Just to add to my thoughts, I have confirmed with others that have the CE that their playmats are exactly the same as mine and this is how they are meant to look. FFG were clearly going for an old faded map look which is totally fair enough. I admit that I was perhaps expecting a little too much but I definitely stand by my opinion that the playmat is actually pretty meh.

If anyone has a different playmat or alt art hero they want to trade for the CE playmat I am certainly interested!!

That's pretty disappointing, given the price.

10 hours ago, PsychoRocka said:

Finally I just want to talk about the large box itself. It was extremely wishful thinking but I was hoping the broken token insert for the original core box would maybe fit in the new Collectors Edition box but that certainly does not seem to be the case. The way the box has been made with the flaps on the inside and the handle and whatnot is honestly not that great for storage in my opinion. I will need to investigate further but at this point I honestly see myself simply throwing the box away as it just doesn't seem great for storage and is really not as special or nice as I was hoping either. For reference I have kept every deluxe box as they are just beautiful and such great quality (and texture!) and I do not even use them for storage just for display.
The two player starter box on the other hand is really nice, the Gandalf/Glamdring imagery on the front is great and it has that same rough texture as the deluxe boxes, this is a keeper for sure.

Yeah, I'm really hoping to use that big box for storage, I just don't know what to put in it!

On 8/29/2018 at 3:19 PM, CaffeineAddict said:

Looks like my copy is being held at customs. I think an expensive purchase is about to get even more so... ?

For some reason I got a £33 customs charge for this (and still don't actually have it)! On top of the high shipping cost, this becomes a ridiculously expensive purchase. My advice to anyone from the UK thinking about buying this: Don't, unless you have money to waste!

You pay custom from the price of the product + shipping, so the custom is pain for 150€ so the expensive posting Also increases customs... Yep definitely for those who can bury money or really want to have this... so I am sure that this was unwise to me, but those cards Are good looking and well you can spent money to worse things

37 minutes ago, Hannibal_pjv said:

You pay custom from the price of the product + shipping, so the custom is pain for 150€ so the expensive posting Also increases customs... Yep definitely for those who can bury money or really want to have this... so I am sure that this was unwise to me, but those cards Are good looking and well you can spent money to worse things

Weirdly, I've ordered several items direct from FFG, and this is the first one I've had a customs charge on.

Large box is perfect for playmats! 7 comfortably fit rolled up in it and 2 more folded in half. ?

Aha! I may also carry rulebooks and, tokens, and threat trackers in there.

I love the smaller threat dials, they fit nicely in a card box. I also really agree about the encounter cards benefit from being zoomed in. (The player cards: not so much.)

The online game... It's ok. If you enjoy the online pathfinder card game, this feels similar to me.

The art cards: Not a fan of the pictures; If the had alt-art Celeborn, Gorfindel, would have been better.

The play mat: similar to, but not as nice as, last year's fellowship.

Overall: it's ok. At $100 USD a good deal, at £ 180 GBP, not so much.

I didn't see anyone mention it, how many copies of Unexpected Courage is in this box?

Two copies of Unexpected Courage.

4 minutes ago, dalestephenson said:

Two copies of Unexpected Courage.

Interesting. Now I'm kinda tempted to pick up the Limited Edition starter set. Thanks for the info.

Finally received my copy this evening. First impression is that it looks good, and the playmate is nicer than I was expecting (but then I didn't have any of the other mats to judge by).

Placement of hit points and threat on the new design is confusing, though. Seems like sphere should be on the right, with threat and hit points above and below the stats.

Yeah, I did a double-take at some enemies' thirty+ health!

On 8/30/2018 at 8:58 AM, Wandalf the Gizzard said:

Yeah, I'm really hoping to use that big box for storage, I just don't know what to put in it!

I think I'm going to use mine for all of the paperwork... rules, FAQ... I may put all of the folded rules sheets into a thin binder, which could then go in this box.

Its thin size makes it hard to use for much, honestly.

I may kit mine out to put tokens, etc. in, but I'm not sure it'd be worth the time and effort.

It's definitely a missed opportunity that it wasn't slightly deeper so it could fit cards in it.

Is this pre-order only direct from FFG or is it going to game stores as well?

As far as we know, only FFG. That's why many people didn't buy in, shipping can be outrageous.