How should GW survive the credit crunch...

[BPI]

Let\'s see if this thread idea has legs

Many a thread leads to GW getting a knocking, anyone got any positive thoughts on how they could add to what they do? encourage new faces to the gaming/painting hobbies? fantasies of their dream store?

So, can I make my introductory thought comprehensible?

Walking past Peter Jones china shops I\'m often gobsmacked by the dire nature of the sculpts/paint jobs that people are prepared to purchase as living room statuery - I also occasionally see one I like - some of the the \'20\'s flappers appeal - & who on earth buys all that Betty Boop stuff!?! But the, generally older, ladies who collect this stuff know their onions & are as commited as any wargamer to their hobby (Anyone here aware of the world of paper doll collectors, blimey those gals are keen!).

People on these forums often post a model they\'ve prepared as a gift that falls ouside of the trad. military/fantasy/sci-fi I think most of us are used to. The little french gnomes in nutshells, unicorns & the like.

So I suggest a new product line for GW:
2 plastic sprues in a regular box of 20x 25mm or perhaps 10x 54mm fashion models. Licensed from Chanel for the first box, follow up with Gautier or Lagerfeld. Handbags, tiaras, mutiple foot options for different shoes, parasols, etc make up the sprue bonus goodies.
Include a 16pg introductory glossy colour pamphlet that shows painted figures in all their fashionable glory, instructions with beginners tips for prep./painting. A competion card inviting best entries to win a day out at Paris fashion week.
Launch with full page adverts in the Daily Mail, Radio Times, Vogue, Marie Claire, etc.
Have \'eavy Metal painters guesting on GMTV, perhaps Anja (I like her style) to be the \"safe\" face of the hobby.

Job done, tens of thousands of (mostly) women worldwide painting beautiful little fashion mannequins featuring couture classics. (Plus think of the conversion oppurtunities for wargamers!).

What do you think

B.

 

[hestan101]

its a fun idea, but if that did happen then all those who currently frequent the store might leavelol

 

[noneedforaname]

Unfortunatley i worry how many regulars would buy them. How long before you se slaaneshi renegade guard armies in fashionable drag.

 

[In Chigh P.I.]

hestan is right, most of the people who work at my local GW havent seen a woman since they left thier mothers bosom (aint that right guys?) lol

Seriously though, GAMES workshop is first and foremost for gaming. You would have to incorporate these new minis into a new game system. Hmm, lets see...roll a double 1 & she twists her ankle & falls off the catwalk? Padded bra armour save? lol

 

[waghorn41]

Hmm, lets see...roll a double 1 & she twists her ankle & falls off the catwalk? Padded bra armour save? lol

D3 attacks for long acrylic nails, first strike for those whiplike eyelashes.

 

[BarstoolProphet]

Originally posted by noneedforaname
Unfortunatley i worry how many regulars would buy them. How long before you se slaaneshi renegade guard armies in fashionable drag.

You mean it hasn\'t already been done? I\'m shocked! Shocked, I say!

 

[Aliengod3]

GW should give away a 10 model unit box with the purchase of one battalion box.

 

[noneedforaname]

aliengod there is already a built in discounts with battalions and battle forces usually equivalent to a £10-£25 boxed set, good idea but they effectively already do this.

 

[Aliengod3]

I am unmoved. I know what they offer and they can do better...

 

[wiccanpony]

Originally posted by noneedforaname
Unfortunatley i worry how many regulars would buy them. How long before you se slaaneshi renegade guard armies in fashionable drag.

not soon enough! lol

 

[BPI]

...My tipsy fingers typed the following on Monday night, I\'m going to go & hide now...

I need to learn more smiley codes, please assume laughing heads bouncing about liberally

I might have too much time on my hands…

A game to go with the figures.

1st stage of game - square board, move pieces around it Monopoly style. Pieces are paintable plastic but supplied in different colours so that none hobbyists can enjoy their board game. Pieces are representing entrepreneurs who are setting up a new fashion house each. Cards (or figures if you collect them, bonus points for painted) representing Catwalk Models in one stack, a smaller stack of Designers in another & a fat stack of Outfits. The object of this initial round is to cannily spend credit (no Monopoly money to manufacture, just a wipe-clean debt-sheet to tally expenses. Bonus points later for screwing creditors) in order to acquire as many key cards as possible, whilst avoiding the pitfalls of the high-powered fashion world (Your luxury jet is hijacked by sequin-thieves, spend £500 on champagne at the spa to recuperate from the trauma of this violation that cuts to the soul of the integrity of your venture. Miss next turn in order to revisit that rather tasty masseur after breakfast) (The 96 year old Greek widow who spins your silk thread for eyelash extensions is outed by local media as a hermaphrodite, enthused by the attention your order is completed early, take 2 Outfit cards). When all of the key cards are in the hands of the players move to stage 2.

