echiang777@yahoo.com
11/10/2010 3:56:00 AM
Here are my personal experiences (before becoming Storyline
Coordinator and before the NAC 2010 when they handed out a ridiculous
number of promos):
Dan Murdock
Mariana Gilbert
--> Have both been traditionally hard to get unless you (or someone
you knew) were active in the WotC days. White Wolf never reprinted
them nor did they ever have a noticeable supply of them. So demand has
always been reasonably high for them, but mainly for collecting
purposes. Group 1 gets played rarely. Dan Murdock isn't that
impressive and I can't recall seeing him in play for quite awhile (and
he doesn't fit into that many important decks). Mariana's good for
weenie Presence (or weenie Toreador) but nowadays, Group 4 is actually
better for weenie Presence than Group 1. So not having either of these
Group 1 vampires isn't make or break.
SW (Amelia / Victor Tolliver / Polonia / Lucita / Vykos / Terrence /
Kyle Strathcona / Vincent Day)
FN (Fatima / Parmenides / Hesha / Intisar / Isabel / Silvia / Ankla
Hotep / Khalil)
BL (The Baron)
CE (Marcus Vitel)
AN (Xaviar)
BH (Selena)
--> All of these were readily available (for quite some time) and in
copious amounts. Stacks of SW/FN vampires were available at major
events for quite some time (though Parmenides, Hesha, Isabel, and
Khalil were a bit rarer than the others). At least SW/FN vampires were
starter-only. The Baron, Vitel, Xaviar, and Selena were in the
boosters, so the giant stacks (especially of Marcus Vitel) were kind
of pointless IMHO.
Meddling of Semsith
Eye of Hazimel
Lambach (Advanced)
Legion
Erciyes Fragment
Prophecies of Gehenna
--> Meddling always felt like it was in short supply. Back then not
many storyline tournaments were run and it was hard to acquire the
cards otherwise. Eyes of Hazimel were overly plentiful for quite some
time (and you really don't need that many) but I can understand how
some of the newer players might have trouble locating it. Legion was a
weak card and easily available. Advanced Lambach was surprisingly
scarce (though crappy compared to the Basic). Depending on whether or
not your playgroup did the League, Erciyes Fragment and Prophecies of
Gehenna could be hard to get. Erciyes Fragment has traditionally been
in high demand (since it's a really good card) but I rarely see people
bother with Prophecies of Gehenna (though it still has its uses).
Wind Dance
Anthelios, the Red Star
Port Authority
Retribution
Spontaneous Power
--> Maybe I just played a lot of tournaments back then but I felt like
there were lots of these promos going around at the time (I still have
a whole bunch myself). I've heard about some playgroups having trouble
getting Anthelios, but I haven't seen much demand for any of the rest.
Barbaro Lucchese
Nergal
Helena (Advanced)
Alan Sovereign (Advanced)
--> The Infernal Plague and Return of Nergal promos seem decently
rare. Barbaro's a rather cornercase vampire so not too many people are
clamoring for him. But lots of people want Nergal (especially now that
there's an Advanced). I also see people occasionally ask for Advanced
Helena (though not so many people for Advanced Alan, which is
surprising because he actually has the better Advanced).
Echo
Genina the Red Poet
Angelo
Duality
White Lily
Kestrelle Hayes
--> It did feel like the KMW and LoB promos were a bit scarce. It was
less of an issue with Echo since she was in the Alastors starter. But
I know a lot of people who had difficulty getting Genina and
especially Angelo (and both are promo-only). Moving on to Third
Edition, Duality & White Lily were also available in the starters. SoC
had Kestrelle Hayes in the boosters so only the collectors had to
chase the promo version (with the incorrect Grouping number).
Wall Street Night, Financial Newspaper
Call the Wild Hunt
Waxen Poetica
Kisha Bhimji
Ensemble
Crematorium
Botched Move
Argent Baton
--> I felt like most of these were easily available if you played in
any tournaments (using support kits). Kisha Bhimji's the best of the
lot, and the only one which I had difficulty getting sufficient
copies. As for the rest, Crematorium and Wall Street Night are
playable (but you only need a couple). The rest of the cards usually
end up as wallpaper.
Victor Pelletier
Gran Madre di Dio, Italy
--> Both of these were initially ridiculously hard to get (since you
needed to have actually attended the championship). After a year, they
were more widely available (but distribution felt spotty with some
places receiving an abundance and other areas having trouble getting
any copies).
Reverend Adams
--> Reasonably hard to get (unless you played lots of storylines). But
not too important unless you like weenie PRE.
Cloak of the Abalone
Convergence
Nergal (Advanced)
Path of the Void
Reliquary: Shango Remains
Sound of a Breaking Oath
Treaty of Laibach
Walks-with-Might
--> Still readily available even now. The Cloak, Sound of a Breaking
Oath, and the werewolf are wallpaper. The Treaty is amusing for trick
decks but essentially wallpaper. The Reliquary and Convergence are
playable. Path of the Void is actually *underplayed* IMO, but I don't
see too many people trying to get more copies. Advanced Nergal seems
to be the only one of the group with high demand (because it's Nergal
and people like super-bleed Nergal decks).
Flames of Insurrection
Public Enemy
Kaymakli Fragment
Imperator
--> Flames and Public Enemy are actually harder to get than you would
expect. But since they're for niche decks (Trophy or Anarchs combat) I
don't see too much demand for them. Kaymakli Fragment was really hard
to get for awhile (since it was initially available only at Black
Miracles and Lies), and since then distribution has been spotty. It's
an amazing card for Baali decks and decent for the Sabbat. Imperator's
a corner-case card and you don't need that many so I don't see a lot
of demand, though I know some people have trouble acquiring it
(especially those who missed the storyline).
Abactor
The Fourth Cycle
Inceptor
The Marrakesh Codex
Rogue
Rubicon
Salt of Thoth
SchreckNET
--> These are still reasonably acquirable nowadays. Rogue and Rubicon
are wallpaper. Salt of Thoth and SchreckNET are amusing but not
critical. Inceptor is quite good (especially with Anarch Convert) but
most players don't need more than a handful. I've seen Fourth Cycle
and Marrakesh Codex go for a decent amount and there's reasonable
demand for those. Lots of people want Abactor though, since unlike
most of the others it's not unique and if you want to build a deck
around it you need lots of copies.
Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers
Crusade: Aragon
Menele (Advanced)
Yazid Tamari (Advanced)
--> These are surprisingly difficult to acquire, maybe because it
feels like the Eden's Legacy storyline kits were under-produced. Of
these, most of the interest seems to be towards the vampires and the
Codex (not the Crusade).
Lilith's Blessing
Guide and Mentor
Infamous Insurgent
Karsh (Advanced)
Claudio Severino
--> These are reasonably hard to get, especially if you didn't do the
storylines. Guide and Claudio are pretty much wallpaper. Infamous
Insurgent is very cornercase. Advanced Karsh is a terrible card, but
some people want him to make a Merged Karsh deck. Only Lilith's
Blessing seems really worthwhile and it can easily fit into A LOT of
decks.
So those are my personal impressions. But I realize that others will
have had different experiences (and assessments), which is exactly why
I'm asking for them now! :-)