Factory Sealed Booster Cases

[Fen]

So is it an actual fact that factory sealed cases contain few (if any) duplicate rares? Has WoTC confirmed this? How many of you have purchased sealed cases and found this to be the truth? What does a "factory seal" look like? How does on identify a sealed case, to ensure someone has not gone cherry picking? Is it possible to re-seal a case so as to appear factory sealed?

Pardon all the questions, but I'm looking to purchase a sealed case on ebay and I want to know what to look for. I've found I can buy a sealed case of 12 boosters for less than the cost of a full set. I believe 12 rares (no dupes, I hope) and 12 boosters worth of commons and uncommons is a far better value than the 15 rares, 18 commons and 15 uncommons found in a full set.

[Tenechs]

Yes, you will generally get 12 different rares in the case. It is not guaranteed and I did hear of someone who claimed to get one duplicate.

You will be missing 3 rare tanks. At worst, you will be missing the Tiger, SS Panther, and JagdPanther. They seem to be fetching the highest prices on the auction sites.

[CdtWeasel]

THe case is simply sealed with tape. I imagine you could get the tape off without damaging the cardboard, but I wouldn't worry too much. Wizards will never guarantee the contents of any item considered to be random, that keeps them clear of unhappy customers, but they have real good odds of not dupeing any rares. On ebay just look out for good feeback and you should be set.

[Muenchausen]

I bought two cases from two different dealers on ebay. I inventoried each booster and to my knowledge I did not get any duplicate rares. I believe I got a Tiger, Panther and Jadgpanther in both sets. But my first order was for a half case from an internet store and I received crappy rares. Only a jadpanther with that order. In the future I will only order cases.

[NewtonCain]

Cases are the way to go to prevent dupes.
For AAM, bought 1 case no dupes.
For DDM I've bought serveral cases (6) and recieved maybe 1 or 2 dupes in a single case.

[TheFoeHammer]

I received 2 Tigers in my case. That was the only dup I had.

[rondom]

I bought 2 cases from my local retailer. (I also bought 2 starters).

I got a duplicate rare in each case (Tiger in one case, HaGo in the other).

:( Sadly, even after buying a few more boosters, I was still short 1 rare (the JagdPanther, which is a cool sculpt, even if almost unplayable). I bought that on eBay (but it hasn't arrived yet).

[Bastion]

2 cases...2 duplicates in each and an approximate equal number of all commons and uncommons. I consider this to be very reasonable and have been quite happy with the distribution in other WOTC cases and this is certainly an area that WOTC excels in. Well done!

Now if only WOTC would send me a sIG 33 for my nice comments...since I haven't received one in 2 cases and 6 boosters. Guess I'll have to buy more....doh!...I've been trapped by their nefarious marketing scheme...that or I just need an excuse to play with little toy tanks.

[Pte. Blue 527]

Between a friend and i we bought two sealed booster cases, no dupes in either case. the 3 i was missing he got, and vice versa, so out of two cases we got 9 double rares and 6 single rares, at least one of each in 2 cases is excellent distribution, imho.

[AllGoodGecko]

After years of bad pulls for card and mini games I finally found my zen- I had not got one single double rare till now and I am two rares away from a set - and I bought boosters one at a time !

[Bobsalt]

For me, one case, no dupes. Buying single boosters is OK, but if you plan to really get into the game a case is just about a must. To say nothing of being a lot cheaper in the long run if you order from one of the on line sellers - I got my case for, I think it was $105.

[Cruizin2000]

I didn't have any duplicates in my case. I did have dups in other 1/2 case. The only rares I didn't get in my case 1/2 was the Lee and the Ha-Go. I got dups of the T-34, Tiger I, Pnzr II, and the Croc.

Cases are the only way to go.

C2000

[Fen]

Cool. Snagged a factory sealed case for $99US. That's somewhere in the range of $117 Canadian. The local game store sells boosters for $18.99 per, $21 after tax. That means I just scored 5.5 free boosters. Nice. Now I just hope it makes it here in one piece! :o

[Pte. Blue 527]

where did you get the case for $99 US? online or local?

[Fen]

Ebay. Shipping knocks the price up, but it's still a steal compared to what I'd have to pay for a retail case from the local outlet.

[Comassion]

I got mine from dacardworld.com . It's $120 there, but they have free shipping for orders over a hundred bucks. They're also the place I got my pirates box from.

[Fen]

Mine came to $108 plus change after shipping. Seems about right.

... now I play the waiting game.

