Not long ago I said to myself that I would build all the kits that I’ve got and then start on a fresh slate by buying a model and building it before buying the next. The next thing I do (not literally next) is go out and buy a 1/144th B-52 to build for my dad, a 1/48th KV-1 for my first dio’, a 1/72 nd F-111 just because it had 10% off, a 1/24th R-34 to build for my brother and a 1/48 F-16 to hone my airbrushing skills… I don’t even have the bloody compressor yet. What the [censored] am I doing? Everytime I go into the LHS I am bombarded with about a thousand kits to choose from. [%-)] Give or take a couple of hundred, I was never any good at estimating. Ive still got a 1/24th toyota F1 car, 1/24th Le mans Corvette, 1/35 Alouette II attack, 1/72nd Tiger chopper, a 1/48th Super Hornet, a 1/48th Panther type G and a 1/76 M40 GMC that I am currently building… very [censored]ing slowly.[?]
…HOWEVER… there is one thing that relieves from worrying about all of the above, and that is seeing many pictures, mainly from here and in the dio’ forum, of people’s workshops’ garnished in like, frickin’ thousands of dollars worth of kits all over the shop. I mean, come on, we’ve all seen the shop of that guy who built the Dora rail gun
And that gives me a happy picture of not unlocking the door of my car to go to the LHS, but the door to my garage and simply just selecting a model. Wouldn’t that be nice? [:P]
So, what do I do? A: Be conservative and buy only when I need to or if there’s an offer that I simply can’t refuse but has a deadline? Or B: spend, spend, spend and lose my mind? [}:)]
I figured that the buy one/build one basis would be incentive to build and would keep any current project interesting but I can’t hold back. [:O]
Sorry for the elaborate post. One of my curses.[;)]
Hoard,hoard,hoard.It’s inevitable.I packed up my stash and moved in with my fiance.Guess what’s currently taking shape in her basement?TD4438’s Stash version 2.0.Ya can’t fight it dude.I can’t wait for the day when I stashbash and combine the two.
I say hoard however i dont know why i do it. I went to hobby Lobby with the wife the other day not looking to buy a model but as i turn past a end cap by the coloring books there it was a Tamiya 2003 M1A2 for 15 bucks. I dont need it because I have a few Dragon Abrams but it was in the cart before i made the next turn. Sad really!!! I have the hoarding sickness
The day you lose your modelling virginity is the day you DON’T build the kit right away. Remember when you were a kid and no kit remained unfinished 24 hours after it entered your home? It was unimaginable at one point right? Wha happened?
I tell you what - I LOVE being able to go into my closet and root around all of the kits, perusing contents, getting fired up about my next build (or next 12, as the case may be [:-^]).
As my stash started getting bigger, I told myself it was time to stop buying kits and just build them - but it’s WAY too hard to pass up good kit deals. Hard to make myself pay full retail for a kit when it can be had for a lot less than that.
I mean, I KNOW I’m going to build all of these at some point…right? [:D]
I think we probably all did the same thing at one point. I too had a HUGE stash at one time–probablr over 300 kits believe it or not; 80% tanks and 20% everything else. I finally realized there was: A. no WAY I could ever build them all, B. no way I could ever display them all even if I managed to build them, C running out of room to store the kits themselves, and D. a lot of potential money tied up sitting there doing nothing. So I sold over 200 kits on ebay, in two separate lots.
I realized that I really built more German armor than anything, so I really started to focus more on buying and building German kits more than anything else, and even then being selective. I still have bought a lot of recent releases, but am startingt o realize that now I build even slower than I used to due to greater attention to detail and AM PE stuff, so I’m trying to curb even the kits that I do buy.
The ever-escalating prices don’t help either, especially with this econonmy–I just saw I think it was a noew Tasca Sherman for like, $72.00!!! [:O] SEVENTY-TWO DOLLARS!!! You’ve got to be kidding me! [soapbox] There’s no place in my budget for that kinda price tag on ONE KIT!!
Ive thought about Ebay and i have MM cars kits that might fetch a good price but I cant bring myself to pull the trigger. But Doog is right I will never get all that I have done never but i hope maybe my kids will start and i can pass them down to them.
I think the hording thing came from kits that appeared and then disappeared real quick. Kits like Dragon’s M4A1, Firefly 1C or any Cyber Hobby kit, by the time folks found out they were good kits, they were all sold out and not released for a decade plus.
No one wants to take a chance that the $30 kit on the shelf is not next year’s $75 eBay hot item.
I remember when the Dragon M4A1 came out, it sat on the shelf at a local store for a couple of years. When the store had a going out of business sale, I picked it up at 50% off. A couple years later, they were going for $75 or more on eBay (until reissued within the last few years).
That’s my problem, or should I say ebay. I was sceptacle of them at first, but then I realized I could save so much money, that it became an addiction. I really try to stay with a goal when I bid, so I don’t get into a bidding war. Most of stash came from there and I try to only get what I think I’ll want to build.
