Cheating Boosters?

[A&A Member]

I heard rumors circulating that you can actually cheat to receive good units. I tryed before by shaking boosters. How can you tell if there is a good unit or a bad unit in boosters? I would love for you to share... I keep getting Veteran Tigers in the D-Day booster... 15 and counting...

[MyGarandDoesMyTalking]

Their is no way to tell for sure. However, the heavier the booster, the more likely it is a large, rare piece. I picked up 3 D-day boosters, and one was much heavier than the others. I bought that one, and it was a Churchill AVRE. In the case of the 39-45 boosters, if you shake it and nothing moves, than it is most likely a big rare, like a King Tiger, because the piece fits tightly in the box. So, it's not an exact science. Just tips for guesstimating.

[Harold76]

What he said. That's how I got 2 KT, a KV-1, 2 planes, plus other goodies.

[Qmark]

Unfortunately, I've ended up with about a dozen Centurions while fishing for T-35's.

[NeuralDream]

Why don't you just buy them from ebay? For example, why would anyone have 15 King Tigers? Sell the 10 of them and you can buy equally rare which you don't have.

[Khayman7]

Unfortunately, I've ended up with about a dozen Centurions while fishing for T-35's.

Ouch.

In AAM weight is your best bet. Nowhere near an exact science but its a good starting point. Also planes use to have a certain rattle as I'm sure most people noticed.

WAS actually got to be pretty easy to get a carrier or a battleship. Shake the box up and down, if the piece doesn't travel far in the package, its big. If it moves all over its a cruiser. The one guy I was with referred to this as the "throw". I've have not pulled a cruiser (or Princeton unfortunately) from a single booster buy with this method. If you want cruisers go for the movement.

[Autarch]

Lol, I remember the days when people looked down on this sorta thing.

[Richter von Manthofen]

Still looking down - i am 6'+ :D

[Snippersly]

I could use a couple of Vet Tigers...PM sent.

[Lotus]

Lol, I remember the days when people looked down on this sorta thing.

Some of us still do. Everyone's money is the same but their chance of getting what they want isn't when people cherry-pick.

[MyGarandDoesMyTalking]

Some of us still do. Everyone's money is the same but their chance of getting what they want isn't when people cherry-pick.

Cherry-pick? When someone buys a pet, they don't just pick the first one they see. They examine the pets available and see which one they want. If someone picks a nice pet in front of me, well, that's life. Isn't it the same thing with boosters?

[V-Disc]

I don't think you can call this "booster shaking" cheating. I'm not even sure I would use the phrase cherry picking either.

"Smart shopping" is more like it. I'm trying to find & buy certain items. I don't want a King Tiger; I want a Stuart. I perform a quick test; that does NOT damage the merchandise in any way, then I make my choice. I'm trying to avoid aircraft. Don't buy boosters with the tell tale clink. This is just being a savvy consumer.

[Frog]

I don't think you can call this "booster shaking" cheating. I'm not even sure I would use the phrase cherry picking either.

"Smart shopping" is more like it. I'm trying to find & buy certain items. I don't want a King Tiger; I want a Stuart. I perform a quick test; that does NOT damage the merchandise in any way, then I make my choice. I'm trying to avoid aircraft. Don't buy boosters with the tell tale clink. This is just being a savvy consumer.

I couldn't have said it any better myself. You sound like a man of superior intelect.

[Plagued]

I'd probably categorize it along the same lines as card counting or dice manipulation. You're creating an advantage in a situation where a level playing field was intended. Not really wrong, but not intended either.

Whether or not this is morally ambiguous probably depends on how many people in your area play AAM. If you've got entire cases selling out in under a week after they arrive, then you're probably going to get some cross looks when you show up with the only big tanks that were packed in that shipment.

If you're the only bloke who's bought a booster in the past six months...Well, then there's nobody else to care.

[V-Disc]

I couldn't have said it any better myself. You sound like a man of superior intelect.

Well...

Sounding like a man of superior intelect; and being such a person are not quite the same thing!

[polish_horsy]

I couldn't have said it any better myself. You sound like a man of superior intelect.

Or another person trying to justify an iffy ethical position.

[MyGarandDoesMyTalking]

Or another person trying to justify an iffy ethical position.

Iffy ethical position? Cutting open the bottom of a booster to steal the rare and putting something inside to make it feel as though it still had said rare would be an ethical issue. Buying booster A instead of booster B because you think you'll have a better chance at getting what you want as a result of weight, sound, etc., is not really an ethical issue.

[TK421]

I don't see a consumer weighing boosters in his hand as being unethical. It isn't like his is breaking them open first.

