The Future of Games Days & Games Workshop's - Part 8 - Today: stock market crash -24% in one day!

The future of Games Days and Games Workshop 
Part 8 - brief emergency stop in the 'grim present'

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Part 9 is up! - "That escalated quickly!"

Surprise, surprise,...

Newsflash: After peaking at over 810 pence per share in October, Games Workshop's stock market value dropped sharply by 24% today, following their release of half-year numbers. Turnover (that is sales, people) is down 12% from last year. 

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

How is that possible? I mean after all, GW increased prices so much! How can sales be down? That makes no sense, does it? Well, not to the GW Management it doesn't... 

Someone should have told them about the error of their ways....

...not!

Don't say, I didn't tell you Games Workshop! I point at you, going 'HAHA!' while I weep for the hobby and the community. 

Articles like the ones we wrote about the Future of Games Days and Games Workshop even got us not one, but two nominations in the Wamp awards for 2013! Over one-hundred-thousand views on our epic wall-of-text-venting-my-frustration series prove that people are concerned about what the GW management is doing - and the Bubble Boys still dance naked in black snow of Nottingham Forrest...

Read up, if you don't know what we are talking about. Oh, and grab some cheeze with our whine and grab a towel for the tears. Make it a large one - you'll need it:

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 7.5 

Elasticity without bounce?

Seems Games Workshop has finally found the 'price-elasticity' of their products - or rather as I would like to call it "the point of no return". Why that? I don't think GW will be able to recover from this. 

The long awaited downward trend has begun and the management is too immobile and too set in their ways to recognize what the frakk is going on. The have proven that time and time again. FIAL. 

As I wrote earlier this year, I thought that at over 700 pence the stock was already too expensive, even though it went on to new heights beyond 800 in October. 

Well, inb4 reality check:

StockMarketWire.com - Games Workshop posts pre-tax profits of £7.7m for the six months to 1 December - down from £11.1m last time.

Revenues fell to £60.5m (£59.8m at constant currencies) from £67.5m a year ago and operating profits fell to £7.7m from £11.0m. [edit: that is -30% profit]

Chairman and acting chief executive Tom Kirby said: "Our costs are well under control and margins remain strong. Cash management is good and our capital expenditure continues as planned. Following the implementation of the structural changes just announced we expect to benefit from the more focussed selling operation across all channels against the background of a materially lower cost base."

More "focused selling operations" across all channels?

I already had planned to write another installment of our popular mini-series this weekend, as I have connected a few more dots between the tons of new rumors about Games Workshop that were floating around the Internet the last couple of weeks (the 'death' of Warhammer Fantasy, the desperate White Dwarf, Fusion of GW and FW websites to strengthen sales and so on)...

But this 'little' update - for obvious reasons - could not wait. 

Obviously, GW was and is aware of the downward trend in sales for the last couple of months. If they know one thing, it's their numbers and their precious KPIs. That explains some of the hectic changes we will see in the next couple of weeks: Obvious increasingly panicked attempts to increase sales are obvious. 

The big meeting of the "black shirts" in Nottingham next month will confirm some of the above rumors. And it's not going to fix GW's problems.

And as far as the "more focused selling operations are concerned": I don't see it, Tom. I really don't. I don't see your stock rebound much (except for maybe some technical reaction), and I see it much lower in 6 months time than it is today. 

Take a step back, Tom, and think about something you mentioned in some of the early 2000 s shareholder reports. "The problem is us!" See? You already know what's wrong. The community and I personally would offer advise and counselling but then again, we all know you wouldn't even consider taking it... Oh well.

Coming to an Internet near you this weekend: 

The Crystal Balls of Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox - Part 9

Prepare yourself for part 9 of our epic series - as planned, I will write it this weekend (because I really don't have time today :P).

In the meantime don't let anyone tell you that it doesn't matter that GW's share price dropped.

What do you think? Leave your comments below!

Wanna feel like a winner?

