State of the hobby and grumblings.

[grant]

They really are playing a corporate shell game. There might not even be anything under any of the shells, though...

[Colonel White]

Well we'll see what happens in next years accounts

Same OLd Same OLd I bet

[Cubster]

Well unless some new movies or games come out, they're not going to have the licence cash, so it'll have to come from somewhere else. Unless they raise some short term cash by selling some of the family silver to interested companies (some rumours abound regarding a shake-up to White Dwarf) then they may just be pinning their hopes on 'The Hobbit' and massive Christmas sales of the models. With the costs involved of launching a new line (and book presumably) I'm not sure it'll rake in the brass quick enough.

[Cfury]

I've been reading the comments underneath the article. Good grief. I didn't realise it was a choice between lager swilling football fans and geeky fat sweaty loners. Life's rich tapestry has nothing on media pigeon-holing!

EDIT: Just realised the BBC article has less posts than this one! And we actually (seem to) know what we're talking about!

[Cubster]

There's a list as long as an orangutan's arm on DAKKA regarding the expected renaming of the GW paint range. It looks like every single shade has been named and they're being categorised into stages, much like the Foundry system, yet sadly without a logical numbering system as Foundry utilises.

Instead it looks like a bunch of very weird 'in-house' names that only someone totally familiar with their various genres would understand. Behold the monstrosity copied and pasted from WAMP -

BASES
Ceramite White
Averland Sun
Jokaero Orange
Mephiston Red
Khorne Red
Naggaroth Night
Daemonette Hide
Kantor Blue
Macragge Blue
Caledon Sky
Stegadon scale green
Incubi Darkness
Caliban Green
Waaaagh! Flesh
Castellan green
Death world forest
Zandri dust
Steel Legion Drab
Bugmans Glow
Ratskin Flesh
Mournfang brown
XV-88
Rhinox hide
Dryad bark
Mechanicus standard grey
Celestus grey
Abaddon Black (the only black in the range)
Rakarth flesh
The fang
Screamer pink
Leadblecher (metal)
Balthasar Gold (metal)
Screaming Bell (metal)
Warplock brown (metal)


LAYER
White Scar
Yriel Yellow
Flash gitz yellow
Troll slayer orange
Fire dragon bright
Evil sunz scarlet
Wild Rider red
Wazdakka red
Squig Orange
Xereus Purple
Genestealer Purple
Warpfiend Grey
Slaanesh Grey
Alaitoc blue
Hoeth blue
Altdorf guard blue
Calgar blue
Teclis blue
Lothern blue
Sotek green
Temple guard blue
Kabalite green
Sybarite green
Warpstone glow
Moot green
Warboss green
Skarsnik green
Loren Forest
Straken green
Nurgling green
Elysian green
Ogryn camo
Ushabti Bone
Screaming skull
Tallarn sand
Karak stone
Cadian fleshstone
Kislev Flesh
Bestigor flesh
Ungor flesh
Skrag brown
Deathclaw brown
Tau light Ochre
Balor brown
Zamesi brown
Doombull brown
Tuskigor fur
Gorthor Brown
Baneblade Brown
Dawnstone
Administratum grey
Eshin grey
Dark reaper
Thunderhawk blue
Skavenblight dinge
Stormvermin fur
Ulthuan grey
Pallid wych flesh
Russ grey
Fenrisian grey
Pink horror
Emperors Children
Ironbreaker (metal)
Runefang steel (metal)
Gehennas gold(metal)
Auric Armour(metal)
Hashut Copper(metal)
Sycorax Bronze(metal)
Brass Scorpion(metal)
Runelord Brass(metal)

SHADES
Casandora Yellow
Fuegan Orange
Carroburg Crimson
Druchii Violet
Drakenhof Nightshade
Coelia greenshade
Biel-tan green
Athonian camoshade
Seraphim Sepia
Reikland fleshshade
Agrax earthshade (Devlan Mud)
Nuln Oil

DRY
Praxeti White
Hexos palesun
Kindleflame
Lucius Lilac
Etherium blue
Skink blue
Hellion green
Underhive ash
Eldar Flesh
Tyrant Shell
Terminatus stone
Longbeard grey
Changling pink
Necron Compound
Golden Griffon

GLAZE
Lamenters yellow
Waywatcher Green
Guilliman blue
Bloodletter

TEXTURE
Mourn Mountain snow
Stirland Mud
Blackfire Eath
Astrogranite
Armageddon Dust
Lustrian Undergrowth

TECHNICAL
Lahmian Medium
Ard coat
Imperial Primer
Liquid Green stuff

[Parus Ater]

What? Warseer wrong? My, my!

[Biggus Dickus]

If what cubster has come across turns out to be true and GW have renamed all their paint, then I'm done completely with GW.
What is the point of inventing a painting system, teaching it for years in their shops, mags, and books then changing all the names of the paints....easier to learn new ones for me.....I think it will be foundry paints from now on....they use a three colour system don't they?

First rule of the day, if it ain't broke don'e fix it?
it would seem something is very broken at GW, why else would they be frantically changing so much? you don't change for the sake of change.....you change because you have to or else go down....their business model is clearly showing signs of extreme strain....and i'm not surprised.
They have changed from white metal to plastic resin......What kind of increase in the cost of tin could possibly dent their profit margins on an £8 metal figure that likely cost them 4p to make? Why make the shops one man band outfits unless you are trying to save masses of money?......And get this....if this isn't the kamikaze, suicide bomb of all time....are you sitting down for this??? In a time of virtual world wide depression, when the battle for supremacy isn't Empire V Orcs but table top games versus computer games.....did GW sell rights to computer games industry???
Why would anyone now want to buy an hugely expensive box of figures that you have to paint and assemble when you can get straight into a ready made cyber army on your games console?
I hope they got billions for those rights because, if that is true, they are clearly history now.
That has to be the single most stupid business decision since the beta max video machine.
This is an insanely huge palm slap to face moment.......the word DOAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH comes to mind.
The only upside will be, you'll still be able to get loads of cheap GW figures on ebay for years to come.
I hate being taken for mug....I'm just not putting up with it anymore.Time for a change in my spending and painting habits, me thinks.

[grant]

They are definitely changing the whole paint system. My local retailer was talking about it. I gave up on the ooey-gooey GW paints many years ago. At least two, anyway. I'm a Vallejo man!

Stupid names aside, the new system is kind of intriguing:
Base, Layer, Shade, Dry, Glaze, Texture, Technical

But will little Billy be able to handle all that crap?

And speaking of ebay, my cheap ebay figures will be available from Sunday!

[Titus Flavius]

I have never looked back once I started using Vallejo.

[herzlos]

They have changed from white metal to plastic resin......What kind of increase in the cost of tin could possibly dent their profit margins on an £8 metal figure that likely cost them 4p to make?

The argument (as explained by a store member) isn't as much about making them, but maintaining a stock of them. As the cost of tin has gone up significantly, they don't think it's cost effective to have 1/2/3 metal packs for each figure in each store, and whilst stuff is still available in metal without a price increase, it's now cast on demand (and mail-order only). The most popular stuff (what they'd want to keep stocked in stores) is going to resin as the pricing is more stable.

The JIT (Just In Time) business model they are applying is becoming more standard across all retail, particularly in harder times, because it means they bring it stock as it's required rather than stocking it themselves, and the inventory savings outweigh the inconvenience for the retailer.

It does suck as a customer having to order things at stores and probably drives some customers on-line; if the shop needs to order it in, I may as well cut out the middle man and order it myself, which will save me some money and another trip to the shop.

Why the price has gone up because it's now resin? I don't know, but it's probably to cover the cost of retooling.