How many army builders do you have? A/K/A How bad is your sickness?

[Droid]

Maybe there has already been a thread that has done this before:

I went through a time period where I was buying way too many figures. I have slacked off and sold SOME of my collection. I am amazed that I don't even have 10 of the Geonosian Warriors or the Clonetroopers (though the number I do have would increase if I could find more super-articulated clones!)

Anyway, I was wondering how many army builders some of you have. I am sure that I pale in comparison to some of you, but I thought I would get the ball rolling. Feel free to post any pictures of battle scenes or Emperor's arrival scenes you might have set up.

I have 67 Stormtroopers of various releases.
I have 49 Jawas of various releases.
I have 47 Sandtroopers of various releases.
I have 40 Battle Droids of various releases.
I have 23 Rebel Fleet Troopers of various releases.
I have 23 Endor Rebel Soldiers of various releases.
I have 19 Hoth Rebel Soldiers of various releases.
I have 14 Naboo Guards (7 Red, 7 Yellow).
I have 13 Snowtroopers of varoius releases.
I have 12 Weequays.
I have 11 Scout Troopers of various releases.
I have 11 Gamorrean Guards (first carded, no OTC).

The most I have of any one carded figure:

56 original carded Stormtrooper
35 first carded Sandtrooper
27 first carded battled droids (combination of the four variations)
20 first carded Endor Rebel soldier
20 first carded Rebel Fleet Trooper
16 first carded Jawa 2-pack

I admit that I bought many figures when Toys "R" us was selling them for $2 a pop, but no matter how cheap they are, at some point enough is enough. After all, I have to store the things. My buying slacked off by the time Episode II came out.

What about everyone else?

[B'Omarr Monkey]

Are all those still carded? I'm not sure I understand the point in army building if you're not opening them up for display, or dioramas.

I only have a handful of stormtroopers, rebel fleet troopers (potf2), a couple sandtroopers, snowtroopers, destroyer droids and Naboo Guards (the ones who look like they drive a taxi). All of those were bought on clearance.

I've pretty much avoided army building as there are so many things i want that I'd rather just have one representative figure of each sculpt, and spend my money on something I don't have yet. So, you could increase my numbers in some areas. I have a bunch of battle droids too, but that is simply the accumulation of different releases (the 4 initial paint variations, the one that can be cut in half, the 2 from the deluxe Mace Windu's etc. )

if I ever decide to do something (a diorama, a stop motion version of ANH), I'll hit ebay and pick up what I need, but at this point, it's just one or two of each for me.

[Droid]

Yes, I open all of my figures. I agree, why build an army if you aren't an opener.

I originally intended to do many, many dioramas, all set up at once (much like Tycho is doing if you've seen his thread where he posts pictures of his collection). I now just want to set up one scene at a time, so I don't need as many figures as I bought.

I will probably never buy more than ten of a figure ever again, perhaps whatever the soldier is in Episode III (no spoilers please) and I would buy ten of the articulated clonetrooper.

[X13VADER]

well where to begin i'll start with the empire
50 old stromtroopers
50 new stormtroopers
48 4-pack stormtroopers
5 tru stormtroopers
10 crowd control stormtroopers
50 sandtroopers of different ranks
50 snowtroopers of different kinds
30 royal guards
30 bikerscouts
30 deathstar gunners
30 deathstar troopers
21 at-at drivers
27 at-st drivers
5 imperial sententials
10 death star droids
5 r2-q5
20 r4-m9
5 r4-i9
3 imperial troopers
28 old imperial commanders
10 new imperial commanders
14 death squad commanders
10 at-st commanders
50 tie fighter pilots
i think thats it for now thanks

[Kidhuman]

I just recently started Army Building. Giving the sporatic pop up of figures, I need something to do to get my fix. I keep them carded for now, but do plan on setting up some scenes in the future. I dont want to lose the pieces, so I keep them carded.

I have about 20 stormies various releases
5 Biker scouts
3 Tie Pilots
20 Various clones(2 of them SA)


Its a small army, but it will do the job for now. New recruits will follow.

[Knightfall]

I just started army building, as up until fairly recently I had this weird complex about not being able to tell my figures apart. Now I just don't care. I've got...

13 Stormtroopers (3 POTF, 5 Commtech, 5 OTC)
5 Clone Troopers
5 Battle Droids (although I'll probably trade or sell these)
3 Emperor's Royal Guards
2 TIE Fighter Pilots
1 representative each of various other groups of soldiers

My army sure looks pitiful compared to everyone else's, but that's expected with my shortage of space/income. I've decided I'll be done with Stormies when I hit 25 (Troopers, not years of age), and I'll probably do about 6 to 10 of the other types of troops.

