Hello,
I wanted to start off by saying I'm a huge fan of the game. Being a huge fan means I also allow myself to have a huge collection. Over time, i've seen a trend with the game- I actually have thrown away almost as much of the purchased product as I have kept.
This raises some problems for me, mainly from a moral standing. But it also throws me off from a financial perspective. Waste is waste, and even if its FFG wasting their money and not me, it leaves me with an icky feeling.
Everytime I buy an x-wing expansion, I end up with a pile of plastic and cardboard I need to dispose of. Maybe there is no solution, and packaging is just part of consumerism, but I feel like FFG could be saving money, the consumer could potentially be saving money, and the world could benefit from less trash for the landfills.
I don't have much of a suggestion on how to fix this problem. I can only state that, as a consumer, if I had the option to purchase Wave 7 or the Raider without a box, plastic, and cardboard inserts I would. Some collectors like the box and keep them, but I don't.
I know its a bit of a logistical problem. If FFG offered a greener option, and I ordered an Imperial Raider without it's bulky packaging, FFG would spend about as much material in a generic postage parcel box to ship it to me. However, for Wave 7, if I bought 1 of each ship (or multiples of all ships) it would cut back a significant amount of packaging (and in my case, trash) if all the products were shipped in a single box. As a consumer, I would opt for this purchasing method, even if the price was the same as buying those same ships with their packaging. I'd rather give FFG my money and not produce waste in the process if I could have it either way.
I can't think i'm the only person who feels this way, and it seems like FFG could make a profit if they had some sort of eco friendly options.