The Hobbit

[Techno]

Point taken B

But that assumes you're buying the items to sell at a profit..

See if this gets across the point I was trying to make.

Imagine I own/run the mythical company "Techno's must have miniatures."
I create a set of 'X' number of figures and sell them for £40.....I make a lovely profit of £30 on each set...but as that's rather pricey, I only get 100 sales. (before anyone jumps in, I know I'm totally making these figures up, so it makes it all very, very hypothetical).
Only avid & wealthy "Techno's must have miniatures" collectors/gamers decide they can afford them.....I make £3,000 (30x100).....I can dream can't I ?

Instead of selling the sets for £40, I decide I'll sell them at the (ahem) knock down price of £20 a set......and just make a £10 profit on each.
Suddenly, another 400 people decide that that's a price they can live with....so I sell 500 sets....giving me a £5,000 profit (10 x 500)

That's what I was trying to get across......Less profit per item....But far more sales, which more than makes up for it.
Now someone who's really good at financial matters can shoot me down in flames

Hope it makes sense !

Cheers - Phil.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

TAX? VAT?

[Luddite]

Whatever they're doing its working for the shareholders http://www.standard.co.uk/business/games-workshop-profits-surge-40-7304732.html

Although interestingly 'The group's results also benefited from a large royalty payment it received from the games manufacturer THQ after the launch of its Space Marine computer game.'

This accounted for £2.6m of the roughly £9m increase.

Looks like the online cash cow is producing a lot of milk.

http://investor.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/2011-12-Press-statement.pdf

Hopefully the next licensed PC game will have a better solo mode to make up for Space Marine's 'online teaser' approach.  Fingers crossed they'll bring in Bethesda to do a Fallout style RPG, with multiple bolt on expansions and an online option for the CoD gun bunnies...

TAX? VAT?

About £2.5m (+ VAT presumably?) on the half year..?  I think, going from those figures.  I'm no accountant thats for sure...

[sebigboss79]

And here I have to jump in!

Looking at plain figures the sales did increase. Now please keep in mind Mr Kirby (Ex-CEO) claimed a few things including that demand is not tied to price in HIS (GWs) business.

Having said that you will also agree that the prise hike has been gigantic for the UK although continental Europe has seen its share. We are talking of an increase of MORE than 30 % on AVERAGE. Now have the sales increased in the same fashion as the prices have been raised? They have not! The last price rise was more than 10  % and iirc the sales increased by roundabout 1 %. Please forgive me I did not do a full due diligence report, most of you will know GWs salary structure and forgive me for not wasting my time there.

In plain words GW is massively loosing customers. A "fact" I can verify by passing by the GW store here in UK. Visitors become younger (can be influenced easier) and actually get filtered through faster (average 3 visits to store / GW before the preference of videogames supersedes GW).

Reasons for these "losses" in sales are manifold (prices, quality, finecast). Utterings like during last AGM that 25 % will buy anything at anyprice and the remaining 75 % can bugger off (sic!) do seriously not help in the long run. Like Techno says, rather a long run high profit by retaining buyers than quickly milk the cow off 300 GBP and drop them to milk the next. THAT is the american dream of shareholder value but it is not a sustainable business idea.

We face decreasing birthrates (less 12 year olds) and miniature makes would be well advised to nurture a more diverse client base. Agreed older gamers like me do have more disposable cash but most of us are more critical on HOW exactly we spend that cash.

I feel very brownnosing (again) but looking at Pendraken I see how a business should rather be managed. Leon is always helpful and this excellent customer service is the reason the only purchase from GW I make is the black spray (it stinks considerably less than the Armypainter one) and "Ceramite White". The latter being subject of re-evaluation and testing of the Vallejo Foundation White I just bought from minibits. My brushes I get from em4 and Pendraken and all my colour purchases have been switched to Pendraken and Minibits.

So using GWs logic I can bugger off but I am sure Leon and Dave happily take over those 75 % customers. I am also sure they will be happier with Pendrakens'/Minibits' approach to business.

Rant ends here.

[Techno]

Don't regard that as a rant at all 'S'.

Cheers - Phil.

[sebigboss79]

Cheers Phil. Although some people do contest I am making up those "facts"...

[Luddite]

And on the poor quality sculpts issue, its really surprising given that the Perry twins were involved.  A VERY rare misfire for them i feel...perhaps its the source material that's at fault (the goblin design looks odd)?

[Techno]

Do we know Mike and Alan were involved for sure L ?
I haven't dug into this in the slightest...So I've no idea.
The only 'rumour' that got passed on to me, from old contacts, is that there was a demand that the faces on the characters were done by a specified sculptor who didn't 'belong' to GW any more....and they had to 're-hire' him for the project.

As far as I know, all of this could all be complete and utter Hogwash.....Who knows ??
I get a small amount of 'inside' information....and I'm never sure I believe it.
At best, by the time it reaches yours truly. it's probably third hand ....at the very least !

Cheers - Phil.

[Luddite]

Do we know Mike and Alan were involved for sure L ?

They're listed in White Dwarf as being involved, with a few other sculptors.

[Maenoferren]

As mentioned at the start this was not a dis for GW but more a why are things different, unless of course there have been some rapid and vast mutations in the 60 years between the Hobbit and the Adventures of Frodo. one nice if that is the right word is Gloin's war axes are the ones Gimli uses in the LOTR.
the other thing I notice from the stills are that the dwarves seem taller, stupid thing to say I know, but if you look at Gimli he seems  shorter and squatter, however Thorin and company only look shorter if they are stood next to Gandalf etc, otherwise they seem proportioned as a standard human (which strangely enough they are)

[nikharwood]

Yep - not convinced that these are Gobbos - much more like post-apocalyptic mutants...



If I end up playing any of this, I'll use my Moria goblins I think...

[petercooman]

For me these are ghouls.

I will not be buying any of this junk however   I'm pretty sure we can play whatever we want with our current figures and rules

[Maenoferren]

I did think about my One Ring games until I saw them and then thought nope- ebay here I come, Again the figures are based on the film, but why the pale, sore covered and mishapen lumps. Not that big a geek but from what I remember then both the Moria and Misty mountain goblins werent well renowned for their summer hols to a sun drenched beach.
oh no off on a rant again

[Nosher]

Looks like Keighley on grab a granny night

[Techno]

Oh....

I've not seen them blown up to that size.

.....Agreed....Not very keen on the look....I think the assumption would have to be that's the look the film makers were after.....It would be their train set.
Did I read somewhere (again something to be taken with a pinch of salt)  that the figures had to be sculpted much more quickly than normal, because of some sort of time constraints ?
There would be a possible answer.

Like I say....I DO like the character models (NOT the price though).....But I'm even less keen on the trolls than I am on the goblins....Again that'll probably be down to the film concepts.
Anyway.....Let's hear what someone thinks of the film itself, when someone has the chance to go and see it.

Nosher. !!

Cheers - Phil.