GW looks to be ignoring stores’ biggest question about 10th Edition Warhammer 40k, as they are left wondering about thousands of dollars in unsellable books for 9th Edition.
If you’ve ever been in a local store, most will have old codexes sitting on a shelf near the back, and many of the books haven’t even been picked up by a human hand in many, many months. So, stores have started to ask GW what to do with all those older codexes, especially with so many books coming out just months before the release of 10th.
This, in turn, leaves stores with thousands in excess inventory that are nearly impossible to sell, and on top of heavy caps for new releases, this just feels bad for stores.
Games Workshop Ignoring Stores’ Biggest Questions About 10th Edition
The biggest question that GW is silent on is this: Will there be any kind of credits or buyback program for 9th Edition codexes? Even if a store has a couple of each faction’s codex, it leaves them thousands of dollars of essentially dead products.
People will happily buy the newest plastic from GW; there really isn’t a big community for older codexes or rulebooks, making them nearly impossible to sell.
A Real D*** Move
From the stores we polled, most were caught with a large stock of codex books as they were not anticipating the 10th edition reveal so early. On top of weekly caps hamstringing how much money stores can even attempt to make this year, GW has not said what, if anything, they will do for stores after their surprise AdeptiCon announcement.
Many stores are irritated and accuse Games Workshop of going so far as to “disguise” the announcement as Space Hulk, and only definitively teasing the Lion before the preview. Even at a discount, people are unlikely to buy any new codexes with 10th so close, which means, whatever stores have right now, they will most likely have for a really, really long time.
Hopefully, GW will do something to give credit to stores and not just leave them all hanging with thousands of unsellable products. Besides crippling their partner stores with caps on new releases each week, possibly leaving them with thousands in dead inventory is a bold move by Games Workshop.
Have you ever bought old edition codexes just for the artwork and lore? Do you think GW will give stores a buy back credit at some point?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
