How to Collect Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures

With the publication of the fourth edition of Dungeons and Dragons, using miniatures to enhance your tabletop role-playing experience has become even more prevalent. Finding the perfect miniature to represent your character can be a challenging experience, but can help fellow gamers to better picture their party companions. For dungeon masters, having a good collection of miniatures to represent the monsters, other adventurers and people that the adventurers encounter along the way is vital to enhancing the role-playing experience. The best way to do that is to create a good collection of Dungeons and Dragons miniatures.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Storage containers

1. Visit your local game store or comic shop to pick up the current edition of Dungeons and Dragons miniatures, of the several editions available. You may pay slightly more than if you buy the figures online, but once you figure in shipping costs, the price will very likely be approximately the same.

2. List the editions of the game or the specific figures you are seeking. Then, check eBay, especially eBay stores, for the figures you want. Many eBay stores offer discounted shipping when you buy several figures or will offer a bulk price on a mixed lot of figures. This can be a good way to locate individual figures to complete a collection.

3. Check for lots on eBay. People often spend a good deal of money on the miniatures and then decide they don’t like the game or realize they have duplicates since each package is randomly packed with miniatures. You can often find best deal for miniatures when people are selling off their duplicates. This way, you have less control over the specific figures you get, but you can usually get more figures for a better price.

4. Trade with your friends or other local gamers. Since the packages are random, you may buy several boxes of miniatures, only to discover that you get the same miniatures over and over. Find other people who also collect the miniatures, via local game clubs or the game store, and trade for their duplicates.

5. Invest in Sterlite portable storage boxes or miniature cases specifically designed for transporting miniatures. The Sterlite containers that offer nine 12-inch by 12-inch drawers that are approximately 3 inches deep are available for about $20 each at Walmart or Target, and will hold hundreds of miniatures. Miniature cases are much more expensive and hold fewer miniatures, but offer a cushioned cubby for each figure to provide for safe transport.

Tips & Warnings

• Dungeons and Dragons miniatures are very popular, so don't be surprised if older editions cost more than the issue price. Some figures are also rarer than others and therefore command a higher price.
• When buying online, check the shipping costs. Individual figures are very light, but some stores try to charge $1 or more per figure in shipping. When you are buying several miniatures, ask for a combined shipping rate before you agree to buy.