IAE 2952 WB CCU watch

FZD

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HERE WE GO!

What are WB CCUs?
They're how CIG does discounts. They require new money (so no store credit) but you can get $5, $10, $15, $20 or more knocked off the price of a regular CCU.

"$5 dollars? Why bother" I hear you ask.
Well the cool thing about these is that you can combine the discounts if you can fit multiple WB CCUs in the same CCU chain. It's basically make your own discount. Now, you have to pay at least $5 for a CCU, so the smallest WB CCU you can buy is a $10 CCU discounted to $5, or a 50% discount. Not too shabby.

The thing to keep in mind here, is to always select the ship closest in value to the WB CCU discount point. So for example, let's say Arrow ($75 melt value normally) has a $5 discount WB CCU on it. You can't pick 325A to Arrow CCU, as that'd be $0 CCU and CIG doesn't do those. For obvious reasons. Instead, you could, and probably should, pick 315p ($65 melt value) for a $5 off, and pay $5 at 50% discount. Of course you could pick 300i ($60 melt), possibly because you own a 300i, and pay $10 at 33% discount. But you really shouldn't. This is for two reasons. Firstly, because WB CCUs are new money, so you'd have to put in $10 new money, when you could've just used $5 store credit for 300i to 315p and then used $5 fresh money for 315p to Arrow. Secondly, and more importantly, the smaller CCUs you use the better chances you have to fit some new future CCUs into the chain. Thirdly, specific to this and some other cases, 315p is permanently available. So even if you don't have store credits right now, you can get that normal 300i to 315p CCU whenever.

"Okey, but it's still just $5 dollars, like what are you going to do, keep doing this for years and, then what, get ships for next to nothing?"
Yes. Absolutely yes. This really is "build your own discount." If you have the patience to do this over several sale events, you can get something like my $155 Banu Merchantman CCU chain. That's quite a steal. Or if you got more money than patience, you can do this over like one event and walk away with perhaps a 30% total discount depending on the target ship and your luck. That's not bad either.

"But isn't the goal to support the development! Why not just pay the full price of ships?"
Well, if you get a ship for 50% off, you still got the option to buy a second ship also for 50% off. You'll still fund with the same amount, only you got twice the amount of ships now. Cool, right?

If you want an example of what has happened during a sale in the past, here is the Invictus Launch Week thread from earlier this year https://testsquadron.com/threads/friendly-reminder-that-warbond-ccus-are-a-thing.19713/#post-377748

And for those who didn't quite catch all the abbreviations used in the thread title, this is Intergalactic Aerospace Expo 2952 War Bond Cross Chassis Upgrade watch.
So we'll be updating and keeping a record of which ships got a WB CCU this year and how good a deal that was (so in the future you can also speculate with better questimates based on actual data).

Todays Ship(s)Warbond CCU PriceNormal pricePermanently available starting pointClosest available starting point
Finale - Finale? (table below)
Finale - BIS (still available)------<----
Corsair (Still available)$225$250Taurus ($190)San'Tok.Yãi (In production so others are better)/Terrapin/Defender ($220)
C8R Pisces (Still Available)$60$65ROC/Avenger Titan/Mustang Gamma/Cyclone ($55)<----

PLEASE NOTE! As pointed out by @Raven_King the finale works a bit differently this year. Previously, all the WB CCUs offered during the event returned for the finale. This time CIG has stated that not every daily offer will.

Summary list (There's a more in-depth version by @Brictoria right below this one, this one is for brevity)

DateShipWarbond CCU PriceNormal price
18thCorsair$225$250
Caterpillar$305$330
19th600i Explorer + Name reservation$445$475
20thEclipse$280$300
21stBMM$600$650
22ndF7C-M Super Hornet$165$180
C8R Piscess$60$65
23rdMole$295$315
24thCyclone MT$65$75
25thProspector$145$155
26thMantis$140$150
27thFinale - BIS (table below)
28thFinale - Finale? (table below)

Finale - BIS (27th)
ShipWarbond CCU PriceNormal Price
C8X Pisces$40$45
Scorpius$220$240
Mercury$240$260
Carrack$560$600
2nd time Carrack, 2nd Time Mercury... people really keep voting for these same ships year after year... Ah well. I'm real happy about the Pisces though. We got some smart Ferengi in the community.
I'm not 100% certain yet, but I'm pretty sure the paints and trinkets would stay even as you continue CCUing past these ships, like posters and models you get from some concept offers.

