The Fantasy Trip

[Chris Rice]

Originally Posted by JLV

Have you priced it lately? If YOU have that kind of money, that's great, but I don't. Besides, as we've already noted, I prefer maps and counters to miniatures.

Yes I keep an eye on prices. The base set, Rise of the Valkyrie, goes for about £25-£30 in U.K. I'd imagine it would be cheaper in the US as there's a lot more of it about. The expansions can get pricey, very pricey, but one base set is more than enough for TFT/Melee and at that sort of price is tremendous value.

[JLV]

Originally Posted by Chris Rice

Yes I keep an eye on prices. The base set, Rise of the Valkyrie, goes for about £25-£30 in U.K. I'd imagine it would be cheaper in the US as there's a lot more of it about. The expansions can get pricey, very pricey, but one base set is more than enough for TFT/Melee and at that sort of price is tremendous value.

Well, let me tell ya -- it ain't cheaper in the US -- runs about $21 for 21 water hexes (a dollar a hex), and it runs $19.27 for a SINGLE hex of unusual terrain (a tree of some kind). A simple Melee-style arena map runs about 106 hexes or about $106.00 excluding shipping, assuming all the basic terrain is about the same price, and if I want to put in different heights or other obstacles, the price goes up accordingly. Meanwhile, I can buy hardcopy Cardboard Heroes dungeon tiles and cavern tiles from Amazon or Wayne's Books or Nobleknight for roughly $35 each and get a heck of a lot more terrain for the money -- and they're out of print. If SJG brings them back INTO print, I imagine the price won't be too different, and might even go down (or the quality will go up). But any way you look at it, Heroscape is way outside my personal expense range. Plus, I don't have the time, the money, or the inclination to deal with miniatures.

[Chris Rice]

Originally Posted by JLV

Well, let me tell ya -- it ain't cheaper in the US -- runs about $21 for 21 water hexes (a dollar a hex), and it runs $19.27 for a SINGLE hex of unusual terrain (a tree of some kind). A simple Melee-style arena map runs about 106 hexes or about $106.00 excluding shipping, assuming all the basic terrain is about the same price, and if I want to put in different heights or other obstacles, the price goes up accordingly. Meanwhile, I can buy hardcopy Cardboard Heroes dungeon tiles and cavern tiles from Amazon or Wayne's Books or Nobleknight for roughly $35 each and get a heck of a lot more terrain for the money -- and they're out of print. If SJG brings them back INTO print, I imagine the price won't be too different, and might even go down (or the quality will go up). But any way you look at it, Heroscape is way outside my personal expense range. Plus, I don't have the time, the money, or the inclination to deal with miniatures.

The prices for Master sets on eBay are highly variable depending on how many are for sale at any one time. I've been collecting the stuff for a few years now so have a very good idea of prices over time and if you keep watching and are patient you can pick up a bargain. The base set contains loads of tiles (over 350 hexes worth) and includes the 21 water hexes you mention, so no one is paying $1 per water hex unless it's those collectible "sparkly water" hexes from the early editions. If it's not your thing then fine, but it's certainly not lavishly expensive for a base set even if you pay $50 for one.

[JLV]

Originally Posted by Chris Rice

The prices for Master sets on eBay are highly variable depending on how many are for sale at any one time. I've been collecting the stuff for a few years now so have a very good idea of prices over time and if you keep watching and are patient you can pick up a bargain. The base set contains loads of tiles (over 350 hexes worth) and includes the 21 water hexes you mention, so no one is paying $1 per water hex unless it's those collectible "sparkly water" hexes from the early editions. If it's not your thing then fine, but it's certainly not lavishly expensive for a base set even if you pay $50 for one.

1) I never use eBay -- they demand too much personal information from me;

2) I simply quoted the prices on Heroscape's website to you, so no possibility of me misreading the prices exists.

3) The only price I see quoted for Rise of the Valkyrie is $159.95;

4) The cheapest "terrain expansion set" I see on their web store is $49.95 for Fortress of the Archkyrie; everything else runs $54.95 and up -- again, excluding shipping costs;

5) I can get "tundra" hexes cheap (not "ice," though), and I DO see a basic terrain starter kit for *only* $74.95, which has grass, sand, rock, and water hexes -- 359 of them. the 80-hex "dungeon terrain" lot costs $32.95, however.

As previously pointed out, I can get both cavern and dungeon terrain sets for Cardboard Heroes for about $35 each and I get 107 assorted full color rooms and corridors, plus 124 assorted pits, doors, walls, shafts and other "subterranean architectural paraphernalia" for several hundred hexes worth for just the Dungeon Floors set alone; the Cavern Floors set gives me 83 full color rooms and corridors and 70 assorted skeletons, pits, treasures and monsters as well -- again for several hundred hexes worth of material -- and the Cavern Floors set is back-printed with squares instead of hexes for those who prefer them. They even have "transition" terrain so you can go from cavern to dungeon and vice versa. In short, I can do a lot more with a lot less money with something like them. And if SJG is willing to do something with outdoor terrain features for their basic maps, they'd have the basic terrain starter kit covered nicely too.

[Chris Rice]

Originally Posted by JLV

1) I never use eBay -- they demand too much personal information from me;

2) I simply quoted the prices on Heroscape's website to you, so no possibility of me misreading the prices exists.

