Everyone else has a GW thread...!

[goat major]

I simply can't understand the move to resin figures.

Spot price of tin (from LME.com)

[Nosher]

I 'ditto' the arguement about resin.

Nearly every resin model/kit/figure I have bought (including Pendraken resin) has been riddled with bubble holes, horrible cast lines (which to be fair are easier to remove than lead lines) and lumpy bits in very in-appropriate places....

[Steve J]

The higher price of the tin is more than offset by mould deterioration, high resin wastage etc. Resin prices etc have also gone up a lot over the past year or so. Just look at the price increases on the FoW resin tanks etc.

[Last Hussar]

Not a finecast comment but...

My wife has just set up a school club (this is a woman who has NO interest).  GW sent a huge box of stuff - about 30-40 paints, loads of brushes, the tools kit, some terrain, Black Library fiction, etc. 

If you can get past the 'What WH do you play' you will (at least I always have) found the staff really helpful. Obviously they are GW orientated (in the same way Tesco doesn't sell Asda own brand), but they are always willing to take time for you.  I was looking for SYW Russian green, and the guy took the time to try a couple of different pots out for me on an undercoated Chaos Marine.  I bought Warmaster on the strength of a Demo game.

Yes the price and the rules churn annoy me.  I think they have a problem in that they accept the shops will be loss leaders (the local shop employs just 1 man, and that will need to make £50 a day above the cost on figures sold just to cover his wages, before the overheads of a shop).  These act as shop windows for the web site.  They act as a central meeting place for the kids - no club to organise, thus meaning no adults have to be nagged into getting a venue etc, and also they probably get more introductions into 'The Hobby' than all the wargame clubs put together get into Historicals - kids take their freinds in.

What our side needs is more events like the Milton Keynes show (I know - there are problems with setting up shows).  This is in Middleton Hall right outside John Lewis.  It means that there is a contact point for kids to become aware of historicals.  People say GW doesn't bring kids into the 'hobby proper' - well how are they going to find out about it?

[sixsideddice]

Hiya Last Hussar,

Yes, I would agree with you, the majority of GW stores have friendly staff (sometimes  a bit over friendly as they crowd you with conversation when all you may really want to do is browse quietly), they are usually helpful, and have a knack at getting you to walk out with something you didn’t even know you wanted (that’s why the staff take a three week course in sales management).

I think the gaming world could benefit from a few more pleasant faces in the games shops, and GW certainly are the leaders on that score...  when it comes to selling their own brand at least. No, my problem with the company as a whole is not on the ground floor; rather it lies at the executive level where the main decisions are made. I know because I worked for GW for years.

I agree - anything that brings the youth into gaming should, in theory, be a good thing. But unfortunately, statistics show that most kids introduced into the hobby through GW tend to STAY with GW and not deviate... until they leave the hobby altogether and find college, jobs, girls, etc. Few carry on and branch out to other facets of the hobby as a whole. Why would they? Games Workshop is like a Mother, provides all their needs, and keeps them informed through their own White Dwarf magazine. GW`s chief concern is to keep their customer base, which relies heavily on the 12`s to 18`s age bracket; which they achieve by an amazing bit of advertising and media saturation...  not to mention their glossy publications , which are shop windows for their latest products.

All in all, I take my hat off to them for having become an amazingly successful business conglomerate.  Plus, you can`t fault their wares which truly are second to none in any scale they cover.

Six

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

What our side needs is more events like the Milton Keynes show (I know - there are problems with setting up shows).  This is in Middleton Hall right outside John Lewis.  It means that there is a contact point for kids to become aware of historicals.  People say GW doesn't bring kids into the 'hobby proper' - well how are they going to find out about it?

We at MK try evry hard with that show you know

[Leon]

... keeps them informed through their own White Dwarf magazine.

I wonder how long that will survive if they're looking to cut costs?  An electronic version would be a much cheaper alternative, and in their target demographic, just as accessible.

[Last Hussar]

They tried cutting their catalogue a couple of years back, with the idea it was going all 'e'.  Came back the next year, probably under pressure from parent like us - we buy 2 every Christmas (at £8 a pop!) for the kids.  That may seem a lot, but on a Hours used per £ basis, they are probably the  most cost effective presents we get.

[Leon]

I nipped into our GW store this past weekend for a snoop about.  There was no advertising for the Finecast visible in the front window, and nothing really inside either.  The salesguy said the Finecast stuff was "excellent, people online will always knock it."    Unfortunately, of the 3 blisters I had a look at, 1 had a thin layer of flash across the whole sprue, and the other two had bubbles dotted around them.  Nothing major, and easily fixable with a bit of time and putty, but not quite the perfect modelling experience they'd like to claim.

[goat major]

there's a podcast called 40k Radio (its on iTunes) which has just done a long interview with Rick Priestly - very interesting on the history of GW, his views on the culture of GW and what he's working on now

[barbarian]

Between the english accent and the Skype-robot voice, it' really hard to understand.

[Last Hussar]

Why would an English accent be difficult to understand.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Youes heared me do fullon scouse, as for Jordie......and of course anyone from the West Midlands oul put you to sleep. As foir the esturay, speech impediment.

IanS

[barbarian]

Because I watched a lot more of American serials and movies.

[republic of tolworth]

Best we re-invade the U.S and bring them back in to the fold then.

Especialy as I've just seen it's 'That day we don't mention'