Finale - Finale? (28th-?)
ShipWB CCU PriceNormal Price
Cyclone MT$65$75
Freelancer MAX$140$150
The Mantis$140$150
F7C-M Super Hornet$165$180
400i$230$250
Mole$295$315
Caterpillar$305$330
Prowler$410$440
Hammerhead$675$725
Oh, this was somewhat unexpected. What an odd way of doing it. Did they not hit some secret funding goal or something? Ah well, more WB CCU extravaganza.

Bonus round:
Here's a few real old concepts that have an extremely good chance of going up in price by "alot."
ShipWhy?
EndeavorEndeavor is an extremely old concept ship that hasn't budged an inch from the $350 price point. The completion of this ship is still far off in the future, but considering that it's an extremely modular capital ship going for mere $350 certainly gives an incredible amount of potential growth. The potential is, however, somewhat limited by the pricing structure where the modules are sold separately, so the actual price isn't quite $350 to begin with.
CrucibleAnother ship at the $350 point, the crucible is a large repair ship capable of repairing even larger ships. I'd give it quite good chances of getting to like $450 to $550 in the end.
Genesis StarlinerA real mystery. At $400 this ship is the only ship that currently is designed to allow for mass-passenger transport. Yes, there are luxury VIP passenger transports for small number of VIP passengers, but this one you just fill with regular people. CIG could swing anywhichway with this one, either leaving it at $400 or running wild with it.
Hull C & D (and B & E)The hull series has had a round or two of price bumps, particularly C and D had a quite handsome $100 bump each. I'd be 0% surprised to see another $50 to $100 bump on C once it's flight ready, and $100 to $200 on D.

Also check out this thread by @Raven_King for F5 wars dates and times: https://testsquadron.com/threads/iae-2952-faq-is-live-including-stock-limited-ship-sale-dates-and-times.20062/#post-383573
 
