I typically don’t like the “you can only keep X games, what do you choose” challenges among the community. But this one got me thinking: am I savvy enough to build a “me” collection from $500?
This is quitessentially @lalunaverde’s “Reverse Kondo” – if it sparked joy before, does it still spark enough joy to buy it again?
Lenses: The American Secondary Market
I’ve been a deal-hound for a while on the BGG auction scene and, to some lesser degree, GeekMarket listings.
So if I were somehow removed from my collection and given $500 to rebuild, what would I do? Well, first off, I would disregard any tax and shipping fees, because that’s just too difficult. Secondly, I would keep an eye on GeekMarket and BGG Auctions, because I live in, near enough, the exact center of the US and it’s easy enough to ship things right to my door from a wide variety of BGG users. Here’s what I’ve come up with, mostly pandering to my solo gaming tendencies but also allowing for multiplayer opportunies.
| Game | Price |
|---|---|
| 1862: Railway Mania in the Eastern Counties | $35.00 |
| 1824: Austrian-Hungarian Railway (Second Edition) | $60.00 |
| Millennium Blades | $60.00 |
| Concordia Venus | $45.00 |
| Spirit Island | $35.00 |
| Kanban EV | $90.00 |
| Clinic: Deluxe Edition Bundle | $110.00 |
| Silent Victory | $55.00 |
| — | — |
| TOTAL | $490 |
So those prices are taken from the GeekMarket as of today, 2023-11-07. The Clinic Bundle, in particular, is quite nice and actually contains more content than I currently have for about as much as I’ve already spent on buyinhg Clinic stuff. And while this mostly plays towards my solo-gaming tendencies, Millennium Blades is a surefire multiplayer “win” with a couple of my friends. And, admittedly, this is accounting for one friend in particular having some games I could borrow or play with in a pinch.
And, yeah, there’s a part of me that wanted to put 1862 and 18OE as the only two entries; easily had for $500, but somewhat limiting on the scope of gaming available. I have come to appreciate that I really enjoy 18xx games with Minors that “grow up” – surely one of my favorite mechanisms I’ve experienced so far – but dual-gauge is still untested and I think I may prefer that over even Minors (18Ireland, anyone?)
Lenses: American Retail – a preferred online retailer in Wisconsin
| Game | Cost |
|---|---|
| Cthulhu: Death May Die | $74.80 |
| Bullet♥ | $27.19 |
| Concordia Venus Base Game | $54.36 |
| Concordia Solitaria | $17.84 |
| Ra | $32.29 |
| Lords of Waterdeep | $35.07 |
| Men at Work | $32.29 |
| Star Wars: Outer Rim | $50.99 |
| Aeon’s End: The New Age or Outcasts (Generic Stand-in) | $40.80 |
| Horizons of Spirit Island | $19.52 |
| AuZtralia | $44.17 |
| Millennium Blades | $54.40 |
| (Print and Play supplies to make my own copy of 1862) | $16.28 |
| — | — |
| TOTAL | $500 |
Certainly, forced through retail channels, I would get more game-variety, but less deep-diveable content on any specific game.
What about you? What would you do?
