Chainsword@Chainsword40k
Ok, so let me explain, because some of you dumbfucks have no idea how GW operates.
First of all, these are not preorders, they are presales. Preorders work like this: you order something before it’s produced, and the company manufactures it based on customer demand. For example, if a preorder is six months away, the company knows how much they can produce in that time. GW Made-to-order stuff works this way.
With presales, production is already done. The moment you see “next week preorder,” the stuff was already produced 3 to 6 months before. GW bases production on data and produces anywhere from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of boxes. Keep in mind that GW has finite production capacity, they aren’t making one boxset every six months; they’re making many, and they also need to supply standard items that sell consistently, like basic Intercessors.
When the "next week preorder" article drops, the product is allocated to stores. Stores already know the price before the preorder because they had to place their orders in advance. Usually, stores pay around 50% of MSRP. How many boxes a store gets depends on the store size, your relationship with GW, how close you are to the sales department, and probably the phase of the moon, because the same store might get 3 boxes in one preorder but 50 in the next, depending on underproduction or overproduction.
By the time you can preorder, the store already has that stuff in stock, they just can’t sell it yet due to GW rules. Break those rules, and GW can terminate your deal, you get nothing. If your store’s sales rely on Warhammer, you’re fucked.
GW also keeps some backup stock for LGS and their own stores in case of issues like missing sprues, damaged shipments, etc. But that stock is finite, they can’t just make more on the spot because the boxes and books are printed in China, and that takes time.
So, to sum it up: if you see "sold out" on GW’s store or any LGS, it doesn’t automatically mean something is popular. It could, but it could also mean stores were undersupplied, GW underproduced, or scalpers bought it all.
A few words about scalpers: GW doesn’t give a fuck. If it sells, they don’t care who bought it, unless there’s some backlash online. Then they implement half-assed protections that usually fuck over normal buyers, because scalpers find ways around them anyway. LGSs can scalp too, and it happens more often than you realize, they might only sell 5 boxes even if they got 30 and scalp the rest.
So no, Custodes being sold out doesn’t automatically mean it’s popular.