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Brictoria

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Final days CCU's:
DateShipNormal ship priceCCU ship priceSavingCheapest CCU starting optionMinimum Cost CCUMaximum CCU Discount
28th-30thC8X Pisces - BiS$45$40$5$35 (Limited) - P-72 Archimedes, MPUV Cargo, Aurora LX
$30 (Permanent) - Aurora MR, Mustang Alpha
$5 (Limited)
$10 (Permanent)
50% (Limited)
33% (Permanent)
28th-30thC8R Pisces$65$60$5$55 (Permanent) - Avenger Titan, Mustang Gamma, Cyclone, ROC.$5 (Permanent)50% (Permanent)
28th-30thCyclone MT$75$65$10$60 (Permanent) - 125a, 300i, Avenger Stalker$5 (Permanent)66% (Permanent)
28th-30thFreelancer MAX$150$140$10$135 (Permanent) - Freelancer DUR, Cutlass Red$5 (Permanent)66% (Permanent)
28th-30thMantis$150$140$10$135 (Permanent) - Freelancer DUR, Cutlass Red$5 (Permanent)66% (Permanent)
28th-30thF7C-M Super Hornet$180$165$15$155 (Limited) - Razor EX
$155 (Permanent) - Prospector
$10 (Limited)
$10 (Permanent)
60% (Limited)
60% (Permanent)
28th-30thScorpius - BiS$240$220$20$200 (Concept) - Vulcan
$195 (Limited) - Hurricane
$190 (Permanent) - Constellation Taurus
$20 (Concept)
$25 (Limited)
$30 (Permanent)
50% (Concept)
44% (Limited)
40% (Permanent)
28th-30thCorsair$250$225$25$220 (Limited) - Defender, Terrapin
$190 (Permanent) - Constellation Taurus
$5 (Limited)
$35 (Permanent)
83% (Limited)
42% (Permanent)
28th-30th400i$250$230$20$225 (Concept) - Railen
$220 (Limited) - Defender, Terrapin
$190 (Permanent) - Constellation Taurus
$5 (Concept)
$10 (Limited)
$40 (Permanent)
80% (Concept)
66% (Limited)
33% (Permanent)
28th-30thMercury Star Runner - BiS$260$240$20$235 (Limited) - Cutlass Steel, Vanguard Hoplite
$190 (Permanent) - Constellation Taurus
$5 (Limited)
$50 (Permanent)
80% (Limited)
28% (Permenent)
28th-30thMole$315$295$20$290 (Limited) - Vanguard Harbinger
$240 (Permanent) - Constellation Andromeda
$5 (Limited)
$55 (Permanent)
80% (Limited)
28% (Permanent)
28th-30thCaterpillar$330$305$25$300 (Limited) - Starfarer, Eclipse
$240 (Permanent) - Constellation Andromeda
$5 (Limited)
$65 (Perrmanent)
83% (Limited)
28% (Permanent)
28th-30thProwler$440$410$30$400 (Limited) - C2 Hercules, Reclaimer
$315 (Perment) - MOLE
$10 (Limited)
$95 (Permanent)
75% (Limited)
24% (Permanent)
28th-30thCarrack - BiS$600$560$40$520 (Limited) - M2 Hercules
$315 (Perment) - MOLE
$40 (Limited)
$245 (Perment)
50% (Limited)
14% (Permanent)
28th-30thHammerhead$725$675$50$600 (Limited) - Carrack
$315 (Perment) - MOLE
$75 (Limited)
$360 (Permanet)
40% (Limited)
12% (Permanent)


Here is a slightly more in-depth planning table to help with CCU options:
DateShipNormal ship priceCCU ship priceSavingCheapest CCU starting optionMinimum Cost CCUMaximum CCU Discount
18thCaterpillar$330$305$25$300 (Limited) - Starfarer, Eclipse
$240 (Permanent) - Constellation Andromeda
$5 (Limited)
$65 (Perrmanent)
83% (Limited)
28% (Permanent)
18th - 30thCorsair$250$225$25$220 (Limited) - Defender, Terrapin
$190 (Permanent) - Constellation Taurus
$5 (Limited)
$35 (Permanent)
83% (Limited)
42% (Permanent)
18thCutter$45$45$0No Warbond CCU
19th600i Explorer$475$445$30$440 (Limited) - Prowler
$315 (Permanent) - MOLE
$5 (Limited)
$130 (Permanent)
86% (Limited)
18% (Permanent)
20thEclipse$300$280$20$275 (Limited) - Vanguard Sentinel, Retaliator Bomber
$240 (Permanent) - Constellation Andromeda
$5 (Limited)
$40 (Permanent)
80% (Limited)
33% (Permanent)
21stBanu Merchantman$650$600$50$575 (Concept) - Orion, Liberator
$520 (Limited) - M2 Hercules
$315 (Permanent) - Mole
$25 (Concept)
$80 (Limited)
$285 (Permanent)
67% (Concept)
38% (Limited)
15% (Permanent)
22ndF7C-M Super Hornet$180$165$15$155 (Limited) - Razor EX
$155 (Permanent) - Prospector
$10 (Limited)
$10 (Permanent)
60% (Limited)
60% (Permanent)
22nd - 30thC8R Pisces$65$60$5$55 (Permanent) - Avenger Titan, Mustang Gamma, Cyclone, ROC.$5 (Permanent)50% (Permanent)
23rdMole$315$295$20$290 (Limited) - Vanguard Harbinger
$240 (Permanent) - Constellation Andromeda
$5 (Limited)
$55 (Permanent)
80% (Limited)
28% (Permanent)
24thCyclone MT$75$65$10$60 (Permanent) - 125a, 300i, Avenger Stalker$5 (Permanent)66% (Permanent)
25thProspector$155$145$10$140 (Permanent) - Ballista, F7C-R Hornet Tracker$5 (Permanent)66% (Permanent)
26thMantis$150$140$10$135 (Permanent) - Freelancer DUR, Cutlass Red$5 (Permanent)66% (Permanent)
26thGalaxy$380$380$0No Warbond CCU
27thCarrack - BiS$600$560$40$520 (Limited) - M2 Hercules
$315 (Perment) - MOLE
$40 (Limited)
$245 (Perment)
50% (Limited)
14% (Permanent)
27thC8X Pisces - BiS$45$40$5$35 (Limited) - P-72 Archimedes, MPUV Cargo, Aurora LX
$30 (Permanent) - Aurora MR, Mustang Alpha
$5 (Limited)
$10 (Permanent)
50% (Limited)
33% (Permanent)
27thMercury Star Runner - BiS$260$240$20$235 (Limited) - Cutlass Steel, Vanguard Hoplite
$190 (Permanent) - Constellation Taurus
$5 (Limited)
$50 (Permanent)
80% (Limited)
28% (Permenent)
27thScorpius - BiS$240$220$20$200 (Concept) - Vulcan
$195 (Limited) - Hurricane
$190 (Permanent) - Constellation Taurus
$20 (Concept)
$25 (Limited)
$30 (Permanent)
50% (Concept)
44% (Limited)
40% (Permanent)
Some notes:
  • Concept options are not included if the same price or higher than "limited" ships.
  • Concept and limited are not included if same price or higher than permanent ones.
  • "Concept" comes with greater risk of reduced savings if you plan to hold CCU for some time.
  • "Concept" and "limited" ships are also only available at certain times each year.
  • "New release" ships CCU's may continue past the end of the event, but that is not confirmed.

