"A little self-discipline with my hobby" Topic

I think that most veteran minis gamers will agree that this hobby can become a bit of an obsession. I took a look at my collection long and hard over the past week, and am getting rid of about two thirds of it (don't ask if I'll sell, it is all going to the local Boys and Girls Club, and a few friends).

The problem is very simple. I just have too damn many figures. Many of them I have no gamed with in years, they are filling up massive numbers of boxes in the basement, and many have actually suffered from simple neglect.

So, I came to a catastrophic decision. One ordinary sized toolbox (for example: link and no more per genre (such as high fantasy, sci fi, VSF, WWII, etc.). Such a one will hold about 800 15mm figs (making an allowance for a reasonable number of larger sized figs such as cavalry, vehicles and giant fantastic monsters), 450 25mm figs, and (similar sized, but without the drawers) maybe 120 54mm figs.

Beyond this, if I decide I want something more, I do one of three things:

1. I get rid of something I no longer need,

2. I switch to a smaller scale,

or

3. I don't get it.

I think this will actually improve my enjoyment of my hobby. There are minis in my collection that have not seen the light of day in years, and many that I have never gamed with since painting them. The old lady has complained, and I think rightly so.

So, what about you, ever done anything similar?

Meph'

I am going through something similar at the moment. The dentist gave a heart stopping price for some dental work a couple of weeks ago, so I am parting company with some unfinished projects to raise some cash. I couldn't give stuff away I'm afraid, just too tight!

I could of course, decide not to have the dental work done, but personally I feel 50 is too young to become gummy on one side. So I hope to raise at least half the price by selling three or four nearly finished projects.

I haven't yet had a storage problem yet, but who knows? Maybe in 20 years I'll have 20-30 boxes of crap to lug around.

I'm looking down the barrel of a major inventory reduction. After 35 years in the hobby, the collection is beyond all bounds of reason.

The local crew know I've been showing up at convention flea markets with a carload. That will continue. This weekend I hope to get a batch up on ebay. Watch the marketplace board for announcements.

Yeah – I have been slimming down my piles of lead. Too much impulse buying or getting bored with projects. I have found clearing out does fire you up to get some of the more important projects moving.

Quite lucky to have obtained a load of old map chests, most of the chaps live in the drawers in the garage, with a number in toolboxes under beds in the house – always disperse your assets!

Most will get used and I have large numbers awaiting painting, the old wargames future projects!

Tally Ho!

I "dumped" nearly everything a year ago when I had a room full of stuff and had to move it all. I kept my two core interests and some other things that I haven't had the heart to part with (but eventually will). I have been interested in other stuff (intensely in Sudan, right now) but keep convincing myself to stay focused.
I was going in too many directions.

It's very easy to see handsome minis on sites like TMP or the manufacturers own sites and order stuff you don't need and that you'll never end up painting. I've done that loads of times and ending up sticking them on ebay some months down the line. I suspect many of the new 28mm plastics appearing now will have this effect on people.

At one point I got so cross with myself I took a box set of SST and stamped on it and threw it in the bin. It was VERY cathartic but now I see the line is discontinued I kind of regret it!

Pretty strict with myself now and I stick to Colonials and WW2 and a little skirmish gaming.

But those new plastic Romans, hmm…..

I'm keeping all of mine so that I have something to do when I retire. I'd hate to get bored.

like most hobby related problems i find that ignoring it makes it go away

temporarily

but nevertheless it does go away

I pared down a year ago and my mini purchases since then would fit in a small shoe box. Even better, my unpainted pile has gotten a big dent in it and another 3000-4000 figures go to Sri Lanka this week…

I switched from 28mm to 20mm. It just takes up so much less space. Not that there isn't so much beautiful and wonderful stuff in 25mm and 28mm, but the space savings for storage and smaller space required to throw down a game are a huge bonus.

I still have all of my old 25mm and 28mm stuff, but I do not plan on anything new unless my son promises to take it with him when he moves out.

LLC aka Ron

La Long Carabine "I switched from 28mm to 20mm."

Started that a while ago, except that for me, the shift was more dramatic. I went from 1/32 to 15mm, all for the same purpose. I have not been able to bring myself to part with my 1/32 colonials yet -the paint jobs are just too good- but, I think that eventually, I will.

I think everyone involved with the hobby goes through this at least once in their lives. I'm not sure it's because of the amount of stuff we have, or if our interests change.
I know that I would like to sell off some stuff and pair down my miniatures gaming to 3-4 different periods.