It is a way, however, to get two boosters in a row each with a Pershing and a Humber.:( Guess I was being punished by the booster gods. At least they both came with a Mosin Nagant. :) I've also tried chanting "KV" or "Tiger I" under my breath but that hasn't worked either. It is also a way to get multiple Hoods in WAS.

[Cruizin2000]

Get the hand held pocket X-ray machine. That works like a charm for me. You should see my 1.0 T-34/76 collection!!

Seriously though, I've only bought 2 boosters in my whole life and other than that it was cases. My Base Set 1.0 boosters had the E8 and the Croc as the rares. I needed something to go with my starter set until the UPS man showed up with the 2 cases.

Buying cases is where it's at. You'll have 12 boosters to shake any time you want.

C2K

[V-Disc]

I am just trying to spend my "hobby money" wisely. I'll likely purchase about a case or less worth of the '39 -'45 set {spending at/supporting my LGS!}. There are only a handful of units I'm looking for: Valentines, M3's, T-26's, Spitfires...maybe a couple of others. I want to avoid spending an inordinate amount of money on units I have no intrest in using: most, if not all, of the big tanks. The smart thing to do is use the "sample shake" test and hopefully get the stuff I'm looking for.

[armchairmilitant]

My local shop gets a case at a time. Usually, it sells out before the next one arrives. If it didn't, you could possible get one from the old case and one from the new. You sure couldn't sue in that case if you got identical boosters. Shake away.

This reminds me of when I bought my first 39-45 starter kit and the local owner was explaining the game and the piece distribution (it was my first collectible game).

Me, "So let me get this straight, every booster has a RARE. So it's rare like in the ebay sense, not rare like in the albino buffalo sense."

[SgtDeathKill]

I love gaming and usually in certain games I don't have something that I need I just buy a case of that specific set. That usually works. Sometimes it works out awesome other times it's bad. When Reserves came out I bought a case and a whole bunch of boosters looking for that russian tank to complete a set and didn't until a couple months later. I took many beatings thinking I could win with all those nebelwerfers I pulled :o Now with the new set me and my buddy are pretty much set up and I don't really care what I pull even if the peice is only good for shooting rats. I have seen booster shaking and it worked for that buyer...Might have been fluke, I don't know :confused:

[Latro]

I tried "the shake" today on the two boosters I bought and it got me a King Tiger and a Jagdpanther ... I was hoping for a Tiger I, but I'm not complaining.


:cool:

[Plagued]

I tried "the shake" today on the two boosters I bought and it got me a King Tiger and a Jagdpanther ... I was hoping for a Tiger I, but I'm not complaining.


:cool:

Jagdpanther is bloody huge isn't it? If it were made of metal you could use it for a paperweight.

[Latro]

Jagdpanther is bloody huge isn't it? If it were made of metal you could use it for a paperweight.

Yes, "bloody huge" is a good description ... and the King Tiger is even bigger (though a bit too expensive for small battles). Can't wait to give them a try.


:cool:

[Mr. Lang]

Or another person trying to justify an iffy ethical position.

Feeling the weight of a package in the store justifies an "iffy ethical position?"
Does that mean that any person at the produce store who dares to touch, feel, or look at a fruit or vegetable is unethical? I think not. What about test driving several cars before purchasing one?

Buying a pack, opening it, and returning it for another would be unethical. Buying several, opening them, and mixing and keeping the pieces you want and returning the rest would for sure be unethical.

What a silly conversation...

[Cruizin2000]

Let's face it, the whole idea of random booster packs for games is bad. Collectible games are bad. The odds are against you anyways, right? 1.0 gave you a 1 in 15 shot of getting that one certain rare that you needed and 2.0 gives you a 1 in 24 shot of getting your rare. There's nothing wrong with shaking booster packs. You get to shake dice when you gamble, right?

C2K

[fecktor]

You get to shake dice when you gamble, right?

Ah! Very good analogy! :D

I always shake the box a bit, or at the very least weight it (as much as I can). It may not change anything to the contents of the booster I'm buying, but at least it gives me some sort of satisfaction, thinking that I might just have the rare I want/need in it :)

[Cruizin2000]

Ah! Very good analogy! :D

I always shake the box a bit, or at the very least weight it (as much as I can). It may not change anything to the contents of the booster I'm buying, but at least it gives me some sort of satisfaction, thinking that I might just have the rare I want/need in it :)

Also buying a booster for any collectible game is just like gambling - you put money on the table and pick one - or two. It's like buying instant lottery tickets - win or lose, once you scratch it you're done.

C2K

[ericjohn]

Sorry to get all moralistic here, but I have to agree with some other posts that this sounds like a lot of sophisticated justifications for questionable actions to me.

Maybe I see it that way because I was (I think) bit by this when I was first testing the waters with WAS. Pulling all cruisers just about put me off the game when I was just getting started.

