Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Guy Fullerton on collecting sets

Guy Fullerton posted this advice on collecting sets of DDM; I think it's worth reproducing here (edited for clarity):

Reminder: Although I'm the DDM Rules Net Rep, I'm not a WotC employee and I can't speak to the why's and wherefore's of the random distribution. So the following is just my opinion as another consumer of DDM products...

WotC never promised that a person can get a full set by buying cases or boosters. Nobody deserves to get a full set by buying cases or boosters, no matter how much they spend. All a person deserves for buying cases or boosters is more random minis that the person may or may not already have.

I would *never* suggest to buy cases and boosters as an attempt to complete a set. It's the total wrong way to do it.

I always start by getting a full set, and then supplement by buying boosters/cases. On the secondary market, full sets are very reasonably priced for what you get. They are typically around $200 for most of the recent sets. (Depending on how close you are to the release date, prices can sometimes be a bit higher.)

Sure, you only get 60 minis for that $200, but you're guaranteed of getting one of every rare. If you're supplementing that full set with a case and/or some boosters, you'll generally have more than enough commons and uncommons, and you'll have the duplicate rares that you also appear to be interested in.

And, if you want more commons and uncommons, most areas that I've seen are literally *swimming* in commons and uncommons that players are willing to give away for free.

Think about it this way: You bought three cases of Blood War. That's about $300. That got you 36 rares (but not one of every rare), and probably more duplicate commons and uncommons than you really need. Instead, you could have bought a full set plus one case for the same $300. That will get you 36 rares, and at least one of every rare, and still probably as many commons and uncommons as you need.