One of the most difficult decisions for a newcomer to the game of Star Wars Miniatures is deciding where to buy your minis and who has the best price, service, and overall value.

I'll try to shed a little light on the subject since all of those things are important to me as well. I'm going to break it down into different classes of purchasing to, hopefully, make it a little easier to absorb. How you intend to buy has a direct impact on where you'll probably want to buy it.

Let me just start off by saying that none of the places listed in this article have either asked me to mention them in this manner nor do they have pre-existing knowledge about this article at all. None of the listed retailers have given myself or this website any funds or merchandise in exchange for a plug here... this is all based on my personal experience only.

Click on any of the logos below to visit the distributors website.

If you plan to buy individual booster packs...

First, because they're local. And it is my opinion that, whenever possible, we should be supporting our local venues to the best of our ability.

Second, because the people who work there are really decent folks. Individual booster packs are usually going to cost you the same amount, no matter where you buy them (unless you're being ripped off, which happens). When a local shop like Super Games offers them for sale, they offer up their store for tournaments, and they spend their own money on things like prize support, it's in our best interest as players and collectors to keep them willing and able to do so.

And here's some insider info for you... Super Games has lowered the prices on all of their Star Wars Miniatures boosters to $11.99!! That's $3.00 cheaper than MSRP and the best price you'll find anywhere! They've also lowered their price on Huge Booster packs to $17.99 which you'll be hard pressed to beat anywhere!

One place that you should never, ever, ever, ever purchase booster packs from is eBay. While eBay does have it's place for a player/collector of miniatures, booster packs isn't it. More on that later.

If you plan to buy individual miniatures or miniatures by the case...

Again, a local distributor, and that goes a long way in my book. However, even if I lived in Alaska, I would purchase my individual miniatures from Andrew at Auggie's in Lawrenceville. Not only are his prices extremely tough to beat, he makes the extra effort to provide fantastic customer service. And, since you happen to be local, don't be surprised if you order your miniatures on one day and receive them the next. I've never had an order take longer than two days to show up, and I have had them show up the very next day. Auggie's recently began selling miniatures by the case as well so, no matter how you plan to buy your miniatures, you can do so with confidence and support your local businesses in the process.

Andrew has a stellar reputation with the entire miniatures community as it is, and he didn't get that reputation by jerking his customers around. We're very lucky to have such a valuable resource available to us on a local level.

A (long) word on eBay...

Buying anything from eBay is a crap shoot. There are deals to be found, though, so it deserves a mention here. The deals on individual miniatures are few and far between but they do exist. I would recommend, strongly, that you check with Auggie's, above, before setting your maximum bid or jumping on that "Buy It Now" price (and don't forget to factor in those shipping charges!). It can be a bit daunting, especially for someone new to the miniatures scene, when trying to determine how much is too much when it comes to paying for individual miniatures. Some of the prices that people pay for individual miniatures are, shall we say, terribly inflated.

Since it's not always easy to know if you're paying too much for one of these things, and Auggie's doesn't always have every miniature in stock, you might have to look elsewhere for the going price for your desired miniature. There is a list of average prices on the Bloo Milk website (for Rare and Very Rare figures) that should give you a general idea of what you should expect to pay. Bear in mind, though, that those prices are based on average eBay prices. If enough suckers are willing to pay $60.00 for that Han Solo in Carbonite, that's the average price that you'll see reflected on that list (and it's probably a really good time to list your extra Hansicle on eBay!!).

You can sometimes get a really good price on cases from eBay. Sometimes. Often times, when you factor in the cost of shipping, you're lucky if you can beat the prices at Auggie's. That isn't always the case (no pun intended) but, like always, just be smart about it.

Where eBay really shines is when someone is selling large lots of miniatures or entire collections. Be wary, always, when bidding on a lot of miniatures. Getting 12 Sith Trooper Commanders for 10 bucks doesn't sound too bad until you realize that those same Sith Trooper Commanders can be had for about $0.25 each at Auggies (and what the hell where you going to do with 12 of them anyway?). That's not to say that you should avoid lots of miniatures altogether, just be smart about it before you spend your money.

Probably the best value for the money, when shopping for miniatures on eBay, is when you find someone selling their entire collection. I've had friends spend 300 bucks for a collection of miniatures and get, easily, a set of miniatures worth closer to 500 bucks. Again, be smart about it before spending your money, but entire collections can get you a large amount of valuable miniatures if you have the money available to spend.

When it comes to miniatures, one thing that I would never, ever, ever buy off of eBay is individual booster packs. There's good reason for this, which I'll try to explain. While there are some very legitimate eBay sellers out there who are offering up individual booster packs at a decent price, the opportunity to cheat the customer is very great. An unscrupulous retailer could easily open a booster, take out the expensive rare figure and replace it with the less desirable and less expensive "rare" figures, glue the booster pack shut, and sell it on eBay. They can then sell that expensive rare figure for 30 or more bucks, and make triple what they would have made, were they selling those boosters legitimately. I've even heard of instances where a booster pack "won" on eBay had no rare figure at all (in case you don't already know it, each standard booster pack should have 7 random figures, one of which is either a Rare or Very Rare figure). And that's just one way you can get screwed over by purchasing boosters on eBay. Bottom line: don't do it. You're not likely to save any money, and you're very likely to get screwed. In the end, you'll regret it, and you're better off spending your money locally anyway.

Well that's been my experience with purchasing miniatures. The only option I didn't mention was buying from or trading with other players in the area. But that's part of the reason for this website, to get all of us together. Once that happens, good trades or deals amongst friends are always going to come up.

If you have any questions or comments about this article, feel free to drop me a line at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

- Chuck