Oh Christmas Time...
What's it all about anyway?
So we've had Black Friday and the rush of retailers attempting to sell us lots of things that we don't really need but kinda want. The FOMO is running high, and we've emptied our pockets for plastic, resin, and pewter toy soldiers that we're excited to assemble and paint. What's good? Was it worth it?
I managed to mostly hold myself back this year, but here are a few things I examined and where I ultimately gave in.
Something Wyrd
Every Black Friday (for about a week), Wyrd opens up the vaults. During second edition of Malifaux, Wyrd got themselves tied into knots by offering miniatures direct from their website to customers, both early (up to 6 months in cases!) and during sale events substantially cheaper than retail stores could sell them. Obviously, this was BAD. Retail stores stopped stocking product, and distributors stopped carrying it.
Apparently this was worst felt in the North Americas, and basically wiped the game out in retail in Canada and to an extent the United States.
So now, instead of bundles or sales or discounts, Wyrd offers limited edition products. Alternative miniatures, official proxies, that are imaginative and delightful, quite expensive, but in no way undercut retail. Opinions are divided in the community, but personally I think this is a great way of offering die hard fans something a bit special while respecting the distribution chains that make it easy for someone to hold a box in their hand before deciding to buy it. Anyhow, long story short, this year they released Malifaux 1989...
Two gorgeous boxes making up most of a keyword, re-imagining the crew from 1800s cowboy drifters to near future cyberdystopia crustpunks, the flavor of this release is fantastic. I wanted them so badly, however it would have been almost 180 euros when shipping and customs were counted...
TTCombat
This year TTCombat had two separate events, Black Friday where the vaults were opened and a whole swath of limited edition convention exclusive miniatures (including the wonderful Queens of the Adriatic box for Carnevale) were up for grabs, but strangely immediately after that ending they started the Christmas sale event.
During the Christmas sale, limited edition Rumbleslam crew the North Swole is available, and a huge range from their other games went up for preorder, including battlefleet boxes for Dropfleet Commander. Since I've been thinking about a Post Human Republic fleet for some time, it was a no-brainer to grab the 100£ box...
Being that the battleship alone is 30 quid, this looked to me to be a fantastic jumping in point, and I look forward to putting together an unboxing video in the near future, as well as some painting content.
What about you? Did you succumb to the fear of missing out on a bargain? What tickled your fancies this festive season?
