Stormclaw and Future Campaign Box Sets

So GW tried something different this past week to attract hobbyist's attention.  They put up for pre order a limited release campaign box with a mini rulebook, slim scenerio book, and some existing sprues with 2 limited edition plastic characters.  I will admit that I am intrigued by this move.  I have no interest in the set as I only have vanilla marines and nids and have negative interest in starting any other armies for a game I have not played in a few years now but as I GW watcher I try to keep an eye on what is happening.



Now the value for the dollar is pretty good, you get 4 box sets of minis which general go in 35+ dollar range each plus 2 commanders and the two books for like 125.  If you can get it through independent you might do pretty well.  Ofcourse that value is based on wanting those pre existing sprues which as far as I know are not specifically heavily called on in either codex right now.  I guess you can always use basic troops for your wolves I bet most players have enough of those.  Remember it is not a starter box so it is targeted at existing players.  Maybe people starting new armies might get it for the models.  Obviously if you are just buying it as a collector for the two exclusive models the box is very low value unless you take the time to resell all the other stuff to try to recoup your money.

The biggest issue I think I have with it is how limited it appears to be.  Maybe they are holding back units for later release, but I think I read on faiet212 that the allowed pre orders sold out.  I would think you would want this available through the Space Wolf release but GW as always seems very focused on short term.  Here the short term gain is pushing people to their extra high margin webstore over supporting either their retail arm or the Rogue Trader Stores.  I am sure retailers would love to have a different option to show customers who maybe are looking for something different in armies from the Dark Vengeance set (which is not even available again till this drops in another week).  I would like to see a basic starter set that gets back down to like a 75 dollar price point.  Maybe drop some models and replace it with terrain.  Then have this type of campaign boxes come out for about 4-6 month release windows at a higher price point.