"reality check on my/our hobby mindset" Topic

Why is it so hard for us to part with our unpainted unused toys sometimes?

I spun through my armies of all sizes/scales recently and realized that some figures (bought with good intentions) have been unpainted for two plus decades – maybe more than three decades in one case – and I realize I will never paint/play with them [for various reasons] and yet actually getting rid of them always seems {less so now days} to have been difficult unless it was like my boxes of 1/87th, 1/76th, 172nd scale WW II stuff about a decade ago that I spur of the moment sold post flea market to a friend's son for a pittance rather than haul back to the basement. That one seemed "right" and "easy" at the time and still does.

And I don't mean selling them (though that can be a bigger burden than just re-boxing them for storage) only. I have started trading, or just giving them away to people I deem deserving, to reduce the contents of shelves of krmulticase.com cases in the basement.

I know they are not going to do be used ever but the idea of (by whatever means) disposing of them used to bring out the Gollum "My Precious" side of my personality in the past. Why do we think like that?

Because people who become collectors already tend towards hoarding. If you don't have that tendency, collecting doesn't seem like such an attractive hobby.

To a point I have this because I once sold a 1200 pint well painted High Elf army and then two years later started my Warhammer 1000 project and missed that army.

I try to deal with this by being very conservative with my collection.

I buy and sell all the time. I have never missed an army/collection I sold.

Sunk costs fallacy? link

Steep loss of money on perfectly good minis.

Unless they're rare, or in high demand, losing 50%, or more on miniatures with "low mileage" is probably a shock to most peoples' psyches.

I am painting right now, this minute, some miniatures I bought 30 years ago, along with some I bought last month. I just gave to a friend some miniatures I painted 35 years ago, and never did anything with. They've guarded a display case for 35 years, maybe they'll finally smell powder.

As long as I have the house space, why not keep them? On the other hand, once I make my mind up that I'm *not* going to finish or play with some toys, I will do my best to flog them off for whatever they'll bring, in cash or in personal satisfaction.

I'm gonna live forever, and I'm gonna play with all the toys.

I just gave away like 25 bags of OG 15 Napoleonics because after 17 years, I realized I was never going to paint them…but I did cart them through 11 moves and to Canada and back… Not to mention the boxes of old S&Ts and Wargamers and Fire and Movements that made the same trip. I think maybe I watched too many episodes of Antiques Roadshow and had convinced myself that one day one of the hosts was going to shout with glee: "Holy cow! Strategy and Tactics issue XX with Fall of Rome and all the pieces! This will be worth THOUSANDS to the right collector." Then one day, I realized _I_ was the right collector and it would be five bucks--tops.

I recently made a list of my projects, and put them into 1st, 2nd, & 3rd priority catagories. They are … what I want to get done in the next 6 months, … what I want to get done after that, … and what perhaps one day I might get done or maybe get rid of otherwise. By putting them in catagories, and keeping track of their progress, I'm getting more done by reviewing the lists as the projects proceed, and reminding myself of what needs to be accomplished.

As gamers, both Wargaming snd RPGs, we convince ourselves that we'll play that game again someday. Someday never comes. I do know people who still play AD&D 1st edition and Rogue Trader, but they are probably a single digit percentage of the gamers I know and tend to only play within those small circles. I moved a dozen boxes into an attic and when I was getting ready to move a decade later I hadn't opened the boxes in all that time. Considering they were all old RPG books and we were moving into a smaller apartment I just ebayed everything that would sell. I kept stuff I knew I could repurpose and a couple of things that had actual sentimental value and didn't regret selling anything.

"…This will be worth THOUSANDS to the right collector." Then one day, I realized _I_ was the right collector and it would be five bucks--tops. grin

jeffreyw3 wins this thread.

Good topic for a poll:

TMP link

I used to have that problem until I admitted that they were never going to get painted or gamed with. After that, I had no problem selling them off. I have sold lots of painted and unpainted figures over the years; I can't imagine going back to the hoarding, and I'm still clearing stuff out

I grew up poor, so yes, I do tend to hang on to things. I have sold some things off once I realized my interests had changed, and I'd never get to them.

Grelber

I go through a purge every few years. I keep the ranges I game the most, but the special, oooo shiney purchases that have sat for a few years go away. I just dont have the room.

I made a pilgrimage to Storage yesterday, and found a small box of 28mm Boxer Rebellion miniatures. Based on the box I found them in, I have had them for at least ten years. The basing and priming was not mine. I must have gotten them as a bonus in a trade, but I honestly don't remember ever acquiring them. I have never played Colonials.

Just this month, I accepted an invitation to join a bimonthly Colonials campaign. My wife ordered me my first force (Japanese) for Giftmas, but then I found these guys. Natural enemies for my incoming Japanese.

This is why it is important to never get rid of any miniatures. Ever.

Punkrabbit for the win.

Moving does help force purges.

As long as I have the house space, why not keep them?

This is my current problem – I don't have the space and the boxes are beginning to encroach on the water heater. This is not good.

And it is only going to get worse as

1) I retire and we clean out the basement for eventually moving to an apartment after the last child graduates/moves out

2) I am changing scales to reduce the space per army which means I have even more excess armies that won't be used.

losing 50%, or more on miniatures with "low mileage" is probably a shock to most peoples' psyches.

I have a few forces I would "sell" for postage and whatever the buyer wanted to pay.

Reminder, Don't PM if you are fishing for a list I am not using the PM function.

I have 15mm Stone Mountain Confederates that I primed in 1993…that are still waiting to be painted….

And last weekend I opened up my AH "Bookcase Game – Starship Troopers", and found maps and battle reports I had written on games I played in June….of 1978…."