News & Muse

Boy, the Internet sure has been a depressing venue as of late, at least in the land of toy soldiers. The news of price hikes, product material changes, and GW's draconian trade practices has soured many peoples' attitudes, and it's not hard to see why. No one likes to spend more money for the same product with no added value. I've already expressed my views on model materials. The unreasonably soaring prices in certain parts of the world with no logical regard to exchange rates, inflation, or the fact that we live in a globalized world economy is pathetic and short-sighted. But beyond that, I don't feel as though I can complain much. One, I live in the US and not in Australia, New Zealand, or other places that have it much worse in terms of pricing and options to purchase (I feel for you guys, it's not fair). And two, I've been collecting models for nearly half of my life and am a Land Raider Redeemer (and future plastic Thunder Hawk *please*) model away from completing my Space Marine army with all the models/unit selection I'll ever need to keep games fresh. I'm still saddened by what decisions like this mean for the hobby that I grew up with. But I also need to retain some perspective on the matter. The truth is, we own the rules, the models and everything else we need to play and keep the game alive. We have the Internet to connect with fellow gamers beyond our local circle of friends. Even if GW decides to run themselves into the ground, they can't take away the essentials that truly make this hobby thrive. It's not like if Blizzard were to go out of business and shut down their servers, you lose your WoW character, all the money and time that went into it and have nothing to show for it.

We don't get enjoyment from lining GW's pockets; we get enjoyment from collecting, assembling, painting, and playing in this elaborate universe of creative expression that will live on as long as we want it to.

I fully understand if you can no longer afford or don't want to give GW another red cent for their products. In that case, do something great with your hard-earned hobby money and donate to the Heroes of Armageddon Charity Project. You'll be contributing to something that is truly good and makes the world at large a better place (unlike GW's recent business decisions). And please, don't let some corporate activity kill the spirit of this amazing hobby/game/community -- dust off those old models (hell, bust out the veteran Lego squad for all I care) and keep this game alive.