Does Army Building make me a bad person?

[jokabofe]

Does going out and buying up all the Army Building Clones that I can get my hands, even though I know they are hard to find and that I have friends (both local and online) that need them, make me a bad person?

Let's just say for the sake of argument that I have 20 AT-TE Tank Gunners - is that wrong?

Don't get me wrong - if I go to Target or Wal*Mart and find 20 Clone Commanders, I'm not going to buy them all. I might buy like 15 of them, but I will leave a few. However, if I find 4 or 5, I'll buy them all.

Am I no better than a scalper for doing this, even though they are all for me and I'm not going to turn around and sell them?

[CHEWIE]

No, you are not a bad person.  I try to do the same thing.  It's Hasbro's fault for not supplying enough army builders - people should blame them; not people like you and me.

 

[Famine]

I often ask myself this on the way to the register. Then I think "What about the poor guy who will wind up paying 20 bucks for these Clone Commanders?" I made sure I left some of those, but come tommorow and friday, the number 6 Clones are fair game.

Kevin

[Newman]

I have also asked myself this question many times. When I'm walking out of the toy aisle with my arms full of clones, I feel bad.  But most of the army builders I find usually re-surface before I get enough money to buy them all., so I figure everyone else gets a pretty fair chance.

[Pete_Fett]

The figures for ROTS are the first time I've really started to Army build several different types of figures. I built up a nice-size Battledroid/Destroyer Droid army with the EP1 releases, but that was it. I've bought of all of the white-mailer-box Army Builders that have been released. And I did get a case of the EE SA Clones. So for me army building means building small squads more than generating huge armies.

So far, for ROTS, I've been army building (numbers indicate how many of each I have open)
Clone #6 (6)
Clone Commander (3)
Clone Pilot (6)
Clone AT-TE Tank Gunner (4)
Battledroid (6)
Preview Wookie Warrior (4)
Target Exclusive SA Clone (4)

and I plan (as soon as I start to see more) getting multiples of
SA Clone #41
Wookie Warrior (dark and light versions if possible)

I want at least four of each of those open. Plus I plan on getting at least two Wookie Helicopters to open. Out of all of the battles in the movie - I hope to build up a "Battle Kashyyk (sp?)" type diorama with all of this stuff - throw in a couple of Spider Droids, I'm hoping they'll make a Tank Droid at some point and I'll be good to go.

So - anyway back to buying multiples....

I do feel guilty sometimes, like with the Target exclusive SA Clone - I feel bad when so many people here say they still haven't found it and I've got enough to make a little four clone squad to fight alongside a Commander Neyo figure (if they ever choose to make one).

I really didn't feel bad about getting the #6 clone or the preview Wookie Warrior - those were/are everywhere.

The new army builder wave - there is a case of that that's packed evenly 3 of each figure - I think they will be all over in a little while. I may even grab a second Nemoidian to open and two more Destroyer Droids to add to my sep forces.

Did I feel bad grabbing almost all of the Wave 5 Col 1 figures from the one case that was put out at my WalMart on Monday morning? Yes and no - Yes because there weren't any SA Clones left, but no because I went into the store at 7:45 AM - the store opened at 7 AM, there was plenty of time (IMHO) for an earlier bird to catch those worms. So when I'm being laid back and not knocking down the doors down right when the store opens and I STILL find stuff, then I just take it as a sign that I was MEANT to buy that stuff.

Army builders should never feel guilty. If you're buying all of the multiples to open and display how you want then great. If you're buying all of the figures to resell down the road, that however, isn't really okay in my opinion. Heck - even buying multiples of what is turning out to be a HTF figure so you can use it as trade-bait down the line is okay in my book too.

So I say buy what you want and as much as you want. Never scalp the stuff. Trading is cool. Picking up multiples to help you other buds out is even better.

[jokabofe]

So I say buy what you want and as much as you want. Never scalp the stuff. Trading is cool. Picking up multiples to help you other buds out is even better.

And that, believe it or not, is actually how I got most of my current Clone Army. I rarely, rarely ever find new stuff in stores, not sure why. I do go out and hit up some places early in the AM, but there are no stores that are right near me, so it's usually a 15 - 20 minute drive. And most mornings I can't swing that and get back in time for work (since I work retail, I have to be at work just when most of the stores are opening).

