Rebalancing the hobby and collection

[Easy E]

I rarely have that cloud of doom, because getting the army done is usually part of a larger objective like .  Those objectives are often releasing a rule set, hosting a demo game for the public, a charity event, taking it to a school event, etc.  There is also usually a bit of a deadline and I typically have about 6-12 months to finish the project. 

These factors keep me on my toes and do not let projects linger.
 

[AndrewBeasley]

I added a twist to my sort out - I could not sell / give away / bin a lot of my 28mm pile as I love the figures (but honestly doubt I will do anything with them) so I decided that ALL 28s would be archived in the roof for now.

I'm on my second box (64Ltr RUB) of bits after two months of hunting and still keep finding the odd figure or bag of bits tucked away in corners 

This still leaves me blocks / 2mm / 6mm and 15s to play with and drool over so its not like I'm stuck for size changes!

[Robosmith]

The problem with binning stuff is eventually you want something similar and have got rid of it. I threw out a bunch of stuff years back and regret it. But I'm also at maximum storage now and I am forced to work on what I have and not buy new stuff. Which then creates the problem of needing space for finished projects that formerly sat in hardware boxes not needing safe tall storage boxes to store them. It's an awkward catch 22.

[Norm]

Sellers Regret - something most of us have likely experienced at one time or another and there is no reason to suspect that this time around, I will be immune from it ……. but, best foot forward and all of that!

My own productivity has increased over recent weeks and there is a sense that all the things that I am working on are things that are worth working on, because I ‘know’ I am on a more deliberate path and the distractions have gone.

That sense within me is quite strong, but it is too early not to add the qualifier ….. for now! :-)

[v_lazy_dragon]

I'm a great believer in selling stalled projects... and sellers regret definitely kicks in occasionally. Worst times are where figures fell out of production and cant be replaced!
Outside of that, you can always buy it back... on the work bench at the  moment are my third  attempt at  doing Foundry's Blackfoot Indians. Not selling them again!

[Robosmith]

I'm a great believer in selling stalled projects... and sellers regret definitely kicks in occasionally. Worst times are where figures fell out of production and cant be replaced!
Outside of that, you can always buy it back... on the work bench at the  moment are my third  attempt at  doing Foundry's Blackfoot Indians. Not selling them again!

I'll give you a fiver and a handshake for em!

How many times have you restarted projects you sold off?

[AndrewBeasley]

...
How many times have you restarted projects you sold off?

I've repurchased one naval game at least 4 times - last two where sold without it being played 

[v_lazy_dragon]

So on a big, recreating the whole project, scale.. 4 times (WHFB Empire, Atomic Cafe and 'early 1830s-50s' old west, the Tiger miniatures Mounties sets). Which sounds like a lot, but compared to all that I have sold over the years really isn't. Atleast those blackfoot stand out as being the only thing purchased 3 times!
I have also brought 1 or 2 packs of stuff again after I sold them (a few Grenadier future wars figures, and a 1st Corps ACW command set that was originally in my VSF Confederate army and I wanted back in my 'proper' ACW force).

[Daeothar]

...the idea of getting rid of anything that I painted and spilled time and effort on is anathema to me...

I am well and truly in the same camp when it comes to this.

My first 'real' army was an enamel painted RTB01 space marine one (black Dark Angels with red insignia). I sold this off when I moved cities to go to uni and that decision has haunted me to this day. The pitiful amount I received for it was supposed to be spent on the book list for my first year, but as several volumes were delayed, it was mostly spent on beer instead in the meantime

Then I discovered that many of my fellow students collected and played as well, and there were a thriving store and club in town too! Luckily I had not sold off everything, so I spent the remaining four years over there playing Necromunda, as I had never sold off my Esher gang.

But all of this drove me to vow to myself to never sell off anything I have poured my sweet time and effort into. It's not about the process itself for me apparently, but also about the end result. I've felt like this about all of the things I've made in the past too, come to think of it. I have no idea how many paintings and drawings I've done in over 40 years, but I do recall each of only a handful of instances where I gave my work away...

Most of my painting projects never actually see the table, but go directly into the display cabinets. Interestingly, the games I play the most these days (skirmish games all) are all played with unpainted (or undercoated at best) forces, while my display cases keep on filling.

I will start a huge clear out soon, as I've amassed too much stuff for too many projects and it's time for a bit of introspective honesty (again).

