GW is a large company. And it is the behemoth in it's industry. They do not innovate, just rehash same properties. They are the incumbent, "monopoly", content holder who (attempts to) destroy little guys.
Legal wrangling aside, I don't see a problem with a lack of "innovation", the same WH40K I played as a kid would still be fun today, however it is certainly interesting to see how WoTC has attempted to innovate to sell new products.
The main difference, of course, is that WH40K is wargaming min-maxy and specific troop-based versus D&D allowing a great deal of flexibility in the rules and creative content.
I'm observing the difference between one approach to RPGs and another. WoTC is the current maker of D&D. Granted, they're competing more against World of Warcraft than other pen & papers these days, but it's still very interesting to see how they've tried to change their model. GW still seems very reliant on pewter miniatures for survival, which will not last as something like this http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/formlabs/form-1-an-affor... gets down to the $500 + cost of resin price level.
None of the stuff you had as a kid would be playable. The rules have changed, the figures replaced, old ones out classed, etc. GW rehashes so you have to buy new stuff constantly. They don't innovate (besides marketing/sales innovations).
Hasbro (wotc is subsidary) also rehashes, maybe more so. They're only innovations are sales and marketing based. They recent innovations online portal, 4ed and gamma world have flopped hard.
