"How Much is 'Too Much'?" Topic

In the comments section to a recent blogpost on being a 'wargames executor', Bob Cordery said that his recent experiences as 'wargames executor' link for a deceased wargamer had made him consider downsizing his collection as a result of being faced with the reality of how much he was likely to use of his own collection in the future. And in the most recent edition of MW link Neil Shuck writes:

Over recent years, I appear to have let things get a little out of hand. Most collectors of garage kits have what they refer to as their ‘Wall of shame' on which
reside all the model kits that they haven't yet built. Mine isn't so much a wall as the entire spare room, and it is currently threatening to take over the lounge! It's
definitely way past time for a good sort out and general tidy up.

Do you have an idea in your head about how much wargames stuff in your room/flat/house would be 'too much'? Or how much stuff would be too much compared to probable years of life remaining?

I have a trouble comprehending 'Too much' in connection with wargames. It is certainly more than I have now but I now try to keep my buying down to my painting rate.

x42

I've done a couple of down sizes, but I'm always impressed at how quickly I acquire "too much" all over again.

I am, perhaps, one of the 'wargames executors' mentioned in Bob Corderys blog.

My best friend and wargaming buddy died last November and I have exhausted all of my wargames time since then processing his wargames collections to raise a charitable donation in his name.

10 months down the line, I am nowhere near finished and haven't played a wargame in that time. My friend was only 58 when he passed away so in effect I was dealing with approximately 40 years worth of stuff. I am 65 next birthday so by the same measure I have 50 years worth in my collections.

I couldn't say for sure that whoever deals with my stuff will have the same fantastic support I have experienced in processing 14 carloads of figures, books and terrain. It has been an exhausting experience.

I expect that I will be downsizing over the next year or two to get things manageable.

It will also make it easier to pick up the latest 'ooh shiny' offering which is the bane of the hobby.

When I moved to Europe back in 1998, I gave away about 25 years of wargaming stuff, and since I started again from scratch back in 2002, I haven´t really accumulated that much (my wife would heartily disagree with that). Still, I have figures that have sat unpainted for as long as five years, so perhaps I do have too much and should think about downsizing.
Okay, I thought about it just now, and have decided against it.

My problem is twofold. I really enjoy planning and researching projects, working out which figures will do what I want best and then planning basing and getting uniform and other data. I try and wait until one project is completed (or close to it) before moving on to the next set of plans (and I have many) for a project but often don't succeed. By the time I have accumulated the figures I start to either lose interest or move to something different and so stuff gets left gathering dust.

Second problem is that I work in scales no bigger than 15mm and, nowadays, mostly 6 & 10mm. Why a problem ? Because you can store these very simply in small places and you can have LOTS of them waiting to be painted and based. You just seem to be able to find space for just one more project – not too costly either and the saga continues.

Sometime I envy those who can work with 54mm figures – space requirements would mean I'd be able to have 1 or two decent sized armies and definitely neither room nor cash to get more.

Mind you, it would be a lot less interesting than what I've got now and all those other periods I could switch to if/when I want to.

I'm 65 and its all getting buried at sea with me – to weigh down the body instead of a cannonball.

Gildas, I know what you mean with planning, there is nothing so tasty as biting into a new project!

I like the burial at sea idea btw.

If you have long forsaken unpainted stuff you can sell and use the funds to buy painted stuff you'll use immediately, why wouldn't you do it? It's been working pretty well so far for me. You're not really downsizing as much as converting.

The challenge is to only use the funds for already painted stuff or have someone paint your unpainted stuff for you. Otherwise it gets used for the dreaded "other stuff".

DM

I too have lots of stuff. A lot of terrain that would be great to use but still in the shipping boxes. I suffer like the rest of the hobby with the "oh shiny" disease. Currently it's been for boxed games that I can play solo.

I try to think hard about the collections that have sat around for a long time taking up shelf and storage space. I am amazed at projects that I have started with much enthusiasm only to burn out during the painting cycle.

As mentioned above, I too enjoy the planning stage. It's hard for me as I struggle with the research part. I just don't retain unit facts like most do. Especially army organizations.

Still, I enjoy this hobby and try to keep it contained.

If I haven't got room to store it all then it's too much!

I have downsized years ago. Sold off everything and started three 40mm ranges, AWI, ACW and Medieval. I also had a 40mm Wild West collection but am in the process of selling it off also. I just paint units as I need them now. I can breathe again and don't feel overwhelmed. Very happy gaming and building my armies at a slower rate. I am probably more organized than most gamers so it wasn't hard for me to say goodbye to all my 15mm, 20mm, 25mm, 28mm, and 54mm collections over the years. My eye site is much happier also!

Agreed Doug. It's nice to have matched pairs where you only need to paint a unit here and there to expand either side. One less stressor.

MB – I'm to that same point where if I want to enter a new period I have to make space for it.

