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How have Gw price rises affected your purchasing habits?


Rodiger

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1 hour ago, Icegoat said:

I will never buy from them again. They are going to squat all of the cities of sigmar within the next few years for sure. They have lost any trust I had in them. Without a grounded human army AOS is not worth the money too me. Least for now I have one of the cheaper army's. As its all stuff I already had. 

I don't think anybody can make a statement like that with any certainty.  I'm fairly sure that none of the models they removed had formed part of an actual battletome for AoS, so fell under the "legacy" collection.

31 minutes ago, Rodiger said:

So, if you are a teenager, you are completely dependant on parents for this hobby, you mainly always were, but I can see it being a hard sell to parents who did/do not play Warhammer themselves. Not even a part time job is going to really be enough anymore. If the prices normalise at a point where it stops teenagers taking up the hobby, then it’s the start of a slow death. Sorry if that is a bit hyperbole, but thinking back to when I was a teenager, it was expensive then, and not coming from the richest of families it was hard enough for my dad to really get me anything, I was limited to birthdays and Christmas. I think if they were the current prices (inflation adjusted), he may have just said, sorry son, no. 

I think it depends entirely on circumstances.  Most teenagers I know have at least a £30 monthly mobile phone contract funded by their parents.  When I was a teenager, my hobby funds came from a paper round followed by an apprenticeship when I left school at 16.

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I didn't start playing until I was 39 and part of that was the price. These recent price hikes are unfortunate and GW risks alienating an entire generation of new gamers because of it. I can't convince my nieces or nephews to get into it, even though they think it looks cool, entirely because of the cost. 

I used to buy from GW direct. Now I don't. I buy Black Library stuff but my models are strictly second-hand.

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My personal life circumstances vastly outweigh the prices when it comes to my buying habits.  I've gone from lower paying job to extended unemployment to higher paying job to catastrophic water damage in my house - all of those dictated what money I could spend on my painty-men; from little to none to lots to none again.  Whether a unit box was $35 or $50 or $70 has always been a distant secondary factor.

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I've been trying to keep up with the meta for the last 2 years and I stopped in early 2019 with the release of the new GSC Codex. Since the meta is constantly changing and a lot of grey models are piling up at my place, I have reconsidered my investments

I have invested almost 2000 Euro in the GSC. Due to my disappointment with the meta  changes from 7th -8th Index - 8th Codex and the resulting devaluation of some purchases. I put everything on ice,  just recently i bought the codex and some of the new units. But only by selling off my Ironjawz Start Collecting boxes which I wanted to start sometime in the future 😒

In total i invested 400 euro (AoS +40k) this year, but all the money came from cleaning up my grey pile of shame. From 2016-2018 i have invested well over 3000 Euro into the Hobby.

 

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14 minutes ago, Overread said:

@steffen 3K in a year is a huge amount. Even if you were buying models from FW that would be a huge number (or 3 massive warlords). Sounds like you've had a bit of a burnout chasing the meta. 

Sorry typo 2016-2018... but 1000 a year  is also a large amount 😐

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For me it is more about trust and cost became a secondary issue.

I lost most of my Elves i bought as AoS models. My Phoenix Temple is all i had left and i WANT but i am not trusting GW to suport CoS so why should i spend? I have been converting what i can abd buying bits on ebay.

If and when GW release new Elves i will see if mines will work as proxies for some of tge army and maybe buy new pieces i like. Until there i dont think like spending money with GW miniatures.

 

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I dunno if I'm a good example, but for the purpose of adding to the topic here is me:

48 years old

Retired

A very comfortable amount of cash in the bank

House and car paid off

Investments that generate enough annually to pay taxes and utilities

A gf who makes six figures

No kids

 

Essentially, I'm ok.

 

I just dropped nearly 2K on OB, play pretty much all GW games, play several other miniature games, and drop lots of cash on hobby supplies, most of which is GW stuff.

 

Their prices have zero impact on my spending habits. 

 

Yes, I completely get that I'm an exception, but here is the thing ...

Even when I was not in my current good situation, I still bought whatever I wanted from GW. It just meant going without other stuff.

This is my passion. My art. (Was) my 15 minutes. My 35+ year hobby. 

The price does not factor in for me. I love it too much to let it.

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The price increases won't effect me personally, but I think this is down to the way that I purchase models and engage with the hobby. I tend to pick an army, buy most of what I need, build and paint it. I do of course buy other things along the way, but I can tell you exactly what is in my pile of gray and also that it fits inside the Soul Wars box... because it's all (mostly) inside the old Soul Wars box...