Here are the winners of our epic 21 giveaway prizes!
Follow us on Facebook and you won't miss part 9 of our epic series!

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'cause this is like really important, guys!

Painting Buddha Adventzkalender 2013 - Winner Announcement

Adventzkalender 2013 - Door #42 

Winner Announcement

Hoopy New Year!

The new year is already 16 days old, but with Ben, Mati and myself being back from our short - but hopefully deserved - vacation since Monday this week, it is our first chance to officially wish you a Hoopy New Year and all the happiness you want for yourself, your friends and your families! 

And after answering quite literally hundreds of messages and emails we went straight to getting the winner list of our Adventzkalender's "21 Days of Hoopy Holidays" giveaway produced. 

Appropriately, we used the 'Answer-o-mat of the presence' to announce the lucky winners. 

Find out, whether you have won and whether you maybe even won the ULTIMATE GRAND PRIZE - a private workshop for you and a friend, including a 210€ pocket money portion! How hoopy is that? :D

The 'Year of the Pirate'

By the powers vested in me, I had declared 2013 to be the 'Year of the Miniature' - and what a year it had been! Miniatures everywhere! I am sure, the miniature scene gained enough momentum to hurl us all the way through 2014!

And then I realized that I had not thought of an official motto for 2014 yet... So my buddy Mark came up with 'The Year of the Pirate' in a totally unrelated Facebook conversation. Good enough for me! So the 'Year of the Pirate' is is, yarr!

It actually fits VERY WELL with one of our upcoming projects. Almost soon™. ;) 

Stealing like a true, BEARded pirate!

2013 ended with the steal of the year: Early BEARD special on the pre-order of our Season 1.2 (Freehands & Banners with tripple Slayer Sword winner Stephan Rath) and Season 1.3 (Base Alchemy: Earth with in total quadruple Slayer Sword winners Ben Komets and Matt Cexwish). 

99% of you got the Early Beard Bundle for Season 1.2 and 1.3 Phase 1 and the rest even went for the complete Season 1 MEGA-Bundle including our Season 1.1 Supporter Box!

In fact, we got such an INCREDIBLE amount of support from all of you out there, that we will be able to demonstrate to you in more detail, what we will be able to do with the money we raised. 

So for the moment let me tell you, that there is no need to panic at all! None whatsoever. Really. It's all cool. 

Randalf Streisand, Master Mechanic and creater of fine gears since 2142 will be here to guide you through our nerdy universe. Soon™.

And don't forget: My beard may continue to grow, but the EARLY BEARD SPECIAL will end eventually ;) 

Please bring a friend!

In December, our Facebook following exploded and over 1200 new followers joined our revolutionary ranks! Thank you all for SHARING & ENJOYING - you see how powerful you are - just by using your finger to click a button!

If you have friends who are also painters, gamers or roleplayers - or who SHOULD be - why not invite them to join us? 2014 is going to be crazy - and being on board early on will give you bragging rights. 

And what else does a true pirate need? 

Yarrr!

Early BEARD Special Phase 1 ending soon™

Early BEARD special Phase 1 - ending soon™!

Aaaaaaah, holidays!

I hope each and every one of you had very Hoopy Holidays and you're all looking forward to an extraordinarily Hoopy New Year 2014! 

I celebrated the Holidays by taking 6 full days off from the Internet to spend time with my family. Mom's food, boardgames (Zombicide, fully painted!), good times ;) 

Concerning long, endangered and early beards

My mom 'threatened' to cut my beard off while I sleep, but I am happy to report that she was joking - there is no end in sight and my beard will boldly continue to grow where no beard had grown before! 

HOWEVER, ... The EARLY BEARD special PHASE 1 for our Seasons 1.2 and 1.3 (check it out here) is running out soon™.

Many of you (in fact VERY many) have already ordered the incredible Season 1.2 and 1.3 Bundle - 49€ instead of the regular 58! Some of you even organized bulk orders with your friends to cut down on S&H charges. Again, thank you all so much!

