid yip I was buying a Box st for £25.00 GBP for 12 figures before postage when the going was £0.50 GBP for a normal mini. So my advice, don't look into the bright light you,ll get more out of you $s :)

They aren't the only one that does it, and yet my eyes are open to the reality of it now.

GW does this and I now see that DP9 seems to be trying this same plan. Every so many years revamp their models and make gamers start over again.
Other universe specific companies follow this same pattern.

I suddenly realize generic games are the better route as they are not subject to this business plan.

Some people really like the GW figures and gaming background and are willing to pay whatever GW will charge.

And some aren't and don't.

I think one has to decide which camp to sit in and then be happy – it's silly to be in the "they are too expensive camp" if really they are exactly what you want to buy. Just one life, may as well enjoy it. It's also silly to buy GW and then bemoan the fact that you could have five times as many figures from a different manufacturer.

GW price is also linked to points value. Cue GW fanboy who will deny this and then be unable to explain why a single hero figure is £15.00 GBP, whilst the general foot are £3.00 GBP a piece. They will claim it is because the hero won't sell as many figures (you only need 1) which is pure tosh as every other part of the hobby accepts the overhead – e.g. a 28mm Napoleon isn't 5 times the price of a single old guard figure.

Really though – "buy GW or don't" is the full extent of my GW philosophy.

Where's Mithmee, he always wades in on these threads? Like a GW Grinch. I'm concerned, is the milk building up outside his door? has anyone seen him lately?
We need to know………….

John

I really like their models, and have a nifty collection – but they priced me out.
Where I would have bought 3 models for 50, I do buy none for 90.

Because the business suits at GW all read the Steve Jobs playbook?….

Largely, most other companies in the hobby under charge which is why there is a plethora of small, one man band garage companies struggling to just about get by.

On the other hand, GW charge what they like because – again to use an Apple analogy – they have built a 'walled garden' which, if you want to play in that garden (pretty as it may or may not be), you can, but you are restricted by their 'walls' (which means only using their figures which means paying their prices).

It worked well for Jobs.

I'm frankly surprised anyone is surprised.

I no longer own a Mac (or have ever owned an iphone…) but each to their own. Same with GW: many like the aesthetic and are happy to pay the prices. As hobbies go, it ain't an expensive one (compared to skiing or motocross or whatever….)

John T

In talking to some GW players, they know of cheaper options, but they play the game, and therefore use the figures for the game.

Even in the historical market, companies have come to realize that they can up the price, because their packaging fits what the gamer needs for he game. There is no having extra figures, no guessing what to buy from what packages, etc. The market is now made of many consumers who basically say, "What do I need, and keep the explanation short!" Thus, they are shown the rule book, the already layout and painted set up, there are the boxes on the shelf, and off you go.

Price, if you are into the game, and it is all that do, you will then pay the price. This could also be GW way of weeding out the people that are willing to play using miniatures from other companies,but even then I see them raising their prices, though not as high as GW, but enough to still be the cheaper alternative.

There is actually nothing to stop people playing GW games with other miniatures – as long as they opt out of tournaments and in-store games.

My Minifigs ME range lord of the rings figures (circa 1976) work just fine with the LOTR / Hobbit skirmish game. So do my Eaglemoss 54mm collectors figures.

You can play Warhammer with Irregular 6mm fantasy figures. You can use Laserburn 15mm figures for WH40K. As long as you don't want the tournament games.

"and I now see that DP9 seems to be trying this same plan."

They've been on that kick for years, actually. DP9's President was on record some years back as stating that this hobby of ours was not nearly expensive enough. This was well before their Hollywood Experiment.

what hollywood experiment? i love heavey gear, but those prices…

Dream Pod 9 had some re-enactors and cosplayers who decided to start a movie stunt company. They made a couple shorts and were trying to do some psychic WWWII bunker movie that seemed to have dropped into some black hole, which is sad because the teaser looked pretty cool.

I think they were also stunt people for Timeline imdb.com/title/tt0300556

It's simple. GW charges what they do because selling fewer miniatures at higher margins to the relatively few people who can "afford" such prices is still more profitable than selling larger quantities of miniatures at lower prices to the masses.

