Post by lookatmybiglongnam on Jan 24, 2008 17:46:22 GMT
Seriously, ebay is you friend. Just make sure they have at least 95% approval rating, or just buy from an ebay store. 'Simple Green' strips paint really well too.
I would be surprised if mark-up isn't at least 100%+ as standard, even furniture and independant clothes outlets are at least that level. I agree with math on that. In terms of profits, it all depends on economies of scale. I know they have the newer topography machines to sculpt models larger, scan in and reduce scale to get more detail on a smaller model. Fair enough, that has been used for quite a few years in the aerospace industry et al. Considering the movement towards increasingly detailed plastic from metal, they require again newer injection molding machines for the detail. Fair enough again, just transfer the technology. These are all one-off costs (albeit large), maybe they got the hard sell when LotR came out and decided to buy and are just palming the cost off onto us to recoup in the short term. They were certainly hurt when the share price fell. However, considering the increases in price that I have seen in terms of plastic models compared to metal versions, and looking from a customers viewpoint (i.e. selfishly, which is perfectly allowed) they do not equate. Lead (which I prefer, just don't eat it) to white metal + margin. (Price of lead and white metal rise so...) White metal to plastic + margin. When I started playing Epic you got easily twice as many infantry in a box, closer to 2.5 times. The difference compared to now is that the figures are slighty larger and even the small infantry have considerable detail.
40K and all the other GW games are just vehicles to sell citadel miniatures, sorry to break it to you all. To have every gang in Necromunda you need to make like 8 or 9 purchases and you are finished for life. Same for Blood Bowl. The rules sets are great and are finished articles, they will never again need a new version of the rules so their 'new version' potential is limited. I think that is what your man was complaining about 'GW destroying the UK gaming industry' in a post above. Version after version, just keep buying. The old guard are leaving, I lost a lot of hope when Andy Chambers and Gav Thorpe (our daddy's) left. The newer fluff just doesn't hold together as well, every codex changes it somehow.
In terms of believing the numbers in financial reports, that is a never ending argument. They are published numbers and so need to be backed up and survive audit, by law. However GW is a multi-national company and will use all the international tricks to avoid tax etc like any other multi-national company, this doesn't make them any better or worse. Numbers can be fudged. I haven't seen any of their published accounts so would need to have a look in order to go into the overheads in more detail. I would love to know how much they are making by licensing the product, the computer game side of things is doing really well.
All this doesn't change the fact that I am going to continue playing. I like this style of game and the people who play it. And to maintain on topic, generally I have found the people on the front line, the GW store staff, to genuinely be enthusiastic about the games. As ropey as the recent fluff is, it is still better than another fantasy game, and I am not as interested in playing the historical WW2 stuff for example, I like a bit of an escape. However, like any sensible consumer I am going to look for bargains, shop around, and be cynical.
(Emphasise that last point about cynicism. If I believed in 'big brother' I might think they are deliberately trying to control how much you buy, as twisted as that sounds. If they make the product cheaper customers would buy what they need in a much shorter time. Then they do not need to buy new models when new versions come out. If someone stops playing then they sell their stuff on, which are again fewer sales for the store. Saturating the market would reduce the value of the product. Wow, that thought was really paranoid.)
Do they still make everything in the UK? I would be surprised. My fiancee is Chinese and I've been over there a few times (might move over there for a few years when I finish my EngD). Considering the rising middle class with their extra purchasing power, and interest in manga and stylised art, films etc. they would eat up something like 40k. However, no-one in their right mind would even dream of paying these prices when an average teachers wage is like £6k per year. And if GW want to break into a large market like that they would have to lower prices across the board due to the undoubted uproar, or everyong just ordering everything from over there and paying the shipping. That would be a development worth watching.
P.S. Wow, the longest post ever, I like to follow trains of thought to the end, sorry about that
I would be surprised if mark-up isn't at least 100%+ as standard, even furniture and independant clothes outlets are at least that level. I agree with math on that. In terms of profits, it all depends on economies of scale. I know they have the newer topography machines to sculpt models larger, scan in and reduce scale to get more detail on a smaller model. Fair enough, that has been used for quite a few years in the aerospace industry et al. Considering the movement towards increasingly detailed plastic from metal, they require again newer injection molding machines for the detail. Fair enough again, just transfer the technology. These are all one-off costs (albeit large), maybe they got the hard sell when LotR came out and decided to buy and are just palming the cost off onto us to recoup in the short term. They were certainly hurt when the share price fell. However, considering the increases in price that I have seen in terms of plastic models compared to metal versions, and looking from a customers viewpoint (i.e. selfishly, which is perfectly allowed) they do not equate. Lead (which I prefer, just don't eat it) to white metal + margin. (Price of lead and white metal rise so...) White metal to plastic + margin. When I started playing Epic you got easily twice as many infantry in a box, closer to 2.5 times. The difference compared to now is that the figures are slighty larger and even the small infantry have considerable detail.
40K and all the other GW games are just vehicles to sell citadel miniatures, sorry to break it to you all. To have every gang in Necromunda you need to make like 8 or 9 purchases and you are finished for life. Same for Blood Bowl. The rules sets are great and are finished articles, they will never again need a new version of the rules so their 'new version' potential is limited. I think that is what your man was complaining about 'GW destroying the UK gaming industry' in a post above. Version after version, just keep buying. The old guard are leaving, I lost a lot of hope when Andy Chambers and Gav Thorpe (our daddy's) left. The newer fluff just doesn't hold together as well, every codex changes it somehow.
In terms of believing the numbers in financial reports, that is a never ending argument. They are published numbers and so need to be backed up and survive audit, by law. However GW is a multi-national company and will use all the international tricks to avoid tax etc like any other multi-national company, this doesn't make them any better or worse. Numbers can be fudged. I haven't seen any of their published accounts so would need to have a look in order to go into the overheads in more detail. I would love to know how much they are making by licensing the product, the computer game side of things is doing really well.
All this doesn't change the fact that I am going to continue playing. I like this style of game and the people who play it. And to maintain on topic, generally I have found the people on the front line, the GW store staff, to genuinely be enthusiastic about the games. As ropey as the recent fluff is, it is still better than another fantasy game, and I am not as interested in playing the historical WW2 stuff for example, I like a bit of an escape. However, like any sensible consumer I am going to look for bargains, shop around, and be cynical.
(Emphasise that last point about cynicism. If I believed in 'big brother' I might think they are deliberately trying to control how much you buy, as twisted as that sounds. If they make the product cheaper customers would buy what they need in a much shorter time. Then they do not need to buy new models when new versions come out. If someone stops playing then they sell their stuff on, which are again fewer sales for the store. Saturating the market would reduce the value of the product. Wow, that thought was really paranoid.)
Do they still make everything in the UK? I would be surprised. My fiancee is Chinese and I've been over there a few times (might move over there for a few years when I finish my EngD). Considering the rising middle class with their extra purchasing power, and interest in manga and stylised art, films etc. they would eat up something like 40k. However, no-one in their right mind would even dream of paying these prices when an average teachers wage is like £6k per year. And if GW want to break into a large market like that they would have to lower prices across the board due to the undoubted uproar, or everyong just ordering everything from over there and paying the shipping. That would be a development worth watching.
P.S. Wow, the longest post ever, I like to follow trains of thought to the end, sorry about that
===<inelastic demand> in other words, the amount of models not bought and people who do not enter the game are made up for by the raise in prise.
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