The shelf of shame sickness has yet to strike me. I’m building as I go.
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I’d like to say I don’t have the “Shelf of shame” disease but I guess technically, I might. 30 years ago I started two F-14s (A and D) that I had a plan to build simultaneously. At that time, I stopped modeling and put everything aside with only the barest inkling that I might pick it all back up again. I hauled those kits, along with about 6 others around from move to move all in one huge box so I didn’t really put them aside for another kit, I just put them aside.
When I picked up the hobby again this year, I started with some other easier Monogram kits (OA-4M and Harrier) from the stash to reorient my skills on kits that I didn’t really care about. With the newer tooling kits of the F-14 out since these older Hasegawa, I wasn’t sure I wanted to pick them back up at all frankly.
What I learned was the “Buying them now” mentality has a serious flaw. Newer kits often come out that are better, or the decals on the old kit are yellowed and useless, and that “Buy it now… incase” kit is no longer viable. So now days, I only buy kits I intend to build in the next year or so and only on sale. The rest can wait.
Sorry about your damn flood, that sounds awful.
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Me too, so far, I’m committed to completion before the next one starts. I think building more than one at a time is where the sickness starts, at least for me it would. So I power through and finish and then start the next one.
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Glad to hear it, BUT - it’s a more insidious disease than Covid. And, less curable. 
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You know it is interesting how nearly universal it is though. Some can resist, but dare I say, most succumb at some point to some degree or another. I’ve heard of guys who can build one model a month, and having a big stash would make kinda sense for them, but for most of us, collecting years 100s of models we can’t reasonably expect to get through In our Lifetime is somewhat surprising.
But like I’ve been saying, for some, myself included, the collecting is part of the joy, and so that’s good enough in itself.
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Buying model kits in moderation is how we all started out, I think. Then something goes haywire…a new must-have kit is released before you finished the current project; a flashy new PE or decal set turns up and now you’ll need another one of the same kit so’s you can build a variant; maybe it’s as simple as your running across a model kit that’s offered at such a ridiculously low price you just can’t pass it up. Whatever, one day you notice that what amounts to a small hobby store has blossomed where “just couple of extra model kits” used to be.
Like I said, it’s insidious!
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You are right on the money brother.
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Truer Words have never been spoken Mark_McGovern1! Do other hobbies/past times “envelop” you like scale modeling does? Hunting, golf,photography, do participants rush out to buy things to the point where they have to have the newest or best equipment?
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Tom - I believe you are right on all counts.
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As a photographer and a golfer I can partially answer that question…
I can’t speek about amateur photography but professionals absolutely do not stockpile equipment that they might, potentially, hopefully get to some day, and in the mean time they open the boxes, look through the manual then put the gear back on the shelf. I do have several old cameras in the house, but that is more about having backups or I just haven’t gotten around to selling them. I never “collect” camera gear.
Golfers are more likely to panic buy the latest thing, at great expense, in an effort to shave a stroke or two off of their handycap. But again, it gets used right away, at least at first with high hopes it is the cure to their slice. The last house I purchased had over 400 golf clubs in the garage. None were new in the box but the “hording/collections” process after trying the new things can be real, because you never know if you might want to go back to the old trusty club some day. For me, I trade in the old stuff at the time of the new purchase so I have zero old golf clubs sitting around.
All of that said, they are interesting comparisons and I wonder what other hobbies are like ours in this way?
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For me, it was all about disposable income. When I was small, the models I bought were determined solely by the amount of change I had in my pocket. Needless to say, that limited me to kits costing $3 or less. Thus, I could not develop a stash. Besides, like all little kids who built models, anything I bought was immediately built.
As I got older and started working part-time, I had more money at my disposal. So naturally I could buy more expensive kits, and more of them. And that was when the stash started. At first, I had maybe a dozen unbuilt kits in the closet. This continued until I got out of college and started working full-time.
That was when the “perfect storm” hit. A combination of a steady income and an explosion of kits in the 1990s saw me going nuts with the kit purchases. That was a time when Tamiya 1/48 aircraft, DML armor, and Bandai’s MG and HGUC kits hit the market. But I was young and had all the time in the world to build my models. I bought kit after kit with wild abandon, never thinking I’d run out of storage space or time.
That was 35 years ago. Assuming I make it to 75 and build 10 models a year (a number I have not met since intermediate school), I will only have time to build 150 models. That is a very sobering calculation. And this comes at a time when I am going through my stash and attempting to drastically thin it.
Children, beware the stash.
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Interestingly enough there is a common theme. I have a stash, i realize said stash is too large or i realized i cant build them all, i get rid of stash… 
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Right now, I have 23 kits in my stash (plus 6 ancient Monogram kits that I’m getting rid of at my next club meeting) I believe. I did purchase two more bargain basement “Black Friday” specials on the way that were on my wish list, so will make a perfect 25. I’m going to stop because at the rate I’m going that’s 8-9 years of steady building and truthfully, I’m in no hurry to finish everything out.
I may add more as I finish here and there, especially I want to try my hand at an Aircraft Carrier like the Wasp but I’m thinking that will take me the better part of a year so I’m in no hurry.
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Are you sure you want to see my stash? My hobby room, aka "The Dungeon " is situated in my basement.
The first three pics is what you see coming into my area.
Then you have various aftermarket goodies along with AM decals hanging from a pegboard.
The book shelf consists of my reference material (aircraft n armor, lower section) then more aftermarket items(aircraft n armor) along with more AM decals (white bins).
The other pegboard holds all my aircraft aftermarket accessories(back of shelving right).
This is all done from years(35ish) of trading, model shows, fellow club guys, buying and working at my local hobby shop when the owner n his wife would go on vacations..
It’s funny, a lot of ppl try to burn me as I have so much yet they could not answer one simple question…
At least my wife and kids know where I’m at at all times!
And yes, I still trade n sell so.. Enjoy!
Happy Modeling
Mike
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Very nice Mike! I guess you won’t ever have to worry about not having a model to build!
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Thank you so much Eric! Haha I guess you can say that?!
Happy Modeling,
Mike
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Wow! Why would anyone try and burn you for this amazing collection? People don’t understand that for some, the collection is part of the joy of the hobby. You could open you own store!
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Wait,we didnt ask to see pictures of your local hobby shop!!! That’s really great,probably one of the largest I’ve seen pics of.
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RealG, your experiences mimic my own. Once I graduated from college and got established in my career and family the buying started. I justified it by reasoning that my three children would also take up the hobby(they tried it and moved on)
Butz, your stash size rivals mine except yours is so organized compared to mine. Your stash reminds me of a brick and mortar store.
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Sweet Jesus! What’s the count?
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