In a similar vein, the following concept ships are in active development and are likely (although not guaranteed) to be released in the coming year (prices\options will be updated on respective manufacturer days to ensure price increases, if any, are referenced):
ShipCCU PriceCheapest optionMinimum Cost
Vulture$140$135 (Permanent) - Freelancer DUR, Cutlass Red$5 Permanent
BMM$600$575 (Concept) - Orion, Liberator
$520 (Limited) - M2 Hercules
$315 (Permanent) - Mole
$25 (Concept)
$80 (Limited)
$285 (Permanent)
San'tok.yāi$220$200 (Concept) - Vulcan
$195 (Limited) - Hurricane
$190 (Permanent) - Constellation Taurus
$20 (Concept)
$25 (Limited)
$30 (Permanent)
SRV$150$145 (Limited) - Razor
$140 (Permanent) - Ballista, F7C-R Hornet Tracker
$5 (Limited)
$10 (Permanent)
Spirit C1$110$100 (Permanent) - Cutlass Black$10 (Limited)
Spirit E1$150$145 (Limited) - Razor
$140 (Permanent) - Ballista, F7C-R Hornet Tracker
$5 (Limited)
$10 (Permanent)
Spirit A1$175$170 (Limited) - Khartu-Al, Sabre
$155 (Permanent) - Prospector
$5 (Limited)
$20 (Permanent)
Hull-C$350$340 (Limited) - Starfarer Gemini
$315 (Permanent) - Mole
$10 (Limited)
$35 (Permanent)

If I have made any mistakes in the above tables, please feel free to correct me.
 
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FZD

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Here is a slightly more in-depth planning table to help with CCU options:
DateShipCCU PriceCheapest optionMinimum CostMaximum DiscountSavingFinal price
18thDrake
18thCorsair
18thCutter 1
18thCutter 2
18thCutter 3
19thOrigin
20thAegis
21stAlien
22ndAnvil
22ndC8R Pisces
23rdArgo\Greycat\Kruger\Consolidated
24thCrusader\Tumbril
25thMisc
26thRSI
26thGalaxy
27thCarrack - BiS
27thC8X Pisces - BiS
27thMercury Star Runner - BiS
27thScorpius - BiS
Some notes:
  • Concept options are not included if the same price or higher than "limited" ships.
  • Concept and limited are not included if same price or higher than permanent ones.
  • "Concept" comes with greater risk of reduced savings if you plan to hold CCU for some time.
  • "Concept" and "limited" ships are also only available at certain times each year.
  • "New release" ships CCU's may continue past the end of the event, but that is not confirmed.