Aside from Rob’s mentioned rare kits, Dragon’s Tiger I Initial and Late were super hot on ebay last year. Ridiculous secondary prices.
I don’t think I have completed more then maybe 10 kits in the last 5 years.
But the stash pile (it is actually a closet) contains some 40 kits.
15 are still unbroken, amongts these are the DML T1 (Late), the DML T1 (Late) new release and the Flak. 88 wth a 3 in 1 option
I have a DML T1 (early), the Academy T1 (early to mid somewhere) and the AFV T1 (late) on the move, I am not lazy [:-^].
I usually by anything that DML presents if it is German WWII (I know, I am sad [:P])
And to that I then add things that look fun, Trumpeter KV1’s and 1/32 airplanes, recently a Eduard Bf.110 C and a FW109, just could not resist after having seen the sprues.
To me this is all about the research, trying out new techniques and materials and having fun.
I dont think that I am very good at it so I dont put my builds into competitions. If I ever publish any pictures it is in here for you to comment on and criticies.
Isn’t that the way it has to be, some people are very talented in a particular area, others maybe not but that does not keep us from sharing the fun of participating/sharing?
I have no kits on display at home, if my LHS doesent want the very few that I build I bin them.
They have done their purpose, they have helped me gear down, refocus and probably I have enjoyed a chat with you guys [8D].
I have done better lately in buying too many kits. The rule I now go by is that I won’t buy it if I don’t plan on building it soon UNLESS I feel there is a pretty good chance it will not be available or hard to find after it is initially released, which seems to be the case a lot these days, particularly w/ DML kits…
…hmmmm, maybe they now know that and that is one of the reasons they have such short runs???
My stash actually crested at around 120 kits before I made the realizations that 1) I didn’t have to buy every new kit that came out 2) I really had a focused interest on WW2 German specific family classes of vehicles and 3) I should only buy a kit if I was actually going to build it…even if that date was far out in the future.
As a result, the kit acquisition ratio has dropped dramatically over the past year. The stash currently stands at 78 kits and I’m actually building more than I’m buying since I complete roughly 1 kit per month. Having said that, I still have 6.5 years worth of kits on hand if I don’t buy any new kits ever across that time period. [;)]
It is very nice though, as Dupes mentioned, to essentially have my own mini-LHS stock on hand for whatever I want to build next…just walk over and pull out the kit and voila! [:)]
I was buying and buying and grabbing other guy’s sell offs for about 3 years. I amassed a HUGE selection of very rare items. Like some others, I came to the realization that in good conscience, I couldn’t get around to many of them. So in about four HUGE eBay sell offs. My last one netted me over $2K. Some of the gems I let go over the last 2 years have been:
MB Models 203mm Soviet B-4 Howitzer
AccArmour Matador 6x6 truck
Azimut M29 Weasel
Commander Series M1A1 Combat Car
Trakz M26A1 Dragon Wagon conversion
Masters Production 40mm Bofors GMC conversion
New Connections SdKfz 7 Bunkerknacker with Flak 18
Tiger Models FAMO SdKfz 9/1 Crane conversion
Airmodel 10.5cm Flak 39
IMA Churchill Mk III
Azimut R-40 Renault Light tank
Azimut AMR Light tank
Don’t pity me as I still have my “Ft Knox stash” with stuff like the Blast M4A3E2, CSM M41 Gorilla, Formations Ram OP, CSM M2A1 Medium tank, Precision 21cm Morser, AccArmour Matilda I, TMD M8 HMC, Resicast BARV, Resicast Sherman Flail, Legend M31 ARV, Resicast Churchill I “Dieppe”.
Meh, that’s not too bad, My LHS owner has a nasty habit of jacking up the prices on kits to the point where a couple months ago, I paid something like 88 dollars for my Tamiya Challenger 2. (in 1/35!) I’d say the average kit price in there (1/35) is around 67 bucks…
I also fly planes for a hobby (real ones) and for every hour in the air me and my flying buddies spend another 10 hours talking about flying, airplanes, etc…so I guess our hobby is a lot like every other: part of the fun is doing it, the other part is talking about it and/or amassing more stufff related to it, just as a golfer may own 4 or 5 sets of clubs and is always looking for that elusive driver that will get him 10 more yards…
This discussion really centers on avarice. “I gotta have it” people hoard, “I can do without it,” people dont.
I am a hoarder. I learned a long time ago that I want lots of kits, the more the merrier. So what if I dont build them all. I don’t care… I have them. Call me avaricious if you want, I’ve finally admitted it. In fact, I resisit building my favs unless I have a “backup.”
My friends, I stand before you with a confession: I collect KITS, and build models second.
my stash are things I want to build, but I tend to buy new because I keep joining group builds. I also try to buy when I find good prices. An example was 3 1/48 kits at $12 ,$12 and $15 all well below regular prices including shipping of only $8 for all I paid less than I would have with sales tax and no shipping by a bunch. I also look for OOP kits {mostly Tamiya} because I cannot go buy them at a hobby shop {on line or local}
