Khaine already sold out!Wtf?!

[Kurt Helborg]

For me, this is all contrived GW customer manipulation. The paperback Glottkin book must have been in print when the hardback went up for pre-order on the GW website (the manager at my local GW store already knew about the paperback before the hardback was released - the company line being that they had underestimated demand and were doing a PB run for the sake of the hobby). The paperback was still in stock on the UK website last time I looked and £10 cheaper than the hardback edition was a month a go. Don't believe any bilge about underestimating the demand from the market - if PB's were already in the pipeline (and seemingly in greater numbers than the HB's) then the HB edition is essentially yet another limited edition option.

If GW are hoping that they can recreate the halcyon days of customers queuing around the block outside the nearest store from 6am in order to get the last couple of copies of a very limited print run then I think they've failed. As others have said, those lucky enough to have the fastest broadband connections can snap up multiple copies and then stick their spares on Ebay at 2 or 3 times the price. Independent web-stores have stopped bothering to list the Endtimes books as they can't guarantee stock. Surely this is going to hurt sales of the new model kits?

If you (like myself) didn't manage to pre-order Warhammer: Khaine then I'd hold fire on paying some opportunist 3 times the price on ebay - I'm sure the PB edition is already sitting in the warehouse. If you really need to know the revelations before the spoilers start to get leaked all over the web then there's always the i-book option ...!?

[daboarder]

Stuff is printed months in advance - it seems quite possible that Glottkin and Khaine were ordered from the printer based on pre-Nagash sale expectations.

Nagash has been reprinted in less than two months.

given that these books are shipped by freight re: container ship, its likely less than a month in advance to print

And no, hardback doesn't take significantly longer to print than softback, because automation in china is a thing

The hardcover editions were listed at £5 more than their respective softcover editions. The softcover editions aren't showing up on the US webstore at the time of this post.

can anyone verify that? thats a joke right? whats the excuse this time fella's?

[Mr Mystery]

For me, this is all contrived GW customer manipulation. The paperback Glottkin book must have been in print when the hardback went up for pre-order on the GW website (the manager at my local GW store already knew about the paperback before the hardback was released - the company line being that they had underestimated demand and were doing a PB run for the sake of the hobby). The paperback was still in stock on the UK website last time I looked and £10 cheaper than the hardback edition was a month a go. Don't believe any bilge about underestimating the demand from the market - if PB's were already in the pipeline (and seemingly in greater numbers than the HB's) then the HB edition is essentially yet another limited edition option.

If GW are hoping that they can recreate the halcyon days of customers queuing around the block outside the nearest store from 6am in order to get the last couple of copies of a very limited print run then I think they've failed. As others have said, those lucky enough to have the fastest broadband connections can snap up multiple copies and then stick their spares on Ebay at 2 or 3 times the price. Independent web-stores have stopped bothering to list the Endtimes books as they can't guarantee stock. Surely this is going to hurt sales of the new model kits?

If you (like myself) didn't manage to pre-order Warhammer: Khaine then I'd hold fire on paying some opportunist 3 times the price on ebay - I'm sure the PB edition is already sitting in the warehouse. If you really need to know the revelations before the spoilers start to get leaked all over the web then there's always the i-book option ...!?

Paperback Glottkin was quite possibly shipping by the time the hardback went live. The rest is supposition.

It appears demand far outstipped supply for Nagash. Many claim Warhammer has been seriously waning in recent years, so it may well be GW underestimated demand.

Paperbacks are easier to bind than Hardbacks. Print, Collate, onto the pony for trim up and cover, using glue. Hardbacks need a weave binding, and the covers themselves are extra work (print art, attach to hardback cover).

So knowing they'd likely under ordered on Glottkin too, going paperback for sake of speed does make sense.

No, I don't know I'm right - and I'm only basing this off what knowledge I gleaned from the old family print works (long since defunct, sadly). But to suggest GW are deliberately styming supply just doesn't make a great deal of sense.

Shipping time from China to the UK is apparently around 29 days. But you still have to factor in the time it takes for a print job to be signed off as ready, and quality control etc. If I'm right in remembering, WD was (is?) done up about 3 months in advance. Would it be similar for big books? Honestly don't know.

Softcovers aren't on the UK website under 'pre-orders', but I did find the Nagash one on the site by searching.

[url]http://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/search/searchResults.jsp?qty=com.gamesworkshop.endeca.End ecaUserContext@77de70a3&sorting=srl&view=table&sea rchTerm=Nagash[/url]

Now, ultimately none of us know how many were ordered. The rest is open to interpretation. But frankly, some do seem slightly paranoid that rather than make money, GW are just effing with us, because reasons.

They could well be - I just don't see why.

[RGilbert26]

All GW Stores (UK at least) are taking names for people who want specific books and they will have them delivered to stores in time for Christmas. You don't have to pay up front and it doesn't matter if you change your mind.

Today only, which to me means Book Four will be January.

[Kirsten]

as Mystery says, softcover versions are already out for Nagash and Glottkin, wont be long before Khaine comes out and everbody can have one. no reason to freak out or blame anybody.

[Kurt Helborg]

Yep, pretty much all supposition. But as a footnote to the soft back edition I note that GW are billing both Nagash and Glottkin as 'in a new format' ... that's a pretty quick turn-a-round on something that was supposedly only commissioned after the Nagash release (assuming that the transition from hardback to paperback involves more than just what you print the cover on?).

GW have been trying to get folk back in to their stores. The first move was to change WD to a weekly issue that you had to pick up in-store. I'm just speculating that the next step might be to generate a panic-buying frisson based on ... limited availability? When I was in my local store on Friday afternoon the manager was eager to tell me that all of the Shield of Baal books he had been allocated were already reserved by customers last week and that he'd be helping customers order the Khaine book on line from &pm that evening - the implication was that if I wanted a copy of Khaine I should stick around for the evening ...?

Ultimately, lets wait and see how long it is before the Khaine paperback makes an appearance ... if it's before Christmas that would be pretty remarkable if it had not been planned all along!?

[RGilbert26]

Erm I just said that GW are taking names down for who wants Book 1 - 3 and they will be delivered for Christmas.

[Kurt Helborg]

Sorry, hadn't realised that included the Khaine book too! Any idea if they're repeating the paperback version with the Shield of Baal campaign books too?

[RGilbert26]

As far as I'm aware just End Times, bare in mind it was today only - might be able to get name added tomorrow.

[40kGamer]

If I put on my tin foil hat then I would have to say that the recent trend of 'whoops we didn't make enough of what people want' is an effort to drive demand to GW direct. Seems to be working too as the speed with which things are selling out on the GW website has increased dramatically.