What should we buy before kickoff?

[mrnoble]

This post is at least as much for other teams as it is for me. What do y'all think are items which are important enough, and difficult enough to get, and ubiquitously useful enough, that teams should purchase them before (or shortly after) kickoff, rather than waiting for the game release?

I'll put in the things I think we should avoid purchasing in advance:

• drive gear boxes
• potential game pieces
• drive wheels (maybe)

And, things I think are important to have in stock:

• mechanism gear boxes
• prototyping materials (2x4's)
• motors
• motor controllers
• whatever materials you will use for contruction of drive bases and superstructures (aluminum tubing or C-channel, for instance)