The icing on the cake...

[Tenorikuma]

Meh...this thread is depressing, but who am I kidding. None of my hobbies are cheap (Warhammer is nothing compared to model trains), and the hours of fun I get painting and playing will make it worthwhile compared to the crap most people throw all their money at. Life's too short to hold grudges against every company that charges more than I'd like for stuff I want.

[Spevna]

Really? So most of the Japanese gamers buy from the UK GW site, too? Surely it must be the case or why go to the bother or charging through the roof for a few ex-pats living there?

Actually all of the Japanese gamers I have met either order from FLGSs like Ikeda san OR have given up.

The shipping increase is for one purpose and one purpose only. To force you to buy locally. I posted a thread about it on Warseer and non-EU/US countries which DONT have a local GW presence haven't heard about it. If we lived in say South Korea, the shipping costs wouldnt have increased.

I already was buying locally thanks to Ikeda-san, but it's nice to have the option taken away with a hearty F#*% You! gesture from GW.

I just checked how much the same Space Marine battle force would be back home on the New Zealand GW site - $215. This is about 106 pounds, which is about the same as the Japan GW price. Considering the distance, about double, either Japan has some serious import duty tax or they are just greedy?

Basically GW set their internal exchange rates when the pound was doing well and never dropped it as it would have caused all sorts of problems with the independant retailers. Oh, and they can make double the profit. It's not that Japan is more expensive, just that the pound is in the gutter.
Australia DOES have high import taxes. Japan, to my knowledge, doesnt.

For nearly every other business in the world, if your business model is failing you, it's time to get a new business model. For GW it's time to shaft the consumer some more. They had 7 GW stores in Japan but now they are down to 2. (Guess opening them all in the same place was a bit dumb). But hey, after 5 years they finally updated the .JP homepage to look like the .UK homepage.

You know what? I'm sick of trying to be optimistic. The new models look awesome, there is some cool sounding stuff in the pipeline but I'm sick of it all. I've got some Necrons on order with Ikeda san at the moment. After that.....it's going to be a long time before I buy any more product either here or from home.
(Paint, Rulebooks and Black Library books being the exception here)

In the meantime I'm going to happily get on with my current Historicals kick thats going on, with side games of Malifaux, Warmachine and Cutlass. I have a tonne of stuff to work through and I hope that when you all see it on the tabletop that you decide to give it a try.

This is Prim, taking a Spevna Stance.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Primarch]

Meh...this thread is depressing, but who am I kidding. None of my hobbies are cheap (Warhammer is nothing compared to model trains), and the hours of fun I get painting and playing will make it worthwhile compared to the crap most people throw all their money at. Life's too short to hold grudges against every company that charges more than I'd like for stuff I want.

It's not that the hobby is expensive or that GW charge considerably more for their products than their rivals. Compared to the amount I spent going drinking back home and for my first couple of years here, it's not a problem. It's the attitude of the company thats driving players away.

A.N.Other company - "Due to the rising costs of materials, we're sorry to announce that we are raising our prices. It's not something that we want to do, but we can't keep eating the costs ourselves."
GW - "Good news everybody! As our products are so awesome we've decided to increase prices so that you can show all your friends how awesome you think they are by buying them. We've also increased the number of models you need to play the game."

I get that they are a business and that their goal is to increase profits, as a business major I get the whole commerce/capitalist thing. But their actions show that they are happy to let costs spiral upwards as their consumer base decreases and they dont seem to care about it. They have ZERO contact with their consumers except through VERY specific channels. Compare this to other companies such as ....everyone pretty much who listen to feedback from customers and chat with them via facebook and forums. A lot of the 'old guard' from when the company was succesful have left or been forced out and are doing their own things now (which are awesome), and the current group of designers are very much toeing the company line when it comes to creating stuff for the game.

It's like watching your best friend turn into a crack addict.

[Spevna]

It's like watching your best friend turn into a crack addict.

Yep. Sums it up pretty well.

For those of us who got into the hobby early on and have fond memories of it, that is how it feels.

[me_in_japan]

This is Prim, taking a Spevna Stance.

hats off, lads. The sky has fallen

[me_in_japan]

ooh! Would this be an appropriate time??

[Mike the Pike]

^It would indeed be an apporopriate time MIj. Gulp, did I just say that.
Now if only PP models didn't look so lame.

[Primarch]

Pre-Increase:
1 Land Raider has a shipping cost of about 8 pounds.
Between 2 and 4 have a shipping cost of about 24 pounds.
Between 5 and 10 have a shipping cost of about 33 pounds.

Post-Increase:
1 Land Raider shipping is 50 pounds.
2 will set you back 83 pounds.
3 to 4 will cost 154 pounds.

Shipping to Korea, our closest neighbour:
1 Land Raider has a shipping cost of about 10 pounds.
Between 2 and 4 have a shipping cost of about 29 pounds.
Between 5 and 10 have a shipping cost of about 40 pounds.

Actually those shipping costs seem to hold true for the entire pacific. Look up Pitcairn Island on google. It has a population of 50 people, no airstrip and the only way to transport goods there is via 10 days on a cargo ship from New Zealand.
So to send a Land Raider by plane to New Zealand, put it onto an irregular cargo ship and sail it to an island of 50 people costs 10 pounds.
Meanwhile, to send a Land Raider by plane to New Zealand and give it to someone in Auckland or Christchurch costs 50 pounds. (New Zealand's shipping rates match Japan's now).

[me_in_japan]

Now if only PP models didn't look so lame.

often right, you may be, but that is just a load of old hooey

(yes, yes, personal opinions, I know. Pah, meh, yer just wrong )

[Admiral-Badruck]

Forge world boyz Forge world the last bastion of cheap models from abroad.