So far, this is what I've got:

Clone #6 (25)
Clone Commander (20)
Clone Pilot (15)
Clone AT-TE Tank Gunner (20)
Target Clones (4)
Clone #41 (0)

(These numbers include some figures I don't actually "have" at the moment, but are on their way)

For whatever reason, I really don't army build with the "other" armies (Wookies, Droids, etc.) I mainly concentrate on the Clones (and the Stormtroopers from the OT obviously).

[Jim]

Do I feel guilty?  Sometimes yes, only because some people give me a rash of **** about it (on different boards).  So I do build, but usually dont tell how many of certain figs I buy.  I never buy all from one location though.  I try to spread it out weekly through different stores. 

[Jim]

So I say buy what you want and as much as you want. Never scalp the stuff. Trading is cool. Picking up multiples to help you other buds out is even better.

And that, believe it or not, is actually how I got most of my current Clone Army. I rarely, rarely ever find new stuff in stores, not sure why. I do go out and hit up some places early in the AM, but there are no stores that are right near me, so it's usually a 15 - 20 minute drive. And most mornings I can't swing that and get back in time for work (since I work retail, I have to be at work just when most of the stores are opening).

So far, this is what I've got:

Clone #6 (25)
Clone Commander (20)
Clone Pilot (15)
Clone AT-TE Tank Gunner (20)
Target Clones (4)
Clone #41 (0)

(These numbers include some figures I don't actually "have" at the moment, but are on their way)

For whatever reason, I really don't army build with the "other" armies (Wookies, Droids, etc.) I mainly concentrate on the Clones (and the Stormtroopers from the OT obviously).

I want to change my previous post.  No, I no longer feel guilty. 

[Darth Broem]

I don't think it makes you bad.  However, if there is someone in the aisle that only wants one clonetrooper.  You have 25 in your arms it might be nice to spare one of them for the poor person.  You know what I mean?  I mean you have 25.  He has zilch.  LOL! 

[Pete_Fett]

I don't think it makes you bad.  However, if there is someone in the aisle that only wants one clonetrooper.  You have 25 in your arms it might be nice to spare one of them for the poor person.  You know what I mean?  I mean you have 25.  He has zilch.  LOL! 

I agree with this too - and unless it's someone who I know is NOT a SW collector - I'm more than happy to share what I find with the people who walk into a store with me at opening time. There's one guy in the area who gets two of everything - one each for each of his two boys - we're always on the look-out for stuff for him and when we happen to meet up if there's something "good" on the shelves we both want, we happily share it. That's just being polite (IMHO).

[Darby]

As someone who doesn't army build (I sometimes buy two) I don't mind a person buying as much as they want, because some people buy two of a figure anyway, or sometimes three.  If that's what you want, buy it.

[DoctorPadawan]

I don't think it makes you bad.  However, if there is someone in the aisle that only wants one clonetrooper.  You have 25 in your arms it might be nice to spare one of them for the poor person.  You know what I mean?  I mean you have 25.  He has zilch.  LOL!

To me, that's the main difference in army building that I don't think a lot of people take into consideration when they bash army builders, like rebeltrader mentioned he experiences.

A true army builder might be buying 25 of the AT-TE Gunner in the aisle, but would (I've found) happily hand you one if he/she were asked nicely. 

Someone who isn't so scrupulous will look at you like you're insane when you ask him/her to part with one of those 25 AT-TE Gunners so you can finally have it in your collection.  After all, that little guy is going to pay for his/her retirement, don't you know. 

To put army builders and army hoarders in the same boat is, to me, wrong and insulting.  Army builders are opening these figures to make dioramas, or photo novels, or what have you; army hoarders are locking them away from light and the elements so they can have them AFA graded and sell them for 100 bucks on Ebay.

So, to all you army builders, don't feel guilty because you're doing it for the right reasons.  Just don't forget to give your old pal DoctorPadawan one of those 25 Clones since he's on your side and all.   

[CHEWIE]

Good post Doctor Padawan (and thanks for hooking me up with the Clones you sent me).

 

[jokabofe]

I don't think it makes you bad.  However, if there is someone in the aisle that only wants one clonetrooper.  You have 25 in your arms it might be nice to spare one of them for the poor person.  You know what I mean?  I mean you have 25.  He has zilch.  LOL! 

Always. I've given away quite a few over the years. Mostly to smaller children, because I'm a little more skeptical when an adult asks for something that I may have in my hands. I know that person may also be an army builder like myself, but they might also be a scalper 

[MetalJedi]

I don't feel bad when I buy more than one Clone. If there is no one else in the aisle they are fair game. Granted I dont usually buy more than 3 of the same figures. Thats if I find them.