The economics of Heroscape

bendgar wrote: Wow this week went by fast!

You can get into this game for the same price as other board games. I bought the base set for $47 from Alexsr on BGG and that box has a lot of fun in it. Then you just look for some extra terrain on ebay and pick up the figures you want for $6-20 as you wish. I have spent much less than $500 at this point and am very happy with my options.

JJ- I have had a lot of fun building landscapes with my 4 year old son and taught him movement rules over the weekend using jelly beans.

Looking at the "sold" listings on Ebay, it doesn't seem horrifically expensive unless you're a compulsive completist. We've been playing off and on for about ten years. When I updated my comments for the master set on ToS, it also updated the date so I can't tell exactly. BGG says the game was published in 2004, and we bought it at Toys R Us when it came out, I think. Anyway, we have piles of stuff, but none of it is pristine. I don't think we would get more than $250, and at this point it feels like part of my kids' childhood. My younger daughters are now asking to play.

The rules, terrain and minis sort of combine to make the game. Like Space Hulk, proxying the entire thing may not be worth it. Still, there are collections on Ebay in the $200 range. That seems to be in the same ballpark as Star Wars: Armada. (speaking of which, I stopped by our FLGS/Magic the Gathering hive for penny sleeves, and saw some guys playing a 400 point game on the special mats. It looked amazing. I asked them how much 400 points cost, and it got a little awkward because I think they thought I was questioning their life choices).

Unrelated: Gears of War is selling for $95. What? It's all tulips.

Sagrilarus wrote: Heroscape isn't a whole lot more expensive now than it was back then. The starter kits are more expensive, because they were insanely cheap back then. But you can buy the figures you actually want separately so you end up paying more or less the same price for what you want instead of the same price for what you want and the cheesy squad that came with it.

Plenty of people blew $500 back when it was still in print. $500 buys you one serious boatload of Heroscape material in the aftermarket right now, particularly the parts you want.

Boosters went for 25 dollars right? The rarer ones are going for ten times that amount now. Even the standard ones are at least two or three times that. Average price for individual figures on ebay outside a handful of cheap ones (usually the ones from the RotV set) are 15- 20 dollars EACH, almos tthe price of the entire booster from before which contained 2 or 3 squads and a handful of indivudual heroes.

Expansions like the lava and forest are twice as expensive, the tundra 4 times, the jungle goes for around 100 dollars now and contains about 3 shitty fish tank banzai trees and the crappiest spider minis ever, like just 3 or 4 of them.

But yeah, you can get a master set, especially second hand pretty cheap and thats all you need to give it a try but once you start digging after the eleven waves of expansions and all the other intermediate large figure expansions and the terrain expansions, it can get really expensive, really quick.

I pick up guys for $10 apiece when the kids ask for them, and get my Tikala Jungle from the fish store. But I'm not looking to "complete my collection". I'm looking for new guys to play. There's a lot out there that's pretty cheap, more than enough to build one hell of a set for about $200. There's people dropping that for Star Wars Armada in a single visit to CSI.

I've mentioned this a few times in the past, but you can get _much_ better deals from sellers at Heroscapers than what is found on ebay. I got two of those forest/bridge sets complete for $25 shipped. The sellers I've worked with also seemed open to throwing in extra terrain the more you buy. I've gotten several of the tundra/snow tiles that way.

Anyway, my family is probably ~$200 in on this game over the past 3 to 4 years. We have a ton of stuff, the purchases have been spread out, and I imagine this is still less than one would spend going in on the in print X-wing, Armada, or that silly Cthulhu Wars thing y'all are getting excited about.

I think the key to any of these sort of massive collectible games is to buy in moderation. Spreading out modest purchases lets you get that 'new item' excitement more frequently. Buying a large bulk at once is a big outlay and the purchasing gratification (which is a bitch to kick) is itched less frequently...making us want to spend again. If that makes any sense...
I also have a self imposed policy not to spend any more on a board game at one time than it would cost to put the family up in a hotel...as a general rule. We gain more traveling than we do buying more stuff. With this rule, I've still never felt I had a lack of games to play.

Yeah no one is saying you cant find cheap stuff, I already said that myself, but you cant buy the actual boxed products for the same price they were, even if you can even find them. Heroscapers is a great site, and Jeffs advice as always is sound. I've definitely spent too much but thats my way. At least now I've properly looked through what I dont have and picked out a few bits Id like but I will get them piecemeal over time if Im still interested at the end of each month. Since I always get stuff I want people have a hard time with gifts so I can leave the pricier special units to that instead.

JJ you should definitely try to give it a run with your kid(s) by getting a basic budget box put together....

Mr. White wrote: I also have a self imposed policy not to spend any more on a board game at one time than it would cost to out the family up in a hotel...as a general rule. We gain more traveling than we do buying more stuff. With this rule, I've still never felt I had a lack of games to play.

This is wisdom. I can take my kids to the local amusement park for abotu $200 for the day, and I guarantee they are going to like it more than playing five board games.

Also, I am now really tempted to try and sell my jungle expansion , because daddy needs a zoom lens.

craniac wrote:

Mr. White wrote: I also have a self imposed policy not to spend any more on a board game at one time than it would cost to out the family up in a hotel...as a general rule. We gain more traveling than we do buying more stuff. With this rule, I've still never felt I had a lack of games to play.

This is wisdom. I can take my kids to the local amusement park for abotu $200 for the day, and I guarantee they are going to like it more than playing five board games.

