Catan Collector FAQ... and a picture!

For me playing Catan is a unique experience where I can sit with family and friends and we can play a truly social game where we are not trying to eliminate each other and regardless of points we will all be playing until the end of the game with no-one feeling left out.

It is also a game where there are simply so many variations, scenarios, expansions and extensions that no two games are alike. The randomness of hex placement and the huge number of variations makes Catan a very special board game.

From this enjoyment of the game came a desire to learn as much as possible about the game and its creation. Collecting as many examples as possible just became a passion.

I have many very hard to find items. From the Cheops map, to the 2005 3D Dutch set, to Communication in Catan, to Silicon Valley Catan - all are rarely seen.

However much rarer than all of these is my early pre-release set used for testing and promotion. Usually these are destroyed after use. It is now thought just 10 of these sets were made and I am not aware of any other surviving examples.

I once bought an entire Dutch collection and had it shipped to New Zealand. This import formed the core of my international base sets and also of my Dutch collection. The total cost was around 12,000 Euros with only 2,500 euros being the cost of buying the collection, the rest was hiring packers in Europe, shipping almost 50 cartons and then paying all the associated taxes, customs fees, clearances and alike.

In a perfect ideal world the one thing I would like more than anything else is one of the four original hand coloured sets created by Klaus Teuber to show off the game. Of the four sets he made, the location of only two are known. So there is always a chance one of the missing two may turn up one day!

I would also love to buy some of the sea hexes from the original 2005 3D prototype. The location of only 14 of these is known and they are with a very lucky collector in Germany.

Previously my collection was housed in my office building with only part of it on display as I had limited space. This was always a pain as I often wanted to sort things after hours which meant I had to drive back into town to do so.

However with a recent move, I had the opportunity to relocate into a much larger home that has a self-contained 1200 square foot, 3 room unit on the ground floor. I use this space for both my private museum which is now open to visitors and as an office space for me to work from.

I accept I am very fortunate to be able to use around a quarter of my home solely for Catan and to be able to spend so much time surrounded by my passion while working. HOWEVER, I have again run out of space!!

I am a collector - not a retailer.

Every box I have is different, even if it is only a change in the copyright date. As well as collecting editions, I also collect print versions and regional variations. So my little private museum may look like a shop but it is not.

With any spares I prefer to trade or giveaway items rather than sell. I have in the past occasionally put spare items into BGG. For example I have spare sets of the rare China core + map set and I have looked to sell these to raise funds to buy more Catan.

I was offered the chance to provide drop shipping of Catan through my website to earn money but I refused. Despite it meaning I cannot access retailer promotions, my passion for the game is not driven by income. I am proud to be a collector.

I wish!!! But no, I have no sponsorship agreements with Catan GmbH or any of the international distributors.

Nor am I ever likely to. For example, Catan Studio have been clear that collectors are not a prioriy for them. In a recent post on access to promotional materials they advised a North American collector that collecting "doesn't really align with the point(s) of producing the items. Promos are designed to help our retailers sell more games." They pointed out that the percentage of players who are also collectors is "SUPER SMALL" and that making product available to help collectors is a no-win for the distributor..

While I understand the commercial sales logic behind this, I strongly disagree from a passion point of view. The collectors I know do more to promote Catan and help other players than any retailers I know.

Another modern reason I am unlikely to get support is that I am (somewhat proudly) not a social media junkie. I am of little use to the distributors for any form of online publicity purposes. Add to this my location in New Zealand and my collection is of little use for the borrowing of items for display at major shows in North America or Europe.

The answer is very little. The three things I have been given (and that I am very grateful for) are a Klaus Teuber signed postcard from Catan GmbH, a copy of the Arabic/English Catan game from Kosmos and a signed Malta Hex with help from Catan Studio and the NZ based Catan World Champion.

I have however been incredibly fortunate to meet some amazing fans of Catan who have helped my collection by donating items. At least a dozen items have been given to me over the years, often items I would never have found otherwise. My original 1997 Cheops is a great example. A very kind donation from a chap in the USA who was just happy to see the map go to a keen fan of the game. Another example is a rare LotC replacement part token which was part of another collection and that, even now, I have never seen anywhere else. This was very kindly given to me as a gift and I am extremely grateful.

UPDATE: 4 July 2025: After watching the European Livestream for the World Catan Connect tournament, I was very lucky to be one of the 20 randomly drawn livestreamers to win a copy of Catan Connect. Sadly though the game never arrived and I cannot get a reply to emails.

This is a question I do not really like to answer. I have had emails from people who say anyone could have a collection as large as mine if they wanted to spend the money. And they are 100% right!!

Be it wise or not, I have chosen to dedicate time and resources into building a collection of Catan. Just as others might collect stamps, teapots, autographs or coins, there are individuals the world over who choose an item that is a passion for them and so a collection just grows. My passion is Catan.

The harsh reality for me is I have spent far more on shipping than on the actual items in my collection. This is because I choose to live in one of the safest and most beautiful countries in the world. A country whose only real fault is its huge distance from North America and Europe. So yes I have spent a lot more than I intended, but around 65% of this total spend is shipping. While not keen to give the exact cost I can say it is a six figure number, but fortunately a very low six figure number.

One of the things I like most about my collection is the ability to help others. I get real enjoyment from knowing I have helped someone replace a missing part and thus restored a set of Catan back to its original specs. As I have many spares from older and less common sets sitting in drawers doing nothing, it just makes sense to share these as they simply may not be available from anywhere else.

To date I have send hundreds of parts to around 25 different countries. Most have gone to the USA. These parts have ranged from a single road all the way up to a mint condition 2005 3D wooden sea chest. The sea chest went to a chap in Australia whose own one had been stolen from out of his car. The thieves emptied the contents onto the roadside and then ran off with just the chest!!

Another aspect of helping with parts is to ensure people get genuine Catan pieces. The rise of fake Catan sets over the past few years has been huge.  I genuinely believe the Teuber family deserve every dollar, euro and pound they get from Klaus Teuber's great games. Secondly fake sellers just running off with illegal profits are the killers of future innovation and development.

One of the amusing aspects of offering spare parts is that in some cases even I have run out of them. So now I am sometines out there tracking down and buying old broken or incomplete sets that I can use for spares.