Honestly if you are planning on purchasing 1 of every expansion and are interested in competitive play enough to want to purchase extra cards to run certain lists then I think a better starting point is which ships you want multiple copies of. Multiple copies of an individual ship could be far more impactful to list building (or just plain fun) than extra cards.

Chances are that by the time you have purchased multiple copies of ships that you want anyway that those card gaps will be filled in much more anyway.

You know, you can always just proxy all the cards you want, as long as you don't go to tournaments. Most players are pretty laid back. If you like experimenting with different cards, it's the best way. That way, if you find something you like and you are heading towards a tournament, you can then buy the cards you want. No use spending money on something that turns out not to be worth it.

You know, you can always just proxy all the cards you want, as long as you don't go to tournaments. Most players are pretty laid back. If you like experimenting with different cards, it's the best way. That way, if you find something you like and you are heading towards a tournament, you can then buy the cards you want. No use spending money on something that turns out not to be worth it.

I'm personally just not into proxying. If I can support FFG and a game I like through my purchasing stupidity then so be it.

I will be glad if no other expansion includes any more TIE Fighters...

I find your lack of faith disturbing. TIE fighters are awesome. More is always better. The TIE FO Special Forces is coming....

And FOs? They are imo useless without Juke and Comm Relay anyway, which means you get 3 TIE/FO and can only use Omega Leader once and nothing else, because FOs from the core set are overpriced and unter equipped garbage which only useful purpose is to be used either as proxies for good TIE-Fighters (TIE/LN) or with at least with a proxy Omega Leader in cases people did not bother to actually buy the decent TIE/fo expansion.

TIE/FOs are great. They are TIE Fighters +1. They get a shield, S-Loops and green 2-turns. The loops and green turns make them much more maneuverable than the standard TIEs.

Omega Leader is getting all the attention now because he's great in the end game in the ace meta we have now. Zeta Leader with Wired is potent, but he works with Juke and CR too. Omega Ace is pretty slick with PTL.

I'm planning on buying every expansion.

That's a loooooooot of money right off the bat. Ebay's also going to give you terrible prices.

What sort of tournaments are you planning on going to? And if you're not, you don't need redundant copies of every card.

I didn't say right of the bat. I plan on buying 2-3 expansions a month. I also won't be buying the expansions off eBay, was just talking about individual cards. Haven't seen another place in the UK to buy individual cards, but maybe there is. That being said, my family lives in the US and it might make sense for them to buy cards/expansions there and mail them to me. They are light in general, so it's probably worth it. Haven't really looked into it.

You're crazy to discount ebay so quickly. Starting with buying a $200 collection with a retail value of $300-$400 can save you a ton of money right off the bat.

I would actually start by finding a $200 or less collection that has quite a few complete ship expansions and buy that to start. I just open up a second internet window to my online retailer and "shop for" all the ships from the ebay collection to see how high my bid can go and still be cheaper than ordering it online. When the collection shows up from ebay, I "check it in" to make sure all the expansions are truly complete. Putting each ship it all in a zip-loc bag as you go helps. If it isn't as complete as advertised, offer the seller a chance to fix it or I'll return it. They usually knock some money off (last collection I got $90 of the $300 refunded because their Tantive had a broken cannon and was missing a bunch of tokens ). I ended up getting the collection for about 40% or retail and got $150 in Battlefoam bags that I didn't even count towards the total. I've only had one "all ships complete" collection not truly be complete out of the 6 collections I've bought.

I have a TON of extras because I bought a few more collections than I should have (when I find a collection going for under 50% of retail I can hardly stop myself) but I've invested way less than alot of people for a huge fleet.

P.S. Anyone want the Tantive IV with one of it's dual lasers broken? Base, ship token, pilot cards, damage deck, dial, and huge ship upgrade cards included...

The issue I have with eBay is lack of trust with the seller. Like the experience you've had. Also, I like shiny new things.

I'm leery buying things from average joes on ebay, but I've ordered some upgrade cards from the professional sellers without issue.

I have been collecting for about 18mo's now doing as you intend, trying to get one of everything. No, I don't run spam lists other than a TIE swarm. I have lots of options (some limitations - no crack swarm or more than 2x auto thrusters). I only recently started attending more store kits & championships etc and have had a lot of fun and done well at times. (Best was 2nd at a 30+player store championship).

Plus then you have plenty for casual/fun play with friends & family.

As to your original question... I have purchased no cards or extra's online, but picking up the occasional alternate art card from a store kit is fun.

The only upgrades I really wanted off eBay were maybe Tractor Beams and Integrated Astromech. But the only IA I saw online was retailing for $9 plus $2.50 shipping. I could get a full T-70 expansion for that price. Tractor Beams were similar, and will be available soon enough via Imperial Veterans.

I have been collecting for about 18mo's now doing as you intend, trying to get one of everything. No, I don't run spam lists other than a TIE swarm. I have lots of options (some limitations - no crack swarm or more than 2x auto thrusters). I only recently started attending more store kits & championships etc and have had a lot of fun and done well at times. (Best was 2nd at a 30+player store championship).

Plus then you have plenty for casual/fun play with friends & family.

Yes, that's important to me. I will probably have to be supplying everything for my opponents (typically my family) most of the time when playing casually. So can't focus on one faction or anything like that.

If you're already planning on buying at least one copy of each expansion, I wouldn't recommend buying singles of anything. In the rare times it constrains your list-building, think of it as a challenge to your creativity.

I wouldn't buy singles until you come up with a specific list you want to fly that needs them.

The issue I have with eBay is lack of trust with the seller. Like the experience you've had. Also, I like shiny new things.

As an ebay seller for over 15 years, I will tell you, the buyer has all the power. If you by something and it isn't as advertised (i.e. if it says complete, it better be) just contest it and ebay will get your money back. Most of the time, everything works out fine.