"Warhammer, perhaps I'm being stupid but...." Topic

Now I don't play Warhammer and haven't for a long time (haven't even really played high fantasy either to be honest), but I did go into a GW store last week (first time for a long while, the only thing I've bought from GW for the last ten years or so is Greenstuff)and that was just to look at these new AoS figs everyone moaning about, and no I wasn't impressed.

But if they are killing off Warhammer doesn't this mean that they (and all the independent dealers) will be selling off there Warhammer stuff at sale prices? I've not heard any mention of this on here or anywhere else, so isn't there any left? or was it sold off a while back?

Just interested.

Cheers Roger.

GW doesn't put stuff on sale. Ever.

The WHFB is selling about as usual so far. The fans want to get their stuff before it disappears, and it can be used in Age of Sigmar.

And a lot of the newer WHFB models will be out soon again re-packaged for AoS. Dryads and stuff next saturday, for instance.

2 in San Diego where I was on vacation, had GW & LotR stuff on sale at 50% off

I'm in San Diego. My local store had all WFB stuff for 40% off. (an independent games store, NOT a GW store)

It's now back at regular prices. I heard (2nd hand) that the store owner didn't know what was going on with WFB, and was afraid of getting stuck with a ton of merchandise.

So, GW doesn't even tell retailers what's going on.

Now it's known that you can use all those minis is Age of Sigmar.

As for me, I was able to pick up some nice models for cheap to round out my kings of War army. :)

But if they are killing off Warhammer doesn't this mean that they (and all the independent dealers) will be selling off there Warhammer stuff at sale prices?

GW will issue orders to destroy everything.

They never sell at a discount.

If anything they would increase the prices.

Stating the since they are now OOP they cost more.

A local games shop was told to return their early LoTR Boxes when the first Hobbit movie came out.
Perhaps certain items will be recalled?

The shops will be instructed to chuck all their Warhammer stuff in the bin. Dumpster diving anyone? :-)

Ah! I remember the days when they used to have great sales in Games Workshop stores (got all my Bloodbowl stuff that way). But as I said I haven't had a lot to do with GW for over ten years now. Shame, if was cheap enough I'd have gone in for a look about.

Cheers Roger.

A happy memory from the 80s (90s?) of being invited into the back of the GW shop to help myself to a massive box of Chaos stuff for 50p a blister or some such ludicrous amount. There wasn't everything but there were a serious amount of Plague Bearers -still haven't painted them all…

They used to have a Bargain Basement section on the website. I got a lot of Warmaster cheap there. Between that, some giveaways from someone else, and when I first got in they made a mistake and sent me double (I'd have sent it back but they told me to forget it), I had quite a lot for not very much. But it has since been sold. Yeah, a touch of regret (as always), but how many games I don't play do I need?

andy

As a former store owner GW would not take back their merchandise when I closed my doors (thanks to the official GW store that opened in the mall just down the street). As a consequence I sold everything on EBAY for 25%-50% off.

It may still be early for this as everyone still believes they can use old figures for the new AoS (although I believe a lot of the current sales are for miniatures that will fill out Kings of War armies). But once GW has gotten about halfway through their respin if Eldar looking Aelfs and all the rest, the obsolescence of the old models will become apparent. (Do you really think the game will look proper if you put a bunch of Elves with bows up against those Sigmarite Space Marines with bows? Visually it will be like putting a Fantasy army against a 40k army on the table).

Store owners should mark that stock down now while they can still make a modest profit off of it before demand dries up.

Let's be realistic (I know that is something of an oxymoron when discussing Fantasy gaming) but stocking miniatures in a brick and mortar store has first, always been a high risk and low return deal for the average retailer. Second, the customer is often fickle and with the advent of easy internet sells and small discounts competition is tight without the benefit of extremely high enough demand to balance risk. Third, the secondary market,i.e., Ebay, Bartertown, and a plethora of other secondary and trade online markets make it a buyers market. All of this I feel is contributing to a rapid decline and desire on the part of store owners to invest valuable square footage and shelf space to stocking miniatures. Collectible Card games, board games, and pre-paints such as X-wing are a far safer bet, although those too can be affected by internet and secondary sales. However the investment in store space and stock seems to balance that out.

As I have mentioned on several related threads here on TMP I have a good relationship with all of the local store owners in our area. Charlotte metro is lucky to boast three good gaming stores and now GW has re-opened a store (after closing the one at Concord Mills years ago) and interestingly they happened to find just the right place to put that store more or less within about 30 -45 minutes of each of these other stores. Charlotte is big after all. Anyway at least two of the stores have seen their sales of GW product plummet. The third store located in Matthews, which is a bedroom community for Charlotte, is perhaps far enough away to not feel the impact as much and they never really focused on stocking GW product.

On one hand I say shame on the customers. In the case of both the stores I am talking about the owners have provided wonderful playing areas with plenty of tables and one in particular has a huge area set aside and ready made terrain. Way to show your support. Second I say shame to GW. Yes I know it is business. But cutting the nose of the retailers that helped to grow your product is a short sighted business strategy. Oh and the GW store does not have space to game but expect the existing retailers to provide that space. Yea right!

Anyway end to a long rant I would not blame retailers giving GW the heave ho and putting their valuable space toward product and customers less fickle and more loyal. Of course I know that many brick and mortar stores also have brisk internet sells if they are smart and can afford the time and staffing to manage such. But there in lay the rub to quote the Bard as many brick and mortar stores are just the owner and perhaps a few staff or family members. I suppose they do it for love of owning their own business and being able to do the thing they are passionate about. More power to them.

Kallman, what are the stores in Charlotte? I know of PBKW. Spending a lot of time in Charlotte the next couple of months and always looking to pick up a few things.

Parker, Banner, Kent and Wayne (PBKW) is my main go to store up in Cornelius, just north of Charlotte and about 30 minutes drive up the hell highway I-77 (if I am lucky and depending on time of day). Matthew the owner, is a great fellow and always great to talk to. Right now Matthew has a robust stock of 40K, WFB, Warmachine/Hordes, FoW, Malifaux, X-Wing, and whatever that Manga-like miniature science fiction game is called. He also has lots of the Gail Force Nine terrain, storage containers for miniatures, GW paint and supplies, Bones, Reaper Paints, the LOTR figures, and one of the best selections of board games, card games, and a nice selection of comics. Plus all the other things such as dice, etc.

The interesting thing I've noticed about Ebay is that when it comes to Warhammer stuff, the dealers who sell new sealed kits that are out of production or new sealed current kits post them at prices that are practically the same price as GW's retail price.

There isn't as much "bargain" on Ebay as one would think. Where you can save big money is when you grab the loose lots of assembled GW minis that someone is selling off. They will often sell like 20 or 30 of the mini for the same price as it would cost you to get only 10 of those minis from GW directly. The other category of mini where you can save big is when you buy loose but complete sprues, they often go for significant discounts.

But as I said when it comes to sealed kits, whether new or vintage, often offer almost no savings. You'll see a lot of times a GW seller post the kit for exactly the same price as GW's retail price, but they'll offer free shipping as opposed to having to pay the $8 USD-$10 for shipping getting it from GW.

A little savings in shipping, but not a significant savings.