Monday, May 5, 2008
Forge World
I've got this tremendous lust for Forge World models. Is it because they're so incredibly expensive and out-of-reach that I want them so badly? Or is it the snobbish exclusivity of having something unique and just a tad different? The Forge World Tallarn Sentinel, for example, is characterized by nothing more than big feet and a canopy, yet I'm sorely tempted to spend three times as much on one, after figuring currency conversion, shipping from the UK and remembering that I get GW at cost. I need three. Sometimes I miss my IT salary. Oh, to have lots of money and big footed walkers.
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FW is tasty, isn't it? The day I hit the lottery or my job pays me what I deserve, is the day I order up a Thunderhawk for the White Scars. It would be just to model it and paint it since I don't play anymore, but it would be worth it.
ReplyDeleteVery tasty. It's the kind of "cool" that could get you into trouble with your credit card on the Internet some groggy morning (I bought my first BMW that way).
ReplyDeleteThe annoyance factor of having to order overseas product and then having to wait for it to be manufactured and shipped to the US is what has kept me from ordering anything from FW. The cost is simply a contributing factor. If they had a reasonable way to distribute their product to US customers I would be one.
ReplyDeleteAs an FYI, I learned today that anything on the GW UK website is also available from GW US. They just haven't updated the US website yet. I ordered my roughriders from the US folks today. Now I just need one roughrider sergeant (got one on ebay this weekend).
ReplyDeleteTo Fulminata, the turnaround for FW is usually less than a week from what I have seen from friends that have ordered from them; usually a week tops. This is in spite of what they state on the website which I think allows for stuff that they don't have already made and sitting on the shelf. Cost has always been the issue for me: hard to justify.
ReplyDeleteQuality Control has also been a significant issue with Forge World in the past.
ReplyDeleteI know that it is a real pain in the butt to spend a bunch of money on some custom parts, and get the wrong parts in the bag - or worse, get miscast parts.
I've heard that there have been periods when there have been significant delays, like around Christmas and when Apocalypse came out. Usually those times have coincided with the few times I've seriously considered ordering something from there :P
ReplyDeleteWhat joedog said is also a big part of the annoyance factor of ordering overseas.
I'm also not saying that "cost is no object" merely that it's not the main thing keeping me from ordering FW. It's definitely a contributing factor. If the prices were lower I might be more willing to risk the other annoyances, but I would definitely be willing to give it a try if the other annoyances weren't there.
All that said, the word is that GW is happy with the way that FW operates as it does. I think they're afraid that increased production won't necessarily lead to increased sales if the "exclusive" feel is lost. I think they're wrong, but I'm not making the decisions there.
My guess is that Forge World is considered by GW to be this fantastic, fairly low cost, marketing tool. Plus it's in the UK, close to HQ. From my understanding there are something like three guys who work it, making very low volume products that create lots of excitement and buzz. It reminds me of the high performance divisions of car manufacturers.
ReplyDeleteThe bitz folks with their higher staff count, warehouse space and something like 18,000 skus is another matter.
Didn't Bitz go away?
ReplyDeleteIt didn't go away, they just reduced SKUs and now only sell models, with maybe twenty or so bitz kits available.
ReplyDelete