[Hellboy]

Here is my list. These #'s don't include my MOC collection, all are loose and most are part of dioramas.

PT Clones/Republic Forces:
- 46 Clone Troopers- White
- 06 Clone Troopers- Red
- 09 Clone Troopers- Yellow
- 06 Clone Troopers- Blue
- 05 Clone Troopers- Green
- 05 Clone Pilots
- 09 ARC Troopers- Blue
- 02 ARC Troopers- Red
- 02 Naboo Royal Guard
- 03 Naboo Royal Security
- 04 Gungan Warriors
- 02 Coruscant Guards

PT Separatist Forces:
- 65 Battle Droids
- 13 Super Battle Droids
- 06 Destroyer Droids
- 22 Geonosian Warriors

OT Imperial Forces:
- 46 Stormtroopers
- 10 Imperial Gunners
- 05 Death Star Troopers
- 20 TIE Pilots
- 17 Imperial Officers
- 06 AT-ST Drivers
- 04 AT-AT Drivers
- 03 Death Star Droids
- 05 Black Astromech Droids
- 12 Snowtroopers
- 09 Scout Troopers
- 12 Sandtroopers
- 10 Royal Guards

OT Rebels Forces:
- 07 Fleet Troopers
- 09 Endor Soldiers
- 06 Hoth Soldiers
- 08 Ewoks

Other:
- 05 Cloud Car Pilots
- 03 Bespin Guards
- 07 Tusken Raiders
- 12 Jawas
- 05 Concept Stormtroopers
- 04 Gamorrean Guards

Total= 430 army builder figures

[Tycho]

PT Clones/Republic Forces:
- 40 Super Articulated Clone Troopers
- 35 Sneak Preview Clone Troopers
- 20+ Clone Troopers- White (3-pack)
- 15 Clone Troopers- Red (carded style, but they're loose now)
- 6 Clone Troopers- Yellow (2 and 3 pack style).
- 6 Clone Troopers- Blue (2 and 3 pack style).
- 4 Clone Troopers- Green
- 20 Clone Pilots
- 5 ARC Troopers- Blue
- 2 ARC Troopers- Red
- 35 Naboo Royal Guard
- 45 Naboo Royal Security
- 32 Gungan Warriors
- 12 Coruscant Guards

PT Separatist Forces:
- 100+ Battle Droids
- 50 (about) Super Battle Droids
- 30 (about) Destroyer Droids
- 20 (about) Geonosian Warriors
- 3-4 flying Geonosian Warriors

OT Imperial Forces:
- 75 or more Stormtroopers
- 6 Imperial Gunners
- 25 Death Star Troopers
- 15 TIE Pilots
- 10 Imperial Officers
- 6 AT-ST Drivers
- 2 AT-AT Drivers
- 3 Death Star Droids
- 2 Black Astromech Droids
- 20 Snowtroopers
- 1 Scout Troopers
- 7 Scout Troopers on speederbikes
- 14 Sandtroopers
- 16 Royal Guards

OT Rebels Forces:
- 20 Fleet Troopers
- 14 Endor Soldiers
- 30 Hoth Soldiers
- 30 Ewoks (using combos)

Other:
- 1 Cloud Car Pilots (need 7 more!)
- 5 Bespin Guards
- 15 Tusken Raiders
- 20+ Jawas
15 + Gamorrean Guards

These are approximates. I don't have time to go and count them all. Some of my dioramas are on display in the Customs-Dioramas section. (mostly my Classic scenes for large scale ones).

Check them out.

It appears to be 787 army builders of these types comprise part of my collection.

It will be surely about 1000 figures by the time I'm done with dioramas of Episode 3.

So I've got about $4,000 invested in my troops, with that amount expected to rise.

All in all, I figure I've spent around $30,000 on my collection.

If I am able to give $60,000 to charity and volunteer services over the course of my lifetime, I could feel like I could justify this.

[Slicker]

One question Tycho. How do you manage to find all of these figures? Even the real common figures I would have trouble finding 40 of them but you managed to find what was it I think 40 SA Clones, one of the toughest figures to find of recent. I have to go shopping with you.

[Tycho]

1) Make a list. In the Episode 3 Spoiler section, I wrote down every scene from the tentative movie storyboards that I wish to create, and what elements (figures, ships, etc) I'll need in them. For instance I'll need 30 Obi-Wan Kenobi figures to storyboard the movie.

