In 2006 I bought my first Catan 3D 10th Anniversary set.
When I saw the 2005 set I was just enthralled by the design and quality of the whole package. The entire presentation, including the sea chest carry case and hand painted pieces had me hooked and I had to have one. It was the most expensive game I had ever bought and I did not mind one little bit.
This very same game is still the Catan my family and I play most often and 15 years later it is now one of my most treasured possessions. It has been played hundreds, if not thousands, of times. It has been used at home, it has been taken to friends, it has been played in pubs, and it has even gone on a holiday or two.
I love this game so much, when I started to collect Catan 4 or 5 years ago, one of my first goals was to have a set of the 2005 3D Catan in each of the three languages (English, German and Dutch) it was released in.
To buy the English set was very easy. With 5,000 of them produced they can be seen for sale quite often. I was fortunate to find an unplayed copy in the USA and had it shipped to me in New Zealand. About 6 months later my amazing German Catan dealer managed to find me a German set also unplayed and this too was added to my collection. There were just 2,500 German sets made so getting an unplayed set was a great find.
Then it was just the Dutch set to go - and this was going to be a harder task. There were only 500 Dutch sets made
In the past 4 years I have only seen two of the Dutch sets for sale. The first one was in an auction and was unplayed, but sadly it was sold before I had a chance to bid. The price it sold for was more than I had paid for both my English and German sets combined! I truly began to think that even if I found a set, I would be unable to afford it.
Then this year a used Dutch set was listed for sale on a Dutch trading site. The set was well used, but in overall good condition and, more importantly, complete. Sadly, it lacked the red cardboard outer box, but it was a set that I could acquire so I went for it.
It was on the market and open for offers. My first two offers were declined, but finally the seller came back with a price and said if I agreed they would remove it from sale to others. This was likely to be one of the few chances to get a Dutch set so I agreed.
The seller would not send direct to New Zealand so it was sent to my German dealer friend. He packaged the set up with some other purchases and now a few months later the box has arrived and finally I have the three sets in one room.
If in the future I see a Dutch set unplayed with the outer box and at a price I can afford, then I can always look to upgrade. For now though, however I am a very happy Cataner.
These three sets sit right next to my desk where I work and so I can see them every time I look up. They make me smile every time - just like my original set does every time we play it.
In September Catan release the new 2021 3D set. While it is not quite the same as the 2005 set, it still looks very cool and I look forward to adding one to my collection. The feel of playing on the 3D sets is different to the standard game and for some reason I cannot explain enhances the fun and enjoyment... even after 15 years of playing.