It's not quite clear in the
Heroscape collection guide, but some waves were re-released, while others were only released in limited amounts. So there were literally 4 times as many Orm's Return as there were Aquilla’s Alliance that were made, and collectors who "gotta have 'em all" makes it go up way more that 4 times as much. AFAIK Waves 1, 2, 3 and commons of wave 5 (as wave 10) were re-released, along with Orm's (I think it was re-released twice), Raknar's Vision, Road to the Forgotten Forest, and Fortress of the Archkyrie. Rotv, Sotm, and Marvel were re-released as well, but none of the D&D stuff was. Also, remember that unique packs were released in the same amount as common packs but people want more commons than one, so commons will always be more expensive, and since the start of the game many people have pointed to this as a real downfall of Heroscape's distribution strategy, as retailers were forced to buy waves with equal # of packs so hero packs sat on shelves for awhile in stores and retailers were clueless as to why those packs weren't selling and just assumed the game in general wasn't in high demand and therefore did not order as many packs and had to run clearances every now an then to get rid of glut packs. Long-times will remember Wave 5 Gladiators and Agent packs sitting on shelves for 3+ years, which many people single-handedly attributed that pack to why they reduced later waves production runs by so much (sorry this brings up old debates and flame wars)
Of course, in-game value (AKA
Power Rankings) also affects which ones are more valuable and desired. I remember when I first started collecting and had limited $ I actually used the power rankings to determine which sets to buy, but then succumbed to "gotta catch em' all", then sold most of the more $-wise valuable items that wasn't really high ranking, then went back to proxying and buying the cheaper figures.
To answer specifics: Wave 9 was released in less amounts than earlier waves, plus was at the height I think of the game's popularity, and had relatively good in-game figures so sold off the shelves quicker. This makes Protectors, Axegrinder Dwarves, Mohican River Tribe, and Capuan Gladiators so expensive. On the other hand, Wave 2 was re-released, so there were probably about 3 times as many Minions of Utgar made as Protectors of Ullar and Capuan Gladiators. D&D dwarves are only good if you have Axegrinders, but of course are uniques, so only people who have Axegrinders want them and then only one. Again there were 4 times as many Zelrigs sold as as Charoses (sp?), plus Zelrig is in many people's view (including mine) one of the best if not the best looking sculpt in the game.
I feel bad for newer players who don't understand the history of the game and its release cycles, but worse for people who are trying to sell their dusty collections and can't make heads or tails of why some figures are worth so much more than others..
June 30th, 2020, 08:41 PM
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