Losing track of the lead mountain

[Sardoo]

The number of figures I have now got has become so large that a) I no longer remember everything I've bought/got and b) am in danger of buying duplicates. Has anyone got a system to keep track of the little blighters? 

[manic _miner]

 I am like you and have ended up buying pieces which I already had.One system which might work is to make a list of each range you collect and tick off what you get.Then check the lists before buying new stuff.My goal is to reduce my lead hoard and projects this year.Good luck with finding a system that works for you.

[zemjw]

For a couple of years now I've been noting everything game related that I buy in Google Calendar.

This gives me the date I bought it and enough space to list figure names etc. I also track how long it takes to get figures delivered, so I can decide if I want to buy from a company again.

What's not so good about the method is that it shows me how much I spend and how often I buy stuff 

[HerbyF]

I have bought figures & then gotten home & when I went to put them away found out I already had them. I have done the same thing with books & DVDs too. My girlfriend & daughter tease me a lot about it too.

[Hammers]

My systems is

* a big box a warhammer elves and dark elves which I have dumped in there all willynilly, rueing the day I bought them. Truth be told, they have come to use as of late, as young Fivers and Can O'Beer, my sons has come of painting age. Should sell some of them though as there are a few rarities in there. Plus most of them are of actual white metal and not plastic or Foulcast.

*A big box of LotR where the minias, painted and not painted are still kept in their original packing

*A huge steel 'koffert' containing Mithril Miniatures, both MIBs and loose minis in ziplock bags.

*About ten nylon organizers, the kind you use for screws, nails and tools, al neatly labeled with mostly typical LAF board labels ('White Russinas'. 'SCW', 'Gangsters' etc.

* Two large printers set shelves for display minis

*Several foam storage carrier bags for stove away painted miniatures.

Not much of a 'system' per se but it works for the stuff which I actually do paint. Looking for stuff I know I own but which I have sort of given up on is hell. 

[maxxon]

Welcome to the club.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Even duplicates can be used as interesting variations. E.g. I like the sections in Kevin Dallimore's books where he paints the same figure in several different color schemes changing the way it looks.

In most games you are bound to end up with multiples of rank and file troopers anyway... I think the only "real" problem is games with many unique individual models (which unfortunately seems to be a trend these days).

[Sardoo]

Some excellent ideas there - cheers!

[warlord frod]

My system starts before I purchase something.

I tend to decide on an area of interest and then decide what I want to purchase. I often make a list and check it off as I purchase the item. There are those occasional impulse buys but I have only once or twice picked up something I already had and that was usually when I saw some older figs that fit a game area I had completed purchasing years ago.

Once I have them at home I put them in bins on a shelf dedicated to the lead mountain and can check what I have yet to paint. As I finish painting them I put them in Pleno Boxs and label them. I have some where close to 10,000 minis so organization is important

One final note for some of my larger collection I keep a list of what I have on an Excel spreadsheet so that I can print out want lists (My 6,980 Mage Knight figure collection and 1000 Star wars figure collections for example) 

Yes I know I am obsessed just remember I have been doing this for abot 35 years 

[Sardoo]

10,000 minis! And now my collection feels like two or three snowflakes in the middle of Antartica!

[grant]

I used to be like you. It's taken me about three years of serious selling to get down to a manageable level. I can't even tell how many ebay auctions and private sales I've had. In the end, I am down to a few things now. Maybe one or two more rounds.

I have two Battlefoam bags, one of which is full, and the other is empty. That's for my WWII. I have a GW small case for my Lord of the Rings, and my GHQ Micro armour has small cases to fit in. Simple!

[syrinx0]

I tend to be pretty organized with everything. Painted figures are in cases and unpainted are in RUB containers of various sizes.  Haven't done an inventory but it's around 1200 figures or so.

The founder of the gaming group I belong too has also been collecting since the 70's. Never counted his horde but it's probably about the same as Warlord Frod's.  He jokes it's his kids inheritance...

[FramFramson]

Oh god...

So here I was thinking I was mostly good boy, because I only have 2 small trays worth of minis (this will grow when my Tercio Creativo - Dies Irae package arrives in April, May, June, whenever, but that's still maybe one more tray at most). But then Frod just reminded me about my Mage Knight collection, which I don't mentally count for these things since it's all prepainted (and thus can never be part of a lead mountain). Of course, I do buy minis to replace my Mage Knight figures with, because I like the mini or to replace some of the really ugly Mage Knight minis, but I only count that purchased mini, because again, I'm only thinking of unpainted minis as "burdens".

So, uh, for unpainted stuff, I have maybe 150 to 200-odd figs, at least 50 of which were acquired in lots for use as bits etc. with no plans to ever paint them.

But if you include my Mage Knight stuff, which is stored by faction in plastic drawers and organized by spreadsheet, I have close to another 2000 figures.

[warlord frod]

The sad fact is I sold off a bunch a little over a year ago (Lots of WW II 28mm Hordes of unpainted Napoleonic figs WW I 15mm etc)  because I was moving.  It was one of the hardest things for me because I enjoy the hobby so much. Still I have promised the wife that I was going to consider cutting down the collection some more. I suspect that I will be parting with 20 MM Viet Nam stuff, maybe 1/300 scale English civil war and Old board games (I have a truck load of those as well) maybe a few of my duplicate Mage Knight. (The figure I gave concerning them does not include my trade box) My unpainted stuff is considerable but not as big a mountain as you might think as I paint more then I get to play.

[Oldben1]

One thing that seemed to help is waiting to buy something.  You'd be surprised how the passage of time allows you to step back and assess.  If I really want to try a new game I usually wait 6months or so.

I also try and limit my miniatures so that they apply to more than one game.  Some gameS are obviously harder, but lots of minis have overlap.

[carlos13th]

Personally I have dug everything out in order to have a clear out.

There are a few things I have my eye on atm including more Samurai and the Gears of War board game but I will only buy them from funds generated by selling old stuff I dont think i will get around to using.