... I'm not good at this game.

[Y2UAsk]

Cases are definitely the way to go. In a case, you should get, on average, 3 or 4 of each common, 3 of each uncommon, and one of each of 12 rares. Statistics mandates that there will be exceptions, but that's a good general guide.

Steve

[OtterSC]

1 case, 2 dupes of the Croc and the sIG.

[Fen]

Hmmm. So far, it seems the dupes people have recieved from cases have been decent pulls. Two Tigers, couple of Crocs, a dupe sIG. Hope I'm as lucky if I happen to pull a pair of something.

[CdtWeasel]

Also remember it never hurts to ask your flgs if they would give a discount on a case. The might if they know you will go elsewhere to buy.

[bsmart]

Fen pleaded:
Hope I'm as lucky if I happen to pull a pair of something.

Do you want 2 R35s, 2 M13/40s, or 2 HA-GOs

:-)

Bob Smart (bsmart@monocacy.com)

[K'mee]

Also remember it never hurts to ask your flgs if they would give a discount on a case. The might if they know you will go elsewhere to buy.

You see there is a Problem with this statement.. FLGS charge what they do because they have overhead that Online retailers don't... My local area (100 mile radius) has seen 5 games stores close in the last 9 months because of thinking like this.. and we are on the Verge of losing two more..

The Closest one to my home sells at just below retail and if you ask for more off or threaten to buy online they apalogize and say they can't afford it.. it costs money for that game space.. they showed me the Electrical bill a couple months ago ... 350$ ... I started to believe them..

To those that buy online because they save a few bucks or they get a few extra boosters, I hope you have a place to play, because in my area a 1500sq foot building costs about 1800$ a month before Utilities and Other overhead, and at the Rate local shops are closing right now.. Many of us wil be playing in the basements of others houses..

me.

Sorry about my High horse.. I see threads like this and remember I have to drive 45 miles to get to the new local store and it upsets me. back to lurking for me..

[Mister Y]

K’Mee
Thanks for your post. As the owner of a FLGS I have seen that “Verge” quite a bit here lately. I a few hours I will be hosting a small tourney for another game... unfortunately, most of the players will have minis they bought from online. I do it because I want to promote gaming and I hold out hope that gamers like them will get a clue one day. Even with A&A cmg I’ve seen gamers buy from online while I have the same mini’s in the display case... “Gee, I didn’t think to look”.... or "I got it for a dollar cheaper"

Bad news is I do not plan anything long term now, just don’t know if we will be here.

As for case packing, I popped a case and was only missing two minis to complete the set.

Thanks,
Mister Y

[Bastion]

I'm with K'mee and Mister Y. I buy my cases (discounted) through the local game shops and occassionally singles from online...but I always check locally first. And I'd recommend that others think carefully before going online. You may have to pay a premium to buy from a store but you really do have to ask yourself exactly what value you are getting for your money. And there is still a small risk that you may never see your product if bought online.

[Fen]

Heh. Last thing I want to do is put my GW store out of commission. I always do what I can to support the local business. I buy all of my Warhammer and 40k from the local GW, all the paints, glue, brushes, terrain, magazines ... so I'm putting his kids through college. :) I don't feel too bad going to ebay for my large bulk purchases. That said, I tried to cut a deal with 'em for the case of boosters before I went online, but the best he could do was 10%. I understand the overhead he has to deal with, so I can't blame him. But he shouldn't blame me for wanting to save $100. I would have been willing to pay a little more, get my minis right away and support the local outlet, but it wasn't gonna happen.

[Autarch]

I have two (U)FLGS, one is hard core CCG with over half its floor space dedicated to gaming tables but the proprietors and regulars have little or no interest in A&AM and before the release one clerk was actually trying to steer me towards SWM instead of A&AM! The other is a national chain that focuses mainly on RC stuff and if your conversation doesn't include the terms gear ratio and voltage they just kind of stare. Both stores keep the most bizarre hours which makes it difficult for me to get to them before they close, or have to wait around for hours before they open.

So I really don't mind not buying from them, but the upside about paying them more and getting less merchandise is that I actually can walk out of the store with it in hand. Both online purchases I made for A&AM have had all kinds of problems with shipping, billing and inexplicable delays.

[Bastion]

Further to my previous message....I'm fortunate that I live in an area where there are a number of stores and some healthy competition. Although boosters sell at various rates there seems to be a consensus on cases...and it is a fairly good discount.