It takes me about a year to paint an army, along with distractions like Warcry Warbands, etc., so the cost is effectively spread across a twelve month period. When I compare this to my other hobbies, past and present, it is approximately the same cost. I recently gave up playing football due to advancing age and injuries. Age of Sigmar costs no more than that did and seems fairly reasonable to me in terms of the enjoyment it brings.

When I got into the hobby I spent a long time researching and getting a sense of how things worked. As a result of this and the quality of the new sculpts, I have bought very few old kits. It has been clear to me, from the beginning, the direction that Age of Sigmar was going in and that it was intentionally away from the Tolkein-esque themes of the Old World. I am surprised that this seems to have been missed by so many, but I mainly put this down to nostalgia and differing tastes. Regardless, as a result, I have very few fears about units being discontinued and for those few that are, I know I have learnt some lessons from them.

I am very conscious of what I enjoy about the hobby and how much I value it. I have framed my expectations based on this, as well as real world inevitabilities like price increases, and so this round of price increases, the first I remember in four years, will have no effect on my purchasing.

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Honestly, even though currently I do have the money to buy anything I could want miniatureswise, it does affect me if something feels unreasonably expensive. Of course, it’s highly subjective; I’d say a big and highly detailed model doesn’t feel overpriced in the 50-70 € category, but it does in the 100+ category; basic infantry is ok for 30ish for 10, but not for 50 and so on. Where it is over that threshold, I try to circumvent.

Luckily, I chose Ogors. 😄

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The lack of sense in pricing between models also discourages.

Start Collecting sets, for example, is where GW should show balanced pricing, even increases. Yet the dart-board pricing model is in effect. It's worse since the price increases as they mean a difference of between £5 on Start Collecting sets yet without any sense as to why. An example is the new Greywater Fastness Start Collecting set with 380 points of largely old sculpt models for £60. Compare that to the Beastclaw Riders set which has 700 points of models for £55, and IMHO better sculpts.

It does honestly feel like the have and have-nots factions, and that isnt even down to the rules, which is for another topic.

If there was consistency in pricing, the increases might even be palatable. As it stands it feels botched, with the hobbyists feeling the pain the most.

It wont take much for the GW phenomenon to burst. And they're going the right way to make that happen.

A shame considering they're doing more right than wrong with the overall game.

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23 hours ago, Rodiger said:

I do wonder how this will affect teenagers. I think teenagers are the lifeblood of this hobby, anecdotally I think most of us start as teenagers, there was a poll on here that seemed to back that up too. Warhammer isn’t a cool thing to do, it is easier as a teenager to get into as a lot of us aren’t that cool then anyway, you can meet other likeminded people, form social groups.

Anyway the typical pattern from what I can tell seems to be, start as a teenager, have a break over uni/first employment or whatever, then get into the hobby again in your late 20’s when you have more cash. The point being is that when we are older we will spend more because we can, but if we didn’t start as teenagers, many of us wouldn’t take it up when we are older.

GW are competing with other things like computer games and other war/boardgames, with the current prices of models and the extra costs of paints, tools, as well as scenery and rule books, you are already approaching the cost of a games console. Games consoles are more cool, there are lot’s of people all over the world to play with at the push of a button, buying a game is now the same or cheaper than buying a unit for your army, you don’t have to do anything, like you don’t have to build and paint a computer game to use it.

So, if you are a teenager, you are completely dependant on parents for this hobby, you mainly always were, but I can see it being a hard sell to parents who did/do not play Warhammer themselves. Not even a part time job is going to really be enough anymore. If the prices normalise at a point where it stops teenagers taking up the hobby, then it’s the start of a slow death.

Sorry if that is a bit hyperbole, but thinking back to when I was a teenager, it was expensive then, and not coming from the richest of families it was hard enough for my dad to really get me anything, I was limited to birthdays and Christmas. I think if they were the current prices (inflation adjusted), he may have just said, sorry son, no. 

As someone who is a teenager and involved in the hobby, I have to say my spending has increased on the hobby, but I never buy GW product at retail, my local gaming store gives a good discount and I've been buying some stuff off ebay as recent for CoS. I worked a job all summer to get money for the hobby ~30hrs a week, and it allowed me to branch out from only purchasing bundled products like start collecting boxes and starter sets and collect the army I wanted from when I first started playing Age of Sigmar about 3 years ago, Moonclan Grots.