Great news: Production cost covered!

The first 'must-have' of 2014: 1.2/1.3

Many of you asked us, why we don't run a Kickstarter or Indiegogo or another crowdfunding platform. 

In short, there are a lot of great things about these platforms, and then there are a lot of not-so-great things about them. Although we are not ruling out that we might use one of them for bigger projects in the future, right now we try to get everything done with your help alone. 

And because you are all very awesome, I can tell you that the amount of pre-orders we received so far, almost covers the production cost of Season 1.2 and 1.3. THANK YOU!!!

2014: Full steam ahead

I will be back 'in the office' tomorrow evening and then it's "Warp 10" for our next projects. Here a few very early dates for us: 

• Dec. 31st: End of Phase 1 for Season 1.2/1.3 Early BEARD pre-order, begin of phase 2.
• Jan. 1st: I'm back in the office
• Jan 5th: End of 21 Days of Hoopy Holidays Giveaway!!! All winners will be announced and all prizes will be sent out the week after!
• Share & Enjoy our 21 video posts on FB and Google+ to enter!
• Send in the secret key-phrase to qualify to win the ULTIMATE GRAND PRIZE
• Jan 13th: Ben & Mati will be back from vacation

Have a great New Year's Celebration, everybody!

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Painting Buddha Adventskalender - Doors 18-21!

21 Doors of Hoopy Holidays open!

Winning chances until January 5th!

It is done. Or is it?

Tile for Day 18. Look closely!

21 Days of Hoopy Holidays are over. What started as a simple idea ("Hey, let's do a Hoopy Calendar with 21 doors) turned into one of the most time-consuming projects we have done in the last year. And one of the most fun ones!

We always say "We are working only for you, the community!" and of course, a lot of companies say that. We just mean it. And we live it.

So before we finalize our giveaway and with the year closing, I think it's a good time to slow down, reflect and think.

A few personal words

The last year was probably one of the best years of my life. A dream that I held for 14 years and that started right on time - on my 42nd birthday - came true. The first year has passed and we have gotten pretty far. For that we are thankful and we can only say: we are merely at the beginning of something big! 

Ooooh! Tile 19 reveals a lot!

I have always worked hard and given it all when it came to things that I truly believe in. I have never before worked so hard for anything in my life as I have for starting Painting Buddha. The year went by so fast and sometimes I was too busy or too tired to talk to the people that I wanted to talk to, to thank the people I should thank or to even to live up to my own high standards 100% of the time. But I always tried - and wherever I failed, I know that I can and will do better in the future.

I always knew that 'I' would never be able to do it alone. Good thing I didn't have to! 

Mati & Ben

Tile for Day 20 - 1 left!

I want to thank Mati and Ben for believing in my dream, for joining me in creating a company that promotes our hobby with the goal of working for the community exclusively. It has been an awesome first year - and all credit goes to these two. Without them, Paintingbuddha is nothing but a crazy idea in some bald but bearded head. I would also want to include Mati's and Ben's families for supporting them in their decision to 'give this a try'. 

Words are not enough to thank these guys - but I know that they know. Because they are awesome!

Friends & Family

21: OH! There's a lady in the puzzle! Thanks, Santa!

I would also like to thank my family for supporting me with my crazy dream and I would like thank all of the many new friends I was able to make during this past year. I've been in contact with many, many of you eversince we met somewhere on this planet. And I can't wait to meet you all again in 2014. 

At the same time I have to apologize to many of my 'older' friends for not being there for them as much as I would have liked to. Even though I often did not have the time to contact you, I have always thought about you. You are a big part of the reason why I have arrived where I am today - and I could not be more thankful for anything.

THANK YOU ALL FOR EVERYTHING!

