Too expensive or not?

[PostWarFolk]

Why is this hobby so expensive? I know GW is a business, but man with my addiction I'm going broke fast. Can't prices bend a little towards the buyers side?

[Denzark]

No they can't. Try Warmachine for methadone. Or, if you live in the states visit Dog the Bounty Hunter he'll talk you round.

[Lerra]

Ebay is a good place to save some money, especially if you're patient and wait for a good deal. Otherwise, check craigslist or local things. I'm getting a 1500 point army soon for $50 because the guy just wanted to get rid of it.

[Miggidy Mack]

It can get expensive (especially if you play Guard) but there are a lot of ways to save money. Get creative with conversions and you'll be in much better shape!

[PostWarFolk]

Yeah I play Guard and it gets up there. Its all good though. People I play think I'm crazy sometimes when they see me riding my bike. They know my gas money went towards a new tank. Exercise and a new demolisher you got to love it.

[Ghoulio]

It is expensive...but what hobby isnt? If you are into video games every time a new XBOX or Playstation comes out that sets you back $500+ not including any games you buy. That right there is an army. My uncle builds remote controlled sail boats, his cheapest one is $1400. I could go on and on. As I said, I am not saying it isnt expensive because that would be crazy. I am just saying being a nerd is expensive... very fun...but expensive :)

[Miggidy Mack]

Not to just plug my own show... but last weeks Chicago episode (episode 63) has a well researched segment on where to buy models on the cheap and how to build inexpensive lists from a dollar standpoint.

I know in the past we put together 1500 points for $300, it's not tough. It's about knowing the golden ratio.

1 Dollar = 5 points. If a model is 50 dollars it should be 250 points for building an army on the cheap. We call this the "Land Raider Ratio". Daemons are a really easy way to build an army inexpensively.

[doublek666]

Expensive is relative to the resources you have on hand. Most of the stuff GW puts out, is going to be around for a while. Be patient. Plan ahead. Most people don't build and paint it all at once, so don't worry about buying it all at once. This game has been around for over twenty years, I'm sure you'll be able to get everything you ever wanted, eventually. Wait 'till you want to buy a table, terrain, buildings, etc. The amount of glue, paint and brushes need is pricey, as well.

Keep reading the forums, they are always hobbyists giving info on what they used and where to get things cheaper. There are ways to collect, build and paint 40k armies and be involved with the game for 3-500$. That is a good investment, but this hobby is a good value. It provides hours and years worth of fun, satisfaction. If you don't have the patience, to save, collect, build and paint all this stuff, try DAWN OF WAR on your computer, lot's of fun, same Intellectual Property, for 50.00$( and a PC). It can be cheaper to but models online if you have a debit/creidt card/account or paypal. Ebay and craigslist are great.

[eagleboy7259]

I'm not going to say that gamesworkshop doesn't charge a pretty penny for their stuff, but when you understand how the company makes money the prices make a lot more sense. Yeah theres all that stuff about how much its costs to make a mold, and how much they have to sell to even break even on that mold. Then theres the stuff they sell that they might even be losing money on, like unpopular or unuseful models and kits... its a real niche hobby. In my simple and probably even wrong way of trying to explain it, suppose most players of the game only collect 1-2 1500pt-ish armies in the time they are interested in the hobby. With paints and kits and whatnow, the company will only make a few hundred bucks if that off of them after the cost of the raw materials, marketing and such. Of course the company is profitable, if it wasn't it would have folded a long time ago, but the costs of the kits go just far enough to give people in a company a real job. I doubt too many people in GW are at home sitting on a mountain of cash from GW sales.

[zanzibarthefirst]

all hobbies are expensive. Games workshop can get expensive especially if you like stuff loike blood knights, metal IG regiments and the like but there are always ways to save money. Using online stores and ebay help save a few pennies whilst making the most out of your bitz box can not only help economise your models but also lead to some pretty darn good looking models

[eldargal]

One of my other hobbies is historical reenactment/living history. I can spend a small fortune on various high end cloth for one dress. I had a suit of gothic plate made for me, for which I will not give the actual price, suffice to say it was more than my 18k points of Eldar cost altogether.
Collecting and gaming with Games Workshop can be as cheap or expensive as you make it. Are the models themselves comparatvely expensive? Yes. If you don't think GW products are worth it, don't buy them. I for one have just spend an hour browsing half a dozen other well known miniature company websites for female figures to use to convert IG/Space Kitten. I am left in no doubt that GW are miles ahead of everyone else in terms of the quality of their sculpts. I am willing to pay a premium for that, someone else may not be.

[trjames]

One of my other hobbies is historical reenactment/living history. I can spend a small fortune on various high end cloth for one dress. I had a suit of gothic plate made for me, for which I will not give the actual price, suffice to say it was more than my 18k points of Eldar cost altogether.
Collecting and gaming with Games Workshop can be as cheap or expensive as you make it. Are the models themselves comparatvely expensive? Yes. If you don't think GW products are worth it, don't buy them. I for one have just spend an hour browsing half a dozen other well known miniature company websites for female figures to use to convert IG/Space Kitten. I am left in no doubt that GW are miles ahead of everyone else in terms of the quality of their sculpts. I am willing to pay a premium for that, someone else may not be.