They have shareholders who demand the highest return possible from minimum investment.

i was in on 40k from the beginning(RT). i love the fluff, the miniatures and everything BUT THE RULES.
my son(12 years old) over heard a school friend talking about wanting to get into 40k. my son said " my dad played that game for years. they got to talking and my son loaned his friend some of my white dwarf magazines. after asking his mom if he could get some space marines, i guess the kids parents looked into the "cost" of warhammer 40k. they told him they could'nt afford to get all the things he would need to start.
rules i guess $75 USD
codex i guess $50 USD
a small starting space marine force($$$$)
my son was going to take over my orks(about 4000 points worth) he would have just needed a new codex and a 7th ed rule book. the last rule book i have is for 4th ed. i have over 4000 points of orks bercause my friend gave me his sons collection. and i love orcs. i also have a bunch of RT era metal space marines. and plastis bekies, but i was gonna do something with them myself.
anyway, long story short, i demo'ed GRUNTZ. they had a blast and now they love 15mm(inexpensive) scifi.
and they system(gruntz) in much better and balanced and tanks ar'nt $100 USD and a squad is like $10. USD

Remember, you are not their target market.
They have a business plan, which is reasonably successful and they market to their target consumer.
They provide them with a glossy magazine, or if you like, they convince their target consumer to pay for the catalogue, which has – relatively – remained about the same price as when they started.
Like the Hydra, when their target consumer's voice breaks- the next batch of 12 year olds come along. They need to find an identity and a hobby. The family, while they look on with bemusement and confusion are happy that at least the little gremlin hasn't taken up drugs, and locked himself away on the Internet.
So the critical price for GW is how much will Gran or Uncle Favourite be willing to spend on a birthday gift, or how much will Mom willing to give so she can drop him off and she can shop for a few hours.
"We" are not GW target market, if we were, we would be down there, every other day playing with our friends, using their paints.
Don't begrudge GW their absolute magic usually last for 6 year, 12-18. But our hobby often gets a soul for the rest of their life 😜
I resisted GW magic til they released Space Hulk…by then I should have known better, who buys a Termnater Squad for $28 USD? 😳

The cost of the figure includes the ability to walk into a high street shop and be shown how to play and paint.

You don't get that with other ranges….

Mike

It's simply the inherent draw back of figures that are based on someone's intellectual property and I'd say to be honest a lot of it boils down to that high street presence. GW are paying rents, rates, staff, etc. As a result the figures are always going to be expensive to cover those overheads. The rules will always be in flux because the company wouldn't survive if you could buy an army and then play forever more without giving GW money again.

GW isn't even unique or even the worst example, the price of some of the recent Star Trek and Star Wars games have been eye watering without that high street presence. But if people are prepared to pay, well there are worse things they could be doing with their time and money.

I prefer the old Rogue Trader figs and can't be bothered with GW's fluff or their high prices, so I get most of mine from Ebay or Bring and Buy. I posted recently about getting an Ambull for just over twelve pounds sterling off ebay, I'd seen Tyranid monsters for triple that and had no intention of paying. I'm voting with my wallet!

I must say that, having just assembled and painted some GW 40K figures for a friend's son (Sternguard) their multipose figures are i) very nicely done and ii) have a huge number of options including a ton of extras

Also as noted GW is a different kind of operation than a lot of other mini manufacturers

Good point about their high street presence and higher overhead compared to other companies in the industry. I hadn't thought of that.

Its your money,do as you wish with it,and dont let anyone tell you otherwise.

To the OP: They reason they are able to charge these prices is because they can. If they raise the prices too high, then not enough people will buy stuff and they will be forced to freeze or lower prices. This is not a monopoly, as there are plenty of other sci-fi games you can buy and play using a variety of miniatures. You could even play GW games with non-GW miniatures. Even in some tournaments. (Its determined by the organizer).

There is a lot of whining and insulting about GW on this site. If you dont like it, or are not willing to pay the price they set, then dont buy it. If you dont like the rules, dont play it. And where are all these mythical 12-year old who are the customer base for GW ??? I have seen about 2 people that young play… EVER. Most of the people I have seen are adults with good jobs that allow them the disposable income to buy a lot of stuff.

