>  So if anyone is looking at other games companies and saying that those prices are driven by Games Workshop, they’re kidding themselves – they’re not.

I guess I’ll just add that when you buy GW, you’re not just buying miniatures, you’re buying the “culture / support” that goes along with it. You sorta mentioned it with branding, so I’ll expand on it. Mantic, Wargames Atlantic and Northstar, while they product miniatures, don’t have the tournament events, game stores, conventions, house magazine, game lore, etc. to the extent that GW has. If you’re just buying miniatures to paint, or to play only with your gaming group, then it shouldn’t be hard to find alternative miniatures at a lower price. But if you like all that “culture / support”, then there aren’t many alternatives to GW.

Magic the Gathering might be the closest similar business model. You can find a card game that’s less expensive, but you’re not going to find the Magic game nights, sealed deck tournaments, prerelease events, etc. etc. that Magic has. While CCG’s are now part of the hobby, many boardgamers refused to play it because of its price — Mr. Suitcase was a derogatory term for those players who spent hundreds of dollars on the game. Sure, per card they paid as much as a casual player, but the criticism, though not exactly the same as GW, was that it was an expensive game to play, relative to others (eg. most boardgames).

GW is one of those “lifestyle” hobbies. It’s beyond a game (so’s Magic with its trading and collecting). So, while per game a GW player spends more than a casual gamer, who may have hundreds of different games, the total dollar amount spent on his hobby may not be all that different. Of course, many miniature (and CCG, and comic book lines) try to be “lifestyle” hobbies, but I think each hobby niche can only have one or two, and GW (and Magic) is the “lifestyle” game of its niche.