There are some vague statements about that hypothetical person that wants to get Stuarts, but the dialogue on this thread makes it sound to me that the bigger items are more desireable and more valuable and clearly that's where folks are putting their efforts. This is mostly true in WAS anyway -- sure I like to get some cruisers, but big Battleships and Carriers are where the serious action is. If you are screwed by other people picking over the stock, and get ONE battleship (Tennessee - not coincidentally the shortest battleship?) in your first ELEVEN boosters like me, even though the expected pull of battleships would be 5-6, the fun wanes.

I think the first responsibility would be Wizards to package the minis so this didn't happen. But as things are now, while I wouldn't exactly condemn someone who does this, I would consider it borderline and selfish behavior. Someone, probably a newbie like me, will be stuck with the leftovers and won't have the same crack at some of the most desired items. I think that's bad for the game, but more importantly it's probably bad for some individual out there.

I'm not a huge proponent of the random collectibles presentation, but that is the game you are choosing to participate in. If you don't like randomness, just buy figures on Ebay.

[Rick]

Ok, I bought four boosters 30-45 today. I was trying to avoid planes (got enough) and was trying for the larger tanks. I listened for that tell tale 'tink' of plastic banging on plastic indicating a plane. I felt for weight and sliding of stuff inside. I admit, it looked a bit silly as the FLGS keeps the boxes behind their counter, but I will say, I felt like I was ten years old trying out the gifts underneath the Christmas tree!

The results: Two planes (sigh) the planes had stuck to the bottom of the box while the glue was still wet. Thus, the plastic didn't 'clink'. One box had both a T-34/76 AND the SU-85. Sweet! The rest were the American HT, the French Panhard, The British Humbar (sigh, again) and last but not least, the German Tiger 1 YEAH!

So, the method is not perfect in execution, but perhaps the theory of it all still is. The two Soviet tanks, and the Tiger were worth it as far as I'm concerned.

And, yes, it is a kind of 'cherry picking'. But, well, that's kinda how capitalism works. The first one there, gets the pick. We do that with vegatables. We test drive cars. We try on clothes in stores to see if they fit and look right. Shaking a box with five plastic 'toys' really isn't that big a deal.

[ericjohn]

We do that with vegatables. We test drive cars. We try on clothes in stores to see if they fit and look right.

Not picking on you Rick, others have posted similar analogies.

I think we're beating the analogies to death, but these just aren't good ones. I don't test drive cars knowing that if I buy the Lexus someone else will get the Yugo. If I pick the ripe peach I am not relegating someone else to the rotton peach sight unseen.

To me this is more like counting cards. You can argue whether its cheating or skill - but I know I wouldn't join a game of blackjack where someone else has already been counting the cards. Much akin to my situation, where I can't join the fun of buying a booster at the local store on a whim, because I know it's probably been cherry picked.

And yes, in the scheme of things it's not the end of the world, but we are talking about (in my case) spending ~$200

[Latro]

... And yes, in the scheme of things it's not the end of the world, but we are talking about (in my case) spending ~$200

If you spend that amount of cash, buy boxes ... problem solved.


:cool:

[ericjohn]

If you spend that amount of cash, buy boxes ... problem solved.


:cool:

Yeah, since I started suspecting what was going on, I moved to cases or just get singles on ebay.

I guess I am overly annoyed about it, but I'd like to be able to just grab a booster from the store for fun from time to time, and basically I can't do it because of getting burned :(

(and yes, I could still buy them and trust to luck, but who out there likes to be a sucker? fool me once, etc.)

[A&A Member]

I bought a case of the 39-45 boosters and got out 3 King Tigers, 1 Tiger I, 3 T-34/76, 1 IS-2 1944, 1 SU-85, 1 Jagdpanther, 1 Supermarine Spitfire, and the rest was junk. I got everything on my list for Christmas.

[Latro]

Yeah, since I started suspecting what was going on, I moved to cases or just get singles on ebay.

I guess I am overly annoyed about it, but I'd like to be able to just grab a booster from the store for fun from time to time, and basically I can't do it because of getting burned :(

(and yes, I could still buy them and trust to luck, but who out there likes to be a sucker? fool me once, etc.)

On a sidenote: the BIG tanks are definately not always the best buy when it comes to playing a battle. A previous booster that gave me an M5 Halftrack and a Stuart provided me with much better units to use in a lot of different lists.


:cool:

[NeuralDream]

It's a bit of cheating, which makes it a bit unethical. But I still don't understand why anyone would buy boosters after the starter and the first 2-3 boosters. Don't you buy from ebay? I've paid less than $300 in total for my 450 minis including practically all rares (not 10 times each of course like some want to have).