My favorite rpg's are DnD 3.5 (I haven't tried pathfinder, although I've heard good things about it), Call of Cthulhu, Ars Magica, and for one-shot games, Paranoia is a hoot.

Battletech had cardboard figures in the core game, but my friends were hard-core and collected and painted the miniatures, and we played with those. Fun times, although I recall the games ran a bit slowly.

SGN represents a bit of a return to the gaming community for me. I get together with college buddies once a year, and we play games, but this will be my first new game that I (hope to) play year round.