"Something happened at GW I think..." Topic

So I'm going through GW's latest releases for AOS this afternoon, their chaos range.

I think there has been a conversation at GW (this is just my speculation here of course), among some of the higher ups, and a decision was made to tone down their pricing for new ranges.

The reason I say that is that I noticed a significant shift back to prices that feel more like 8th edition regimental boxed set prices, and also with their latest "army" book.

I back this up by looking at the prices for the latest choas plastics and the accompanying grand alliance chaos book.

The book is one of the most telling ones. Previous book releases for the different factions were coming in at about 150 pages or so for $58. USD The Khorne book was even shorter, 136 pages for the same $58. USD

The latest chaos grand alliance book is THREE HUNDRED PAGES for only $33 USD??? Their 8th Edition army books were more expensive than that.

That's a strange shift to go to a book that's nearly twice as long and hard cover, for $20 USD less than their previous hard cover books…

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And if you look at the plastic chaos releases, there is also a significant shift downward in pricing in terms of number of minis for the price:

10 Chaos Knights for $60 USD:

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…and 10 Chaos marauder horsemen for $50. USD I cannot recall the last time GW had ANY set of any kind of large cavalry where you got ten for that price, GW has typically given you like five mounted minis for that price:

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…even more telling to me are the two chaos regimental foot boxed sets.

Chaos warriors regiment, SIXTEEN minis for $40 USD:

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…and even more significant, this last one:

Chaos marauders regiment, TWENTY minis for $38 USD:

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I have to say that this is the first time that I've gotten excited about new AOS mini releases since the launch of the game last July. I love this latest chaos range, the detail is amazing, they have that old classic, Old Worlde gritty look. These are minis that you could put side by side with your 8th edition Warhammer armies and they would fit right in.

So as I said, this is pure speculation on my part, but it appears from this latest pricing that some decision was made on some level to restructure their pricing downward, at least on core stuff. Maybe they finally realized that they had simply priced themselves too high(even for their standards), and sales were suffering because of it.

I hope we see more of this, because these prices I can actually work with, for the detail that GW gives you in their minis these are not bad prices at all in my opinion.

Don't know about the cavalry, but the infantry figures are old, years old molds. I have some, and have not bought any GW figures in years.

Methinks they have finally hit the ceiling of what they can charge for things and still grow there business.

ALL of the minis in the release are repacks. The trend has been to drop the price on repacks, but increasing the number of minis per box. The old Chaos Warriors box was 12 figures for $35 USD (or $2.92 USD per figure). The repack of 16 for $40 USD drops the price-per-figure ($2.50 per figure). Similarly the old Chaos Knights box was 5 for $33 USD IIRC (or $6.60 USD per figure), now 10 for $60 USD ($6 per model). So it is definitely true that prices are dropping for the old stuff, but nothing that is new really suggests that GW is abandoning their gonzo pricing scheme. Good for people still filling out their WHFB, KoW, 9th Age armies, not quite so good for AoS players IMHO.

And I still need to buy replacement bases…

Damon.

@Garand,

True, but you don't have to buy any of the new AOS miniatures to play AOS. You can use anything from 7th or 8th…and you don't have to necessarily rebase either. The game works with either round or square bases, you just have to tweak how you measure distance from models.

The AOS rule of measuring from the mini is screwy any way, it's become fairly universal to measure from the base because measuring from the mini makes no sense given the different positions minis are in.

What you said about the chaos stuff, the one that sticks out most to me is the chaos book, even more than the minis. I find it strange that a brand new book that's double the page numbers as previous AOS hard covers is selling for $20 USD less than the shorter books. That can't be an accident.

But I take your point about these being re-releases of older models. Granted, but still to see them pushed as new AOS releases but retaining 8th edition prices I think says something about their current financial state.

I think its because AOS is selling as well as they hoped. They might be lowering prices in the short term to draw in some support form new players.

You also need to factor in the reboot of Specialist Games and that they are repackaging some older, simpler figures into box sets with paints, etc., to sell in hobby stores and big toy outlets. The first time in ages GW has tried to reach masses again, rather than relying on their "elite modelers" philosophy under the last years of Tom Kirby as CEO. It may be a little too little, a little too late, but they seem to finally be reversing some of the self-defeating business practices of last 5+ years.

Not that this has anything to do with the general trend you are talking about, but that chaos book is SOFT cover, which presumably contributes to the difference in price with their normally hardcover books.

My mistake, I thought it was hard cover. But still, 300 pages vs.150, that's still a lot of content for an unusually low price in my opinion. 8th edition army books were like $40 USD+ and thin compared to this one.

I wonder how much of that "content" is pages with text vs pictures?

Who cares? 300 pages for $33. USD Especially given how awesome and inspiring the pictures are.