I've found that the proverbial lead pile can weigh on my "gaming psyche" while it awaits painting. A kind of "Tell Tale Heart" aspect. I'm down to one pretty sizable matched pair that I've been building for a few years(Trojan Wars), one classical Indian army to fight the Macedonians already painted and a smattering of units to add to existing armies.

We were chuckling the other day at the irony of when we were younger (30 years ago) we had less stuff but more time to game. Now we're older and have the all stuff we dreamed of having but no time to play with it. Funny thing life.

DM

I've been downsizing and reorganizing for awhile, but my object is to get rid of unused projects and put that money into another project or two. I am no longer trying to do a bunch of things; I want to do fewer things well. I am no longer interested in buying bags and bags of unpainted figures and have them sitting around. I also buy pre-painted figures or send figures out to be painted.

Saw something on one blog (Harry's?) where it was said 'How can you have too much of something you didn't need in the first place?'

I'll agree with that.

@Garrison Miniatures,

I remember reading that in Achtung Schweinhund. I took his point, but I'm not sure that is the final word on it. For instance, I don't need any novels around the house, but having a few shelves of stories feels quite different from telling the rest of my family I need every wall of every room covered in shelves to keep them all.

I am in the midst of a major purging because I am relocating from the west coast of the US to the east coast. I don't have the time to sell or ship the figures, so I will take the opportunity to bless my friends with free painted figures. One thing I keep in mind which is making this easier is that I painted most of my collection to match the armies of others, not in matched pairs. Second, whatever group(s) I find on the east coast will likely be using a different basing standard than what I have.

I have lost two close gaming friends over the years, and the amount of "stuff" left behind is a sobering reminder to me not to accumulate too much. I don't want to leave too much when it's time for me to be called home.

As Peter Walsh says, if you hang onto things too long for the memories, and others because you "might use them someday" your past and your future leave no room for living in the present.

My late friend moved several/many times over the decades, and he lost stuff each time, but more troubling was the increasing disarray of his collections of books, wargaming armies (painted and unpainted), and the whole shebang. He would say, "yeah, I have those (that), somewhere, I'll have to dig it out". And he rarely if ever did. When we went through his stuff to divvy it out among his friends we found duplicates of a lot of things. It was just easier to rebuy than to find amongst the dozens of boxes put wherever they ended up from the last move.

I have downsized a number of times over the years. And the only thing I regret are a few books that I wish I had kept.

My philosophy is that if you have the room you can fill it up, but don't let your toys start to take over the house, that isn't fair to the others in the family. Later, when kids have moved away, space considerations don't change that much, because the wife's wants about how the place looks grow to fit the freed up space! You better know your place and stick inside it if you want to maintain marital amity. Even at that, she reminds me several times a year, "You're not using any of that stuff. Isn't it time to get rid of a 'few' things?" Nope, you never know when a game with it will be on offer. And the unwritten law of the universe says that as soon as you get rid of something you haven't used in years, you'll be needing/wanting to use it right away….

I have left instructions to give mine away and put what's left in the garbage. My collection though fills a large walk in cliset, and no more. All of my figures will fit in a minivan. You'd need a second trip for the terrain.

I told the wife to sell all my stuff and retire, cruising around the world. She plans to have Paco bring her fancy umbrella drinks all day.

May be why she is part enabler. Even telling me to order something. Definitely a keeper.

I'm coming to a conclusion that I need to pare down what I have, and concentrate on a few things and play those, rather than the shotgun approach I have taken up to now. I am definately going to be taking stock of what I do have in the coming months and paring it down to an enjoyable amount. It has to me become a burden to have so much unpainted stuff.

"And the unwritten law of the universe says that as soon as you get rid of something you haven't used in years, you'll be needing/wanting to use it right away…."

Actually, it's now written; there's a word for it in the Deeper Meaning of Liff.

I'm downsizing now, as packaging becomes available. Dumped my Warmachine collection and am buying it anew, this time streamlined so I don't end up with over 300 points of stuff I'll never play with. Currently working on my D&D prepaints and plastic kits, and some 12mm terrain; decided there must be a more efficient way to collect terrain for 10/12mm.

For me it is about velocity – the more I paint the more i collect and I haven't got much done of late so I have purchased very little.

The demise of 15mm ancients in the dealers at HMGS cons has been a big money saver for me.

I have thought of purging more of my older collections but then we usually schedule a game using it. As long as we have my friends place where we game to store everything I am ok. If he dies first, I am in trouble.

Texas Jack, you sir are a man after my own heart.

Okay, I thought about it just now, and have decided against it.

JimDuncan, just though when it happens and you "dispose" of the rest after the new show, just dont write about it. I feel ill each and every time i read about such things are just binned. Makes me a sad panda. :-(

Grimm

I also hate to hear about thing going into the dump.

Before putting everything into the trash, I would suggest you contact the local convention folks/game club. They may be willing to pick it all up and set up a table at the con for free stuff. I'm willing to bet that they won't have much more than empty boxes by the end of the weekend.