Plastic Scout Pricing

[Inquis. Jaeger]

Very nice indeed. Might hold off adding those scout squads to my new army for a little while yet then...

[x-esiv-4c]

Plastic would be cool because it is easier to convert but look at it from an economic point of view. Where can GW get the biggest profit margin from?

[Cloudscape_online]

Where can GW get the biggest profit margin from?

Plastic. And here's why...

10 Metal IG Kasrkrin= £20

10 Plastic Marines= £18

Shouldn't metal cost more? NO! This is GW economics where plastic is just as costly!

[rkunisch]

Shouldn't metal cost more? NO! This is GW economics where plastic is just as costly!

Well, as it has been said several times: The material costs are higher when using metals. The costs for the mould is higher when you use plastics (metal instead of rubber). Normally the investment into plastics needs higher sale numbers for the break-even point. If the prices are higher you will reach this point earlier.

Have fun,

Rolf.

[MidnightResistance]

Pah!
Another GW excuse.
Have you seen how cheap kids plastic toys are?
There's your answer.
GW is ********ting.

BUT

we're talking about future model releases, not about the prices.
Stay on topic people, or Brimmy will come and bite your knees off

[t-tauri]

Pah!
Another GW excuse.
Have you seen how cheap kids plastic toys are?

Would you play a game with them?
Look at the plastic competition Starship Troopers £15 for eight figures in a plastic so hard it could be used for reactor shielding and compare that with £18 for twenty Cadians.

Plastic scouts will come eventually since the intention is to have all core/troop choices in plastic. When they'll come no-one really knows as yet.

[Brimstone]

I've split this off from the original (except Inquis Jaegers post, sorry mate) as it's off topic.

[Inquis. Jaeger]

I've split this off from the original (except Inquis Jaegers post, sorry mate) as it's off topic.

No worries Brim. Had to start somewhere, eh?

[Brimstone]

No worries Brim. Had to start somewhere, eh?

More I forgot to untick your box.

[anarchistica]

Plastic. And here's why...

10 Metal IG Kasrkrin= £20

10 Plastic Marines= £18

Shouldn't metal cost more? NO! This is GW economics where plastic is just as costly!

GW bases the prices and contents of boxes on the points cost of the relevant unit and then relates it according to a certain standard. Orcs and Chaos Warriors are equal in size and the CW's only have a couple dozen more bits, but you get respectively 19 and 12 in a box because Orcs are dead cheap and Chaos Warriors aren't.

[x-esiv-4c]

i'm going to assume that the scouts are going to be...hmmm...30$ for a box of 5 or 6.

[Trench_Raider]

Hehe..it could be worse. They could go stoop so low as to charge 15$US for a single plastic miniature!

Hey wait a minute........

"Trench Raider"

[imthedci]

Hehe..it could be worse. They could go stoop so low as to charge 15$US for a single plastic miniature!

Yeah, but the SM Commander sprue comes with so many extra bitz that you can make (or at least equip ) 3 or 4 guys...or 1 Uber-guy (if you magnitize them).

Not that I enjoyed paying $50US for 5 Terminators.....

[Alpharius]

My vote is for $35 for 5, with an outside chance of seeing $30 for 5.

At least until....next July...

Have you seen this "news" about the "price adjustment"?

A "price adjustment" a'comin'!

Scary...

[Commissar von Toussaint]

I found a price guide from 1999 in my basement earlier today. What can I say but

I think the constant price hikes has really numbed people to how much GW has raised their prices.

While GW has introduced some new flashy bits to add chrome, a lot of the kits are the same (this was when the "new" 40k was being released).

We can say materials went up, but they didn't go up by that much. The molds for a lot of these are the same, although they've added bits.

And of course GW also likes to put less stuff in the box than they did before.

The thing that really strikes me isn't that GW has cranked its prices up by more than half in six years, it's that people either don't seem to notice or don't seem to mind.

[Eversor]

Shouldn't metal cost more? NO! This is GW economics where plastic is just as costly!

In an interview on Dysartes.com, Gavin Thorpe claims that the largest single cost in the production is in fact packaging - as in boxes/blisters and the actual physical task of packaging - not materials.

[grave digger]

In an interview on Dysartes.com, Gavin Thorpe claims that the largest single cost in the production is in fact packaging - as in boxes/blisters and the actual physical task of packaging - not materials.

This is, in fact, very true in almost all aspects of business. When you go down to the local Stop-And-Rob you pick up a soda. In a 46oz container the soda costs a few cents. You are paying for the cup that you put the Soda in. Way back in 1990, my first job after High School was night clerk at a 7-11. The corprate bean counters were so obsessed with the cost of cups that we would have to count the ones found in the garbage so they could write if off.

While cost of materials is a major factor I have noticed less packaging from GW in the last few years. Gone are most of the foam trays and excessive box sizes. But I would be sure that minimum wage in the UK has gone up in 6 years time.

As to cost effectiveness of plastic scouts. Raise a hand, if GW made a decent looking scout plastic kit who here would be tempted to make an all Scout army? Anyone? I know I would and I bet many others would as well.

Diggs

[Commissar von Toussaint]

Regarding materials, it is strange the GW repackaged everything if costs are so high. You can tell the 2nd edition stuff because it has the yellow 40k printed on it. Why bother going with the dark logo? And now they have an even darker one?

I think that while packaging and materials are pricey, redoing them gives GW another excuse to raise prices without people raising as much of a fuss.

A while back the Wall Street Journal had an article that explained how premium companies (name brands) boost their sales: They keep the high price the same, they just increase what they put in the package. After a short while, they cut it back, often to lower than what it was originally.

GW's been doing that (less models per package) and raising the price, and the cover is often the slick new packaging.

As for buying a plastic scout army, sorry, not if it is in line with the other prices.

For example, if the price them like space marine tactical squads (10 for $35) you are paying $3.50 a figure for something in plastic.

My 1999 price guide lists that as the going rate for a METAL marine in blister. Now that was for a special order. IIRC, you got two for $6 in the blister.

My point? The same people who balked at collecting all metal armies a few years ago are actually paying more for their "affordable" plastic ones today.

[Imbroglio]

Packaging, while being the most expensive aspect of any product, is also the biggest factor that makes said priduct leap of the shelf to a potential new shopper. While many older players might see the photoshopped boxes of current as a bit silly, to your avergae 12 year old, aflicted by mnay hours of the TV, PS2 and Xbox, real gun effects look far cooler than a basic photo.

And a refresher never hurts, ask any advertiser anywhere.

Regards,

-- Imbroglio

[Eversor]

Regarding materials, it is strange the GW repackaged everything if costs are so high. You can tell the 2nd edition stuff because it has the yellow 40k printed on it. Why bother going with the dark logo? And now they have an even darker one?

It's not like they repackage the already shrink-wrapped boxes and sealed blister packs each time there is a change in the box style

EDIT: Oh, and what Imbroglio said is true as well...