In a similar vein, the following concept ships are in active development and are likely (although not guaranteed) to be released in the coming year (prices\options will be updated on respective manufacturer days to ensure price increases, if any, are referenced):
ShipCCU PriceCheapest optionMinimum Cost
Vulture$140Permanent - Freelancer DUR, Cutlass Red ($135)Permanent - $5
BMM
Hull-C
Spirit C1
Spirit E1
Spirit A1
SRV
San'tok yai

If I have made any mistakes in the above tables, please feel free to correct me.
Do you wanna keep the more in-depth version up-to-date again?
 
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Brictoria

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Do you wanna keep the more in-depth version up-to-date again?
I had planned to do that. I may be several hours after "release" on a couple of days - Alien, Anvil, and Crusader\Tumbril days most likely - but otherwise I'm happy to do the same as I did wiith Invictus and update the in-depth table while you update the notification\reference table.
 

FZD

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I had planned to do that. I may be several hours after "release" on a couple of days - Alien, Anvil, and Crusader\Tumbril days most likely - but otherwise I'm happy to do the same as I did wiith Invictus and update the in-depth table while you update the notification\reference table.
Sounds good, I put a note in the opening post, though I'm pretty sure nobody has any difficulty finding the in-depth table this time :like:
 
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Brictoria

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Sounds good, I put a note in the opening post, though I'm pretty sure nobody has any difficulty finding the in-depth table this time :like:
Thanks for that. I had been preparing a template to post as soon as I saw that you had started the thread, but didn't want to rush you. Luckily I managed to post in a better place than I had with Invictus.
 

FZD

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Really liking that Corsairs flyable bump. With how well the Corsair turned out, it's well deserved too.

Well, it doesn't really bring me any discounts as of right now as I already had Corsair to San'tok.yãi ($5) and then San'tok.yãi to MSR ($5), but I can now use store credit to get Corsair to MSR for ($10), see if I'll end up with another chain that I could apply the MSR WB CCU at.
 
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Brictoria

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Really liking that Corsairs flyable bump. With how well the Corsair turned out, it's well deserved too.

Well, it doesn't really bring me any discounts as of right now as I already had Corsair to San'tok.yãi ($5) and then San'tok.yãi to MSR ($5), but I can now use store credit to get Corsair to MSR for ($10), see if I'll end up with another chain that I could apply the MSR WB CCU at.
I'm glad I used my 2 quarterly buy-back tokens to get 2 of the Hurricane-Corsair CCU's out of my buy-back pile. I hadn't expected the price to jump quite so high (and to take the Warbond CCU price with it).
 

Brictoria

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HERE WE GO!

And for those who didn't quite catch all the abbreviations used in the thread title, this is Intergalactic Aerospace Expo 2952 War Bond Cross Chassis Upgrade watch.
So we'll be updating and keeping a record of which ships got a WB CCU this year and how good a deal that was (so in the future you can also speculate with better questimates based on actual data).

Todays Ship(s)Warbond CCU PriceNormal pricePermanently available starting pointClosest available starting point
Corsair$225$250Prospector ($155)San'Tok.Yãi/Terrapin/Defender ($220)
Caterpillar$305$330Andromeda ($240)Eclipse/Scythe/Starfarer ($300)
A minor detail: I believe that the Constellation Taurus at $190 is the closest permanent for the Corsair, rather than the Prospector.
 
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FZD

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A minor detail: I believe that the Constellation Taurus at $190 is the closest permanent for the Corsair, rather than the Prospector.
Oh, I suppose the list at fandom isn't quite up-to-date. Good catch.
 

