"Are you planning on downsizing/reducing in 2026?" Topic

I'll admit. I have way too many ongoing projects and halfway started/non finished projects and projects I want to do, but never honestly will; as well as games that I have that I will never play.
My collection needs to be culled for some room.

I'm planning on a flea market table at Little Wars in April. Board Games, some miniatures, and a lot of scenics and some terrain.

So are you going to cut down on "your stuff" next year?

I think about it every year, but whether I'll actually carry through is debatable.

Merry Christmas to all and a joyous New Year!

Jim

Already did, in the approach to a downsizing house move.
I still paint new models but its very tightly focussed.

I've realized that I have a massive collection of Starship Troopers stuff that I will never ever get to. So that's gonna be going.

Yeah, downsizing.

I'm going to be 65 tomorrow and I realize I'm not going to be here forever. Been selling things already at Flea Markets, I assume that trend will continue.

What has really helped with downsizing was my purchase of my 3D printer. Bought zero pieces of terrain and few miniatures this year. I just printed what I want.

I did recently purchase though Guards of Trators Toll, but I bought the miniature less bundle. Will use the minis I have for Guards, I'm printing the Villagers and the buildings and clutter myself…..

Dave

I started a sell-off this year. I will continue it into 2026. The problem is that I keep finding cool stuff that I am interested in.

The only thing that keeps me from being on an episode of Hoarders is that my hobby is mostly small, 28mm figures. I will try this year to slow purchases and try to find new homes for some of my stuff.

The short answer is yes, I'll do some downsizing. But I'm not sure what I'll part with. I don't think it will involve dealing off a major project, but I probably will identify some items I'm never going to get to and offering them up to a better home.

Part of my problem is that two of my closest friends passed away in the last three years and I took on major pieces of their collections for deeply personal reasons, and it has exceeded my ability to safely keep them and access them.

I've already begun parting some things out but more will have to go.

What ColCampbell said. More urgency due to health issues though.

PzGeneral, Guards… was a game I bought into this year. Haven't regretted it!

Need to, want but my efforts are feeble. 80 is not an age to expand or even maintain as the end is nigh.

I have probably been adding more since I retired 4 years ago. Also have "inherited" several large collections.

Have one son and several grand kids that may be interested down the road, if not I'll be looking for some youngsters that I can give everything too.

Way too much stuff to spend my time selling anything, It will all be given away to hopefully a future generation.

Kim

No.

I've decided to keep going until I get fatally buried by large box game sets. It's how he would have wanted to go will be put on the gravestone.

Yes, sort of.

Less books, fewer scales/periods but more in the remainder.

No, next silly question?

Tally Ho!

I've been on that path since retired in 2018.

I use it to fund my War Department. I started with all the stuff that I bought for someday and also did make a major dump to Noble Knight. I've now moved into
Items painted and never played.

Most of the funds were used to enhance the core collection.

A good example was my spaceship collection. Several fleets were sold off. The remaining 3 fleets had some ship classes sold off and others increased.

I'm one of the folks who posts on The Pledge every month, showing how I really am trying to get rid of my unpainted figure pile. No, really. I'm a bit different in that I also list the number of figures sold off, since this is also a decrease in the number of figures in my unpainted pile.

This coming year, I have decided to get organized about the whole thing and have A PLAN. I can usually paint 200 figures in a year, so that's my goal. I'm going to try to limit my purchases to 150 figures. Bit of a decrease, but I think I can divert some of the money and effort to doing scenery and other things. Finally, I have decided I will sell off at least 50 unpainted figures. Maybe more, if I get enthusiastic.

I visited Little Big Horn, the Rosebud, and Fort Phil Kearny three times back in the late 1990s and 2000s and was so enthused that I bought up figures for the wars on the northern plains. Unfortunately, I never got enthusiastic enough to paint them, so some of the cavalry will be first to go. After that, maybe my 15 mm Italians--nobody in my group wanted to do Flames of War, and I only painted one platoon.

I have also started trying to sell off books, spending the money on new things, including a few books. I have even given away books to people who might actually make use of them. Hopefully, this will clear out enough space in my basement hat I can actually set up my table again and play a few solo games.

Grelber

Both my sons share my hobby, so no. They will inherit my vast piles of unfinished things.

Did a reduction the last 2 years to narrow in on the periods I am really interested. Need to thin the book pile and lead mountain still a bit.

Just did. Bunch of stuff went to Noble Knight. I also cull various projects from time to time. Mainly because I have run out of space.

Why downsize….my sons or grand children will have all the enjoyment of handling the collections. It's their fate to read my written and video instructions on the collections, their contents, the huge library room of military and uniform subject books, and even the hobby supplies. Been clearly labeling the collections these past years to identify what is what and organized the library shelves. Just like Martian RC above it's their inheritance.