Shout-out to our partners

Season 1.1: Target Identified
Pre-order now: Season 1.2 & 1.3!
"Early BEARD special!" :D

Last but not least, I would like to thank all of our partners that worked with us over the last year. We were lucky to find the right partners that could deliver the quality of product that we wanted to create for you. 

Our partners have patiently helped us taking the first steps towards what we plan to be a new era for our hobby. We have just taken the first few small steps, but we have a road-map that extends far beyond what even we can see on the horizon. 

The more support we get from the community, the faster we will be able to find out what's behind that horizon. So thank you all for your continued support, for SHARING & ENJOYING our hobby with your friends :) 

21 puzzle tiles & key-phrase

The 21 puzzle tiles are part of the artwork for "Season 2.1: PAYDAY". Our current plan is to release season 2.1 at the end of April. Chris Octive from the UK and Matt Cexwish are our painters for this DVD set. And one of the key focus areas of this DVD is 'contrast'. Yes, that's the one everyone tells you that you need more of :D

We hope you enjoyed assembling the puzzle - and as you now, it also gave you the solution to the secret key-phrase (those letters are only visible in the videos!)...

And here are the latest videos:

Door #18 - Door #19 - Door #20 and Door #21:

Door #21 - the Advent Kalender is open!

ULTIMATE GRAND PRIZE

The Ultimate Grand Prize is a three day workshop for you at PB HQ in Berlin. You may bring a friend, if you like. In addition to three days of fun-pact activities and mad ninja skills, you will receive a 210€ CASH PRIZE which you can either apply to your travel expenses (sorry, not included) or spend at our Sponsor for "Season 1.3: Base-Alchemy 1", Battlefield Berlin!

Send us your completed keyphrase to this email address to enter! We'd also love to hear your comments, questions, suggestions and ideas in this mail!

Don't press this button!

If you enjoyed what we did over the last year and if you would like to help us turn on the 'Improbability Drive' to allow us to get to our 'bigger goals' faster, we would not mind if you pressed the following button just once! Any donation will be appreciated and be used 100% for community projects - that means it comes back to you!

100% of your donations will go
towards community projects!

"Hoopy Holidays & a Hoopy New Year!" from Ben, Mati and myself

SHARE & ENJOY!

Painting Buddha Adventskalender - Door #17

Painting Buddha Adventskalender - Door #17

Final chance to find the Easter Egg!

The Answer

We all know the key to finding the Easter Egg is The Answer. 42. A lot of you thought along the lines of morse-codes and I said that that was a pretty hoopy idea. I also indicated that it would not be so bad to forget about letters in the context. 

My last and final hint will be this: 

"In your Universe, Buddha is said to shine his answers upon you. In our Universe the Answer shines its question on the Buddha!"

Mati says, no-one will get it. I say "YES THEY WILL!" - who's right? 

Final Q&A sessions coming up

Our final Q&A sessions will be recorded live, with all three of us answering. We'll see how that goes and whether this turns into a catastrophy of galactic proportions or not. :D

With this Video, the Questions for 2014 are finished - but we will continue something along these lines regularly in the future! 

Only 4 tiles missing - I get the picture! Do you?

The last tile without much detail is revealed today, the two letters you need for the Ultimate Grand Prize can be found in the video, as usual. 

With only 4 tiles remaining, the picture becomes clear. But we wouldn't be our sneaky selves, if we would not have kept the most revealing tiles for last :D 

Daily Giveaway Prize Today

Chances to win in our giveaways are EPIC! Most daily giveaways have around 25-35 shares each, some of you even shared and thus entered twice, you clever bunch!

So if you want a piece of the action, just go ahead and SHARE & ENJOY our Facebook posts or this blog post with your Friends on FB and Google+. You have till the 5th of January - and you can choose the posts of which you REALLY want to win the prize (or just share all of them, that would be quite hoopy, too!)

Appropriately, today's prize is FROM THE FUTURE! The FIRST Painting Buddha bust - as Mati told you in the video ;) The Bust is almost finished, but currently still WIP it's about 95.8% finished. 4.2% still missing ;) This miniature will be available early 2014 and will ALSO be our Workshop Mini for next year?

