The Grey Army

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I had a grey army packed away in a large trunk as I hadn't painted a figure for years. We moved and my daughter was going on holiday. Unbeknown to me my wife put them on e bay to give her some spending money. A couple came round to view one or two that they were interested in, and as it was Xmas his wife bought the lot for his present. He was delighted. The grey army is starting to mutate again, but there are some lovely pieces that will give pleasure to someone one day, if I've not painted them in the meantime.
 
the trouble with having an old grey 30 years plus is once you started to go through what you've got you could find some of your figures haven't stood the test of time quality wise and your newer figures are a lot better so stand more chance of being painted
 
My problem is..... If I like a figure I buy two of them and worst case four of them
The problem is haven't started one of them
I think I have a mental/hoarding problem. I buy new released figures like I have nothing to paint
In reality my stuff is better than my local hobby shop

I blame the internet, so easy to see new stuff and buy it
Starting a wishlist is also very dangerous, as when I have nothing to buy I turn to it........to buy something
 
in my experience, of all modellers (figures, tanks, airplanes, cars, whatnot) there are just a few that only buy what they'll actually build or paint.
They are the rational ones, but they are very bad for the hobby, as it is grey armies that keep manufacturers in business.
If we all behaved like that the hobby would marginalised in no time.
If we buy stuff, it's for the greater good really.

Just being jealous here. I wish I had the discipline to just buy what I paint. The occasional childish pleasure to get a new figure is too strong to resist. Instant happiness.

As a compromise I try to buy them one by one, or just a few at a time. No big batches. That's slows down the enlistment rate somewhat. Unless there's a sale or so.... (And so it happens...)

Adrian
 
I read tommi's and others "lists of guilt" over the day today with a wistful smile.
At first I thought go on, tell them if it was the us in the 70's they would be stocking up the nuclear bunker with 5 years supply of Hershey and Lucky charms "just in case".
But having thought it through, I shall not.
You all feel guilty, and in my opinion you should not.
you are all just proper hobbyists.
So keep on stocking up lads,
Go on......go on.....you know you want to... Go on why dontcha !
Paul
 
What's even worse some loonies spend money on figures they haven't even received yet!!!!!! Although Michael Kontraros last piece on Indiegogo was pretty good.

In the next 2 months will be receiving about 70 odd miniatures of various shapes and sizes from crowdfunding campaigns. Dribble dribble dribble. :)

Will I get round to paint them nahh, do I care nahh, is it part of the fun. Hell yeah :)
 
(y) Tommi,
Your collection is amazing;the fact that you have accumulated that many kits tells me you are not married or you are married and you are going tit for tat in keeping up with your wifes buying or you just flat out can't resist.I'm trying to control the resist factor myself....and my excuse is just to keep up my interest ;just enjoy looking at well sculpted pieces.
But you painting the same piece multiple times(and I know you sell them); plus the fact that you can paint them a little different each time....somewhat saves you from the definition of "Insanity...which is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.............I've been there.........;
Anyway that's my reply in hopes to relate and hope it's not taken the wrong way............Regards,.....Wayne...
 
I should show my wife pics of Tommi's stash everytime she rolls her eyes when I buy a new fig or when she beats me to the mailbox... My meager grey army of 20 or so figs is nothing in comparison to that collection.
Mind you, I've only started building my GA for the last 4 years. Of course I'm not counting the hundreds of 28mm wargame figs... they don't really count towards the Grey Army.

I plan to grow the collection substantially when I hit Chicago next week ;)

Colin
 
in my experience, of all modellers (figures, tanks, airplanes, cars, whatnot) there are just a few that only buy what they'll actually build or paint.
They are the rational ones, but they are very bad for the hobby, as it is grey armies that keep manufacturers in business.
If we all behaved like that the hobby would marginalised in no time.
If we buy stuff, it's for the greater good really.

Well as a person you would call rational,I am very bad for the hobby am I?
I can't afford to buy everything that is released,and what I do buy gets painted usually within a year.
I have been a supporter of the model industry for a long time and to suggest people should by model kits for the sake of it just to keep the model industry going is downright delusional.

All the best.
Ralph
 
Hi Ralph,

I think we are having a misunderstanding here....
I do not seriously accuse you or anyone else on this forum of being bad for the hobby just because of having a rational buying policy.
If you are feeling offended I do apologise.
My post was was intended ironically. I think it was obvious, but maybe it wasn't.

Regards
Adrian
 
Hi Adrian
Seem's I did misunderstand.I'm with it now.
All's well that ends well.
All the best
Ralph.:)
 
My problem is..... If I like a figure I buy two of them and worst case four of them
The problem is haven't started one of them
I think I have a mental/hoarding problem. I buy new released figures like I have nothing to paint
In reality my stuff is better than my local hobby shop

I blame the internet, so easy to see new stuff and buy it
Starting a wishlist is also very dangerous, as when I have nothing to buy I turn to it........to buy something

My wife calls it retail therapy. The bane of my existence. Ar least now when she feels an attack coming on I take her to the local Goodwill and she can stock up on other peoples' cast offs.

Except for about 8 kits from long ago, my grey army looks like this :)

image.jpg


Colin
 
Glad we got that sorted out Ralph...enough trouble in the world already!

One more thing that came to mind is that I sometimes buy a figure because that figure may not be available say 10 years from now. Many figure companies are just a one man show. Not much needed to stop that supply chain. The figure may still end up unpainted, but at least it gives me the certainty that I could paint it when I want to.

Cheers
Adrian
 
I'm still trying to figure out how people sell off figures from their collection. We'll have the occasional swap night with the model group, but as I go through my figures I just think doesn't matter that it's sat there for years, I still plan to paint it... you know, someday. Maybe if I give it a few more years I'll figure out how to let go of some of them.
 
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