The only things I can think to say about this is...
1) These moronic one-click, no-discount bundles must be selling.
2) Someone at GW HQ made a bet that they could sell an entire chapter this way.
I mean really, unless you have another $25K+ laying around to pay someone else to assemble and paint everything, what is the point of buying this? To fill up half a garage bay with boxes you'll never open? For a game that you'll never play?
On a very rare occasion, I did read somewhere that someone did the math and this actually discounts you about $1300.
ReplyDeleteSo, you know, all you high rollers out there ...
/yawn
I was sad enough to add it up for the UK site. They do have a nice breakdown at least. It's £7065 with a saving of about £1200 (~18%), plus a load of signed artwork and stuff.
DeleteThis will be next year's grand prize at NOVA, right Mike?
That would be sweet!
DeleteAs long as it includes a new van to drive it home in. ;)
DeleteI await the day GW posts a picture of puppies on their front page, just to read your scathing critique of said puppies.
ReplyDeleteYes, because as a hard-core fanboy, you will never find anything GW does to be unreasonable. We've established that for some time now. Whereas anything I write is somehow completely out of line if I don't all but felate Kirby in my enthusiasm for whatever nonsense they dream up on a given day.
DeleteSo tell me, how is it reasonable for the Australian price on this package deal to be more expensive than the cost of a plane ticket to England to pick up the whole shebang in person at English prices, and then pay the extra baggage charges to bring it all back with you to the bottom of the world?
Might not a reasonable person do a double-take at the nonsense of that? While wondering, if this is such a great deal, why other companies don't do the same thing? I mean, why not a $800K deal from Ford that gives you every single car model that they sell in a given year? Oh, that would be a waste of marketing effort? Exactly.
I'm not even going to read your further three paragraphs of rage; because absolutely nothing about this warrants three paragraphs.
DeleteIt's a joke bundle that took ten minutes for one of their web guys to slap together, and costs them absolutely nothing to do. The fact that you're so eager for something to criticize that you actually took the thing seriously is the beginning and end of the sane portion of the discussion.
When you act ridiculous, I'm going to poke fun at it. Being outraged at a $12,000 bundle of plastic men that is obviously not intended for anyone to actually purchase is, in my opinion, ridiculous. So...here we are, y'know?
So you're criticizing me without bothering to actually read what I say? Business as usual then.
DeleteDon't worry! I'm confident someone will inform me in the event you write something worth reading.
DeleteYet here you are. Reading his article. Ironic. Yes, Sandwyrm whines a lot, but a lot of us do. Nobody is forcing you to come and comment on his posts. Plugging your ears singing "lalalalalala" to his replies is pretty weak and childish.
DeleteAny SENSIBLE person would have issues with the way GW is running things, because it has become less about making a fair and fun game, and more about how much the bottom line is. That shouldn't be what a game company is about, but with people like you to act like mindless, money-flinging, and meek sheep, they'll continue on this path.
Grow up, dude.
Any sensible person would have no trouble with the way GW does things, because they have long since ceased to purchase GW products, and have found better* games to play :P. We sensible people only pay attention to GW's antic out of morbid curiosity... Y'know, like slowing down to see a car wreck. I suppose there is a little schadenfreude to be had too. And it's like watching the three stooges. (Tom, Matt & Jeremy)
Delete*better for them and their wallets. YMMV.
Its a cool thing to have in the shop even if no one will buy one, and its garnered a lot of page clicks to their site, I bet that made them some other sales, its done what its supposed to
ReplyDeleteIt's attention grabbing, sure. It's also a decent (for GW) discount. But does it belong on the front page? Does the extra buzz even out the effect on shocked parents who come by to research this Warhammer-stuff their kids are asking them for? Are they going to know enough about the game to realize this 'deal' is for about 10-12x the models they would actually use in a game?
DeleteYes, to all of those things.
DeleteI do not mind this. Sort of cool, No one is likely to buy it but we are all talking about it. Reading the list it is pretty light on tanks: 2 Vindicators and 5 Predators, Also only like 11 droppods.
ReplyDeleteAnd just 3 Stormravens. So the next time you see more than 3 UltraMarine Stormravens, or 4 Razorbacks in an Apoc game, be sure to rudely deride them on their failure to follow the example set here. :P
DeleteThere are more razorbacks since you get 7 strike force boxes which have them so probably 11 again.
DeleteThe weird thing for me is that I just released I have about this many unpainted 25-28 mm scale minis in my collection already. Guess I cannot order this also I just would never get it done.
ReplyDeleteAye...who would want to paint it all?
DeleteIf you're able to afford this, you can also afford a complementary robotics hobby. So that you can build something to build and paint your new collection. :)
DeleteIt costs GW close to nothing to put this up, and actually gains them a lot. Besides the page clicks, discussion, and wow factor, It's actually inspiring to see a whole chapter. Also what marine player wouldn't love to own their entire chapter? It will never happen for the far far majority of hobbyists, but it gets the dream juices flowing and that is a powerful thing.
ReplyDeleteReally, its a cool thing to have available. The fact that it will never* get purchased is irrelevant. Remember when Pepsi points could get you a harrier jet**? Kids everywhere loved it, I know I did. We all knew we couldn't get the points to get it, but its fun to think about as a daydream.