3) The only price I see quoted for Rise of the Valkyrie is $159.95;

4) The cheapest "terrain expansion set" I see on their web store is $49.95 for Fortress of the Archkyrie; everything else runs $54.95 and up -- again, excluding shipping costs;

5) I can get "tundra" hexes cheap (not "ice," though), and I DO see a basic terrain starter kit for *only* $74.95, which has grass, sand, rock, and water hexes -- 359 of them. the 80-hex "dungeon terrain" lot costs $32.95, however.

As previously pointed out, I can get both cavern and dungeon terrain sets for Cardboard Heroes for about $35 each and I get 107 assorted full color rooms and corridors, plus 124 assorted pits, doors, walls, shafts and other "subterranean architectural paraphernalia" for several hundred hexes worth for just the Dungeon Floors set alone; the Cavern Floors set gives me 83 full color rooms and corridors and 70 assorted skeletons, pits, treasures and monsters as well -- again for several hundred hexes worth of material -- and the Cavern Floors set is back-printed with squares instead of hexes for those who prefer them. They even have "transition" terrain so you can go from cavern to dungeon and vice versa. In short, I can do a lot more with a lot less money with something like them. And if SJG is willing to do something with outdoor terrain features for their basic maps, they'd have the basic terrain starter kit covered nicely too.

Well, ebay is the place to pick it up unless you're lucky at yard sales etc; but like I said, if it's not your thing it's not your thing. 😜

[JLV]

Originally Posted by Chris Rice

Well, ebay is the place to pick it up unless you're lucky at yard sales etc; but like I said, if it's not your thing it's not your thing. ��

Plus, it just seems like the base prices over here in the states are higher than they are in the UK for some reason. You said 35 UKP for a copy of Rise of the Valkyrie, whereas, over here the going price seems to be roughly double that (though the one I'm quoting DOES have the "sparkly water" hexes instead of just plain blue -- and seems to be the only version for sale on the web site...).

But hey, it's cool that you have them and have been collecting them for a while! I seriously considered doing the same thing when I first ran across David O. Miller's web site showing what he'd done with Heroscape and Melee, but even then (several years ago now) the prices for even basic Heroscape terrain were way outside my supportable price range, so I started looking for alternatives. There is a lot of "printable" terrain surfaces available from OneBookShelf's various sites these days, but alas, most of it is in squares, not hexes, which renders it far less useful to me. Still, it seems to be more and more popular as time goes on...

[Chris Rice]

Originally Posted by JLV

Plus, it just seems like the base prices over here in the states are higher than they are in the UK for some reason. You said 35 UKP for a copy of Rise of the Valkyrie, whereas, over here the going price seems to be roughly double that (though the one I'm quoting DOES have the "sparkly water" hexes instead of just plain blue -- and seems to be the only version for sale on the web site...).

But hey, it's cool that you have them and have been collecting them for a while! I seriously considered doing the same thing when I first ran across David O. Miller's web site showing what he'd done with Heroscape and Melee, but even then (several years ago now) the prices for even basic Heroscape terrain were way outside my supportable price range, so I started looking for alternatives. There is a lot of "printable" terrain surfaces available from OneBookShelf's various sites these days, but alas, most of it is in squares, not hexes, which renders it far less useful to me. Still, it seems to be more and more popular as time goes on...

Well in any case, Steve has mentioned the new Melee edition will have loads of minis so I guess it will have some sort of funky map or hex tiles to go with them, so there won't be a need for outside stuff. It will be interesting to see.

[JLV]

Originally Posted by Chris Rice

Well in any case, Steve has mentioned the new Melee edition will have loads of minis so I guess it will have some sort of funky map or hex tiles to go with them, so there won't be a need for outside stuff. It will be interesting to see.

Totally agree. Though I hope the minis will be usable with things like Heroscape for the folks that already have lots of them! (Personally, I'm hoping he does give those of us so inclined the opportunity to go with cardboard heroes, or even just plain counters too, though! ;-) )

[Rick_Smith]

Originally Posted by JLV

... (Personally, I'm hoping he does give those of us so inclined the opportunity to go with cardboard heroes, or even just plain counters too, though! ;-) )

Hi JLV, everyone.
As far as my preferences go, I would rather NOT have miniatures. Flat counters are fine for me, I would rather the money is put into more rules, etc.

My feeling is, that if you are into miniatures there are tens of thousands of them out there and you can buy what ever you want. If New TFT has miniatures, they will likely include a few generic heroes - do people who collect miniatures need more of those?

If you do include miniatures make them the standard 25-28 mm size, not the tiny 15 mm ones from before.

Warm regards, Rick.

[JLV]

Originally Posted by Rick_Smith

Hi JLV, everyone.
As far as my preferences go, I would rather NOT have miniatures. Flat counters are fine for me, I would rather the money is put into more rules, etc.

My feeling is, that if you are into miniatures there are tens of thousands of them out there and you can buy what ever you want. If New TFT has miniatures, they will likely include a few generic heroes - do people who collect miniatures need more of those?

If you do include miniatures make them the standard 25-28 mm size, not the tiny 15 mm ones from before.

Warm regards, Rick.

You're certainly preaching to the choir on this subject in my personal case...