Trading for Tyranids

I’m constantly on the lookout for a good deal.  It used to be that any deal that seemed reasonably good might be good enough, but anymore, unless I really want them, I tend to pass on anything that isn’t an absurdly good deal.

Just before our Apoc game, I had a friend from Seattle call me about some old models he had laying around.  He told me that he’d sell them to me for $100, and I bit.  In hindsight, I didn’t do a proper valuation on them, and though they were certainly worth it, it would’ve normally been the type of deal I’d pass on.  I mean, it wasn’t a bad deal at all, probably being valued in the $300 range if it were all brand new, but it was for an army I didn’t play (Khorne marines), nor did I immediately know of anyone looking to pick them up.

But he was a friend and I had a momentary lapse of reason (plus he secretly threw in delivery, which included a surprise appearance at said Apoc game as well, which was worth the $100 right there).

Well, flash forward to last month.  There was a guy selling some Tyranids on a local facebook group.  The models themselves looked pretty banged up and his prices were a little high for my likes–and lord knows I don’t need any more Tyranids.  Still, he had some models that I don’t currently own, so I pinged him and asked him if he was interested in anything in trade.  I have a ton of models languishing in my garage, so trading is a far easier pill to swallow.  When he said he wanted Chaos, I flashed him some pics of the chaos marines, and he was hooked.

We then worked out a trade that involved the marines for:

• 2x Tyrannocytes (partially assembled)
• 1x Tyrannocyte (mostly complete)
• 6x Venomthropes
• 2x Harpies (or maybe they’re Hive Crones…?)

I brokered the deal over facebook chat and wound up leaving the stuff on my doorstep to have him trade it out when I wasn’t around.  Some of the stuff was sight unseen, and it was in halfway rough shape.  For instance, the Tyrannocytes were missing quite a few pieces, and some of the bits on the Venomthropes were broken, but the price was right, and the guy seemed accommodating, so I didn’t buck the system.

Sadly, I don’t think I got any better shots than this of when they were dropped off.   He threw in a big bag of bits, which covered most of the parts required for the two Tyrannocytes, and the third one that he listed as “mostly complete” was actually only missing the tentacles.  With a little green stuff, that shouldn’t be an issue.

I find myself happy with the trade, but sad that I now have to go paint more Tyranids.  But before that, I have to go strip some figures…