Retailers are fuming mad at Games Workshop for very avoidable issues with the rollout of their new Citadel Contrast and Shade paints!
With the recent release of the new Citadel paints, store owners are once again upset as to how GW is handling it. We know, we’re giving GW a hard time again, however, we want stores to survive and keep stocking GW games and providing free or a subscription-based playspace.
You see dozens of store owners have checked in with us over the last week over how Games Workshop is rolling out this required launch of new Citadel paints that is mandatory for some stores…
Retailers Fuming Mad At GW For New Citadel Paint Issues!
First let us be really clear here, dozens of store owners have checked in with the same story about how Games Workshop is handling this in the states.
So, here’s the rundown. Sales reps basically called up stores and told them that if they have the 360 paint rack below), they are being charged about $1100 for all the new paints as they are supposedly “required” to stock it per the terms of that program.
There was no word on whether they can send in the old paints for credit or if they can actually opt-out. Not to mention the price of the shades has stayed the same while the amount of paint has been reduced by 6ml from 24 to 18ml.
All offered in 18ml pots, and the old formulations of Gloss Shade paints (Nuln Oil Gloss, Agrax Earthshade Gloss, Reikland Fleshshade Gloss and Cryptek Armourshade Gloss) are leaving the range.
On top of that, they didn’t even give stores a full inventory of what was coming before telling them they will be charged. While the stores could have looked it up based on the promo image GW put out and removed the 3 gloss colors from the existing shade line, it just is a bad look in a lot of businesses’ eyes.
How are you going to automatically charge someone for something, without a clear indication of what they are even getting, nor a way to return or receive credit for the items this new line is replacing (like the original formula shades).
This in itself is annoying, then, when you combine this with the recent Chapter Approved 2022 snafu some stores are downright irate.
According to a lot of the same sources, many stores didn’t get even get the new Nephilim book. When orders came into some stores they were missing these books (and some stores were charged for them, some were not mind you) their sales reps just told them to have their customers order it from the GW webstore directly because Trade Sales were already sold out.
The Disconnect Between GW Influencers & Local Games Stores
GW has really been pushing things with influencers by giving them free products in exchange for them promoting it on their behalf. There is nothing wrong with promoting the hobby and we’re here for it.
However, when you promote something for weeks and months (like what just happened with Nephilim), and then stores can’t get it, well, there’s a problem. It means people get all hyped to buy something, then, when they can’t get it from their local store, they have to get it online.
What this means is stores get less profit and it feels harder and harder for them to actually support GW games. When they can’t make money on GW products anymore, they will stop carrying them.
It’s also a problem when your favorite GW influencer(s) talked up the new Citadel Paints only to have stores left in the dark about what they even had to buy as a “requirement” for carrying the large GW paint rack.
So, if you want your local store to stay with GW products, ask your favorite GW influencers if they know about the problem(s) that stores are having with Games Workshop trade sales.
Voting With your Hobby Dollars & Talking to Owners
You know we love to talk about voting with your hobby dollars, but that’s not all you can do. Go talk with your store owner and ask about the new paint racks. Get their take on that and what they have been hearing about the new Nephilim book shortages Really, GW just needs to actually support stores and not throw unwanted buys on them while paywalling the actually good releases.
As this time around, stores basically just got charged for the paints without really requesting it, and as of this writing no real info on how to do returns or get credit for the old paints. Or even an invoice with information like SKU numbers and barcodes so they can even input them into their retail system(s) to receive them into their shelves.
Have you heard about the issues with the stores and the new Citadel Contrast and Shade paints?
Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, or our new Discord server, and make sure you enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today!
Get ad-free access to our hobby videos, a monthly drop of miniatures, and support some of the best creators out there for as little as $6 a month on Patreon!
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits In 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
Bio: Virginia restless, miniature painter & cat dad. He blames LEGOs for all this, as there was something about those little-colored blocks that started it all. Spikey Bits started with Rob trying to stay motivated to hobby on his backlog of projects and share his knowledge with others during the early blogging era.
Scale model hobbyist in the 80s, miniature wargamer, and trading card player ever since. He’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy since 5th Edition, but 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 minatures made of both pewter and resin.