I think their prices are pretty reasonable, for the most part, for what you get. They are certainly cheaper than some companies out there, like Corvus Belli and their Infinity line.

That being said I'll happily pay for the Infinity figures too because I like them. If you really like something, and can afford it, you should buy it. I have made few miniature purchases that I have not received an amount of joy from that was not worth the price of the figures.

I play GW games, and have 8 armies across 2 systems. I also play historical games, and am right now focusing on 15mm ancients. The point is, the cost spread between the two is staggering. Yet I'll go out and pay GW prices…because the figures are cool. Am I bothered that for the cost of a Space Marine tactical squad boxed set, I can buy an entire DBA army? Not really as that DBA army is not a substitute for that Space Marine box. I'll happily do both however, because each one scratches a specific itch.

Damon.

I love it how cooler heads always eventually prevail in these anti-GW threads.

I have tons if stuff from Ancients to Vietnam War. I used to dabble in 40k and epic 4ok back in 90s having Ultramarines and Chaos in 40k, Chaos Ultramarines and Eldar in epic scale. Enjoyed the game but eventually got out of it in early 2000s. Continued to play other periods from ancients to Nam and thought about dabbling back in 40k in 15mm having sold my wh40k stuff in early 2000s. Shocked that since I started with 2nd edition wh40k is now on 7th edition. Read the rules and thought pretty cool. Checked prices wow, did buy around 2000 points of Tyranids off Ebay. Now looking for Blood Angels.

It makes sense about rights to produce, higher overhead to support stores and expose hobby etc.
Never thought about that u til this thread. For fantasy easy to use other figures for 40k they have the monopoly so I guess that is main reason for high cost per figure.

Where's Mithmee, he always wades in on these threads? Like a GW Grinch. I'm concerned, is the milk building up outside his door? has anyone seen him lately?
We need to know………….

Been busy fixing my gas grill and downstairs bathroom faucet.

But I am here now.

For the most part it is greed.

Take those Witch Elves that cost you $60 USD without tax for just 10 models, with tax around $70. USD

As the individual noted above you need at least 3 boxes or around $210 USD and that is only one unit.

So by the time you get done building up a 2,000 point Dark Elf army you will have spent well over $1,000. USD

The same goes for 40k as well. They came out with the a new Eldar Codex and knowing that Dire Avengers were to go to Troop Choice they once again put the gouge on.

What was once $40 USD with tax for 10 figures is now $80 USD with tax.

Then they up the price of Codexes up to over $50 USD per book and some are even more.

Then they piecemeal some of them so that you have to spend closer to $200 USD just to get everything that you need for your army.

Oh and lets not forget their push for all of their Fanboyz to buy the big models that they are pushing.

Over the last two decades all GW has done is screw/gouge their customers. Their rules suck and they have lost most ot the individuals who were the creative minds at GW.

I have nearly 15 armies for WFB, 40K and 40K Epic.

But there is no freaking way I can afford to buy the most current Codexes/Army Books because those alone would cost over $600. USD

For WFB I would recommend Mantic Games since their figures are far cheaper.

Hell even for 40K I would recommend Mantic Games or go with Tomorrow's War.

There are other places to buy miniatures from.

Some of it boils down to GW owning both the injection molding machines and the programs and hardware to mill the molds. That's a high capital investment. The old adage is that if yor machinery isn't running it's not paying back.
So most if not all the figures now are plastic. Contrary to popular belief, due to milling costs, in small runs plastic is more expensive than metal.
So it's not cheap and they have a captive market.
The Perrys et al have shown that mass armies in plastic can be economical, but for GW armies , you are not building mass armies. You don't have 12 identical battalions.

for 40k they have the monopoly

No they don't.

Mantic Games has both Deadzone and Warpath and both are far cheaper in cost then GW.

Corvus Belli and their Infinity line

True, but Infinity is meant to be played with far smaller forces and the miniatures are far better looking then GW's.

