I usually don't really consider myself a collector. I only have a handful of SW action figures (four to be exact), and I buy the model kits because I'm a scale modeller who also happens to like Star Wars. Likewise, I usually buy the books only because I want to read them, although a while back I found original (or first paperback, at any rate) editions of the OT novelisations at a used bookshop and snapped them right up.

Late last year, however, I did amass a relatively modest collection of Star Wars Miniatures when the first set (Rebel Storm) came out. I tell myself they might come in handy as game counters if I ever get into the Star Wars RPG, but truth be known and told, I also like collecting them. They're neat little Star Wars knick-knacks, cheaper per figure than action figures, and they include some generic figures that would never merit an action figure...

At any rate, the release of the new Revenge of the Sith set rekindled my interest in SW Minis, which had lain dormant since around New Years'. The ROTS set has a number of interesting generic figures that I managed to find in short order, but I still wanted to get the Mon Mothma, and possibly Tarfful, miniatures for my collection. On Monday I was in the process of picking up another booster pack when I noticed that under the counter glass at the shop they had a bunch of loose SW Minis being sold individually. Lo and behold, they had two Mon Mothmas. I already had the Booster Pack in hand, but I decided to take my chances. To cut a long story short, the shopkeeper went online and charged me based on the eBay averages for those figures and I wound up paying $15 for the Mon Mothma figure and $9 for Tarfful.

Now, considering that the booster packs cost $16 for seven figures, I realised I had well and truly gotten into collecting, just this once. Was it worth it? Well, I look at it this way: Yes, I paid more than the cost of a booster pack for two figures, but in so doing I essentially removed my impulse to buy more of them, so it was probably a net savings. Also, any booster pack I don't buy because of that is one more that some kid who's really keen on them might get, so I don't regret taking the shortcut.

I'll probably also match the cost of the Minis in my next charitable donation, just to clear any lingering pangs of conscience over spending that much on a couple bits of plastic. But on the bright side, I've now got, from my point of view, the two most interesting figures from the ROTS set.

And I've kept my spare Chewbacca Mini in the plastic just in case...