Rant - Has Games workshop gone too far?

So Has Games Workshop gone too far?

Games Workshop have over the last week or two made two rather large announcements, both of which have made their customers very angry indeed.

The first announcement was the new terms and agreements between the company and 3^rd party companies in the EU who sell on their products.

Basically, GW have told the independent sellers that they can ONLY sell to EU customers. That means that Australia, Canada, South America and America can’t buy from Independent stockists for a lower price that set for their own countries.

Now this doesn’t affect me, but it does affect many people all over the world.

The second announcement was that the old metal figures were being pulled and a new material was being introduced. The new material was supposed to have a more stable price than Tin (which was used as part of the metal figure). This stabilisation of their costs should have meant that the new ‘Finecast’ line should have been cheaper if not the same price as the old metal one. However GW have increased their price.

This also has angered customers.

And in a way, I’m pissed off too. First off, how can GW do that to their customers abroad when they can’t offer the same service themselves that the independent stockist can? Internet means fair and international trade. GW seems to be stuck in a time warp. And dictating who Independent (INDEPENDENT) stockists can sell too seems to counter the global harmonization that’s happening. I say if someone was to bring them to the EU court they’d be told that they can’t dictate who the end purchaser is if a third party seller is involved. And how are they to know who the independent stockist is selling to anyway?  

And secondly, we are in a recession, less and less people have disposable income and many as giving up their hobbies to survive. GW doesn’t seem to notice this and have on cue every year, increased the price of their products. Sheer madness.

GW has made alot of people very unhappy.

I only got into this hobby less than 4 years ago and I’m thinking that it’s time to slow down on my expenditure on GW products. Alot.

Just get a few terrain pieces, finish off my Grey knights, Space Marine and Tyranids army and leave it at that.  No new armies for me!

Anyway enough of ranting. Must build something!

Whats a guy to do!

I picked up the Grey Knights codex for the Warhammer 40K game.
Reason was, I already own a dozen or so of the metal Terminator models as part of an Inquisitor army and wanted to stay up to date with the options and rules for a Grey Knight only army.
Only problem is, Gamesworkshop have brought out new plastic models. And I want!

Basically, if I were to expand my army I would need (like) to get the following:

1 Storm-raven flyer (52euro).
2 Dread-knights (42 euro each)
3 Terminator squads (30ish euro per squad)
3 Space Marine squads (30ish euro per squad).
2 Rhino tanks (35euro each)
1 Crusader tank (50euro)

That brings the cost of a new army to over 400euro.
Ah thanks but no thanks. Even with buying in the Art'n'hobby shop the cost would be over 360euro.
May look out on ebay. Or kibash, or cry.

Damn GW for having such nice looking models!!!!!

Catching up

Hi all,

Been quite a while since I last graced this blog. Sorry about that.
I could say that I hadn't the time to update, but that isn't really true.
The real reason is that I've been unmotivated to post.

Its just the end of winter here. Days are getting longer and the mornings are brighter. This is a good thing. I work shift work, 8am-4pm on one week, 4pm-12pm the other. And over the last few months that meant simply, I go to work in the dark and return home in the dark. And I really don't like it.
During the times when I'm home and its dark, all I want to do is crawl onto my bed and do as little as possible - often resulting in many hours on the web randomly doing nothing. Other times, it would result in my watching of DVD boxsets that I have. I recently finished 'Dark Angel' and the 2009 remake of 'The Prisoner'.

So, whats going to change now that the light is starting to win over the dark?
I actually built a few models just this very week. The RG grade Gundam, The HG Unicorn (which I may at some point mod and rebuild for better movement). I snapped the HG grade Serpent, Tallegesse III, Shelong and Heavy Arms together.

All going well I'll have posts about each of them. Hopefully I can get my cameras memory card back so I can have lots of photos for the posts.

Until then, be safe, be seen and read on!

My first complete Kitbash

Had started this model off last year, but never completed it until I read about Gundamguy's (www.gundamguy.blogspot.com) competition. SO nows its finished!
A custom colour scheme and all. Please excuse the quality of the photos but my memory card is not in my house so I had to use my phone.
I'll list the parts used and you can c&c all you want! Oh, the scale is 1/144 and I hand painted the model, hence the untidiness and yes, I know that there's seamlines, but I'm not all that fussy about them myself.

Head: Exia NG (Gundam 00)
Body: Impulse HG (Gundam Seed Destiny)
Waist: Impulse HG (Gundam Seed Destiny), Strike Noir for ass thrusters (1/100Gundam Seed Stargazer)
Legs: Impulse HG (Gundam Seed Destiny)
Arms: Impulse HG (Gundam Seed Destiny)
Shoulders: Epyon NG (Gundam Wing)
Shoulder Guns: I think their from the 1/100 Strike Noir kit.
Beam Saber: Hilt is from the Impulse, the beam is from the wing of the Strike Noir.
Hand Gun: Kotobuyiko(?) M.S.G. weapons set.

Crater: Games Workshop Crater kit
Misc: Dead gundams.

Hello to all, a Happy New Year to you!
5 days into the New Year. I'm a little bit late wishing you a Happy New Year, but its the thought that counts. Isn't it?

