Venting a Bit...

 Well, I have to say I'm a little... not exactly sure what word to use: discouraged? disappointed? jealous? Unlike a lot of folks in the blogging community and on the Forum I generally frequent, apparently, I won't be opening my copy of Space Hulk that I ordered and paid for, despite it having been shipped and received yesterday.

 I placed my order at the Games Workshop Hobby Center that I usually frequent, as I like the staff and the store and figgered I'd let my wallet do the talking in terms of doing my part to keep a place I like in business. Ordering through the Games Workshop website and then paying by credit card at the register, the staff asked if I wanted it shipped to my home address or to pick it up at the store.

 Well, given my thinking about spending money on this "surprise release" after I'd already expected to receive/ordered several hundred dollars' worth of miniature-related stuff for my birthday, and not quite being sure how to broach that with my wife, etc. - I just said to have my Space Hulk box shipped to the GW store. I've been following the order online since I placed it, and like a lot folks, saw it was dispatched already - shipped via FedEx, as a matter of fact - and according to tracking it was shipped the 28th of August and set to be delivered yesterday. Well, I'm thinking, "Great! We're going away on vacation to visit my parents-in-law for the Labor Day holiday weekend here and I'll get to relax and check out the game and maybe even play it with my daughter if it's not incredibly complicated."

 I got an email confirmation from FedEx that it had been delivered. Well, I got off the phone with the store after reading all the posts in a Space Hulk thread in the Tabletop General Discussion section of my usually-visited Forum, verifying that it had arrived. The GW store staff confirmed that it had arrived and was in the store, but basically said that I couldn't pick it up until the 5th. I mentioned the FedEx tracking notification and that we were going out of town and that I knew of quite a few persons that had ordered the box elsewhere and had apparently received the set - the staffer said he would call the manager to see if I could come in to pick it up. Well, calling back to follow up, I was told that essentially he confirmed that they aren't allowed to release any of the Space Hulk sets until the 5th, that they were sorry I had been notified of the shipment, and commiserated that if I had ordered it someplace else I, too, would probably be opening a Space Hulk box myself - and that all these other companies that have actually let paid-for merchandise shipped ahead of time to the customers that bought it aren't supposed to be releasing their Space Hulk sets until the 5th either. (I'm also wondering if things would be different if I'd set a home delivery location?)

To compound the sudden discouragement:
 When I was last in the GW Hobby Center about a week ago, the new White Dwarf issue (yeah, the Space Hulk one) had arrived for subscribers and staff were calling everyone letting them know their issues were in. I've had an at-home 2-year subscription with about 7 issues left and there was no joy in the mailbox yesterday yet again.

 I pre-ordered the 3-book Siege of Vraks set early as a birthday present to myself, of sorts - the last book in the series was released the day after my birthday - and the set came via UPS yesterday. I didn't even have to go through the effort of opening up the box - it was already opened for me, well, probably unintentionally and by a large, angry machine... but still! And the special Siege of Vraks slip case included for all 3 volumes has one corner mangled, all pit-bull chewed-on like. And not that it's an amazingly big thing but it was one of the hopeful aspects of me pre-ordering it early... no signature by the author, either. The Model Masterclass book I ordered from Forge World arrived with one corner similarly crushed, folded, and spindled, and while the staff in the UK was nice about shipping a replacement after I eventually was able to contact them, in the process I found that I apparently can't make international calls on our home phone or my cell phone without buying a pre-paid calling card or paying by the minute with a credit card - when the heck did that sort of thing change? Most of my extended family lives in the UK and we used to call back and forth all the time growing up. I'll have to go buy a calling card again to get in touch with Forge World customer service.


 I guess I'm just venting a bit with all my recent "highly anticipated" items from Games Workshop/Forge World getting "shot down" in some way or other.

 I get the concept of a September 5th release date and all, it just feels like I'm being "penalized" (in a manner of speaking) for ordering it through my local GW store, especially since I was notified my copy of the game was delivered already via FedEx and we're going to be away visiting relatives through Monday - a vacation it seemed like I'd be able to bring the new game along for and get family involved in playing during 4 days of relaxation.

 I also understand the problems with shipping large packages overseas re: my Forge World stuff. I guess I had hoped this time the rilly expensive book set would arrive unscathed - it was disappointing to see the UPS guy walking up the driveway to drop a large box off behind the house and I'd been looking forwards to the books and when I bring the cardboard box inside, the end is hanging open and the contents were damaged. Thankfully not the books, though! (And a small box of bits I ordered when calling back about the Model Masterclass book arrived safe and sound, too.)