Also did you see this set:

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Those chariots, individually, are $40 USD each. The Warriors are $40. USD It is half a box of knights so $30 USD, marauder cavalry $50 USD, Lord on Manticore $54. USD

If you bought all that stuff a la carte it would total $254. USD It is like getting all the cavalry for $6 USD when you buy the rest of the set.

Good deal. Two chariots, 15 cavalry, 16 infantry and a big ridden monster for only $180. USD

Even if you were buying quality historical figures, like Crusader Celts, it would be something like 90 quid or about $135 USD for all that stuff minus the Manticore.

There is something going on. Bell of Lost Souls had a post where showing how GW is trying to get into Toy Stores by repackaging certain kits with a basic paint set and the prices seemed reduced.

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Toy store kits looks like an awesome idea, and it's wonderful that their poster is reaching out beyond the "white male" demographic.

That said, does this mean we can expect a simpler 40k around the corner?

@Pictors,

I had not done the math on that chaos set, that is also another huge indication to me that they are reducing pricing. Most of their bundle deals for AOS up to now offered virtually ZERO discount, all the bundles did was offer the convenience of a one-click purchase, but the minis had absolutely no discount. The only exception of course was the AOS starter set.

But now suddenly a core bundle deal that is nearly $75.00 USD in savings than if you bought the minis separately? That to me is a clear sign something new is happening at GW.

That bundle deal you did the math on is comparable to an 8th edition battalion box in my opinion. It has the feel of being a traditional core package rather than a collectible bundle as it were.

All of those Get Started kits were about $50 USD-70 in savings.

@Pictors,

Do you mean the Start Collecting kits? Wow, I did not realize that… I think I was focusing on the ranges that came out before that, where there were a lot of zero discount bundles.

That's interesting, I made the very poor assumption that all the Start Collecting bundles were zero discount as well!

Yeah, the Start Collecting kits. In the Lizardman one, for example, you pay for the Carnosaur and get 8 cavalry and 12 infantry for free basically.

I would love to see a simpler 40K set with a focus more on positioning and tactics as opposed to the usual list building, trick turning, aspect, with morale and command and control being vital, as well.
I think FUBAR and OnePage Anon are good starting points…

They've had a sudden attack of common sense over at GW HQ apparently. Long may it last!

-Will

I don't know if anybody saw, but the published their Q3/Q4 numbers for 2015, and sales are still about what they were prior to AoS. And December they say wasn't very good for them.

I think this indicates that AoS has been a disappointment for them from a sales perspective, as it was meant to replace a WHFB line that they were not satisfied with.

Perhaps this is the part of the reason of the price drop. I hope it works, so we can see more of the same.

Price drops would be good, but there are so few of their old models left that I actually care about. That said, depending on how expensive that Space Marine Bike kit is, I might pick up a few for my 40k 2e gaming (the model came out in the mid 90's, so it fits right in). $5 USD a bike or less would be ideal… Does anyone know the price point yet?

Nah, those are all typos. The Board of Directors will get wind of this, heads will roll, and the prices will be adjusted next week.

;)

So far with AoS the repacks have ALWAYS had some sort of price drop. But the new stuff still has the gonzo pricing. I won't complain about price drops, but I was looking forward to the Fyreslayers, and the quality just isn't there for plastic minis priced at $6 USD to $8 USD per. So while the repacks are more palatable price-wise, the new stuff is decidedly not.

I do agree however that there appears to be a change in direction at GW, and that they are making some effort to correct the long downward spiral they have been in.

As far as AoS is concerned, GW does not release figures, but there is a lot of circumstantial evidence to suggest it is not successful. Keep in mind the static sales figuires for last half of the year also included Betrayal at Calth (which word on the street sold like gangbusters), and the new Tau release which was rumored to be very successful. So speculation is that the sales figures are padded from successful 40K releases (if AoS was selling in the same volume as WHFB FREX, the logic would be an uptick in overall sales…).

Say what you want about AoS, I personally think it is a cost-cutting measure that I neither wanted nor asked for (in a market already saturated with skirmish games…because no one really wanted to compete directly with GW in a ranked mass battle game). I am glad however that AoS has provided life support for the old ranges, so I can continue to collect for Oldhammer, Kings of War, maybe 9th Age, etc.

Damon.

I think its because AOS is selling as well as they hoped.

I would disagree with this and state that sales for A0S stuff is not doing well.

So they were forced to lower price just so that they can recover some of the losses from AoS.

They have to show some type of profit and they are running out of ways to do that.

Could be another issue.

No one is buying into the new game so they are making it cheaper to get a starting army. Just to allow people to get their foot in the door and get hooked. If it is too expensive to make the switch people will not make the jump.