No more bitz?

[spubbbba]

I’ve read a comment from someone at bitsnkits that this did not affect them.

Also from what I’ve read on other sites this does not impact European bits suppliers and mostly covers the US.

I guess the plan is that instead of shelling out a few quid for the bits you need you’ll be tempted to buy the whole kit. Trouble is GW not to sell kits with the weapon options you need. So a set of marine devastators will have 1 of each heavy weapon, which isn’t much use if you want them to have 4 las cannons. Doesn’t help when they change weapon rules or options between army books and editions which means you have to change units.

Trouble is even the plastic kits are so expensive now that it is impractical to buy them just for a few spare parts. Is a real shame as even some of the ugly new sets (forsaken and seekers of slaanesh spring to mind) had some nice bits that I’d consider getting if they were not too expensive.

I really hope this doesn’t end up increasing the price of bits as I find them very useful for making BB teams. I’m always scouring ebay and bits stores for potentially useful torsos, arms, shoulder pads or loin cloths.

[JaM]

Ha..!

And yesterday, I red this: why GW is doomed.

Figures.

[burgun824]

I have no acces to any legal knowledge whatsoever but wouldn't this mean, when stretched a bit, that selling single miniatures on Ebay will be illegal as well?

Also, If I buy a sprue off Ebay and then pull it apart and resell, I guess they can never get at me can they?

It would sound that way. That's why I can't see how they can possibly a) get away with this and b) police it even if they think they can.

EDIT: Good read JaM. I think that article is spot on.

[Colin]

Where's Lawquoter when you need him? Maybe he could jump in here and comment on the legality of the whole thing.

[Shteve0]

I have no acces to any legal knowledge whatsoever but wouldn't this mean, when stretched a bit, that selling single miniatures on Ebay will be illegal as well?

From my position of relative ignorance, that's not how the law works. As per my previous post, GW has carefully selected the word "Retailer" in their statement. Their definition of what constitues a Retailer will be very specific in their contract or SLA with those parties and will not extend beyond that document or agreement. In essense, this policy extends to Retailers, and if you don't know if you're one or not, chances are you haven't entered into a legally binding agreement that defines you as such and therefore aren't one in the eyes of the law, making this policy decidedly non-binding (that said, my posts do not constitute legal advice, and if anyone reading this is unsure of their position they should seek the advice of a legal expert).

Also, If I buy a sprue off Ebay and then pull it apart and resell, I guess they can never get at me can they?

No, again because Retailer is a specific term with legel implications not extending to third party traders with no specific agreements to adhere to trading policy. Think in terms of cars; my take on it is that an authorised dealer who receives preferential rates must abide by the regulations of the car manufacturer with regards to what component parts they can sell and what they must only offer as part of the origin vehicle; Joe Mechanic down the road can strip apart any second hand car he wants and sell the parts for scrap or spares, if the buyer trust that they are what he says they are (and if they're not, he's in trouble, but that's a different issue entirely).

Now, if GW had a printed End User Agreement in the store and on the website that required you to adhere to their policy of not converting, unpackaging or reselling any aspect of their product, and you were required to sign that agreement at point of sale, things might be different. Oh, what an entertaining policy that would be to implement...

Edit: Another relevant point. If an independent newsagent buys a 24 pack of coca-cola (other colas are available) from a supermarket, breaks it down and sells it as single cans, coca-cola is powerless to take recourse. The cans may be individually marked "not for individual resale", but that in itself is not legally binding; only if the newsagent has a contract or SLA or whatever with coca-cola can the sale of those items trigger a contract breach.

[spubbbba]

That’s a good point Shteve0.

So it sounds like all this does is prevent companies with a trade account with GW and using that discount to buy boxed sets of plastic models and break them up to sell the bits. If a company or individual wants to buy from GW direct a hobby store or an online discounter then it doesn’t sound like there’s anything GW can do about it.

But sadly this does mean the companies that were doing this previously will have to put prices up. So guess who loses out?

[Digger Goreman]

But sadly this does mean the companies that were doing this previously will have to put prices up. So guess who loses out?

The sheeple who still denigrate themselves to buy greedy w'nker products?

[JT-Y]

...wouldn't this mean, when stretched a bit, that selling single miniatures on Ebay will be illegal as well?...

Absolutely not.
GW may overreach themselves in many ways but they are not the lawmakers and have no more power than you or I to declare that something we don't like is now against the law.

Example; I do not like clowns. As of this moment dressing as a clown where I may witness it is now illegal. Doing so will result in prosecution.

Nice thought, but doesn't work.
If someone broke into my house dressed as a clown with the express intent of upsetting me because I don't like clowns, well they would be prosecuted, but not for being a clown, for being a housebreaker.
if I hold a fancy dress party and some basterd turns up as a clown, I'm unable to prosecute. So I don't hold fancy dress parties.

So if GW were to try and bring charges against someone selling the contents of their bits box, they'd get laughed out of court.
Had contents of said bits box been gathered through shoplifting from the local GW and that could be proven, diferent matter, but the crime isn't selling bits as per GW pretend law, it's selling stolen goods as per the real law.
If GW don't want people to sell spares secondhand, tough. The law protects such actions in statute.

No, as has been said by others, what GW can do is refuse to sell at trade prices to a retailer they suspect of breaking down boxes and selling components.
Most bits servises source spares from gamers who have crap left over in their bits box and want a few quid rather than a few kilos of junk, so won't be affected.

GW are actually just protecting their product and their packaging, and by extension their quality assurances and market position.
They, surprisingly, aren't being the bad guys here. All manufacturers impose similar rules on trade; multipack of Mars bars, clearly labeled 'not for individual resale' for example, or Apple, they don't allow PC World to strip apart the contents of the latest iPad and sell seperately for more than MSRP.

[spubbbba]

But sadly this does mean the companies that were doing this previously will have to put prices up. So guess who loses out?

The sheeple who still denigrate themselves to buy greedy w'nker products?

Unfortunately the independent fantasy football manufacturers still have a way to go until they match GW’s 40K and WHFB range in sculpt quality and their casting techniques compare poorly to GW plastics too.

It’s a real shame there are so few conversion kits out there as I’d love it if more places did sets of BB style heads, shoulder pads and hands. There are plenty of companies producing sci-fi conversion kits for marines so there is a market for it. But the trouble is hand and head scale varies so much on no-marine kits (compare the current high elf spearmen hands to the wood elf arch hands).

I don’t think the other big names in miniatures have a bits service like GW used to either, though I’ve seen a few places that offer a very limited amount.