Hobbycraft stop the Flames of War

Okay this is based on what I saw, but it would appear that Hobbycraft (in Bristol anyhow) have decided to stop selling Flames of War in their store.

They have moved it all downstairs and are selling it off with most boxed sets and books at 20% off, the blisters appear to be between 10-20% off. There is a little sign that says “last chance to buy” too.
In case you are wondering, it is in the main Late War American, Russian and some German and British. They also have the main rulebook, North Africa and Blitzkrieg. Though I think these may be cheaper on Amazon.
No idea if this applies to other Hobbycraft stores that sell Flames of War, if it does, please leave a comment to that effect.

I am disappointed to see that Hobbycraft are stopping selling Flames of War, it was my only local supplier and it was better than nothing. The problem I found though was that the range was seriously limited, rarely updated and replaced and it never sold any of the new stuff, especially the Blitzkreig range. I did buy my first Flames of War models from the store and I doubt I would have bought them if I couldn’t actually see them and just take them to the till. Of course once the new Early War stuff was announced I was very disappointed to see that they didn’t stock any of the new stuff except the book!

Hobbycraft never seemed to take it seriously and I suspect that is what stopped it selling more than anything else. Any retailer can not rely on casual purchases and by getting the regular customers in on a regular basis they can then push more stock and make more sales. However to Hobbycraft it just seemed like another range of stuff that they sold, no one cared about it, so no one thought to promote it, check that it was what people wanted and in the end they pulled the entire range, which is a pity.
Of course from my perspective I can order from Wayland Games or similar, get a 10% discount and free shipping, but I do like the fact with a local retailer that I can see things I maybe wouldn’t have bought online or via mail-order. Let’s buy a single blister or boxed set and see where that takes us…

So for now I am reliant on online stores for my Flames of War purchases…

Did I buy anything I hear you ask?

Well I did get a Jagdpanther, the one in the boxed set with the building.

Only bought the one though…. Nice model.

2 thoughts on “Hobbycraft stop the Flames of War”

  1. My local HobbyCraft never even bothered stocking it in the first place. To be honest I have noticed a shift in HobbyCraft’s target customers away from any serious arts and crafts to more ‘child friendly’ craft pursuits judging by their stock these days.
    It may just be the local focus of the store near me, it is hard to tell. Their website is so unfathomable it’s not like that gives much of a clue.
    Carl

  2. They are having a sale on their website.

    This is not a bad price for that boxed set, the list price is £38, so £24.99 is a lot cheaper. They have all the other Flames of War stock reduced too, but there are only nine items on the web store.

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