Plus as far as I know they don't have Undead surfing on Serpents.

Plus the rules are way cheaper than GW. I know because I picked up the latest Edition rules for it. Totally contained in two books and no need to buy any thing else unlike with GW.

Mantic Games is staffed by former GW employees who have burned their bridges and axes to grind with their former employer.

Yet, as much as Mantic has earned the reputation of being a "poor man's GW," neither 'Kings of War' nor 'Warpath' could come close in sales to Fantasy and 40K.

but for GW armies , you are not building mass armies.

Gee, don't tell my Ork and Gobin Army that.

I have nearly 400 Goblin and nearly 180 Orks.

So around $1,340 USD if buying this from GW today.

My Imperial Guard army is around 200 miniatures.

My Eldar Army the same.

My Empire army is around 350 miniatures.

I have nearly 2 companies of Space Marines (Dark Angels & Guardians of the Covenant).

So yes I do build for mass armies.

Yet, as much as Mantic has earned the reputation of being a "poor man's GW," neither 'Kings of War' nor 'Warpath' could come close in sales to Fantasy and 40K.

True but if you want to get a new Army for WFB I would go with Mantic games over GW.

Actually I did just that when I got in on Mantic's two Kickstarters:

Their Dungeon Crawl game where I picked up quite a few Undead and their Kings of War 2nd Edition where I flushed out my Dwarves and Undead.

Far cheaper than if I went with GW by nearly $1,500 USD or more.

If I buy anything GW figures it will be:

Their older stuff and from Ebay or some other 2nd hand source.

I will never by their rules again or any of the Codexes because even though I make 6 figures I will not buy at the idiot price that they are selling for.

No one is ever going to match GW in sales, ever… So that shouldn't really be used as a yardstick for success.

In fact, you can't gauge anything that GW does with any sensible measure. Lots of good points have been made in the thread and the further along I get with my own game project, where I have the overhead of paying sculptors and artists and casters… I just can't fathom how these people can charge so much and still be able to sleep at night.

Personally, I think if they dropped the prices they'd make it all up and then some, in volume… But what ever.

I think the reason that people will pay so much for these figures is for one reason alone:

You can always find someone to play it with.

If there is no one at the Games Workshop store, one of the dudes working there will play with you.

And that's really it, ain't it? I love Battletech, Heavy Gear, Infinity and so on… But it's not that easy to find people to play, or make those organized game nights work around your schedule.

And I also want to stress that Infinity, Battletech and Heavy Gear (As well as my upcoming new title, Zone of Control™) aren't really meant to be played with too many figures, so the price is a bit easier to swallow.

Some of it boils down to GW owning both the injection molding machines and the programs and hardware to mill the molds. That's a high capital investment.

Profits feed production & growth. Volume and exorbitant pricing on the previous batch of whatever covers it all. If not, they are doing something WAY wrong. Anyway, I don't see GW launching a Kickstarter to fun the next batch of plastic tyranids.

It is rarely mentioned, but I don't see how B&M stores can afford to stock a resonable number of SKU's at such costs. Especially with prices going up constantly, and old unit constantly being redone, or becoming "Chapeter Unapproved".

I still fail to see how an $80 USD box of a few minis equals "teenager". I can really see me talking my dad into THAT one.

I wondered about this mythical GW teenage target demographic myself. Unless they have wealthy parents who spoil them with large allowances I don't see how this small segment of the market can sustain GW's bottom line in our current economic climate.

All the people in my 40K gaming group have steady jobs and incomes which allow us to indulge in the "GW hobby." It's just something we got into long ago and either never got out of or returned to after leaving it for some time.

The reason is becsuse 40K is fun enough, is everywhere and finding someone to play against is never a problem. Sure, we gripe about the prices now and then but it's not enough to quit the hobby.

This isn't to say that we only play 40K since we do play other games such as Bolt Action and SW Armada. We also play board games like Zombicide.

Funny that you can get into SW Armada or SW Imperial Assualt for less than getting into either WFB or 40K.

No one is ever going to match GW in sales, ever

Really, I bet that Fantasy Flight Games come real close and just might be more.