IWM products not available?

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Hey, I know that this might run into an NDA, but I have a question regarding IWM products.

A couple months ago I tried ordering a pack of hex bases from my local comic book shop, which is very willing to add anything I 'd like to their regular game orders.  It was listed as unavailable.  It's stayed unavailable, and when I stopped by today the owner noted that he's seen an increasing amount of Battletech minis get listed that way.

Is something happening?

[Dragon41673]

It's their Distributor that is deciding not to carry Battletech...IWM is still making everything, ESPECIALLY hex bases, trust me on that...I'd know.  8)

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Yeah, hex bases have been the number one selling Battletech mini product since they were developed.  I was just wondering if there was anything going on on IWM's side.

[Hythos]

I was at IWM's factory just 12hrs ago. They have boxes of hundreds of hex-bases, and many kinds beyond the standard style.
I DID clean them out of a number of mini's, but they were already working on a large order for PAX so not everything was available (to me). Also, many of the ones I was after were also incomplete on the shelf and needing additional casting (missing one or more parts), so I'll need to make another trip some other time...

[Feenix74]

I will back up Dragon41673's and Hythos' sightings of Hex Bases (4) [20-800] being available in the wild.


They are a standard line in my orders with IWM and I have a couple sitting in my inventory (I would sell them to you but shipping from Australia to you will make it uneconomical for you). I assume if you were to jump on Dragon41673's Ares Games and Miniature webstore, he should have some to sell you.

Hythos - so I have you to blame for the delay in Melissa shipping my order that is stuck in Con Season hold pattern :(

[Dragon41673]

I will back up Dragon41673's and Hythos' sightings of Hex Bases (4) [20-800] being available in the wild.


They are a standard line in my orders with IWM and I have a couple sitting in my inventory (I would sell them to you but shipping from Australia to you will make it uneconomical for you). I assume if you were to jump on Dragon41673's Ares Games and Miniature webstore, he should have some to sell you.

Hythos - so I have you to blame for the delay in Melissa shipping my order that is stuck in Con Season hold pattern :(

Haha...no, it's GneCon you have to blame there! I had one order delyaed by 4 weeks, and another is still pending, and I just placed another this past Sunday. Maybe it's me too?  >:D

[Feenix74]

I feel your pain.

My order was lodged in late June, but I knew it would get caught up with Historicon, I was hoping that Melissa would be able to pump it out before Gencon but I looks like it will now be after. My clients have been very patiently waiting.

So I will blame both of you, I cannot bring myself to blame Melissa  ^-^

[Dragon41673]

I feel your pain.

My order was lodged in late June, but I knew it would get caught up with Historicon, I was hoping that Melissa would be able to pump it out before Gencon but I looks like it will now be after. My clients have been very patiently waiting.

So I will blame both of you, I cannot bring myself to blame Melissa  ^-^

Never blame the wench!

[GRUD]

Hythos - so I have you to blame for the delay in Melissa shipping my order that is stuck in Con Season hold pattern :(

I had one order delayed by 4 weeks, and another is still pending, and I just placed another this past Sunday.

I Hope you guys weren't wanting a lot of Partisans.   :-\  I bought EIGHT of them Tuesday afternoon.  :o

 :D


I did NOT buy any hex bases though, I Promise!  And Yes, I saw several blisters of them also!

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

So I've been looking around and I'm noticing a lot of stores seem to have been having trouble getting Battletech minis in.  My local gamestore's distributor is down to listing only 27 minis in its inventory, with only 5 in stock.

[Dragon41673]

So I've been looking around and I'm noticing a lot of stores seem to have been having trouble getting Battletech minis in.  My local gamestore's distributor is down to listing only 27 minis in its inventory, with only 5 in stock.

Yeah...that's most likely because of this same post...

It's their Distributor that is deciding not to carry Battletech...<snip>

A lot of physical stores don't order direct, they go through distribution so they can pad their shipments to hit free shipping. It keeps profits high and costs down.

[Joel47]

A lot of physical stores don't order direct, they go through distribution so they can pad their shipments to hit free shipping. It keeps profits high and costs down.

Also less labor -- they're picking one order from a large list (or two or three -- my local store uses a couple of distributors), instead of chasing down a number of manufacturers.

...or so my local store owner tells me as he explains why he won't order from IWM (or anyone) directly despite of the difficulties of getting Battletech minis through his supply chain.  :P

[Dragon41673]

Also less labor -- they're picking one order from a large list (or two or three -- my local store uses a couple of distributors), instead of chasing down a number of manufacturers.

