Another GW thing Drink everyone

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Ogrebane

Active member
Unless Ive I missed it did anyone see this article
<<GW rant>>

The fact that they admitted that they \'forgot core market\' really shocked me.

I never thought they would admit to that.

OK so the drinks are on me now.
 
Sand Rat

Sand Rat

New member
I guess that explains the weather around here -

And I thought it was because Satan was prepairing a room for Sadamlol
 
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hakoMike

Active member
I\'m just curious to know what they intend to do to bring about the \"recovery\" referenced in the first paragraph of the profits warning. How exactly do they intend to get back to their \"bread and butter\"?
 
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elouchard

Guest
Maybe they\'re going to lighten up the imagery and get some more humor into the figures. They\'ve been \"dark and gritty\" for the last few years so maybe colorful and cortoony figures will be coming back. Whatever nets the younger crowd and doesn\'t offend the parents too much.
 
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Ogrebane

Active member
Empire handgunner box sets. With only 10 minis for $35 oz,as opposed to the old ones with 20 minis for $50 oz.

Just a guess i think. Watch for the price hike.

Drink anyone
 
Sand Rat

Sand Rat

New member
Hate to say it guys, but if you been watching the oil prices you could count on a price increase - and once it goes up, it aint coming back down.
 
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farseerlum

New member
whats oil got to do with it?

if the oil in plastic was expensive i\'d be buying $50 water pistols from the dollar stores for the kid instead of 4 for $5
 
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finn17

New member
At last...

Quite a few of us around here could have told them that back in 2001 however. That\'s when they started to lose contact with their roots. The LOTR thing was a cynical money-making exercise that simply hastened their demise.
I am afraid it\'s likely to be too late for them however, unless they have a \'root and branch\' shake-up....which they wont.

It is sad to see that profits on a turnover of 54.8 million were a mere £127,000:eek: That\'s probably less that a Premier League football player pays in tax.

It\'s been there for all to see however...Spacemunkie and I have been posting graphs of their financial situation for the last three years and neither of us are accountants...;)

I\'m gonna have a beer.....:innocent:
 
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generulpoleaxe

New member
if they stopped opening up new stores and closed most of the none profitable ones they would be a lot better off.

the lotr contract was a good thing for them.
the expansion of the retail section was done badly.
to many stores were opened too quickly, creating a massive drain on their resources. and how did they eventualy counter this, by getting rid of a lot of the talent.
they won\'t learn, they will just continue to make new and bigger mistakes.
 
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Modderrhu

New member
Originally posted by finn17
It is sad to see that profits on a turnover of 54.8 million were a mere £127,000:eek: That\'s probably less that a Premier League football player pays in tax.
Click to expand...
It must be humiliating how such a vast amount of money can produce such \'few\' rewards. Yet, GW are still making a profit. That is: GW is still a profitable company. It\'s when a company starts making continual losses that the middens run over the waterwheel.

It\'s curious to speculate about GW\'s profitability had they never gotten into LOTR. Did the LOTR sales spike just provide a reference point that makes their prior and current profits seem insignificant? A giant blip on the radar that overshadowed the small business-as-usual flecks? I agree with generalpoleaxe, LOTR was good for GW, so good that they could not identify when they poured more effort into it than the returns it yielded. Like milking a cow that\'s already been milked.
 
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supervike

Super Moderator
The list of GW\'s mistakes and alienation of their \'core consumers\' is as long as my leg.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a company wanting to make a profit, that is why they are in the business, but if you put profit ahead of EVERYTHING, you are doomed to failure.

Maybe the chickens have come home to roost.
 
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skeeve

Member
I think people are slightly overreacting. Whatever Kirby said was not meant for you and me, even not for shareholders. It was typical damage control prompted by hysterical stock market.

Look at the number of new releases during this year and compare it with the same number of the year before. This is substantial development investment. Now depitte all these investments GW still returned profit... Did you see profit figures for airline companies, or say ToyRUs this year (~$300 mln loses).
 
