I think I already know the answer to this question, but where/how do people get upgrade cards not in expansion sets they already own? I'm an imperial player and only have imperial expansions, but I'm getting to a point where I want cards like auto thrusters and engine upgrade but don't want to have to buy expansions that are otherwise irrelevant.

I'm assuming it is either suck it up and buy them, make them yourself or try and buy them separately at what is normally high prices.

What do you guys do?

You got the answer.

Most of us buy more than one faction so it's not a big deal. Otherwise you can try and buy them off eBay or something.

If you're playing for fun and the people you're playing with don't mind, make your own proxy what you don't have. That won't be an issue for most people unless you're playing in a tournament.

The game is designed at the basis "player collects two factions"
most upgrades are duplicted, and you will have them if you collect any two factions.

By far the only faction-specific things that come to mind are Tactician, Crackshot, Autothruster, Mangler, Sensor Jammer and maybe Corner net(?)

might be more, these are just ones I use frequently and as such remember.

Sometimes, you can split an expansion with some friend(s). A fellow player at my club bought the A-Wing, I bought it for a discount from him, but without Push the Limit.

I think it is legal to make a few copies of cards, for personal use.

Yeah, I figured as much. Wondered if there was another source but guessing not. This is going to get even more expensive than it already is......but it's so addictive ......

I think this is a query that many players face. Some of us buy every release (sometimes multiples). Others' interest extends only so far as to want the ships they like. For our noble OP it's Imperial ships, for me it's Original Trilogy only.

Ebay is a good source, but for the popular cards like Autothrusters you'll pay an arm and a leg. An option may be to purchase the ships (with desirable upgrades) and then re-sell the ships themselves. It would be a little more work but may prove more cost effective in the long run.

Edit - ninja'd by Lingula.

Yeah, there is that... as I want 4 StarVipers but only need at most 4 of the AutoThrusters (and there are two in each ship), I would be willing to work with someone on a deal like that. The biggest problem here, is that they are practically sold out just like the Most Wanted. Whenever the SS Nebulous comes in, we might get to have some more... and by then I'm probably just going to buy them anyway. Very lucky are the guys with a local scene where deals like that can be done! Though, in time, I aim to have that right where I am too!

This is going to get even more expensive than it already is......but it's so addictive ......

It is...

As I said proxy anything you don't want to buy at first and for as long as people you play with are ok with it. Then buy what you want. A number of packs come with more than one copy of a card so it's not so bad. For example the Starviper has 2 autothrusters.

Also you may find that flying the ships with those upgrades is something you like doing from time to time.

You're paying for the upgrade cards and the ship is a neat bonus. FFG has engineered the game this way

Do you have a printer?