I have a cuttlebug and a GC. I have had the cuttlebug for ages but finally gave in and bought the GC.

I have not had problems with thin dies with my cuttlebug. However, you will need the C plate with the cuttlebug for thin dies. The sandwich is A plate, C plate and B plate for cutting thin dies; A plate, B plate, tan mat, B plate and 2 pieces of card as shims for embossing thin dies. I have only one of the lovely dies from Cheery Lynn and have had no problems at all with that in my cuttlebug. Mind you, mine was one of the early cuttlebugs and seems a bit tighter than some I have heard of - even though I have had for a while and used a lot.

I bought the GC for two reasons - to cut out larger apertures and to make it easier to cut standard size apertures in larger cards. However I have since bought some of the larger size embossing folders available. If you are going to buy the GC and use for embossing then the raspberry plate or the craft creations special white plate are a good idea.

If I was starting out again and had the money to outlay in one go I would plump for the Big Shot Pro (the 12" x 12" one) BUT that does need a fair bit of space to leave out on the workspace.

Stephanie