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War Griffon

New member
It\'s OK having new releases but look at some of those new releases in question and the quality of the so called new releases, springing to mind are the Orcs, so much could have been done here but wasn\'t it was a new release in name only another bad quality release was the wood elves potential for a good release of figures but the quality of them left a bit to be said.

No I am not GW bashing hell over the years they have made a small fortune out of me and still do.

But poor releases and price hikes are not the way to increase profits even if it does appeal to the 12 to 16 year old market and not the long term collectors or players that are out there and have been surporting the hobby since GW first started as Citadel Miniatures.
 
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generulpoleaxe

New member
i am not reacting to what kirby said.

i have seen mistakes from the outside and in.
don\'t get me wrong, i don\'t want to see gw go belly up. i just wish they could sit back and take a good look at the long term plans, as most of the decisions they have made have been short term plans just like a lot of other retail companies that have gone under/bought out.
 
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supervike

Super Moderator
I have been a long time GW customer....they have had some wonderful products, and some real stinkers....

but the circular thinking of \'redoing\' an army every 3 years or so has gotten the best of me as a consumer. I\'m looking for exciting new products, not rehashes of older ones. Also, one of the things that really got my goat is the \'limited edition\' stuff that was gone before you could even place an order.

I can deal with some of the prices that they have raised, but the genuine lack of care for hobbyists that were at one time devoted to is an almost unforgivable sin.

But, thanks to GW, there are several very exciting, very innovative, very FUN, competitors out there....I probably wouldn\'t have found them without GW\'s not-so-gentle pushing in that direction.
 
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Gilvan Blight

New member
Amen on the recyling. I was so pissed off when they anounced the latest edition of Warhammer litteraly days after the release of Wood Elves. It was the army my Wife had been waiting for for 3 years patientily (myself as well, as I would finally have someone to pit my orcs against), only to find out I \'needed\' to buy a new box of rules.

We didn\'t buy a single Wood Elf, or the new boxed set, or any more orcs.

I personally feel GW lost their game when they went to dedicated miniature gaming. I loved GW when they were a games company and not a Hobby. When you found great games like Fury of Dracula (now re-printed and improved by Fantasy Flight), Talisman, Warrior Knights (again reprinted and improved by Fantasy Flight), Warhammer (now reprinted and improved by Privateer Press... oops, no scratch that :innocent: ).

The only thing I really appreciate them for anymore is getting new people into the hobby. If it wasn\'t for them I wouldn\'t know what a miniature battle game was and would have assumed all minis were of the Historic Wargamming. I also probably would have never found my love for Boardgaming.
 
Dragonsreach

Dragonsreach

Super Moderator
Staff member
Originally posted by generulpoleaxe
If they stopped opening up new stores and closed most of the none profitable ones they would be a lot better off. You can add Trafford Centre Manchester to the list of Stores supported Way beyond their profitability. That store is in fact smaller than my dining room and yet still costs close to £100,000 a year in rental.


The lotr contract was a good thing for them.
But without the impetus of the movies the over-investment in the product range has turned round and seriously bit their asses.

The expansion of the retail section was done badly.
What would be better all round is if the stores were opened up in a more customer focused manner; Have multiple levels, one for sales, one for gaming and one as a Cafe where the long suffering parents could recover. They could even go into franchise with Coffee houses like Costa which works so well in Waterstones

to many stores were opened too quickly, creating a massive drain on their resources. and how did they eventualy counter this, by getting rid of a lot of the talent.
Unfortunatley you can\'t blame the loss of talent solely on the sales failures. Blinkered insistance on reworking existing products solely to create renewed demand is as much part of the problem.
they won\'t learn, they will just continue to make new and bigger mistakes.
Well as I have said in the past the means of correcting their business problems lies as much with their consistant customers like ourselves. Either boycott their product properly or Buy Shares and influence the management /investors that way.
A hard and difficult route but ultimatley one that could produce more effect than any ranting on forums.
Click to expand...

Who wants to start a pool on how long Tom Kirkby lasts now?
 
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