How Many Boosters/Cases Do You Buy Of Each Set?

[Olaf the Stout]

I don't play the minis game but want to use the minis for roleplaying. I find myself right now wanting large numbers of orcs, goblins, skeletons, and the like. All of the mooks. I wish they would just put out sets of just the commons. Oh well, I suppose that is what eBay is for...

I don't play the minis game either (although I may give it a go since I already have more than enough minis to come up with several warbands). I just use them for my roleplaying sessions. I too needed to get large amounts of orc, goblins, zombies, gnolls, kobolds, skeletons, etc., However I have found the secondary market a great place to get them, and get them relatively cheaply too. As much as I dislike the randomness, I do understand why it is in place.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I limit myself to exactly 12 boosters of each set (1 case). If I don't get those must-have singles, I trade for them or buy them on ebay (if you go ebay soon after a set comes out, you'll rarely spend more than $60-80 getting those must-have singles). I saw someone spend $400 buying abberations boosters to get the green dragon in it and it made me set a concrete limit for myself.

I can see how they would have done that. Surely just buying the mini from the secondary market would have been the best way to go about it though.

Setting a limit and sticking to it is definitely a good idea. I think that 1 case will be mine. Buying a case means that you can avoid (in the most part) getting duplicate rares. Some minis (like the Beholder and the Large Silver Dragon) are quite expensive to buy on the secondary market so often it is the cheapest way to get the hard-to-get rares.

Olaf the Stout

 

[blargney the second]

I case (usually) plus 3-6 individual boosters. On some sets I have added to this with a purchase online of singles.

This is identical to my purchasing habits.
-blarg

 

[JustKim]

I only started buying them around the beginning of December, but since then I've bought about a case and a half of the four sets that're still available. I finally stopped buying because I have like a 50/50 chance of getting a rare I don't already have, and I have everything that isn't a rare. I haven't traded and I don't want to buy singles. I'm disappointed not to have Vlaakith or an efreeti or chimera, but I have to draw the line somewhere. Buying the rares I'm missing as singles would rack up several hundred dollars easily.

 

[EyeontheMountain]

6 months or so ago, I bought two boosters each of Angelfire, War Drums, and Aberrations (maybe an underdark too, plus the basic rules for the game. That was jsut to get enough so I could run combats in my face-to-face game.

Since then I have not bought any.

I learned my lesson with Magic the Gathering.

 

[JRR_Talking]

i think i have weened myself having bought 2 cases underdark, 1 war drums, 2 war dragonqueen and havent even bought a single mini or of bloodwar yet!


John

 

[Corsair]

Personally I wouldn't worry about getting older minis. If WotC learned anything from Magic, it is that you can reprint things a couple years later (or even sooner) and people will rebuy it. Either the same thing with a new name (Zephyr Falcon, Bay Falcon) or a nealy identical card (Azure Drake, Wind Drake).

In the first case, it might just be a resculpt of a new kobold. The collectors will need it for completeness, and it keeps new players happy. In the second case you can create a new beholder which is slightly mechanically different for the mini players, but is still a beholder for the RPGers who never got one the first time around.

The real question is not whether this will happen (I assure you it will) but more how long until it happens.

 

[Chiaroscuro23]

I have stopped buying boosters, and instead am now purchasing complete sets of commons and uncommons online. The rares cost far too much for me to justify buying them, and thus far I have not. I'm quite pleased with this strategy, though I find that I have tons of minis, and am always getting more! Therefore, I have to buy more storage space.

 

[AstroCat]

I usually by a "master set" online. 1xR 2xU 4xC and then an odd booster here and there. So far this way I end up with the "right" amount plus at least 1 of every one.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

From Harbinger through Blood War, I've purchased -- either in bulk, or as part of Limited tournaments -- at least three cases of each set. For the last several sets, I've also purchased some singles.

Unhallowed will be the first set for which I'm cutting back. I'm beginning to feel overwhelmed by the Constructed skirmish game, and I have plenty of models for RPG purposes. Put those together, and it equals "no need or desire for 3+ cases."

I'll be buying one case, plus probably another 6 to 10 boosters at Limited events, plus maybe 60 bucks worth of singles.

The next step is to begin the culling of the herd, from Harbinger on up.