Let us know in the comments below what name YOU would give this guy? If you guess the name we will be giving him, you'll get one for free. Not that you have any chance of getting it right, of course. An no, it's not "Nostrildamus" - although that would be pretty cool, thinking about it :D

Check out our NEW Season 1.2 and 1.3 and 

secure your EARLY BEARD special!

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Paintingbuddha Adventskalender - Door #16: The FUTURE!

Paintingbuddha Adventskalender - Door #16

The Ghosts of the Future is here!

You seem to like the future!

Season 1.3 - Base-Alchemy

Yesterday night we announced our next two DVD releases: Season 1.2 - Freehands & Banners with Stephan Rath and Season 1.3 - Base Alchemy: Earth with Matt Cexwish and Ben Komets. 7 Slayer swords and countless demons on 2 DVD sets... It is quite insane, really :D

We thought that it would be a great idea to bundle both of them up for you and run an 'Early BEARD special' for our supporters to say "THANK YOU" for a wonderful year we had with you. 

We did not expect this kind of response! Our webshop glowed white hot with your pre-orders. Believe us, it never gets old for us to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

A Ghost grants us a glance of the Future!

With door #16 we arrived in the Future - and the ghost thereof grants Ben and myself 3 questions each. See what happens next...

Looks like Ben saved my a** again ;) 

But like every time when we see a full on double rainbow all the way across the sky we have to ask the same question... "What does it all mean?"

What do YOU think it means? Maybe we'll have to wait until 2014 to see what the Painting Buddha has in store for all of us ;) 

Puzzle almost complete!

By now you are all veterans of our "21 days of hoopy holidays" giveaway, so I will spare you a repetition of the rules. Video #2 holds all the information you need, in case you are new ;) 

And today it seems that we learn the name of whatever is hidden in the puzzle! The next two letters for the secret key-phrase that can unlock you the ULTIMATE GRAND PRIZE have also been revealed! That's pretty sweet ;) 

And since in the Future we have some VERY COOL plans for the Buttons that our supporters receive with their orders (you still have them, I hope! Don't throw them away!), today we will give away 2x 21 random buttons. "Only Buttons?" you might think! You should know by now that everything we do is following some sort of mindblowing masterplan. You want those buttons, believe me :D

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And don't forget to check out our EARLY BEARD special on our Season 1.2 and 1.3 DVD sets. These two DVDs are a MUST for every painter - both for gamers and competitive painters! Trust me on that one ;)

www.paintingbuddha.com is the name. 

Learning to be a better painter is the game.

Great News from Sergeant Blackart!

GREAT NEWS from Sergeant Blackart! 
"Jack the Plucker" will be released for a good cause!

"Jack the Plucker" - extremely limited availability beginning of 2014

Listen up, everybody! The "Best of Show" miniature at Monte San Savino was not only a one-off-piece. It will be released as an extremely limited cast at the beginning of 2014! 

All profits will be given to the Fondazione P.U.P.I., a foundation that focuses on strengthening families and children who need help. An awesome cause and of course, we here at Painting Buddha will support Sergeant Blackart with this project by SHARING & ENJOYING this awesome initiative! 

On Sergeant Blackart's Website we can read:

"The project, born many months ago inside the collaboration with MuMi - Museum of Miniatures, is under license of Brom himself. It’s really special for us since we decided, thanks to the support of Brom and Javier Zanetti, to give all the markup to Fondazione P.U.P.I. This is only the beginning, we will give you more details as soon as we will be ready, but you can be sure the best is yet to come!"

If you are interested in getting your hands on what is one of the greatest Minis of all times from one of the greatest concept arts of the last years - here's your chance: Head over to Sergeant Blackart's website and contact them with a short message. They will let you know as soon as the sale on this extremely limited miniature will start!

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