Attack Of The Miniature Clickies

Thanks to GamerDad for its 'Unplugged' column discussing the phenomenon of 'clickies', miniature collectible RPG figurines with stats included in the figure's base. The article argues of traditional tabletop wargaming: "With the high entrance cost in time and money, it is difficult to bring new people into the hobby. Younger gamers suffer from a lack of cash, while older gamers suffer from a lack of time." These easier, supposedly cheaper alternatives are then evaluated, including lines such as Mage Knight ("As the first 'clicky' game released, it has grown into the largest"), Heroclix ("a decent game with a great theme"), and Lord Of The Rings (praised "for its 'large, messy battle' feel.") But the article ends with a caveat: "My gut instinct is to warn any kid away from all collectible games. Children (and adults) are too easily sucked into a cycle of buying 'just one more' booster pack and hoping they find something great inside."

Comments

I was an addict......

[MacBrave]

In this case it was to M:TG from 1995-1999. I can't begin to tell you how much time and money I spent on this game. The term 'Cardboard Crack' is very appropriate.

For me first it was the collectable aspect; trying to get complete sets of card. I eventually acquired several. Then it got more into the playing and strategy, acquiring those cards that could complete that 'killer' deck or combo.

But around 1999-2000 my priorities started to change so I sold most of my 'good' cards but still have a huge box left sitting in the bottom of my close. The only rare card I've kept is a Shivan Dragon signed by the artist for somewhat sentimental reasons.....

I've seen my three oldest sons go through similiar 'addictions' with Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and others. The good thing is that my wife and I hold the purse strings for their purchases.

As for the 'clix' type of games; I've played the Battletech version a time or two. It is OK but I really prefer the old map-and-miniature version (another of my gaming addictions).

Re:I was an addict......

[Quikah]

I was into magic for a whileas well. Luckily though I got out at just the right time 95 or 96, around the time of the Dark expansion right before they started reissuing all the older cards. So I made a couple hundred bucks on the whole ordeal.

Most was from the appoximately 20 booster packs of Legends I bought at GenCon for MSRP (several months after they were gone from the stores). Each one had at least one card I sold for $5-$10, some had $20 ones. That was before ebay as well, I sold them on Usenet, that was a pain holding an auction on there.

Mechwarrior:Dark Age

[j0nb0y]

I play Mechwarrior pretty often. I do have a pretty large collection, but that's mostly because I buy a booster anytime I play the game at a game store (which for awhile, was often 2 - 3 times a weekend). I don't play quite as much anymore, but I still play 2 - 3 tournaments a month, plus a casual game with friends here and there.

I collect pieces solely based on playability. One of the problems plaguing all collectible games is that most figures introduced in expansions simply are not that competitive. I think much of that is just do to the nature of this type of game, but if some company can improve this somehow, I think I'd be pretty quick to hop on board. I'm sitting on a large number of not-very-good pieces that, quite frankly, no one wants.

All that being said, as a game, MW is a great one. It's much cheaper to play competitively than Magic: The Gathering (a typical competitive MtG deck costs $150 - $500). You'd be hard pressed to put together a competitive MW army which costs $150. The rules and pieces are fairly well balanced, and my friends and I continue to find new and interesting strategies. Competition is really what I enjoy about this game, which is why I'm heading to Origins for Nationals in June =]

Re:I found these to be valuable to me

[filth grinder]

My group does the same thing. The biggest problem is that miniatures don't really look like our characters, so we had to haggle and choose a "good enough" figure. Until we decided to import HeroClix in as well. While the bases are bigger, they are a good fit into the mix.

You should also give the real game a shot, it's not that bad. I played a few games when we first got the figures, and it was fun. If you already know d&d rules, you can pretty much play after skimming the booklet of the rules.

M:TG - those oldschool red and white boosters

[Jtheletter]

I remember back in the day, when only limited run boosters were packaged in the foil packs, and the Magic Revised Edition 15 card boosters came in red printed packs with a convenient white border at the top and bottom. Most book and gaming stores that carried them back then, at least around me, let kids pick out their own packs so they could get the "lucky" ones or whatever. That was perfect for the discerning kid like me who wanted a little more for his $3.95 than just a guaranteed number of uncommons and rares.
If you pulled down on the packaging you could force the top border of the cards under the white area near the seal and quite clearly read what the first three or four cards were. Usually whoever was at the counter didn't pay attenttion to what you were doing as long as your hands stayed in the box and didn't go near your pockets. In all I got 2 Shivan Dragons, a Force of Nature, and a couple Sera Angels using that little trick.
But to keep this post a bit more on-topic, I agree, these kinds of games are disgustingly addictive. Even after you have a considerable collection to trade and play from (I have 11 playable magic decks right now, none of them prebuilt decks) you can always seem to find just one more card that will tweek this or that deck's strategy that you just have to spend $5 or $10 or $25 to get it from some uber-dork in a dusty comicbook basement somewhere.