2nd stage of the game – the square board splits in half, do that & turn it over. Put pieces end to end to form the Exhibition Centre & Catwalk.
Players keep 1 Designer card but can keep all of the Models & Outfits. Object is to get your models up the length of the catwalk (a race to the finish line). All 10-15 model cards are represented by a figure that line up for the start, some players control more models than others because they won the cards in the 1st round, they have a greater chance of winning. Oops you just landed on a square that says “photographer lunges forward his flashes distracting model as she forgets the catwalk & poses for the camera, move back 2 spaces”, unless you have the Sunglasses Outfit card of course. Hurrah the race is won, somebody’s happy & like any healthy family somebody else is sulking.

So the family has been lured into buying a board game & although dad bought it for mum because she might like painting the figures it’s actually the 12 year old daughter who’s painting them all black & purple.

Now for the Expansion Packs,

Zombie Chauffeurs attack – Your models may have walked the Catwalk but can they survive the escape to the Limo? With 10 besuited Zombie Chauffeur figures, 2 zombie dandies in top hat & tails, a zombie mechanic & a zombie with a drinks trolley.

Just in time for that big spend at Christmas here’s the Graceful-Girls-With-Guns-In-An-Open-Topped-Limo-Vs-The-Living-Dead-Carnival. A big car, a whole sprue of killer stylish accessories & weaponry, new body poses (& swimsuit opportunities with the hot-tub at the back of the limo) as your model laconically leans back & fires a rocket launcher at a zombie dressed as a giant pink peacock. Guide your gals across the living room carpet as over 100 marvelous Carnival undead try to snag their hems. Fun for all the family. (Dad plays the alternate rules from the monthly magazine that allow a limo full of armed zombie chauffeurs).

After Party Invasion – Your models are pouting at the after party when they’re caught up in a sinister alien invasion as a species of extra terrestrials turn up looking for well dressed brides. Tau Attack!

Cosmetic Surgery Bits Pack – Slaanesh has seduced Harley Street, a whole sprue of chaos mutations to liven up your fashion models! Who wouldn’t want a pink tentacle to set off that little black dress? Bonus surgeon figure with scalpel tray.

Glamour Model blister – paint up your favorite licensed glamour models. New releases every month! Every pack contains a bonus 5x paparazzi, all slightly creepy looking, & who doesn’t want to practice painting sweat marks & spilled ketchup on shirt effects? Each blister comes with a card for the model so that she can be used in the main game. Weighted base supplied.

It would appear I could go on.
But I’ll stop.
It might be better for us all.
B.

 

[Shadzar]

GW should do like a Reaper Paint-n-Take.

Find an HQ unit* for giving away to people to paint.

Have someone knowledgeable to help new people paint and assemble the mini.

Stores could be given a set of paints and brushes and flocking to use to make the mini over the course of the day.

*HQ unit meaning a single figure, or maybe just the store have a box of minis they can use to cut the cost of the PnT style thing.

Maybe promote free Speed painting contest in stores where you get the 1 mini fully assembled and all the supplies needed to paint it, and let people compete on the best quick painting.

Charge a small fee, and the winner get some GW merchandise or store credit for the store.

There is a lot GW could do to promote better and get more people into the hobby outside of just lower prices.

 

[BPI]

Less :drunk: this time lol

Way back when, GW used to sell miniatures of various dragons, as did most fantasy figure manufacturers. They\'d always have a nice couple of models in the window display & it\'s my feeling that dragons are one of those creatures that easily garner attention from people with zero interest in the Fantasy genre or gaming/modelling.

So I propose that GW stock/manufacture a mix of their dragons again. I won\'t bang on about them stocking them all in store but a couple of nicely painted examples in the window would be good.

That would of course just be a reversion to old policy. For the new bit...