2) Read the Just Found USA forums, and forums on other sites.

Go shopping only as stuff you want is being found in store reports.

3) Wake up at 6am (or earlier if you must go to work or school soon),and get ready for your day (or not, if you can return home after shopping).

Drive to Wal-Mart at 6:30am or however early you need to leave to get there by 6:45. Get out of your car and stand next to the door until they open it.

Other people will be there. They are usually scum.

4) When the doors open, go immediately to Star Wars and pick up everything you see that is on your list. Share if anyone else is in the SW section, but if they are at HotWheels, hurry and get everything you need, as they'll be coming to see what's in SW next.

Once you have your purchase, leave immediately and check out. If no one was at SW before, DO NOT show them what you bought and how much of what. Don't encourage the scalpers. If they were dedicated to SW, they'd have been in that section first.

If they don't have anything, proceed immediately to the next Wal-Mart that is already open, or go get breakfast immediately, so that you'll be on time for Target.

5) Go to Target no later than 7:45 am (or another Wal-Mart or K-Mart if internet reports say they are getting things). Wait at the door until it opens.

Repeat Step 4 above.


6) In Christmas season, when SA Clones were shipping and lots of stuff was rolling in every night, return to the store at 9:45pm up until 11:45pm for Wal-Marts closing at midnite. See if they are stocking. If not, read the cases on the pallets and ask employees to open them or stock them. If they refuse, politely explain why you wanted them, that you'll return in the morning (these overnight workers will still be there if you come in just as the store opens), and why you collect SW, what you like about it, if they like it, what your think will be exciting and positive about SW's future. Make a friend.

Repeat Steps 3, 4, 5 and 6 daily until you have everything you need.

Then

7) catch up on your sleep.


In big city stores, less likely in rural areas, this strategy will work within 2 weeks tops of trying, while stuff is shipping.

Heck, Unleashed Aayla Secura, all the VOTC can be found, all the Galactic Heroes including Chewie and C-3PO can be found. Etc. Etc.


In non-holiday season, you do not need to take Step 6, especially if it is not a big time for the toy season (summer, easter, back-to-school, X-mas).

Remember that January, all the stuff that shipped LATE for X-mas will be arriving in the early part of the month, before the Dead Time.



At Step 3, Wake up at 5 am if you must be at work by 8 or 9 am and don't have time to go home and change and get ready for work afterwards. Remember, this ridiculous toy-run marathon will be over in less than a month, and you'll have everything provided your stores get them. You won't know how good your local store is unless you try this during heavy shipping time and learn if scum are buying all your product.

Do not miss breakfast (7:15 am after Wal-Mart shopping)- as a good breakfast is a healthy way to start your day!

If you do not want to do this, you will not get your figures before someone who does.

I don't know if my Wal-Mart got more than 63 Clone Troopers (I bought for my collecting team besides myself), but I know I got the first 60-something the store ever got, and my team picked up 30 more from other local Wal-Marts, so almost 100 made it out to San Diego, and we quit buying them after our lists were done and we all stayed at our homes and slept in versus shopping any more. But the point is, we had what we wanted.


Additionally, I have saved $600 of the $1000 I want for Episode 3 product for next year, and next month I'll add $300 more to the pile.

I will not screw around.

Darth Sidious said "Wipe them out. All of them."

I intend to obey my Master!

I'll see the rest of you WHINING around the forums

"I can't get up that early!"

"I can't do it for even (only) 2 or less weeks."

"School starts at 8 o'clock" - while Wal-Mart opens at 7

"There should be enough for everyone who wants some all day." - Maybe there will be after I'm done. But I'll share with you only if you're there. I'd (almost) rather be sleeping too.

Only folks with ridiculously hard commutes to work (and no Wal-Marts on the way) or some school activity that starts at 7am, or dependence on your parents to drive you, or those who are already at work for some reason, or those dependent on busses and trolleys for transportation, actually have an excuse.

Syou if you just want to sleep and you're going to complain about not getting figures here after admitting that.

I don't mean to be harsh, but I met all the guys I team up with for collecting at the stores while making this kind of effort. Instead of competing with each other, we made a pact to cover ALL the stores and get the quantity everyone needs. Cell phones are great as by 7:10 am I know what's shipped to 7 stores all across my county.

And if you snooze, you could lose.

I will not pay scalper prices and I won't even let any scalpers have ANY new figures (that me or my friends want) in this county. 3 Dealer Stores closed in San Diego. I hope I had a hand in helping that.