Author Topic: IWM products not available?  (Read 13171 times)

Bedwyr

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #30 on: 14 April 2019, 11:26:51 »
Do you think there is some sort of legal issue where a distributor is only allowed to have so many products of the same type or a semi-non-compete? Or did it just no longer become financially viable for Alliance to devote manpower to stocking IWM's products?

I can see all as possible. On my end, I had one of my main distributors for drugs find themselves temporarily locked out from an entire drug company's catalog because they started carrying a competitor's product.

Then again we may never know. And it may not even matter.

To be clear, I'm speaking as a fan with some dim awareness of the "bigness" of the industry and personal caution about estimating the size of things. Reasons are beyond the limit of my understanding; I can only highlight the "don't overestimate the size of BT in your mind" problem.
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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #31 on: 14 April 2019, 11:40:32 »
looking at the catalogs, it appears like they've been in wind down mode since some time in 2017-2018

Here's the winter 2017 catalog offerings



vs the 2019 catalog



pretty much everything by 2019 is in italics (low stock) and there are no new bolded items (new releases / preorders)


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Maingunnery

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #32 on: 14 April 2019, 11:52:27 »

My local stores refuse to deal in BattleTech products (they actually refuse).
So I either buy from IWM directly or through FantasyWelt, and I have been doing that for years.
If other people are also doing this, then it quickly spirals out of control for the distributers.
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Dragon41673

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #33 on: 14 April 2019, 11:56:08 »
Well, I can say this much as for having experience with both Alliance and 2 other distributors...

When I contacted Alliance in 2012 just before opening Aries Games & Miniatures...so I could setup my account with them, they literally treated me like crap. Not polite, basically said because I was starting out I wasn't good enough for an account with them, etc. etc. etc. I thought maybe I got a bad contact, so I called back on a different day and got someone else...and the SAME treatment. I was pretty disappointed as I was told over and over "they are the ones to go with".

So because of it, I reached out to ACD Distribution, and was treated 180 degrees different. Very welcoming, respected the fact I was starting out, etc. Their selection of Catalyst products was horrible and got worse as time went on...

So I made an account with Golden Distribution and have been almost 100% satisfied. Phil has been awesome to work with, always tries to get back to me ASAP, and while he didn't have ALL the correct info which caused a panic when I announced the same info on the landing of the box sets...I stick with him. I'd LOVE a better source of Catalyst products...but I buy several other lines from them.

IWM has nothing to fear from being left out of Alliance. While they are "big" perhaps they are "too big", kind of like when a company grows too much and loses the "customer service" aspect of their business and concentrates only on profit. I'd say what I really think of Alliance...but I'd get booted from here.

Golden is a good spot for IWM, not just because I buy from them, but the group there goes out of their way to get their customers taken care of, and Phil knows Loren...so when issues come up...they get resolved.
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Bedwyr

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #34 on: 14 April 2019, 12:16:19 »
Good to know.
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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #35 on: 14 April 2019, 12:42:47 »
*snip*

Yeah, my local store stopped being able to get anything from IWM back in August, so that fits.
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dgorsman

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #36 on: 14 April 2019, 12:48:44 »
While they are "big" perhaps they are "too big", kind of like when a company grows too much and loses the "customer service" aspect of their business and concentrates only on profit.

A small tangent, if I may.

I know that's the pop-culture presentation, but it's more myth than fact.  When companies that have large numbers of small/individual clients get larger, it becomes a serious struggle to provide service for all of them like they had in the past.  So it's not like they're suddenly "moneymoneyMONEY!!!!", they have to refocus on where they can provide effective service.  Which is usually on a smaller number of larger clients.

And now back to our regularly scheduled musings on supply of metal crack...   ;)
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Dragon41673

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #37 on: 14 April 2019, 13:10:43 »
A small tangent, if I may.

I know that's the pop-culture presentation, but it's more myth than fact.  When companies that have large numbers of small/individual clients get larger, it becomes a serious struggle to provide service for all of them like they had in the past.  So it's not like they're suddenly "moneymoneyMONEY!!!!", they have to refocus on where they can provide effective service.  Which is usually on a smaller number of larger clients.

And now back to our regularly scheduled musings on supply of metal crack...   ;)

Yeah, I get that...but at least treat what could have been a prospective client with more respect. Especially when it's 2 different reps having the same attitude.
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dgorsman

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #38 on: 14 April 2019, 13:57:46 »
Oh, yeah no question on that.  Even if it's a "We're not taking new shops as clients right now", there's little excuse for lack of professional communication.
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Dragon41673

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #39 on: 14 April 2019, 14:00:19 »
Agreed...that would have been MUCH more palatable.
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Greatclub

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #40 on: 14 April 2019, 14:20:51 »
wonder how much of an upswing IWM has been getting in the past few months. Given that it's a small shop, even a few percent could make a difference.

Juodas Varnas

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #41 on: 14 April 2019, 14:41:40 »
Honestly, i just really wish RalParthaEurope would stock newer products, they easily have the best prices and shipping for European countries.

Such a strange thing, that they don't stock anything from the last 15 years or so, would be cool to at least know why it's the case  :D

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #42 on: 14 April 2019, 15:03:54 »
wonder how much of an upswing IWM has been getting in the past few months. Given that it's a small shop, even a few percent could make a difference.

i'd be interested to see how many of those beginner box coupons have been redeemed

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kinwolf

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #43 on: 14 April 2019, 19:57:31 »
i'd be interested to see how many of those beginner box coupons have been redeemed

I redeemed one for the clan starter kit.  They were fun to build, not too difficult.  I have no plan to get the other 2 as it's almost the same minis as the 2014 starter box and I'm not thrilled about the pose of those.

Colt Ward

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #44 on: 14 April 2019, 20:19:03 »
Where is this coupon in the beginner box?  I might have missed it . . .
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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #45 on: 14 April 2019, 20:29:03 »
Maybe it was in the GoAC box I don’t remember.  It gives a code for a discount on the starter sets - two different IS companies made from the old beginner sets and a clan binary

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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #46 on: 14 April 2019, 21:32:40 »
It was in the Beginner Box.  It was a big color page.
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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #47 on: 14 April 2019, 22:34:04 »
ok, mostly just looked at the mechs and the fiction, have to look closer.
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Valkerie

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #48 on: 14 April 2019, 22:36:05 »
Where is this coupon in the beginner box?  I might have missed it . . .
I got it in both box sets.

Also, for those interested, the small radar array is back in stock.
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beachhead1985

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Re: IWM products not available?
« Reply #49 on: 23 April 2019, 00:50:22 »
It was in the Beginner Box.  It was a big color page.

oh Cool! I'll have to go back and look for that!
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