Manufacture a new plastic dragon kit. Optional wings, a couple of heads, different horn options & perhaps tail options. Sell it in a cardboard box as a beginners kit, marketed as a display dragon rather than as a WHFB/LotR playing piece. In the box is a small pot of brush on primer, glue & a brush. The glossy colour brochure inside includes a quick tutorial on model preperation, assembly & priming. Next few pages show examples of completed models by different \'Eavy Metal staff with a list of colours used. Back pages show completed dragons from the metal Citadel/Forgeworld range. Last page is an advert for the hardcover GW How To Paint Dragons book - stuffed full of all you\'d expect from a GW painting book but with an eye to a new customer base (primarily beginners looking to improve their results who don\'t know what a White Dwarf is, at least in magazine form!).

Don\'t include mini pots of coloured paint in the box. Let people come back to GW next Saturday when the model is prepped & pick up their colour options at that point (oppurtunity for staff to upsell base decorations, etc.).

So to recap, my new idea is bring back DRAGONS (when did they fall out of fashion?).

B.

 

[BPI]

Further to subjects that attract attention from new eyes.

CATs

Not my cup of tea to be honest but if you\'ve ever been into a bookshop toward Christmas you\'ll see stacks of books about cats, with cartoons of cats, pictures of cats, poetry, songs, stories, etc. Not only do you get money from people buying for themselves but can also pick up vast chunks of the gift buyer\'s cash, \"oh, she likes cats, they\'ll do, just need some cat wrapping paper now\".

I\'ve seen people post pics of figures here that are cat-people. Why doesn\'t GW have a cat-people race to go with their lizard-men, goat-men, rat-men?

Probably need WHFB & WH40K ranges but start them off in a limited way like Slann/Pygmies.

I\'m thinking that while the sculpts would need to appeal to the trad GW gaming market there might be room for the sprue options to cater for people making little cat men for non-gaming display/diorama purposes.

B.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by BPI
.......is bring back DRAGONS (when did they fall out of fashion?).

B.

I agree. Well I would, wouldn\'t I Dracophile that I am?

If I recall corectly when I was getting back in to the hobby, late 80\'s early 90\'s, GW stores held/sold Dragons from Ral Partha as well as their own \"Chicken\" Dragon and the Emperor Dragon (Whistful Sigh).
Which is where I got my, now missing, Brass Dragon and the Amethyst Dragon which still awaits it\'s paint job.

 

[BPI]

Hi Dragonsreach, wish I still had my dragons, they went \"missing\" from school many moons ago.

The first I ever bought from GW was an Oriental but I realise now, looking through old Grenadier/Ral Partha catalogues, that it probably wasn\'t a Citadel miniature.

My favourite was one I saw in, roughly, White Dwarf 100. A Spined Dragon (that shouldn\'t have been so hard to find on Google :cussing: ) with bits of chain & a gritty paint job. Really worked for my teenage eyes. I should have ignored Google & just looked here of course

http://www.coolminiornot.com/index.php?id=5046&c=All&m=All&nm=none

What do you think of the GW LotR Dragon, I assume with the number of models you\'ve seen over the years that you\'re a bit of a Dragon sculpt expert? I\'m not a fan but does it rate for you?

Cheers, B. (additional http:// in link edited)

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by BPI
What do you think of the GW LotR Dragon, I assume with the number of models you\'ve seen over the years that you\'re a bit of a Dragon sculpt expert? I\'m not a fan but does it rate for you?

Cheers, B.

Not an expert, by any stretch of the imagination I just have a serious appreciation of the beasts.
As to the LOTR ,well OK it\'s a Dragon but it doesn\'t put my \"Magpie Complex\" into overdrive.
I will undoubtedly end up buying one, but I have yet to see one painted up which makes me go all \'Weak at the Knees\'.
This

on the other hand IS a DRAGON and I\'d pay GOOD MONEY to own a copy.

 

[BPI]

Fair enough. Cheers for such a swift reply!

B.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Might have had a bit of a hiccup there.
My Bad. lol

 

[BPI]

haha lol I should have waited a minute for the interweb to churn along, your post just read \"not an expert\" when I looked lol I thought perhaps you didn\'t want to pass comment!

That huge thing is fantastic . I do like looking at them, painting is another matter though, I find the expanse of a halflings cloak challenging let alone something on that scale. I\'m far happier noodling away on a minor detail like a Wizards ink-pot lol

B.