...or so my local store owner tells me as he explains why he won't order from IWM (or anyone) directly despite of the difficulties of getting Battletech minis through his supply chain.  :P

I hear ya...kind of a bad situation either way.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I only know of a couple of stores that bothered with ordering directly from IWM, and both of them sell a lot more Battletech minis than most places.

[Colt Ward]

Also less labor -- they're picking one order from a large list (or two or three -- my local store uses a couple of distributors), instead of chasing down a number of manufacturers.

...or so my local store owner tells me as he explains why he won't order from IWM (or anyone) directly despite of the difficulties of getting Battletech minis through his supply chain.  :P

My local group is trying to get together a order for the local store to put in to IWM for things they cannot get from their distributor- a way of encouraging them to carry some of the iconic mechs like the Timberwolf, Dire Wolf, Summoner, and some of the IS ones not in the new boxes.

[kinwolf]

I went to my FLGS today and he looked through his suppliers list:  All battletech minis were listed as unavailable(there were LOTS of them listed, and all in red, unavailable).  I mentioned that he could order directly from IWM but he wanted to know if there is a minimum order before bothering to do so.   Anyone knows the answer?

[Psycho]

No minimum, but it does benefit the person ordering to put together a larger ($150+) order to save on shipping costs. See the following link for details:

http://ironwindmetals.com/store/shipping.php

[beachhead1985]

I have had this same issue in both parts of Canada I lived in. Distributors seem to hate this game. It's like they are all running on an inventory from 20 years ago and never restocked.

When I ordered my Map Pack the other day; they gave me some nonsense about "Typical Catalyst; it's out of stock, but we'll try and back-order it for you." I set them straight that the new Map Packs aren't even hitting stores till mid-april, but this is typical IME

[speck]

I went to my FLGS today and he looked through his suppliers list:  All battletech minis were listed as unavailable(there were LOTS of them listed, and all in red, unavailable).  I mentioned that he could order directly from IWM but he wanted to know if there is a minimum order before bothering to do so.   Anyone knows the answer?

Have your FLGS contact Melissa for details regarding stores ordering direct.

contact form

[kinwolf]

Good to know, I will pass the information, thanks!

[Orin J.]

well i'll just PM myself that info since my local distributor seems to be a little crass about this as well. thanks speck, you've saved me a long trip to my buying needs (and my local games shop owner many times of me trying to order things and failing with him! xp )

[Spector]

Have your FLGS contact Melissa for details regarding stores ordering direct.

contact form

Mine did a few months ago, never got a response.  :(

[Greatclub]

have them poke her again, it took my FLGS a couple tries.

[DarkSpade]

This might be the cause of the problem.

https://ironwindmetals.com/index.php/10-factory-news/94-announcement-from-mike-noe

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Ugh.

[Sartris]

it's been pretty obvious alliance had ghosted IWM but it's good to get official confirmation

[Bedwyr]

Oh dear.

[Daryk]

It's odd a distributor would drop IWM just as BattleTech is starting an upswing.  I wonder what they're thinking...

[Bedwyr]

It's odd a distributor would drop IWM just as BattleTech is starting an upswing.  I wonder what they're thinking...

I think you're overestimating the effect of the upswing. Even with the box set selling well, CGL is still small potatoes compared to the scale Alliance works at. The product association IWM and CGL have are most likely not overcoming the business decision of replacing IWM with a company/product that's moving faster. And there is a *lot* of product out there. I mean a *lot*. BT is fortunate to have a lot of name recognition, but you have so many tabletop products being released, it would be best to think of the industry and Alliance's role in it more like this:

[abou]

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.

[Bedwyr]

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.

[Sartris]

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)

[Maingunnery]

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.

[Dragon41673]

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.

[Bedwyr]

Good to know.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

*snip*

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

[dgorsman]

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...   ;)

[Dragon41673]

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.

[dgorsman]

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.

[Dragon41673]

Agreed...that would have been MUCH more palatable.

[Greatclub]

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]

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

[Sartris]

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

[kinwolf]

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]

Where is this coupon in the beginner box?  I might have missed it . . .

[Sartris]

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

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

It was in the Beginner Box.  It was a big color page.

[Colt Ward]

ok, mostly just looked at the mechs and the fiction, have to look closer.

[Valkerie]

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.

[beachhead1985]

It was in the Beginner Box.  It was a big color page.

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