Significant changes in my personal situation, as well as a bit of poor health, combined with the sudden (and far too premature) passing of a very dear friend left me pretty much in a free-fall over the last month. I have gotten back on my feet, but the process of doing so has opened my eyes to a rather more hard-edged assessment of the four criteria that I apply of my goals. I will leave off the host of matters that don't apply to The Hobby, but I have had to recognize that I am not likely to live forever (or for terribly much longer, for that matter).
This realization, combined with seeing my friend's wife dealing with the unsorted fragments of a life that ended far too soon, has left me to ask myself "What if I were to suddenly be gone, who would clean up that awful mess?" My oldest son enjoys The Hobby but has different tastes (and a Vault of his own projects) so I can't just expect him to absorb the detritus of my collection(s). None of the rest of my children have any interest or clue. My wife has resolutely tolerated (ignored) my "playing with toy soldiers" to the point that she wouldn't have any idea how to disperse the contents of The Vault.
With that thought in mind I have decided to be honest with myself and start getting rid of the projects that simply will NEVER get off the ground. This will be paralleled with a narrowly focused effort at getting those projects that are near completion all the way across the goal line. A side-issue is that I simply have too much stuff (ironic coming from me as my personal motto has always been, "Too much is a good place to start!), my addiction to building huge models and terrain projects has crowded my workspace intolerably; I will have to sell-off some of the items that I just don't have space for. The following photos give you some idea of what I'm dealing with; mind you, The Vault is larger than my first apartment! And there is a fair amount of stuff in the garage as well!
on the right are some of my painted minis
the space is eighteen feet long by seven high
then there are the crated Castillo de San Marcos and some of the 28mm pre-dreadnoughts
a mountain of boxes filled with 28mm plastic kits blocks access to my WW1 rifle collection,
who in turn block access to the 28mm VSF projects
here is the "almost started" section,
I will have to part company with most of this
and this too....
and here is the epicenter of the madness,
a quick count shows over twenty projects in-progress (sort of) littering the workbench
What doesn't show are the two-dozen plus plastic cabinets full of painted minis and the eighty cubic feet of terrain and buildings that are stored under the wargaming table in the game room, or the library of over two thousand books. This brings me back to my four criteria, rational/attainable/desirable/affordable; I have clearly exceeded those boundaries by a considerable margin.
Last year, on the theory that for the boat to to be made seaworthy it must first stop sinking, I made myself the promise of not buying any more miniatures than I had found time to paint . I managed (despite some very tempting new products) to stay within those boundaries. A tiny first step I know, but an important one all the same, and one which complied with my rule of "rational/attainable/desirable/affordable". The next step will to winnow through the collection to see where I have redundant resources (is it sane to have ACW in 2mm, 5mm, 15mm, 20mm, 28mm and 54mm?) and then decide which of those may be disposed of. This will be followed by a bit of soul-searching as I decide on which projects to abandon completely and sell-off. In the process I will organize my forces into discrete periods and scales, so that if the end comes upon me by surprise, my family won't be stuck with an incoherent mass of old toys.
Let us see where I am when the July quarterly review rolls around!
My new mantra; rational/attainable/desirable/affordable
An interesting read Anton and one resonates with me on several levels. A brush with cancer last year has made me focus on what periods and rules I enjoy, with anything outside of these two parameters being sold off. This will allow me to focus on actually finishing armies/projects as well as games. It is too easy to buy into the latest 'new thing' these days, which simply dilutes our precious time IMHO. Easier and better to stick to stuff you love, which is currently working well for me.
ReplyDeleteMy health issues were nowhere near as terrifying as cancer, I wish you well as the years roll by. Congratulations on having the resolve to trim to that extent; I have been subject to a gadfly attention span which has resulted in hundreds of almost started projects that serve only as a distraction to my ongoing eforts.
DeleteA very interesting post and a situation faced by many of us. I look forward to following your progression. Perhaps, your actions will be a motivating factor for me to consider something similar?
ReplyDeleteHold my feet to the fire....I need to be accountable to somebody,I'm clearly rather irresponsible!
