Mafia Wars Boosts. What are they?

One new feature in Mafia Wars is the boost. Also, a new Cuba tier was added - El Cacique. I'll cover boosts in this post, Cacique in the next. Boosts are consumable power-ups that give you added bonuses, for example +5 attack when fighting or energy reduction costs for jobs.

You can get them two ways. The simpler ones can be bought by going to Inventory, then "Boosts". As of now, you need to be in New York to buy boosts, they are not sold in Cuba (yet). I am assuming they will put more purchasable boosts in. This is a needed change because it actually gives Mafia Wars players something to do with their virtual cash. Here are some pictures:

That is an example of some the three boosts you can buy. You may notice that below it is an item called "Hobo Lookout" which provides +60 robbing skill. The more powerful boosts like this one are the result of turning in collection items. You can re-vault a collection to receive a number of boosts. This number appears to vary from collection to collection (but it not a random number). Feel free to post in the comments how many items each vault gives so I can post it up.

Boosts are automatically used if you have them. As an example, one of my hobos will be used up every time I am robbed. Once I have been robbed 7 times, all my hobos will be gone and I will no longer get that bonus. Here is an picture showing using a boost in a fight:

This is where the new interface comes in handy; things would get quite messy if your boost was listed somewhere in the wall of text of equipment in the old fighting interface.

When you vault a collection, you get a message like this:
The boosts can then be found in your inventory. There is a different set of boosts for each collection. Here is a complete list:

Diamond Flush Collection:
Tripwire: +10 fight defense skill

Heart Flush Collection:
Cappuccino: -3 job energy costs

Sculptures Collection:
Alarm System: +15 robbing defense skill

Poker Chips Collection:
Bulldog: +18 fight defense skill

Club Flush Collection:
Problem Solver: -5 job energy costs

Boxing Collection:
Semi-Pro Boxer: +15 attack skill

Cigars Collection:
Fixer: -8 job energy cost

Spade Flush Collection:
Sting Grenade: +20 attack skill

Billiards Collection:
Bouncer: +27 robbing defense skill

Rings Collection:
Blueprints: -10 job energy cost

Ties Collection:
Injunction: +25 fight defense skill

Paintings Collection:
Motion Detector: +37 robbing defense skill

Cufflinks Collection:
Corporate Muscle: +35 attack skill

Barber Collection:
Shave and a Haircut: +30 fight defense skill

Great Race Horses Collection:
Inside Tip: -16 job energy costs


Cuba Boosts (need to be at Cuba collections screen to turn these in):

Rum Drinks Collection:
Flaming Shot: +30 attack skill

Tropical Fruits Collection:
Boosted Smoothie: -18 job energy costs (2 received per vault)

Entertainers Collection:
Sandbag Wall: +35 fight defense skill (7 received per vault)

Tropical Fish Collection:
Blowfish Dart: +40 attack skill

Beards Collection:
Hobo Lookout: +60 defense skill (7 received per vault)

Conclusion:

All in all, a nice little addition to the game. Hopefully the developers will add more boosts that you can purchase with money so that in game currency actually has some value!