Games Workshop have released a new line of tools, "precision engineered to be the best hobby tools in the world" (quoted from their website).
Funnily enough, I recently came across a blog post showing how much you save if you do not buy your tools directly from GW and instead buy the same type of tools on Amazon...
... turns out that you can save a whopping 50% and you end up with more tools (this depends on where and what you buy, of course). Of course, the quality of these tools may not be on the same level as those from Games Workshop, but for a hobbyist starting out or someone who doesn't need such high quality tools, this is just ridiculous. I've got the feeling that GW is trying to milk the metaphorical cow as much as possible and that the company is taking advantage of the fact that most of their customers, being kids with spending parents, aren't familiar with alternative brands who offer similar tools for much less.
Ah well, hopefully the pricing team will learn their lesson before everything goes belly-up. Whatever happens, this is the end of my little rant. Normal posting service will be back shortly.
I did the rough math when I first saw these -- I found them to be about 3 times the cost of regular tools. The most important tool, the hobby knife, looks like crap quality (maybe? I really want to try this thing now, dangit) and really good sprue cutters are only $15 if you know where to look.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a priced into a luxory hobby etc., but I don't like it when people have the impression that decent tools are too expensive. Having tools around is essential in life (by my logic, at least).
Aye, "luxury hobby" is definitely the correct term here, sadly.
DeleteI'd also like to try out the GW tools, just to assess the quality. What's keeping me from doing so is the price and fear that the quality isn't worth it... Gah.