So
a couple of days ago, completely out of nowhere, the long-missing
resin Bretonnia kits just reappeared on Game Workshop's webstore:
Grail Knights, Questing Knights, Grail Reliqueae, Field Trebuchet,
Battle Pilgrims, the Battle Standard Bearer and the Bretonnian Lord
with a lance and Harry Hill's collar. We're still missing Mounted
Yeomen (which is no great loss) and the Questing Vow Lord that looks
like Sean Connery (which is) but they were never made in Finecast so
that's not surprising.
By
the time I got to the store the next morning to order some of the
things, with the clear intention of ordering the lot, all that was
still in stock were the Grail Knights and the Battle Standard Bearer.
Harry Hill is now back in stock (so the “temporarily out of stock”
tag seems legit) and you bet I'm ordering it today.
This
is not the first time, even this month, that GW has been surprised by
demand. The second End Times book came out last weekend, it had sold
out on pre-orders within twelve hours and even a really big GW store
like Reading could only get five copies on release day. Now a bunch
of old models from a very minor army with the oldest and most
out-dated army book still in service get a new pressing and sell out
in a day. So I guess what I'm saying is this:
Can
we please, internet, end this idiotic comment meme about how “No
one plays Fantasy so why does GW support it?”, a comment
exclusively written by idiots for idiots.
First
of damn all, we have two separate examples of GW being surprised by
demand for Fantasy products. I can understand why they would have
under-produced on Bretonnia resins for all the reasons I just listed
but The End Times: Glottkin
was designed as a marquee product so that actually surprises me.
Now,
I'm under no delusions of why the Bretonnia resins were resurrected
and why they sold out so rapidly: Bretonnia is a huge part of
Glottkin. They just
got an enormous marketing push with a load of really cool visuals and
background and the models were pressed to capitalise on that.
And they still sold out.
I guess I am just sort of gloating at gamers on the
internet (one extremely irritating individual in particular) who keep
insisting my favourite army is getting the chop. Proof has just been
delivered that if given the product the fanbase will buy the product
in enough numbers to not only justify but exhaust a production run
based on a huge marketing push. Now imagine what could be achieved by
replacing those resin kits with more highly-detailed multi-part
plastics?
So yes, internet, people play Fantasy but they need
different forms of encouragement than 40k players, who tend to be
younger and more prone to switching between armies than Fantasy
players. Once GW engages Fantasy players they'll lay down the cash.
The End Times has been engaging (and creating) Fantasy players like
nothing I've seen since Storm Of Chaos. I admit, of course, that it
isn't as big a seller as 40k but the idea that GW has an entire
product line they pour real cash into to zero profit is an insane
claim given its usually voiced by the paranoid and delusional
individuals who cry foul at the very idea that a corporate entity
might have to make money to support out hobby.