Wild shipping and supply issues are cropping up once again, just when you think it’s safe to order Warhammer 40k again…
From the looks of it, Shadowvaults has created a ton of issues with logistics and shipping once again at Games Workshop. Fulfillment to stores has been really messed up, and Spikey Bits, of all people, has even been getting tons of shipping confirmation emails meant for other stores.
Something has gone horribly wrong again with Games Workshop’s warehouse here in the states.
According to retailers across the globe, they were either shorted or zeroed out for the Shadowvalults box set that is already sold out on GW’s webstore. To add further insult to injury, Kill Team: Shadowvaults is already going for crazy prices on the secondary market.
So, just when it looked like things were going well for ordering and shipping, things have taken a quick downturn…
Just When You Think it’s Safe to Order Warhammer 40k Again…
Let’s start with the issue of Shadowvaults in general and stores not even getting everything they ordered. This was sourced from Reddit, but other content creators have reported similar things on YouTube.
So like we said, this isn’t the only retailer we’ve seen with this issue, as some did not get their full order, while others had their product shipped to a different store, or their tracking emails have not been getting sent (we’ll look at this more later).
It is strange because it feels like Cursed City all over again, as they are just telling stores they can’t get it…
So once again, this just doesn’t look good and further erodes consumers’ confidence in Games Workshop. The next big issue here is that they say they are not making any more, meaning what is out there is everything that will be produced.
Oh yeah, and this paywall is the only way to get Kasrkins right now too…
Considering they have such long lead times for products, if they went back into manufacturing these, it would push something else back, and they can’t really do that at this point. They could offer a MTO for it, but apparently, that is not an option for Games Workshop right now.
As you can see is out-of-stock in most countries, but don’t be fooled by the temporarily out-of-stock, as they did the same thing with Cursed City, and we all know how that turned out…
There are still some on eBay, but the issue is that they are now up for bids, and you can see this one (at the time of writing, has six days left) which means it will probably go for well over $200 as other ones have.
There are even buy-it-now listings for nearly as much as $70 over MSRP right now as well.
Even just the Kasrkin sprues are going for nearly $100, which is pretty wild.
The last listing we saw sold went for nearly $50 over retail, so we expect with this news for the price to just keep rising, unfortunately, until they get their separate release.
Games Workshop Warehouse Issues
The other side of the coin, which isn’t helping either, rests with all the US Warehouse. We’ve talked before about how GW was going to put a ton of money into automation, but that almost seems to be part of the problem.
Rob hasn’t had a store for about ten years, however, somehow, his store name and email were reactivated in GW’s system for the Shadowvaults and Citadel Tools release, and he has received over 50 emails about other stores’ orders being shipped and where they were going.
Worse, his old store name is being used as the Addressee to what appears to be other store accounts, and he has been getting the order information, including tracking information.
Umbrella is a cliche name, sure, but all the emails are coming from Games Workshop through the UPS system. It just seems very odd that they are somehow messing up emails and tracking, especially when you consider this is a 10-year-old account…
This just makes you wonder what else has been shipped to the wrong place and what sort of issues GW actually having in the warehouse.
From these examples, it appears that they are going to the right place, maybe? Plus, if this is happening, how many other stores are getting incorrect emails, and/or are their orders perhaps being sent to other stores on accident?
It looks like Games Workshop’s new automation system still has a ways to go before it’s running smoothly with both getting emails and orders where they need to go.
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