*Some people have too much money
**GW can actually ship this, so the pepsi points lawsuit won't happen.
Has anybody done the math to figure out if it would be cheaper to get it as a retailer?
ReplyDeleteRetailers typically can order for 35-40% off (though there are restrictions). The discount here is roughly 10-18%. So you don't really gain anything by buying this as a retailer. Particularly since GW, and not you, are determining what's in the bundle.
DeleteUnless your an Australian Retailer, seriously it's like $18,000. I like your comparison of lets just fly to the UK and pick it up and pay the taxes on extra baggage to ship it back on a flight still being cheaper. And we here in Aussie land were starting to relax as the rest of the world started to get smacked up with prices on stuff more similar to what we've had to suffer through brand new for ages...then space marines release and nope back to pay out our arses, it's $195 for a limited ed space marine codex here and people were bitching for the $115 USD one where our currency still is basically the same.
DeleteI just ordered two...
ReplyDeleteDid they throw in free divorce papers? :)
DeleteThey did this once before back in 99, but it was only $5,000 and included an old metal thunder hawk as a bonus.
ReplyDeleteAnd someone actually bought it.
DeleteI have to agree - I view this as an attention-grabbing "wow" factor front page.
ReplyDeleteI've never really wanted to pick up a Marine army, and even I'm impressed just looking at this thing. Makes me want to play some Apocalypse...
And surely anyone with common sense will poke around a bit before thinking that their 12-year-old is legitimately asking for some $12,000 toys. Let's be real here...
Anyone familiar with 40K at all will have some common sense about this. But that's not your typical mom on the street, either. Even if they rightly go "um, something's up here..." when looking at this, their first impression is still going to be "OMG! EXPENSIVE!".
DeleteHaving done sales work myself, that really isn't the first impression that you want. If your prices are high, you want to build up your customer's appreciation of the product before hitting them with a price tag. Think of all those product-porn Apple videos, and how they NEVER discuss price.
So yeah, it's fine to have something like this on offer. But it's probably not something that should be up on the front page of your site. It would be better to have it at the top of their "One-Click Bundle" section instead. Where it would be seen in the proper context. Presuming, that is, that GW is still interested in selling 40K products to new players.
Eh, if it were hidden *at all* on the site, I never would have seen it. I don't go regularly cruising through the bundles and whatever else is on the site, and I doubt most mainstream gamers do either.
DeleteIt's simple wow-factor marketing. If it were anywhere *but* the front page, it wouldn't get half the hype it's already generated.
And I would also say this - how many of us had our first GW experience from the website? Compared to hearing about it from a friend, seeing it in a store, etc etc. Parents and others who would be funding this hobby are far more likely to already be relatively acquainted with the game before stumbling upon the website.
I get what you're saying, if someone who had never heard of the hobby came across that and said to themselves "uh... yeah... spare 12k? Let me get right on that..." and hit the back button. But I just don't think that's a realistic scenario for 99% of the people who see this.
^^^ This
DeleteBack when I used to frequent Warseer there were a few Imperial Guard players that were collecting regiments. Not companies, Reg-I'm-not-effing-kidding-ments. But Guard players are nuttier than the rest of you.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, car companies have halo cars. They are silly-expensive, but make you want them and want more of that brand. Somewhere in your subconscious, you "settle" for something bigger than you would have normally. Yes, owning the entire chapter is silly-expensive, but I do lust for it a little. And that makes "settling" for a Battle Company seem more reasonable.
More-is-more is the gamer way, and GW is the king of more-is-more. Read the books, which are their writers even call war-porn.
It's almost $17,645 here in Australia.
ReplyDeleteAgain, this is why we Australians have all of GW's products digitally scanned and buy most things of the second hand market because fuck you GW we aren't stupid and can get far larger armies for cheaper.
On that note, this whopper is one of the rare (these days, stupid publicly traded company!) deals that nets you savings and more savings then for buying at 10% off retail at an independent store, and I can for see a group of people forking out and splitting it up. The real question is, is this available at the reduced stocking price to an independent store, because if it is, then the savings would translate to the customers even more directly and when you split it 8-10 ways it's actually not that bad,e specially when you look at it and you figure out how much you or others spend on the hobby each year, it's for many people a years budget maybe two of space marines when split 10 ways for example. So when you look at it from the practical stand point, it's not as heinously unlikely to be purchased as every man and their dog is harping on about. The real question wold then be who gets the signed "free" shit that comes with it?
I really don't see how, unless you just HAVE to have an 'entire chapter' of Marines (or the signed book), that you aren't just better off calling up the WarStore and getting precisely what you need at 20% off.
DeleteI am reminded of something someone once told me. "I've gotta swing my e-penis around". Calm down everyone and carry on. lol.
ReplyDeleteSo how's life?
DeleteIts actually really good man. :D Been aiming to get together with you sometime and actually playing some SDE with you. It really is a fun game. As for the miniature bundle thing. Sure I want it. lol. I hate Space Marines, but the way I look at it is this, if I own it, then the old idea that I only die when I paint my last miniature I own will ensure I live for another 1000 years. heheh. That and bragging rights.
DeleteSDE = Super Dungeon Explorer?
ReplyDeleteI could be down for that.