Yes! Will it happen? Doubtful…

As with Col Durnford, overall volume has been decreasing since retirement in 2015. The 54mm AWI goes to the flea market come April. But I'm nearing the end of this phase. Maybe another two years of gradual thinning, and then it stops unless I have to move into a smaller space.

Still a little building going on. But it takes a lot of 6mm Napoleonic Russians or 2/3mm armored cars to cause serious overcrowding.

Most of the chaps I play with are of a similar age, e.g. retired. They are also the only people likely to buy anything I am trying to sell. So, downsizing is a non-starter, as all my potential customers are in exactly the same situation as I am.
A looming disaster for estates of wargamers as we all pass. Our beautifully painted armies could all be going to the dump.

Yes, been doing it slowly for the last couple of years. I take stuff to the flea market at the local convention and make great deals to sell off what I have brought. Board games, miniatures and terrain. If I find I have some odds and ends I gift them to friend that are currently gaming at that scale. I'd rather see the items get used and provide enjoyment than worry about making every penny I can from a sale.

No.

+1 forrester.

No

Phillius, don't let it happen! Talk to people. Find dealers. Make sure whoever is responsible for your estate knows who to talk to and how to reach them. our "beautifully painted armies" are destroyed regularly by fire, flood or sheet carelessness and ignorance. No reason to add yours to the loss.

Can you imagine the pain you'll be inflicting on your estate's executors if they discover several thousand miniature figures & other paraphernalia in your home that they have to deal with?

Better to shift as much stuff now as wait for the inevitable trips to the Tip.

The Swedes have it right:
link

For all the trouble I went through of collecting the stuff I have, I'm not willingly parting with it… -)

I really should, but I was blindsided with a Flea Market gift from a friend.
Roughly 100 Grenzers, Pandours, Hussars and hillbillies.
What could I do, but expand that into a viable "army"? 🤷

I am getting rid of most of my hex-and-counter games, as they have little appeal to me now.

Yeah. Those boardgames financed many a spending spree at the Dealers from flea market sales.

Do I need to downsize, yes, definitely, I've run out of room for stuff. Will I downsize….eeeeehhh…maybe yes, maybe no.

79th PA +1

And Pz General, I don't think not buying stuff but printing stuff counts as downsizing!😊

I have been in process of reducing my hoard for a few years now.
Many board games have been sold, and a bunch more to go. I have also sold off miniatures as well. Mostly projects never started, and a couple that were partly started.
I made a short list of what I want to keep and focus on. So far, I am sticking to the plan. WW II land warfare in three different scales/sizes, using three different sets of rules. WW II air combat (Battle of Britain). Napoleonics, andsci-fi. Though I think I will be selling off my old starship fleets. The old Superior Models Galactic Knights stuff.. Who knows, maybe this time next year I will have reduced my hoard even more

It is getting hard to expand stock do to the very high cost of games and miniatures. Not buy new or reprder sold games is an option. Over 1000 board games and magazine games in stock.

No! Game on biatches

No.

No

I've already done a couple of waves of major 'downsizing' mainly to consolidate on fewer scales. I usually end up just replacing some it with new stuff, so I get to go on painting but the net result is shrinkage.

Ive got two more sell/replace projects lined up for next year.

My biggest downsize was selling off most of my militaria over a couple years, which saved vast amounts of space and brought in considerable amounts of cash.

New projects are always a source of excitement. Building new armies, doing research and playing games. If I have the space, then the projects continue to happen.
My personal "downsizing" has been in terms of show attendance (down from 32 to 3) and promoting the hobby by doing extra "hobby promotion" events (down from 15 to 2).
This hobby brings me so much pleasure and enjoyment that I need to carry on. Good wishes to all who are gaming/ making and being nice .

martin

Ochoin, trips to The Tip are never inevitable, but it does take planing to avoid them. Leave instructions for your heirs--contact information on friends and dealers especially. No one dumps stuff potentially worth money.

If I go tonight, my children know where the information is--who will pay for the books, who for the troops and terrain, and who would be glad to receive the photocopied stuff which can't legally be sold. I expect them to fly in, pick out whatever they want, make about four pone calls, fly out in about three days and wait for the checks to arrive. There will be no waste unless they get careless, and they're not.

I turn 70 this coming year. Downsizing? Ha! More, more, more!

I am very serious about downsizing, so, I bought $2,000 USD dollars worth of unpainted figures from an estate! Maybe i can get them all painted before the final bell.

Here and there as I work my way through stuff. I have been able to keep purchases to a minimum. Board games is probably an area that needs purging this coming year.

My downsizing next year starts with my library. First to go will be stuff I used to teach that doesn't interest me beyond needing to know because I was teaching it. That will clear a lot of space.

I won't be downsizing my collection but will be reducing the amount I add to the collection. Like Grelber I post on the Pledge as a way of keeping me motivated to paint more control purchases. It's mostly working.

This coming year I will try to focus on completing the figures for existing projects and then getting them on the table.

I always plan to downsize. But my miniatures seem to reproduce at a far larger rate.