Many projects will either never get done or I have just accumulated too much stuff for, so those will have to go. Then there are projects that I might start on eventually, but not in the foreseeable future, so I will sell those off too and acquire new assets when the time comes.

My main motivation is the rapid oncoming lack of space. I like my gaming/hobby room nice and neat. I have a new gaming table planned that requires the elimination of (almost) all of the storage underneath, So stuff has to either go elsewhere, or be sold off. And right now, the amount of stuff is starting to get too much; I can't move the boxes from under the table, as I don't have the space to move them out fo the way.

So the only solution is to rationalize and to get rid of what I don't need (soon).

But this will under no circumstance include my built and painted miniatures and terrain...

[Elbows]

I think that mainly depends on a couple of things, though.

1) Did you get use out of the models?  No one wants to get rid of stuff that's never hit the table.
2) Did you make decent money back on the models?  No one wants to lose money on miniatures...and then the time they spent.
3) Will the miniatures ever see the table again?

In my example, where I sold off two large 40K armies...they met all of the above criteria.  I painted the miniatures, played games with them for 3-4 years, and then sold them at a minor profit (if I exclude painting time, as I don't much mind spending a couple hours to paint a squad of figures).  In some instances, I sold models for $70 where I paid $17 for them.  All that money just went to buying new stuff for all my other projects (funding entire new armies and tables worth of terrain).

And in that situation, I decided I have zero interest in "mass battle" sci-fi games in 28mm.  I could have kept a small selection for the occasional 2nd edition game, but decided against it.

I have some minor regrets selling a few other sets of miniatures - but in almost all cases, the stuff being sold has already been replaced by newer/nicer/better painted stuff.  This removes any regret I might feel.  I wouldn't intentionally sell miniatures that had sentimental value to me, or that were known to be very exclusive/rare, etc.

[ced1106]

Easier to sell stuff if you have another copy! 

In fact, if you're selling your painting services, I recommend a wholly radical and unconventional way (: of buying two copies of a popular boardgame, assembly-painting both sets, and selling off the second copy. You paint the second set faster than if you painted the second set separately, the buyers can see the paintjob before buying, you can set a closed auction across multiple boards (eg. BoardGameGeek and reddit), the winning bidder doesn't have to wait for you to paint the entire set, and anyone who failed the bid you can see if they're interested in a commission.

I've traded games for not-very-much that would be worth hundreds of dollars a few decades later. Who remembers the Marvel Universal Roleplaying Game with the Poor, Fair and up to Shift X columns?   

[Elbows]

I had the G.I. Joe aircraft carrier as a kid...lost it in one of the many moves my family made...don't need to tell me about "lost value" 

I'm going to go have a cry now.

[Mr. White]

I turn 49 at the end of the month. I'm getting to a point where I want to slow down the number of projects I need to paint. There's a few more goals I have for my life that I have yet to achieve that I want to give some time to. At the beginning of the year, I decided on two things:

1) To no longer sell any painted mini. I use to sell painted minis to fund future projects. Now... I'll just keep what's already done because I don't want future projects to paint. Maybe down the road at some point, I'll end up finding uses for what I've already sunk hours into.

2) Limit the current active project list to 5 lines:

• Blood Bowl
• Battletech
• 28mm Feudal Japan
• 1/72 Post Apoc
• 1/72 (or 15mm) fantasy/historic

I'm not working on anything beyond the above. Some of them are almost 100% done. I figure Blood Bowl and Battletech have proven themselves to have legs. Both are running on almost 30 year old rulesets, that I enjoy, and both have healthy grassroot communities. They are the two games I'll be able to find local communities of wherever I find myself. The other three are games and settings that'll I'll provide the sides for and host at the house. These are more passion projects with models that I want to enjoy working on.

2023 was _very_ successful for me. Here's the end of the year blog post: https://wyrdstonesandtacklezones.com/2023/12/23/2023-in-review/

TLDR: I painted about 178 models and lots of terrain/dressing type objects.

It was a fantastic year. I plan to have another goal list for 2024 and if I'm as productive in 2024 as I was in 2023 I have a great shot of wrapping up all my projects. I'm hoping that by the end of 2024 the only thing I have left to paint in the future is the odd singular mini here or there. A BB star player. maybe a Ronin Sword for Hire or Dragon Rampant character. Maybe a piece of terrain. That sort of thing. No more "projects" to undertake, just the occasional, singular model.

[VonAkers]

Sorry did you say sell your  figures ?  ...  your kidding right ..??... rather sell the wife      .. 
Cheers