As part of our overall move, we of course had to pack everything up, and the majority of the gaming supplies ended up in storage for quite a few months. Now that we have moved in, and most has been unpacked, I was struggling a bit with my Star Wars Armada and X-Wing collection. I had previously acquired collectable pieces of the Super Star Destroyer (Armada scale), and Tantive IV (X-Wing scale). Both are highly detailed, and admittedly high priced fully painted models that I have more interest in displaying than truly using during the game.
Unfortunately, after most of the boxes were cleared, the flight stands, bases, and key pieces for both sets were missing. I had the cards, and the models themselves, but no way to display or actually use them. I reached out to Fantasy Flight, and was told that they no longer provide replacement parts – I would either have to purchase the model again, find parts on a secondary market, or find my own solution. Enter 3d printing, and I was able to find a decent substitute with some bases and pieces for at least the Super Star Destroyer. Tantive IV was still a search, I simply could not find a substitute.
After several weeks of digging thru remaining boxes, and scratching my brains over where they may have gone (I knew they were in storage, and storage was now in the house), I had finally given up. The wife ended up searching a bit as well, and I jokingly commented that we would no doubt some day be opening another unrelated box perhaps months or years in the future, and would suddenly rediscover them.
Tonight that finally occurred – I discovered the pieces buried in the bottom of a plastic bin filled with other old miniatures and pieces from my display cabinet – pieces completely unrelated except by location, and which otherwise were about to be put on a shelf to be forgotten about. I happened to look close enough to recognize the pieces in the debris, and was overjoyed to find all the parts now complete and intact.
The Super Star Destroyer and Tantive IV (along with a detailed X-Wing Fighter display model) are now whole and complete, and looking for a more permanent display home.
As is typical, if you really want to find something, assume it is lost and forget about it. Most likely it will turn up in a day or so.