My point being that I have limited sympathy for those stores that aren't willing to recognize the competition (online or otherwise) and blindly expect their customers to pay whatever price they charge. They may not get the profit margin they want but some profit is always better than none.

I've seen boosters run from $15 to $21 each. I expect I'll see the $21 boosters on clearance in about a year or so for about $10 each.

[Fen]

Yeah. $21 is what the local GW store is asking (that's after tax). That's $252 for 12. With a 10% discount, I'd save about $25. So I was looking at $227 Canadian for a case of boosters from the local outlet.

[Bastion]

I paid $168 Cdn for mine. I'd say it's time to shop elsewhere.

[Krieger]

I bought the starter and 5 boosters from my local game store, but I bid on and won a set of German troops and other stuf on E-bay. for $22 I got 4 Haptsturmfurhers, 4 mg 42's, 4 Kar 98's, 4 Pz grenadiers, 4 Panzerfausts, 4 red devil captains, 4 commisars, and 4 Shermans. I wish my store sold singles, so I could buy them there. But I don't have a hundred extra bucks lying around to buy a full case, so it's the most economical route for me.

[Fen]

I'd say it's time to shop elsewhere.
If only that were an option. The guy holds a monopoly over all things GW and WoTC. It's a small town. Unless we go online, he's the only game in town. In my case, "elsewhere" equals "the internet".

[Comassion]

The internet is a pretty good elsewhere though. My store sells things at normal prices (15 for a booster), but it's not too hard to find a case online that sells for the equivalent of 10 for a booster.

[Zeus[BTY]]

Got my case yesterday, and rares-wise I'm pretty satisfied. Together with the T34 and Crocodile I already had from starter + 1 booster, I'm now missing 2 rares to complete the set: the Panzer II and the M3 Lee (the case didn't have a croc, but it did have a T34 - which should have been an uncommon btw :rolleyes: ).

The uncommons and commons were pretty evenly represented too - and that's where the problem is. I'm now stuck with too many anti-tank guns, commanders and "special" soldiers like AT, mortars (which *could* become interesting if they can do indirect fire, but are pretty useless otherwise), while not having enough "basic riflemen" for anything remotely resembling a historical scenario (for example, I still can't play any of the official scenario's posted on the site).

I'm definitely NOT for "ultra-rares" or "uniques" or whatever, but I guess I'm missing a difference between availability of those special soldiers mentioned and the regular riflemen...

I hope they have reconsidered the contents of the next set's boosters to more closely match customers' wishes.

[Bobsalt]

'] I'm now stuck with too many anti-tank guns, commanders and "special" soldiers like AT, mortars (which *could* become interesting if they can do indirect fire, but are pretty useless otherwise), while not having enough "basic riflemen" for anything remotely resembling a historical scenario (for example, I still can't play any of the official scenario's posted on the site).

I'm definitely NOT for "ultra-rares" or "uniques" or whatever, but I guess I'm missing a difference between availability of those special soldiers mentioned and the regular riflemen...

I hope they have reconsidered the contents of the next set's boosters to more closely match customers' wishes.

Speaking only for myself, if I were playing you in a friendly game (IE non-tournament), as long as you had at least one rifleman (and thus had at least one card with the right stats), I'd let you substitute other minis as riflemen. I think most players would be that charitable as well, though you never know. It is a pain, though, getting so many of certain units (for me, it's bazookas) that you don't need but one or two of, and not getting enough of the brerad-and-butter units.

[cpabbo]

i opened a case of stuff last night. i was very happy with the distribution. no dupes what so ever. no im only 3 rares shy of a complete set :)

cpabbo

[VGHutch]

I bought 3 cases of boosters

1st booster - no dupes - missing 1 rare for a whole set (US M3 Lee)

2nd booster - no dupes - missing 3 rares for a whole set (SS Panther, Jadgpanther, M3 Lee :mad: )

3rd booster - no dupes - missing 3 rares for a whole set (Panther, Tiger, M3 Lee :mad: )

(notice the pattern of missed M3 Lee....)

A guy came in to the store and bought one booster (not case) and he got the M3 Lee for his rare :mad: . He was nice enough to trade a Tiger for the M3 :D .

The next week I opened a booster and got my M3 Lee

I now have 2 complete sets . I also have a lot of other toys to play with...

[Fen]

Finally finished my first full set. Lucked into the Jagdpanther in a booster I bought almost out of frustration, traded for both the Tiger I and the SS-Panther. So now I wait for Set II. Case of boosters all the way.