Buy
Wait, or buy now? The calendar
Data last checked: · how we verify numbers
For UK players who just want the game: wait. Retail at £75 including UK VAT [official FAQ] beats the £58 pledge’s all-in cost under the official reading of how taxes are collected (about £81.60 landed [our estimate]) — and under the alternative reading (£68), the saving is only £7, against months of waiting. Waiting’s real price is the Kickstarter exclusives, which will not return to regular retail [official FAQ]. And today there is nothing to buy anyway: the late-pledge window closed 2026-10-09 [official, Update #18].
The two calendars, side by side
| When | Backers’ calendar | Retail calendar |
|---|---|---|
| October 2026 (now) | Fulfilment “beginning next week” per official support in the campaign comments, 2026-10-09 [official]; first shipments not yet confirmed by our check. | Nothing on sale anywhere — the late-pledge window closed 2026-10-09 [official]. |
| Autumn 2026 | Backer deliveries land (Defender, Guardian, Collector’s first parcel). | Same base game reaches select House of MinaLima stores [official FAQ]. |
| 2027 | — | Wholesale to retailers; game shops and marketplaces stock it [official FAQ]. |
| March 2027 | Collector’s Box second shipment: metal pawns, Dumbledore’s Army set, token bag, signed portfolio [official]. | — |
| Later | — | Translated editions “at a later date” [official FAQ]. |
What waiting costs: the Kickstarter exclusives
Waiting forfeits every Kickstarter-exclusive item — officially priced as “Kickstarter Exclusive pricing that will not be available in regular retail” [official FAQ]:
- A5 foil Art Print, £21 [official] — gone from late pledges too; already unavailable at any price since 2026-10-09.
- Deluxe Box Sleeve, £21 · Wooden Token Upgrade Set (25 pieces), £19 · Protective Card Sleeve Set (160 sleeves), £17 [official prices].
- Player Pin Set, £25 [official].
- The Collector’s Box four: Metal Player Pawns £38, Dumbledore’s Army set £17, Luxury Token Bag £17, and the hand-signed Signed Artist’s Portfolio £167 [official prices] — the only tier that ever included it, and it sold out.
One narrow exception: after fulfilment, leftover exclusive stock “may be sold at limited events, House of MinaLima locations, and activations” [official FAQ] — a low-probability hunt, not a plan.
What waiting gains: the UK money math, both VAT readings
The official tier cards state that pledge prices exclude shipping and “applicable sales taxes (VAT, GST, US state taxes, etc.)”, collected in the pledge manager [official]. On that reading, UK VAT of 20% applies on top — yet no UK backer’s final invoice has surfaced, so we show both readings explicitly:
| Scenario | All-in total | Vs retail £75 | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading A — VAT charged on top in the pledge manager | £81.60 | Retail cheaper by £6.60 | £58 + £10 UK shipping + £13.60 VAT (20% of £68) [our estimate, official wording]. Retail £75 already includes UK VAT [official FAQ]. |
| Reading B — VAT already baked into £58 | £68.00 | Pledge cheaper by £7.00 | £58 + £10 shipping [our estimate, unconfirmed]. Contradicts the tier-card wording; no UK invoice has confirmed it. |
Outside the UK the comparison tilts further toward waiting: no retail price is published [official gives only the UK RRP], but at 2026-10-12 exchange rates the pledge’s landed cost runs roughly $109 vs a $99 equivalence for a US buyer and roughly AUD 205 vs AUD 142 for Australia [our estimates — equivalences, not quotes]. Full per-region math: the landed-cost estimator.
Decision matrix, by buyer type
| Buyer | Best move | Why |
|---|---|---|
| UK, just wants to play | Wait — autumn 2026 MinaLima stores, then 2027 retail | £75 incl. VAT beats the pledge under the official VAT reading, with returns and consumer law attached [our analysis]. |
| US, just wants to play | Wait for 2027 retail | US price unpublished; the $99 equivalence undercuts the ~$109 pledge estimate [our estimate]. |
| EU, just wants to play | Wait; watch FroGames | Its €69.99 listing is indicative with pre-orders not open [second-hand, checked 2026-10-12]. |
| Australia / NZ, just wants to play | Wait | Worst pledge gap of any region: ~AUD 205 landed vs ~AUD 142 equivalence [our estimate]. |
| Wants Kickstarter exclusives | No open channel — watch the secondary market from late October 2026 | Exclusives never reach regular retail [official FAQ]; possible leftovers at MinaLima stores/events [official FAQ]. |
| Wants the signed portfolio | Wait for the March 2027 wave, then the secondary market | It shipped only with the Collector tier; first resales appear weeks after delivery, the box itself in March 2027 [official]. |
| Must have it this month | Try Hive with an account, then ask support | Expect “closed”: no Art Print, shipping and tax on top, strict return terms [official]. Steps in where to buy. |
The secondary market: empty today, busy soon
On 2026-10-12 an eBay UK search for the game returned zero listings, eBay US only two unrelated results, and BGG’s GeekMarket showed none [our check]. That is not absent demand — no backer boxes have landed yet, since fulfilment was only beginning. Expect the first resale wave roughly 2–6 weeks after deliveries arrive (from late October–November 2026) [our estimate].
When it forms, expect opposite price directions: exclusive add-ons will list at premiums because they never reprint [official FAQ], while base-game copies may fall under retail once 2027 wholesale supply lands [our estimate].
Warning
A premium listing in November 2026 is not a bargain — it is a backer’s copy plus markup; the hand-signed portfolio is the prime counterfeit target, so demand provenance before paying collector prices [our analysis].
Sources
- Kickstarter campaign, FAQ (RRP £75, exclusivity wording, wholesale 2027) and comments (fulfilment “beginning next week”): kickstarter.com/projects/minalima/defenders-of-hogwarts
- Kickstarter Updates #16/#18/#19 (survey deadlines, late-pledge close): kickstarter.com/…/posts
- Hive late-pledge page (add-on prices, shipping waves): hiveinteractive.net
- eBay UK search (zero listings, 2026-10-12): ebay.co.uk search; BGG GeekMarket: boardgamegeek.com entry 471198
- Currency equivalences use frankfurter.dev and ECB rates, 2026-10-12.