FZD

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I just picked up a 5$ ccu for each the corsair and cat from the closest limited ships.
Am I assuming correctly that if I collect these cheep ccus each day before the finale, I could then purchase the missing links and save a decent chunk off a larger ship ?
So far 50$ saved.
Yes, absolutely. Of course, there might be some duplicates, so need to keep some track of what you got. But yeah.
 

Dirtbag_Leader

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Just to further complicate things, I want to mention some of the recent Warbond CCUs that people might have scooped up earlier this year that, if you have any, can slot nicely into chains during this IAE. Obviously slot in your own particular CCUs, but a general example that I think uses a lot of the recent good ones would be something along the lines of:

Cutter or STV
v
Centurion or Spirit C1
v
Spirit E1 or that Vulture that you recently bought back before release price hike
v
Spirit A1
v
Defender
v
Corsair
v
MSR or Warden, now only a $10 upgrade from the Corsair!
 
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Mudhawk

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Fine work, gentlemen. You earned my thanks.
But a simple question regarding those warbond upgrades. I do understandthat we got a 2 day window to buy those. But they do not have to be applied in those 2 days , right? So I can buy them now and apply them in Alien Week next year or something. Or is there any kind of "best before <date>" involved?
 

Brictoria

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Fine work, gentlemen. You earned my thanks.
But a simple question regarding those warbond upgrades. I do understandthat we got a 2 day window to buy those. But they do not have to be applied in those 2 days , right? So I can buy them now and apply them in Alien Week next year or something. Or is there any kind of "best before <date>" involved?
The daily Warbonds are only guaranteed to be available for the day they are announced (So the Drake Caterpillar is only available on Drake day - 18th), and not the following day, despite still having their ships on display.

On the "Best in Show" day (27th), many of the previous Warbond CCU's will return (although not all) for 4 days, with some more added.

As to applying these - You can hang onto them as long as you want (until just before the game leaves Alpha\Beta, even) - There is no requirement to use them by a given date.
 

FZD

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Fine work, gentlemen. You earned my thanks.
But a simple question regarding those warbond upgrades. I do understandthat we got a 2 day window to buy those. But they do not have to be applied in those 2 days , right? So I can buy them now and apply them in Alien Week next year or something. Or is there any kind of "best before <date>" involved?
Yeah, as @Brictoria mentioned, you can hold off on applying the upgrades until very close to the launch date (so like, couple years at least still).
And indeed, if you cultivate a CCU chain over multiple events, the discount can get a bit... extreme. I got a complete CCU chain (that I've not applied yet but I have each link in it, so no surprises possible) to a BMM for $155. Pretty nice for a $600 ship. (It was $350 when I secured the Gemini to BMM CCU though).

To add to this, there is a way CCUs can go "bad" before that. Like say you purchased San'Tok.Yãi to Corsair CCU today. Let's say San'Tok.Yãi gets released next year, and gets a $20 price bump. Now if you don't have any CCU TO San'Tok.Yãi, you then have to pay $20 more to get it before you can apply San'Tok.Yãi to Corsair CCU, almost entirely negating the savings you made today. This is why I included that warning about San'Tok.Yãi in the listing.

There are two ways to avoid this: Use Terrapin or Defender as a base. Those are flight ready already, so the likelihood of them going up in price is miniscule (though not 0%, as we've seen with Caterpillar for example). Or alternatively, get like Hurricane to Vulcan to San'tok.yãi CCU chain, it's unlikely that all 3 of them would go up in price at once. (Though Vulcan and San'tok.yãi certainly will go up at some point.)

The opposite can happen too: San'tok.yãi itself might get a WB CCU offer on alien day, making it the best choice. Well, could happen for Defender or Terrapin as well. No way of knowing.
 

FZD

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Yeah, I was worried that 600i would've already gone up in price, but this is still the old one. Not sure if it even will, thought that with the rework it'd be possible to get bit of a bump there.
 
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