Anyway, this post is probably going to be random as I'm just typing it out, no thought going into it at all.

Ok, here we go.

So.... the recession, killing anyone else's hobbies and dreams?
Due to the recession, large clunks of my pay packet are taken off me before I even get to see it due the complete ineptness that is the Irish Government. But however you look at it, I only really have myself to blame really. During the 'good times' when I was earning a decent wage, I made little to no attempt to save any money for the in enviable rainy day, spending the cash on DVDs, cds, alcohol, nicknack's etc. It hasn't until the start of the recession that I started collection warhammer 40k, the occasional Star Trek ship and restarted my Gundam collection. (maybe I'll talk about the recession more in my next post).
Why so late in my life (I'm 26 next birthday and the recession started 3ish years ago).
Well, the 40k came about from a friend of mine from work (who has since become my supervisor at work) who was trying to organise a gaming night. It lasted about 6-7months, meeting on a Sunday evening. We started playing Heroquest, an excellent game if you can pick up a copy. After a few months of that, we moved on to Descent and then finally......Space Hulk. Not the new version, the classic 1st edition. It was so cool! I was hooked! After playing it a few times, the group drifted apart (as all things do) and it wasn't until I was in my local art and crafts shop (Art'N'Hobby), that I saw them selling 40K models. I picked up a packet of Space Marine Terminators (if memory serves) and that was the start of that obsession!

Ummm.....moving on I thinks. I like Star Trek, the series is good, easy to sit down and watch, easy enough to pick up. And I do like the simple yet sleek designs of the ships. They just seem to glide through space. (Yes I am a Trekkie, just don't tell anyone! Please!?!)

And Gundams...... I do like gundams. I first saw the gundam as a TV series on Toonami (again if memory serves). It was New Report Gundam Wing - AKA Gundam Wing. It was around that time, that I picked up some of my all time favorite anime series' Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Martian Successor Nadesico. Unusally for a TV series in Ireland (especially one from Japan that wasn't aimed at kids to sell toys), the local toy shops were selling the model kits. At the time I only picked up a few 1/144 models and 1/100 of Wing. It started a collection that continues today in two regards: all but 3 of my collect are 1/144 scale and I'm trying to collect the entire Wing set!  

Zeon - MS-07B Gouf. Just pictures and bad videos. No text!

 

Christmas time!

Woo-hoo to Christmas time. A time for giving and receiving. Now I'm sure no one cares, but I'm going to say with I got for X-mas from those people close and dear to me!

My sister got me the 3disc SE of Avatar, I've seen the original cut of the film and can't wait to watch the new extended cut!!!!! She also got me a book called 'Elephants on Acid and other Bizarre Experiments' by Alex Boese. This looks like it'll be a really cool and interesting book, based on very real and very weird experiments (tickling machines and zombie kittens. WTF?)

My parents got me a mens toiletry bag with shaving gel, face balm, shower gel and mens face wash. Everything I need in one bag. I don't usually buy this kind of thing because (A) I'm cheap, (B) I'm a bit scruffy looking all the time (C) as I've said, I'm cheap. So starting this New Years Eve, there may be a cleaner looking individual in my place!

My wonderful girlfriend got me many many things: The really brilliant free floating due to magnets Doctor Who Tardis. It is so cool, spinning with no wires. Oh the fun, I spent an hour after setting it up, just spinning it making the Tardis noise!
She also got me the Tron-look-a-like Bumblebee. This version of Bumblebee is from the Transformers Generations line and the design is based on that of his 'War On Cybertron' game form. Really cool.
On the Transformers front, I also got the Transformers novel - Exodus by Alex Irvine, based on the first meeting of Megatronus and Orion Pax (Megatron and Optimus Prime in later life). The book is canon, however here's the problem: Which continuity is it canon for? The original TV series, the marvel comic, the dreamwave comic, the devils due comic, the live action film series or the IDW comic?
I also got the 1992 Grandmaster annual for the Transformers Generation 2. I'm been looking for this for the last two years. So ahppy to have it. I think (must check) that it completes my original TF annual set!
I got two (yes two) Gundam manga: the first is based on the original series timeline - Blue Destiny, a side story to the main war, and the second is Seed Vol 4 - the manga retelling of the Seed Tv series. The art in both is excellent and if you don't want to sit through 52ish episodes of Seed, the manga retellings are brilliant!
Ooooh oooh, I got the superb series: Gundam 0080 - War in the pocket, again a side story to the original Gundam storyline, showing a tiny part of the war and how it affects the people involved. And got the Gundam F91 film, an excellent film in itself, but it feels incomplete, the ending leaving you hanging and craving more.
 
On the gadgets side: A singing Elvis rubber ducky for the bath. I so have to start having baths instead of showers just to try this little ducky out!
And finally ( i think, hope i didnt leave anything out) a really funky retro style robot, whose arms and legs have usb ports. The whole robot is an USB hub for my laptop, but the best bit is: his arms and legs move!!!!!!

BRILLIANT X-MAS PRESENTS FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope Santa came to all!