Looking to complete your Star Wars Rivals series 1 collection? Found a Star Wars Rivals PDQ booster display in a retail store and want to know what’s in it? Want to avoid purchasing any more duplicate Supreme Leader Snokes? Read on for tips and tricks on how to get the most out of each booster display!
When Funko Games released Star Wars Rivals earlier this year, product was released at a slow trickle. First, limited amounts of product were made available at various conventions, some of which made its way to eBay at sky-high markups. Then, just the premier set saw an online-only pre-release. Next, booster displays slowly started appearing in Walmarts across the country over the course of weeks. Eventually, the game experienced a wide release through board game distributors, FLGS’s, and Funko’s own website. Now, series 1 is starting to wind down, as fans of Funko Games and Prospero Hall are moving on to the new Five Nights at Freddy’s game, FightLine, and anticipating the announcement of Star Wars Rivals series 2.
But, what if you just started playing, or just haven’t gotten around to completing your series 1 collection, yet? The good news is that, in many ways, this is the perfect time to get into the game! Online supplies are still high enough that product is easy to find. And, secondary market prices have pretty much bottomed out. But, act fast! You should expect series 1 prices to rise once series 2 comes out and refreshes interest in the game.
How to Start Collecting
If you’re just starting out and only have the premier set, by far the easiest way forward is to purchase 10-20 boosters from an online retailer like GameStop or Amazon, or (even better) from your friendly local game store (who should still be able to order the game from their distributor, if they don’t already carry it). If you really want to minimize the chances of opening duplicates, I recommend buying exactly 8 of each booster type. I recently tried ordering 10 of each booster type from GameStop, and was fortunate enough to only get a single duplicate. But, there are no guarantees. GameStop is notorious for using order fulfillment processes that seem to maximize the chances of buying duplicates of their blind bag items.
Once you know which characters you’re missing, you should be able to find those figures at reasonable prices on eBay. After the game was released through distributors, the resale prices dropped precipitously. Occasionally, you can even find common figures at or below MSRP. If you want to go this route, take a moment to see which characters we currently have in stock at the Liminoid Games eBay Store.
Whatever you do, though, do NOT order more than one PDQ booster display from an online vendor! If you do, you have a 50% chance of getting all duplicates. And, a 100% chance of getting duplicate copies of the six common characters (C-3PO, Chewbacca, Yoda, Boba Fett, General Grievous, and Supreme Leader Snoke).
But, let’s say you manage to find a complete PDQ booster display in a retail store. That’s where things get interesting! Fortunately for you, the online SWR community has taken the time to document the various PDQ booster display layouts that have been found in the wild. And, if you’re a bit lucky, you can use this information to pinpoint exactly which booster packs you need to purchase to complete your collection.
Keep in mind of course, that there are no guarantees. There are numerous reasons why a display might not conform to the information below: there could have been a factory error, an employee or other shopper might have shuffled the contents, or Funko may have even released a brand new layout that the community hasn’t discovered, yet. So, please use this information at your own risk! With that understanding, let’s begin!
The First Print Run
The very first PDQ booster displays to be released had the Dark Side boosters in the top layer, and the Light Side boosters on the bottom. It’s unlikely that you’ll find one of these, untouched, on the shelves at this point. But, if you do, you might want to check the edition codes on the sides of the boosters, and the backs of the Dark Side boosters. Each box should carry the “E1” code, and the backs of the Dark Side boosters should feature Boba Fett.
You should also inspect the display for any indications that the contents have been tampered with. Often, people will pull the adhesive tabs back from the boosters to peek inside. If this has happened, it should be fairly easy to notice, as the adhesive tabs will probably appear wrinkled. Sometimes, if you are supremely lucky, you’ll find a completely untouched, sealed display on the back of a shelf, where the adhesive tabs on the display itself are still intact. Beware, though, sometimes a display will look untouched, but the front boosters on the top might be swapped, as an employee had to remove one of them to scan it into their inventory system, and might not have placed it back in the same spot. I once found a display where the front of the top cover had been torn away for this purpose, but the adhesive tabs were still intact, indicating that only the front few boosters had been disturbed.
IF the contents appear to be undisturbed, then the display layout should follow the patterns outlined in the following YouTube video:
And in the following images, created by Thew Dover:
The layouts are also available in the Star Wars Rivals Collection Complete Checklist and Spoiler spreadsheet, by Liminoid Games.
Once you know what the potential layouts are, figuring out which booster display you’re dealing with should be as easy as buying one booster in a position that contains at least one figure you’re looking for. This will also provide you with additional evidence as to whether or not the contents have been shuffled. Once you know which display you have, you can easily pick out exactly which figures you still need.
The Rarity Curve
Now might be a good time to explain the rarity curve of Star Wars Rivals. Compared to other collectible miniature games, the rarity curve of Star Wars Rivals is rather flat. First, you have the premier set characters that are exclusive to the premier set:
Then, you have the six common characters. These appear once in BOTH booster display layouts. That means, if you manage to purchase one of each booster display, you’ll have two of each of these characters:
After that, everything else has the exact same rarity. I refer to them simply as rares. Each figure will appear in exactly one of the two booster display layouts. This means that the eight hologram versions of characters will appear at the exact same rate as all other rare figures. Specifically, there will be four holograms in each display.
The Second Print Run
According to the Funko Games devs, the original layout was actually a factory error. The intention was always to have Dark Side boosters on the LEFT, and Light Side Boosters on the RIGHT. In fact, that’s why the tagline of the game is “An Epic Clash Between Dark & Light!” Originally, the tagline was supposed to read “Light & Dark,” but they changed it when they realized the layout would have Dark Side boosters on the left!
So, very quickly, a new pair of layouts started to appear on shelves, with Dark Side boosters on the left, and Light Side boosters on the right. These are now the most common displays that you’ll find at retail stores. They will most likely carry the “E2” code on the sides of the boxes, and the backs of the Dark Side boosters will likely feature Count Dooku. Inside, the boosters will also likely include Action and Location cards with the “E2” code. (This E2 printing contains an updated clarification on one Action card, and an error on one Location card. For full details, check out the spreadsheet linked above.)
These displays should follow the patterns outlined in this, updated YouTube video:
and in the following image, created by Ernie Barrett:
The Current State of Affairs
Unfortunately, it’s getting harder and harder to find booster displays in retail stores. And, even if you do, there have also been reports that factories may have started shuffling the contents of displays, and that some distributors and LGS’s may also be intentionally shuffling the displays. Also, this information won’t be useful if you’re purchasing boosters online. Those boosters generally don’t show up in a display box, and even if you buy exactly 16, there’s no guarantee they’ll come from the same display, or even from the same warehouse! There have also been reports that some boosters are being shipped from distributors without displays, and coming in separate boxes for Light and Dark Side boosters. Again, there’s no guarantee here that you won’t get duplicates. Fortunately, there are B/S/T groups that are still active on Facebook for when you inevitably do end up with a few duplicates, and a few holes in your collection.
The 2023 Summer Convention Exclusives
There’s just one more topic to touch on before I leave you, and that is the 2023 Summer Convention Exclusive characters.
These two figures, Wicket W. Warrick and Scout Trooper, were released at various conventions (like San Diego Comic Con) during the summer of 2023. They’re still available from resellers on eBay for relatively good prices. But, those prices have been rising. If you want to pass on these collectibles, though, you won’t be missing any gameplay in the long run. It’s been confirmed that these two characters will be part of series 2, just with different sculpts. For now, you can see a full unboxing in the following YouTube video:
