Too many toys?

[Archie]

Hi,

I'm relatively new to the forum but it didn't take long before I was reading about 'lead mountains' etc. This is a very interesting article from the BBC about having too many toys.

Having experienced a lot of fun with some impromptu rules, a deck of cards and four figures at the weekend it does make me think ... just how many figures do I need?

Interested in people's thoughts on the article.

Archie

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24759728

[v_lazy_dragon]

In my opinion - It all depends how much variety you want, and how many other players you have in the area.

I spent a lot of time when I was younger playing solo or occasionally with my dad when he had time - as such, variety was the spice of life as no matter how interesting the scenario or period, you will soon get bored with only the same 2 platoons from the same two armies to use in a roughly platoon sized skirmish game!
Later, at University, I often had to provide both forces (sometimes more) for games at the university gaming club (which was really more into RPGs and board games, but would wargame if everything was provided and the rules easy enough to learn) and again - the same few figures would have also goten pretty dull.

If there had been lots of potential opponents around, I could instantly have cut out (atleast) 1 side from my collections, and might well have required less variety from the remaining forces if the opponents had different armies as well...

All that said, I'm a great beliver in trying to use common scenery or figures for different projects to try to minimise my backlogs much as possible (Hence why all my 20mm Soviet kit is unmarked - that way they can be Poles, East Germans, Libyans, Bosnians, etc with only slight innaccuracies...)

[Conquistador]

Hi!

My name is Glenn and I am a war gamer...

Do I have too many figures?

Or do I have a problem in that I have too many eras/genres I think I need to have interest in that drives so many figures/rules/terrain wants?

Right now, as I prepare for retirement I am thinking through all my hobby interests (miniature armies and jewelry making - I won't get into the latter here) and have discovered that, in some cases, I am looking to build armies to play games with other people but not armies in eras/genres I am interested in. 

I find that the quickness of Two Hour Wargames rules are appealing more and more instead of the pseudo-simulations of the past.

Fantasy - yes , but after 400 dwarf figures plus foes what do I really need to satisfy my LOTR driven interest in war gaming fantasy?  When you can provide both sides, terrain, and rules do I really need more?  I have come to realize the correct answer is, "No."

Science Fiction - what do I really like?  Surprisingly, I find I want to play 2D aircraft games disguised as space ship games... (see historical below) plus "combined arms" games at battalion level involving humans (disguised "moderns" in a friend's words) and occasional "bug hunts" (skirmish to platoon sized) games.  I also find that I am wanting a background (well, "my" background) story to drive the battles more and more.

VSF - I have yet to figure out the fascination but it is strong.  I really need to figure out what it is that attracts me so I can focus my miniatures more specifically (i.e., get rid of some that are marginal.)

History - I find more and more I enjoy some eras/genres (1700s New Spain and associated non-historical "Zorro" or S. A. W., Napoleonic armies, A. C. W. to name a few, ) more for the history angle and some (2D Air Combat,) more for the games but much of what I am attracted to in this genre has more to do with the people involved than the miniatures.  I will never have a 7YW army but I always end up playing Koenig Krieg games with a war gamer when he has his armies on the table (or his Samurai eras armies.)  This where I think most of my unpainted lead sits and it is my problem to "fish or cut bait" to reduce the figures I will never paint/play with.

Supers - seeing the last sentence above I realize what a "drug" Heroclix were for me!  No painting!

Yeah, too many toys in my case but that may not apply to others.

While I don't have "a number" to put down right now I know it is less than what I currently have.

For you question I must first ask you are you more a 'skirmishy" war gamer or a "mass battle/big battle" war gamer?  Are you interested in specific genres (History, Fantasy, Science Fiction, VSF, Supers, etc.) or are you all over the spectrum?

Gracias,

Glenn

[zorg]

What's "too many"? As long as you can afford what you buy, I don't see much of a problem. I definitely haven't used all minis I bought or painted, but I had fun painting them, creating storage solutions, and showing them to my friends. If I had spent my money on something else, it would be gone, too, possibly with less lasting effects.

I think you need to realize at some point that you don't need to get everything which is nice and shiny, and that life is too short to play every ruleset available. So if you try to collect all ranges, all eras, all sizes, you'll end up broke and frustrated. In the same way, you're doing it wrong if you don't play or paint at all because you can't decide where to start. But I think this is not really a problem for most people. I think most of us have less time to spend on war-games than we'd like, between Real Life, other hobbies and our jobs - which is quite normal.

If we had another hobby, we'd spend our money on golf clubs, or antique books, or what have you. As long as you enjoy it, it doesn't matter.

Oh, and one more thing: too many toys? That's absurd.

[grant]

I have too many toys, and confessed my sins recently. Oh, I also atoned for them by selling off like 90% of the stuff I owned. It was very freeing to do so.

Avoiding new toys is my new hobby. Doing pretty well at it, so far. Christmas I will get some more, to add to my WWII Germans, which I am ok with. Other than that? I got a new coat (a nice Barbour one!) for my birthday, instead of toys.

Also, I have been painting up a storm without all the distraction of too many projects.

[DoctorPete]

He who dies with the most toys wins.   

[Michi]

I have too many toys. I cant even remember half of what I have and there are figs I have not even seen for 15 years in boxes in the shed.

This sounds too much in fact. I wouldn´t say I have too many - even never had enough when I was a child, perhaps it´s due to that. Compensation...
I know what I have and know where it is. Of course I bit more than I could swallow and have projects lying around for years to come, but I have a clear idea how to manage it. No, it isn´t hoarding, it is taking care of the future. Who knows when China will stop supplying us with cheap goodies or when the big boys will turn small enterprises down or when pigments for paints will run short or furry little animals will refuse to get skinned for making top quality brushes...?

[joroas]

I have been storing figures, terrain, books and DVDs up for my retirement for years........  when I will have more time and less money......

[Paddy649]

Too many toys?  No such thing!  Same way as you can never have too much common sense, good looks or money.

Please refer to the well known maxim: "A wargamer who doesn't own his own body weight in unpainted lead is a danger to himself and his friends!"

[TheBlackCrane]

It's an interesting one to think about actually; initially I wouldn't think one could end up with too many, but having said that I have just sold off my 6mm Sci-Fi and GNW on the basis that I could never get round to doing more with them. It wasn't a question of losing interest in the period, but rather not being able to stand that little voice telling me I needed to paint/rebase/add more to them.

At the moment I'm actually managing to focus on just one lot of figures, after which I have BF&S Muscovites which have been waiting for painting since Salute and then I'll have cleared the backlog, and I feel a whole lot better than when I have loads of bits and pieces on the go or waiting.

So yes, I'd say maybe it is possible to have too many! Not necessarily the painted and finished figures, but certainly those in the queue.

Now books and rulebooks, on the other hand, it is impossible to have too many of those! 

[Archie]

Well some interesting views being expressed.

In reverse - Black Crane I sooooo  wanted to buy your 6mm sci-fi figures and I was very relieved when someone else bought them. I don't need them, don't have time for them and it was a 'buy this because the act of purchasing will make me happy moment'. Luckily I recognise this in myself and I have stuck firm to my rule when I returned to the hobby to hold firm to the 25/28mm scale. Two big or two small and I'm not buying. No matter how lovely or useful it might be.

Scurv - I don't want to double buy anything and for me it would be a sign that I had too many. In my head I am project planning my armies so next year is when I build by Wonder Woman Amazonian army ... not this year ... hence not buying some half price Amazons at a recent show. Instead I bought scenary which goes with this years project of 2000AD/zombie/Blakes 7 mashup inside a city scape.

Joroas - I'd rather have the space right now and then save the money to buy later. If being on LAF for a while has taught me anything it is that great offers come up all the time on the boards.

Michi - years ago I compensated for a fairly slim childhood toy wise and bought a boat load of GW stuff ... only one marine squad and a group of Sisters of Battle ever made it fully painted ... those have all been sold or given away and I recognise the pscychology behind my purchasing impulses. By recognising it I can do something about it.

Doctor Pete - that made me laugh

Grant - sounds very healthy ... and I bet the coat is very swish, I do like the Barbour stuff

Scurv - why not sell the stuff and buy some investments that then give you an return on your money ... or put it into the bank ...

Zorg - I think it's a problem for more people than you think - I bet the proportion of LAF members who feel guilty over their lead piles is fairly high. And it doesn't have to transfer to something else. The money not spent could be saved for the future or invested. It isn't always transferred to another 'item' purchase. I do agree that you need to realise that you don't need every figure or rule set. I am yet to purchase a game system since my return to the hobby and I am very slowly reviewing and considering my options. Had I gone with my first instinct I would have several already!

Glenn - wow that's quite a post - if you have build up those armies over a long period of time then it sounds good but personally I find the amount a little scary. Given how many games you can play in a month I wonder how much action those folks seem. Maybe there is nothing wrong with that and I guess it comes down to does having figures you don't use make you unhappy. If it doesn't then it's all cool and if it does then not so good 

I think it is interesting you feel you have too many. Also your Heroclix comment made me smile - I avoided the game like the plague as all I could see was a financial black hole threatening to pull my wallet and all my funds into its black heart. Even now it entices me but I am firmly resisting (apart from that single figure that you sent me and the Wonder Woman figure I want!)

Lazy dragon - I think that 'multiple use' aspect is very smart. The scenery I bought recently fits all current and future time frame games I could hope to play and the stuff I made over the last few months fits anything current (if rural) and old / fantasy.

[Conquistador]

Archie,

I realize I regret not buying only one "thing" - scenery that can be used for multiple eras/genres (and sometimes scales.) 

The miniatures buying... Began war gaming (other than toy soldiers like most male kids) in the  late 1950 with board games but the miniatures were first bought around 1970 - 1971.  So call it 2013 - 1970 = approximately  43 years or slightly less.

Gracias,

Glenn

[Momotaro]

My interest has mainly been in skirmish gaming, so I've never really had a problem painting up a couple of forces of 30-50 models each to begin with for a project  The GW starter sets are generally excellent value for money, whatever you think of the rest of their pricing strategy.  After that, it's one force at a time to add to it, or a few extras here and there.

What gets interesting is when that next force doesn't belong to the same period as the previous ones.  So I started with a LotR starter set, then a GW 40k starter set.  After that though, Tyranids, classic horror monsters and Lovecraftian monstrosities are pretty timeless, so those added to the fun, and I took my collection in several directions - Victorian, gothic horror and VSF, modern, historical.  My Tau flyers do double duty as near-future cyberpunk police skimmers, and my Mantic undead have fought in the English Civil War...

So I feel I have a medium -sized collection of skirmish forces that cover quite a range of historical and fictional themes, and over time some of those have built up to the point where I could do decent-sized battles.  I have about 2000 figures, and that seems a reasonable number for what I want.

I've also built a filing cabinet's worth of scenics, again concentrating on stuff that is, if not universal, then certainly usable in one or more eras.  Quonset huts, for example, can be used from WWII or a polar research station to a colony or mining outpost on an alien world.

My "waiting in line" pile tends to be about 50 models, so Reaper Bones has presented me with a problem - I've never had 200 figures just waiting to be painted.

Rule - if they've not been painted within a year, sell them.

My weakness is rulesets - I'm always buying them to see if they have anything new to offer a "theoretically perfect" game, even though I learned long ago that it's best just to pick a ruleset that mostly works for you and play the game.

That's one reason I like PDFs - cheap to buy and store, so even if you flick through a ruleset and get a scenario or a couple of ideas from it (or a new painting technique), they feel more disposable, like buying a magazine.

[zorg]

Zorg - I think it's a problem for more people than you think - I bet the proportion of LAF members who feel guilty over their lead piles is fairly high. And it doesn't have to transfer to something else. The money not spent could be saved for the future or invested. It isn't always transferred to another 'item' purchase. I do agree that you need to realise that you don't need every figure or rule set. I am yet to purchase a game system since my return to the hobby and I am very slowly reviewing and considering my options. Had I gone with my first instinct I would have several already!

I see your point, I think. People do feel guilt, and you could just save the money... Personally, I have budgeted my hobby money - so I won't spend more than that in any given month, it's just the question what I spend it on. Since I started using this budget, I've been mostly guilt-free

I'll try to explain my position somewhat better: I definitely have a number of things I haven't used, or used much: RPG settings, obscure print+play games, unpainted figs, etc. But I bought all this nonsense because I wanted to, and I still stand by that decision. Agonizing over stuff like this is, in my opinion, not productive. Life is too short to feel guilt about not painting enough little metal soldiers - I think the, well, angst about a lead mountain bugs me a bit because in the grand scheme of things, we get all this lead for fun, and it's not as important as, say, our health, or the health of our loved ones. Having unused stuff sitting in a box just isn't guilty, or sinful, or a waste, in my book at least.
When I think back, even with the most ludicrous things I spent money on, having that money available now wouldn't change my life noticeably. On balance I still prefer the unused stuff, if only for the fun I had while getting it. And I might use it all some day...

I have to admit, however, that I'm a bit allergic to people feeling guilt about things which should be enjoyable. I have the same reaction when someone eats a piece of cake, and then moans about the calories.

[HerbyF]

I have a lot of stuff. Most of which I will probably never get to, to paint and/or even play with. Some of it is still in original packaging and may even be worth something as a collectable now or some day. I have so many projects, I am kind of ADHD with my hobby stuff. I will build & paint thing for late 19 century & then suddenly want to paint up some ancient Cartheginians or zombies or something. I am trying to keep up with my Army Painter group. have done well up through October but kind of hit a wall this month on what to do with that project. Yes I have too many toys but it keeps me happy & busy. Yes I am a bit of a hoarder. My daughter will be able to pay bills for years getting rid of this stuff when I am gone.