I wish there were a "Vote up" or "agree" button. When I was younger, I used to complain about the cost, but now I don't. It's a hobby, not a necessity. I'm 30 now, and I look at my friend's hobbies and WH looks extremely cheap in comparison. One of my buddies smokes cigars - $10-$20 each. Another restores cars. One chops motorcycles. One guy is a pilot (easily spends more a year on fuel than I will make next year in total). I scuba dove for a while, that adds up. Model trains are less popular than they used to be, but I know a few people who spend thousands per year on them. You play golf? $20 for a tee time is pretty good. Eldargal mentions reenacting - SCA quality armor is neat, but a deacent brigandine or breast plate will easily cost you more than I've spent on all my Daemonhunters. Then you've got the soft bits of your costume and your arms.

What is expensive is relative. Each person has their own limit. When I was an undergrad making a couple hundred dollars a month, my Eldar army was a huge outlay. Now I could get all of that stuff in one fell swoop and not feel too much pain. You have to decide if the outlay of cash is worth it to you. I for one would rather have my warhammer figurines than a PS3 or whatever. I get to interact with people while I'm playing. I find the painting relaxing. I find the fluff interesting. If it's not worth it to you that's fine, I respect that. I've been there too. What I don't like is when I am down at the battle bunker in Downer's Grove and I hear someone start going off on the GW staff about how it's too expensive (like I saw happen on Saturday). I kept waiting to hear the por red-shirt say "if it bothers you so much, the door is over there." I guess he's just a more polite guy than me though.

I don't mean this as a personal thing against anyone, it's just something I've been thinking about since Saturday.

[Mystery.Shadow]

I know I'm going to get flamed for this but....

Compared to my other hobbies, I find Warhammer 40,000 a very INexpensive Hobby! Really!!

[eldargal]

Another thing to bear in mind is that all GW models are produced in factories in Britain and the US. That adds significantly to the labour costs when compared to certain other companies who outsource their plastics to China. I'm not making any statements re the ethics of either policy and I'm not going to get into a debate on that, just stating a fact which impacts on the price of GW models.

[Ivarr]

You can easily spend as much or more on any comparable game. AT-43, Flames of War, Warmachine...they are all in the same price range...if not a bit higher. If you are looking for a cheap alternative, most of the specialist games published by GW are a bit cheaper to play while giving a comparable experience.

[Pi666]

I'm not aware about the US dollar - Sterling Pound ratio, but as an european it's no longer as expensive as it used to be, you might try to check maelstromgames.co.uk.

[the one]

I also scuba dive and let me say this: Now I have brought all the equitment I need (which was going into the 4 figures:() It still costs me £40 for one or two dives (fuel in car to get to location, Membership at dive sites, Air etc.) Oh and I had to pay another bombshell for the training. After all this I look at 40k and see it as a hobby which can be done at any point and only requires lots of planing if I'm doing something special like Apocolypes. My game club is £2 a night and I can walk there. Panning it out I spend possibly 10 times less on 40k then diving.

My 2 Pence (yes pence)

[Lord Azaghul]

Most of gw's models are reasonable priced for the models themselves - look around at the army tanks in your local hobby shop if you don't belive me. However what the do seem to vasty overcharge for is character models, for some reason a 5 dwarves holding axes will cost 22$, but slap the name 'lord' on one of them and he's suddenly 18$

On the overall end of the hobby stuff (paints, brushes, non-model supplies ect) I don't use gw at all. All of the gw stuff IS overpriced...

However compared to other hobbies out there, like my brother-n-law: he like to buy guns, hunts, and does sport shooting, I'm sure my cost per army is far lower then his cost per guns/ammo.
OR say the over oppresive 'golf': 1500$+ for clubs, the 50-75$+ per game!!! No thanks.

[crazyredpraetorian]

It is expensive...but what hobby isnt? If you are into video games every time a new XBOX or Playstation comes out that sets you back $500+ not including any games you buy. That right there is an army. My uncle builds remote controlled sail boats, his cheapest one is $1400. I could go on and on. As I said, I am not saying it isnt expensive because that would be crazy. I am just saying being a nerd is expensive... very fun...but expensive :)


I agree 100%. I used to race motorcycles and cars. I had over 20k wrapped up in one car and that didn't count what I paid for the car or repairs, 20k in mods alone.....and that was over 25 years ago. One repair was over $1200 and that was just one of many. 40K is a bargain considering the good times and the realatively low cost.

[The Green Git]

I agree 100%. I used to race motorcycles and cars. I had over 20k wrapped up in one car and that didn't count what I paid for the car or repairs, 20k in mods alone.....and that was over 25 years ago. One repair was over $1200 and that was just one of many. 40K is a bargain considering the good times and the realatively low cost.

Amen brother. I do Track Days on my motorcycles and it's $125-$225 per DAY for track fees not to mention the $300 set of tires I will burn through in a couple days, gas to and from and for the bike. You can easily spend enough for an entire army just to ride for a weekend.

[Mystery.Shadow]

Wow, quite surprised that there are other people with crazy hobbies which 'dwarf' 40k's expense.

Let's not give Games Workshop any ideas tho...

[Scoota]

One of the other things to remember with GW is that they run their own stores, which adds to the cost of the product.
Lots of other tabletop games are sold through a generic (for lack of a better word) FLGS, and don't have a 'staff' overhead to the same degree.
Living in Australia - and not having a forge here like in the UK or the US - means that we pay more per item than gamers in the US and the UK.
Now that the exchange rate of the Aussie dollar is so good against the greenback and the pound, it is actually cheaper with most models to import it directly from overseas and wait a week or so, rather than to head down to the local GW store.

If you think the hobby costs too much - try to get a casual job at a GW store, run some games and painting lessons, and avail yourself of the staff discount. It's all a question of how far you are willing to go for your hobby.