DeleteAmen brother. I'm in the same boat. But you know I figure let the family figure it out. I been pushed in a small space in the basement. The area that was going to be my game room. POOF gone to the hoard of yarn. Next a made a new closet under the stairs. Poof gone to the yarn hoard. I have been help my friend widow sell off his firearm collection of civil wars firearms. Only have about three more to go. It has been six years of trying to sell them... Oh well maybe I will live to be a hundred....LOL
ReplyDeleteI have already been thinning the herd as far as the WW1 rifles go, too easy for a huckster to say "It's just an old rifle" when it actually has a value of a thousand dollars, how would my wife or kids know?
DeleteFortunately the basement is essentially mine so I'm not pressed for space; unfortunately the basement is mine so I am sloppy about how I use the space. Rather a double-edged sword indeed!
Interesting post and points that are best understood by those who have more time behind them than in front of them. Since that applies to a lot of the hobby, there seems to be almost a 'movement' of us gamers that are wondering about the downsize or what will happen to our collections when we are gone.
ReplyDeleteDown sizing is a painful process and more likely in my opinion to hit stagnation more often that produce the right results and it can become all to distractive compared to how we should be spending our time and life-force
My partner recently asked me about my stuff re death, but I am quite pragmatic on the matter and said that all the pleasure from my collection comes from the here and now. Rather like visiting coffee shops, going to football matches and playing golf. I see the costs paid as providing that, it is money spent, pleasure taken and not some sort of weird investment that needs realising upon death. So I just said 'don't worry about it, don't have it hanging around for months and years trying to sell it. Give it away, bin it, whatever, it is done, just let it go'.
It is quite liberating to make that mental detachment. It is not for everyone and budgets may mean different priorities for people. I think a more important issue is how you game / collect well into the future, while in deteriorating health, rather than worrying about the end game so to speak.
Oh, I agree, the pleasure is in the owning. I just hope that I can direct my toys into the hands of another who will then have the same joy.
DeleteThe books and guns are a different matter and the values (some of them surprisingly high) are updated as part of the quarterly review process.
A very timely post as I'm starting to sort through my collection and figure a way to disperse some of the excess. My wife is very clever in that she tolerates the hobby and lets me do what I want (in the realm of mid-life crisis interests, miniature gaming is both benign and cheap) BUT she exerts control by limiting storage space. AS for miniatures periods in different scales I think 2 is perfectly sane, three pushing it and four or more means I'll one day be featured on one of those hoarding shows.
ReplyDeleteI am finding that I actually play more of the smaller scales (6mm / 15MM) and will likely be trimming down my 28's
Funnily, I am moving in the opposite direction. My eyes simply can't see the tiny details so I'm forced toward larger scales. I am considering getting rid of everything under 15mm.
DeletePerhaps we should exchange toys?
Looking at the pics, my first thought was, "Why does he have pics of my gaming stuff!" It's funny though, you get to the point, where getting rid of something makes you feel as good, as you used to feel, when you got something new. Best of luck to you.
ReplyDeleteActually I have some of your gaming stuff; you make lovely Cold War era vehicles and aircraft. You would find them in the first photo, in the third bay way from the camera about halfway down the shelf unit in a white box. Lovely stuff indeed!
DeleteDOUBLE AMEN! I think as we all get older it dawns on us. If only my older self could speak to my younger self (with younger self already having the painting skills learned along the years) I would amaze the world with outstanding rows of tiny little soldiers dressed in full battle array on beautiful terrain, and..... okay I'll stop now;)
ReplyDeleteCheers
Kevin
Brother, if your painting got any better I would just quit. And your tiny soldiers are pretty amazing already!
Delete1) I enjoyed the pictures.
ReplyDelete2) I hope you’re around for a long while
3) do it. Do it now. Get it organized and downsized
I’m currently dealing with this problem from the other end. My mother is passed away, and I am my fathers care taker. I have spent significant amount of time going through my parents old house while getting it ready to sell. The sheet amount of stuff is heartbreaking and overwhelming. I keep what I think is important. The rest... has to go. Collections are hard. My mother’s collection of tea pots and tea cups? There are over 30. My fathers telescopes? One is 6 feet long. Doing this made me to resolve not to do it to my family. And it’s not just that what if you’re suddenly gone, but also what if you slowly decline over years and stuff gets in poor condition.
Sorry about the sobering news about your friend. Reaching a certain age soon, I'm also heading for more focus and trimming the piles.
ReplyDelete