I've got about 150+ B&B FFL figures, beautifully painted, and I haven't done the Arabs yet!

You guys are crazy!

I have a "library" room full of my miniatures in my basement and a large table of more waiting to find space on the shelf.

I tried the "throw it out" literally a decade or so ago when me and my wife were going through some problems. What I discovered was that "wives will be wives" whether its miniatures, cloths, work, the car, the TV, the baseball league, etc. and it has nothing to do with me playing with little lead men. However, when it is all said and done and the wife (and life) have lost interest in you, I still find enjoyment in the faces and uniforms of my little Army.

My miniatures not only represent figures to be gamed with but distinct periods in my life. Each painting on each one contains memories of the times and interests I had back then.

I severely lament having to get rid of my prior collection which had I had amassed from age 16 to about 22. To this day, I find games, miniatures and books I had in that collection that easily go for "hundreds" of dollars and I only sigh and say "it had to be done". And since my went the way of the "bin" they were not only lost to me but to our community for all time.

I still sell or trade or giveaway stuff that I've bought and really just want or no longer have an interest in but a "wholesale" purge for the sake of "space" and "utility" is totally out of the question.

Finally, this is normally the part in the post where I would suggest you send what you don't want to me, but simply by not asking you to do that shows that my collection and my outlook on the hobby is healthy.

deanoware & kyoteblue

Ya know guys, "denial" is not just a river in Egypt.

I;ve done the big clear out, down to one scale and two periods – WW1 and Vietnam both in 15mm, but I still have a massive backload of unfinished, unpainted stuff – I think it's just never going to go.

Mephisto said:
>Beyond this, if I decide I want something more, I do one of three things:
1. I get rid of something I no longer need,
2. I switch to a smaller scale,
or
3. I don't get it.<

Yer kidding yerself, my friend. If you are really a wargamer your wonderful plan above will survive less than 90 days. Please post here on the 14th of August and report how you have done keeping the above resolutions.

Chick

I think about it and I just get rid of something else that I don't need…like clothes.

I weed through my collection pretty regularly, especially since ebay has become such a solid market for older gaming stuff. I've been particularly brutal about cleaning out games lately…anything that's gone unused for more than ten years is automatically on the chopping block these days, even stuff that used to escape on the grounds of nostalgia.

I've purged entire scales/eras to downsize. 15mm ACW gone and not replaced. 15mm New Kingdom Egyptians gone and replaced with 10mm Gauls. 15mm Napoleonic Russians and French gone and not replaced. 1/2400 WW2 gone and replaced by 1/3000 WW1 & WW2 subsequently replaced with 1/6000 WW1&2. Most boardgames – gone, GW Epic – gone, 1/285 microarmour gone replaced by a modest 15mm FOW mid-war US.

Been there, done that.

Yeah, going through a downsizing at the moment. I've had a few periods of intense fig buying craziness over the past 3 years alone, and now that I've filled half the basement, half my internal laundry room, and three-quarters of the study, my wife insisted that I start liquidating some of this stuff.

That's when you get the Ilyad sales going on at WarGamesMarket. She's a little happier now that I've actually cleared out the laundry room.

But rest assured, I'm busy re-filling things up …

I've been back in the hobby some years now, after being "out" since the late 80's. At that time I had collected thousands of painted 25mm historical figures and about the same number of books, but I stored them instead of selling for which I'm grateful now: "updating" the paintwork on 20 year old M'figs & rebasing is much less work than starting from scratch. Don't get me wrong: I've acquired a huge new pile since, but thanks to my original collection there are several periods (e.g. Naps, Ancients)that I would doubt I would be able (time, time, time…) to create armies in right now. I already have dozens of armies waiting to be painted, but much of that might hopefully be done after retirement (max 7 years from now…) when cash will be tighter. Meanwhile, I enjoy owning them…

Rudi

I had far too many 28mm figures – so many that the task of starting paint them was too daunting with the result they just gathered dust.

Finally I sold all of the 28mm collection and am happily painting 20mm figures again.

Haven't looked back since.

Kind regards

Phil

I trimmed my collection to fund my collection.

I'm more selective about what I have these days. A box of figures I am never going to use is ebayed off and I can buy the things that I really need.

I am however hanging on to all my Marauder dwarfs although I don't have any plans for them at all. Those are my "someday" figures. :)