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We might be watching a company eat itself here. Considering the amount of engineering types in the market for minifigs, plus the impending ubiquitization of 3D
by awakeasleep 14y ago
We might be watching a company eat itself here. Considering the amount of engineering types in the market for minifigs, plus the impending ubiquitization of 3D printers, customer good-will should be the most valuable asset of Gamer's Workshop.
- jasonlotito 14y agoI doubt it. This is not a new development. It's well known and well-established that GW are anal with regard to their IP. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has spent any time involved with the GW community.
- illuminate 14y agoNo amount of good-will is going to prevent GW's business model from being seriously affected by consumer-level 3d printers. Thankfully for them, we're still a few years away from this being a concern. My guess? 3-4 or whenever the UV resin-baseds take off. The Repraps and higher-quality extruders still aren't ready for your average consumer in price, time, and finish.
- cheald 14y agoSure, a loved and respected brand could pivot to selling printer schematics and printing materials/paints that are tested and guaranteed to work well together. Set up local branches that have printers so you can go into the store, buy some schematics and print them off (at a markup) there in the store directly. You eliminate all your manufacturing and packaging costs and get to keep your fanbase engaged. You could really go for the gold and offer a subscription that gets you recurring access to new schematics, and then you can pivot the business towards designing new units and since you no longer have a manufacturing concern to maintain, you can churn out tons more units.