Are we addicted to our hobby?

[Conquistador]

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 http://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?

[eilif]

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 http://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?

I think the title and your actual question are two different (but equally good questions)

As for why we don't get rid of things, I'm not sure. I've gotten rid of tons of figs, but there's still quite a few hundred that I despair of ever finding time to paint.  And yet I keep them.  Many of them aren't even connected to any of my ongoing projects.

My justifications usually revolve around..
-It'd be too hard/expensive to replace them.
-They would go really well with _____ army.
-I'll might want to play ______ some day.
-It's Rare.
-Saving them to play LoTR when my kids are old enough.

[3 fingers]

My mind boggles at some of your guys stashes /collections
When I got back into the hobby I had a mad Spree on here and eBay etc, and had about 2 of those plastic drawer storage units full.
Now I'm being realistic and realising I will never paint it all or game it,so selling bits off.

[grant]

Purge.

Purge.

Purge.

I have done this a few times, always resetting my focus, rarely returning to something I have sold.

"Minimalism"

[Gailbraithe]

I think the word "addiction" only applies when a habit or pursuit interferes with one's ability to lead a normal life.  If you're skipping meals, failing to pay bills, and your wife is leaving you because you wouldn't notice the difference anyways, then sure, maybe you're a miniatures addict.

The inability to dispose of miniatures you know you'll probably never paint or use isn't addiction, it's charmingly eccentric optimism.

[Elbows]

I'm lucky to not suffer from this too badly.  For me it's a couple of things.

1) They may be out of print and may not be replaceable should the project/urge suddenly hit you and you find you sold X, Y or Z.
2) We live in a world of ebay...so there is the slight glimmer that something will appreciate 500% for unforeseen reasons in 10 years time.
3) More than once I've sold off stuff and then ended up doing that project which I thought I would never do.  That's a pain in the butt when you think "man, I had all the stuff...".

As if people haven't noticed I have about 3-4 projects at any one time and benefit from week-month long spats where I devote all of my time and energies to one...most of these are close to finished so now I bounce around adding bits and bobs to each.  The completed (or game-able) projects also mean I try to keep my minis count small.  It's something fun to have assembled/painted almost everything you have.  It gives me more freedom/encouragement to buy more stuff.

Every six months or so I do go through stuff and sell off minis/dice/terrain/bits I won't be using.  That money is better spent on things I am actually doing/using.

[mellis1644]

Purge.

Purge.

Purge.

I have done this a few times, always resetting my focus, rarely returning to something I have sold.

That last part is what kills me. I did this several times over the years - especially with RPG's which I never really played and did regret doing it.

So now I just horde what I have. But trying to not buy stuff especially if cheap/on sale is tough and a different aspect to hording what you have.

The growth of KS has caused some storage problems.

[grant]

I guess I collected for too long, then purged. Like 1982 to about last year. That's when I really cleared the collection. I'm still a bit squirrelly (my focus drifts... oooh! shiny!) but generally I am good. I nearly got caught in a KS recently but my brain got the better of me and I cancelled. Disaster averted!

LAF is a bad place to not find amazing inspiration for projects. I have to very careful and try to use the cool thing to a project I have rather than race around chasing other people's great ideas. 

[Major_Gilbear]

It is giving up on a dream

For me, it's this. I only buy what I love, and very rarely get rid of anything I've bought. Then again, I'm still relatively young.

I also suppose that although I collect a lot,  my projects are pretty focused.

[Steve63]

Selling miniatures has never been a problem for me, I sell stuff all the time both painted and unpainted.  I'm not an addict either I sometimes I go months with out picking up a paint brush, or buying anything new. 
People are different, some can get attached to inanimate objects some don't.  I'm one of the latter and I don't think I'm alone.

[Dim_Reaper]

I think the word "addiction" only applies when a habit or pursuit interferes with one's ability to lead a normal life.  If you're skipping meals, failing to pay bills, and your wife is leaving you because you wouldn't notice the difference anyways, then sure, maybe you're a miniatures addict.

The inability to dispose of miniatures you know you'll probably never paint or use isn't addiction, it's charmingly eccentric optimism.

I've encountered this argument before, often relating to alcohol (I'm British, so that part's no longer a mystery) and I don't buy it. It's too prescriptive. I assume it's confusing the usage of the word addiction in terms of a useful adjective, versus the medical condition of it having to be essentially life-threatening or sufficiently life-altering to a be a problem. The problem is usage. Most people talk about addiction in terms of the former, and most people don't know someone who sufficiently fits into the category of the latter. As language is determined by usage, a word like this is not the exclusive preserve of the latter category. It's just in that case, it's more serious.

Whilst a dictionary isn't the last word on a subject, dictionaries track usage, and lo and behold, in the OED under the entry for Addicted:

1 physically dependent on a particular substance. 2 devoted to a particular interest or activity

(emphasis mine)

An addict is described as someone "addicted" to something. The description is quite vague, but again, usage. According to the OED, the usage here is correct. Languages are not prescriptive, they are what is used. People aren't wrong in using a word if that word is commonly used in that context. I'm sorry to make a big deal about it, but it's one of my pet peeves.


To the OP, I definitely fit into the addicted part. Probably even in a more serious case. I've been trying to give up on GW and Warmachine/Hordes for quite a long time with very minimal success. In GW's case, it's a tumultuous relationship at best, closest to a security blanket. It's the part of the industry I know the best, so I keep going back to it like a lost child. My friends do too, making it even more difficult to break out of it. There's so much hobby orthodoxy, it is really difficult, if you find something interesting, to get others to follow you into it.

As a consequence, I have loads of stockpiles of miniatures for various projects I may or may not get around to doing. I do enjoy it for its own sake though. I'm still happy to own miniatures from companies such as i-kore and Rackham expecting never to get another game of Void/Urbanwar or Confrontation (maybe the odd game of Hybrid). One solution, although as a singleton this works better for me than it will others, is loads of display cabinets. That way at least you can admire them from time to time. It does also remind me about what I have left to paint, though.

[Andym]

Well, I'm going to give another HUGE big answer explaining the term 'addiction'. I'm going to explain when and why I do it, and all my reasons for it!

So......'I'm I addicted to our hobby?'.......yes!

[janner]

Addicted - no, but painting, collecting, and playing all provide me pleasure to varying degrees at different times.

I keep unpainted stuff that I think I will enjoy, but it maybe a several years until I get around to it. It's no big deal 

[Revfan]

Bezzo had a great post...

It is giving up on a dream, and no-one likes that.
...... Realism does not have the glamour of ambition.

Awesome stuff man... lets drink beers together sometime!


Yes, addiction.  We are little boys after all.  I just wish I had fewer addictions... restore classic cars, collect antique militaria, collect/play musical instruments... this one is pretty cheap in comparison to the others actually.

[Michi]

Don´t some of us stock CDs or DVDs to listen or watch sometime when in the mood? It´s not different, I say. We buy them because we know we like them (or at least we believe we would). Of course they bring delight once we actually play them.

Is there a difference in buying toys/miniatures/games/books as well? We buy them because we expect the fun of using/playing/reading them. Circumstances often delay it though.

This is (hu)man I believe (considering gaming related items at least). In fact it´s really human, because I witnessed different people buying different things that they wouldn´t use that soon. We are tending to seize the occasion and hoard what we can. We´ve learned that the hard way through centuries and millenia.

Keep on, you´re on top of the evolution! You can´t do better, even if you know. Support the makers to keep shiny things coming...