And you can still play five board games later...I'm sure you have 5 at home already. I'm not opposed to buying new games, but does one need to buy 5 new games at one time? For me the answer is 'no', there are better things to drop $200 on.

To needlessly go into this further, the two thoughts I expressed in my post above are reflected in my recent foray into collecting Neuroshima Hex 3.0. I love the game and I could have bought all the factions at once when I purchased the core. That'd be about $140...which is more than a hotel room for the night, so too much. Still, I could go buy all the factions online right now for about $80. Knowing myself, it wouldn't be too many weeks until I want to buy something game related again. So, I've limited myself to only buying factions when I see them in the LGS and then only one at a time. It spreads the cost out over time, makes each monthly or bi-monthly trip (son goes for pokemon) a little treasure hunt, and has me looking forward to being able to get future fixes of NH stuff.

I've gathered a little bit of Heroscape over the past year, mostly through trading. You can land at least the first master set through some trading, and it can be considered roughly the same value as a $75 game, which is actually a good deal considering how much stuff is in the box. I also got the D&D Master Set in a trade, but that was one of those "I can't believe I got that" moments. I think the guy just wanted to give it a good home.

White is right, the best deals are probably on Heroscapers. It seems like those guys are more interested in spreading the game and giving pieces a good home than in turning a profit, though I'm sure a lot of them do plenty of that as well.

To turn back into the specifics of buying Heroscape specifically...the dollar per play ratio is outstanding.

However much you're willing to spend on heroscape will likely go much further than the same amount on Armada or the like. I can play heroscape with my friends, my kids, their friends, etc. There's the high toy value...my 5 year old daughter will just play with the figs in one of her doll houses sometimes (there's no way the kids played with the fragile WoW minis when they were that young). There's the planning and constructing of terrain (for HS or even other minis skirmish games - A buddy wants me to try MERCS with him, guess what'll be used for terrain during those trial games). The army building. The actual playing. The components of this game are extremely versatile and damn near indestructible...no need to drop a lot on fancy storage solutions, a cheap bin will work fine.

All-in-all this is a game that gets used (in a multitude of ways) frequently. The kids will have a childhood of memories from it as they play with it from ages 2 til they leave the house. The same can't be said for any of my other games.

So, when looked at Heroscape through that lens...the economics of the game is extremely positive. If I were to come into this new, I'd value it as worth trading/selling many other games to obtain.

Yep, I think you hit the nail on the head pretty much Jeff. And thats exactly what I've been doing, jettisoning stuff I dont really need and turning it into something that will provide way more value in all those different ways for many years

Im actually a bit pissed off at myself for ignoring this when I read about it a few years ago, maybe it was even here, pete? or barney posting pictures and me thinking it looked like some weird kids toy with a half assed game attached to it. Its taken me a while to realise that it IS a weird kind of kids toy with a half assed (streamlined) game attached to it and that is AWESOME.

It's been awhile since I bought some new HS, but maybe it's time to get another character or unit.

Anyone recall if there is a 'not-Mad Max' or some post-apoc hero type? If not, maybe I'll get that highlander dude and clan.

Mr. White wrote: Anyone recall if there is a 'not-Mad Max' or some post-apoc hero type? If not, maybe I'll get that highlander dude and clan.

No, not really. Evar Scarcarver kind of looks like Max if you squint and ignore the ice spiked knuckles on his hands, but he's fantasy all the way.

A cool-looking, relatively unknown unit worth getting is Warden 816. Yeah, he's a little pricey at about $12 for one mini, but he looks awesome and he gives a one-space movement bonus to Guard units, several of which are cheap on the secondary market: Blastatrons, Drow Chainfighter, Dumutef Guard, Zettian Guards and Nagrubs. Also, the weapon he uses for his special attack is called an Evisceraxe, which is badass.

otherwise the Mohican River Tribe and their leader (Kurniko?) and maybe even Tul Bak Ra might kinda fit as tribes out in the wild (Tul Bak Ra looks like he could have had some weird plasti surgery and weird genetic experiements done on him).

SebastianBludd wrote: A cool-looking, relatively unknown unit worth getting is Warden 816. Yeah, he's a little pricey at about $12 for one mini,

Wait, really? $12 for the Warden? He came in a pack with 4 other heroes for $9.84 at Target. Wave 7 was one that I don't think got reprinted though, so I guess I can see it. That would mean that Cyprien, Sonya, and Marcu are more expensive too. If people are paying $12 for Kyntela Gwyn though... I don't know man.

I've got at least one D&D Wave sitting in the cardboard box that holds the 4 booster packs. I have about 3 of the D&D Master set, but they're all opened. They were really easy to get in the first year since their release.

I may be sitting on a nice wad of cash. But I also kinda want to keep it. I sold about half of my collection for $1000 (100-250% of what their original retail value was) a few years ago, and then later a friend gifted me his collection so I have a weird mix of stuff. I chuckle when people say that they were excited to buy the Nakitas and Gladiators pack though. It was everywhere and often credited with ruining Heroscape's presence on store shelves.

I remember that D&D set being on Amazon for like $10-15 or something ridiculous, then it went oop and now it's gonzo. Thing is, I'm not into the D&D flavor of HS _at_all_, but I would like the terrain from that set. If anyone wants to let one go for a modest price...let a fella know.

I know it's fruitless, but here are the figs I wish were officially done in the game. Maybe there are some close that I'm not aware of so speak up if so:

1) Not Mad Max
2) Not TMNT
3) Not Jedi (any one will do)
4) Not Elsa
5) Not Lyle Swan (time travelling racer)