Granted, the high entry price to the hobby has made it near impossible to get my friends to invest in the hobby and if I play with them I let them borrow spare models. I am also kind of a unique example because I stopped playing video games a few months ago so I would have more time to paint because of school and sports being time consuming. Honestly, I think a far bigger problem with entering the hobby is paints. I am fortunate that my dad has a large collection I can borrow, but paints would be what is really costly for a lot of my friends. When I clean up after a project I am always amazed how many different colors I use, just to achieve pretty simple paint schemes. 

I am also pretty careful with my purchases because I only play with painted models, so any unpainted ones get to stay off the table until I have made some progress.  

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I’m only skimming but I didn’t read enough mentions of warcry.

Warcry is  an amazing way to start the hobby for young ppl or ppl on a budget.

2k is an awful way to start AOS imo. Start at warcry then move to meeting engagements.

If Warcry was around when I was a kid I think a lot more of my buddies would have started to play table top games.

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34 minutes ago, svnvaldez said:

I’m only skimming but I didn’t read enough mentions of warcry.

Warcry is  an amazing way to start the hobby for young ppl or ppl on a budget.

2k is an awful way to start AOS imo. Start at warcry then move to meeting engagements.

If Warcry was around when I was a kid I think a lot more of my buddies would have started to play table top games.

Let me expand that a little more

Warcry > Skirmish > Path to Glory > Meeting Engagements > 2000 points

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1 hour ago, Cronotekk said:

Let me expand that a little more

Warcry > Skirmish > Path to Glory > Meeting Engagements > 2000 points

Veering mostly off topic but I have to say, how I wish skirmish was a real thing! I love warcry but it’d still be cool to have something where you can play a couple of small units and heroes with anyone familiar with AoS rules. It would be such a great entry point...

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2 hours ago, Sleboda said:

I don't know how long you've been a GW customer, but I can tell you that people have said that about the company for decades.

And yet they are still there, doing great.


Agree with Joe.

I used to run an Internet  Site in the mid 1990's for GW tactics.  Before nice forum technology was a thing. Just text articles.   I used to get comments on the website in 1995 that "GW prices have gotten insane this company can't last like this, I'm sure X company is going to take their place."  Company X, and Y, and Z have all come and are now long gone but GW is still there.   

Oddly company A, B and C have sprung up and despite years of 'irrational' GW price increases their price per model for these other companies tends to be the same or more then GW for the same size main line miniatures.    Maybe other companies raise their prices to less fanfare because it seems odd that their prices seem about the same as the company that's  'irrationally' raising the price. 

I've got a wife and two kids but my approach hasn't changed since I started in 1990.  This is a hobby, these toy soldiers are expensive, I buy what I want but I don't confuse my hobby purchases with a need.   GW price changes haven't changed my approach because I never treated it as 'cheap as chips' it's toys that  I build and paint for games I generally love.   

Gary 

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@Pariah Thanks for the reply, I found your opinion very interesting. It also made me feel a bit sad too, you had to get a 30 hour a week job to support your hobby, and it is also disheartening that it is too expensive for your friends. It is also not just teenagers who get caught out with the paint, I have a friend in his 30's who is put off by that too. 

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14 hours ago, Pariah said:

I am fortunate that my dad has a large collection I can borrow, but paints would be what is really costly for a lot of my friends. When I clean up after a project I am always amazed how many different colors I use, just to achieve pretty simple paint schemes. 

I spend far more in paints (a silly amount) monthly than I do in models. Armies being rarer bulk purchases.

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11 hours ago, svnvaldez said:

I’m only skimming but I didn’t read enough mentions of warcry.

Warcry is  an amazing way to start the hobby for young ppl or ppl on a budget.

2k is an awful way to start AOS imo. Start at warcry then move to meeting engagements.

If Warcry was around when I was a kid I think a lot more of my buddies would have started to play table top games.

I can't play Warcry with the army I like though.

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15 hours ago, svnvaldez said:

I’m only skimming but I didn’t read enough mentions of warcry.

Warcry is  an amazing way to start the hobby for young ppl or ppl on a budget.

2k is an awful way to start AOS imo. Start at warcry then move to meeting engagements.

If Warcry was around when I was a kid I think a lot more of my buddies would have started to play table top games.

Warcry isn't a way to get into aos as it only supports a small amount of armies.

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