138 replies to this topic

[shatteredsoul76]

I would call myself space challenged. I dont have a good dedicated place in the house where I could work on a build without having to put everything back up at the end of the day to keep clutter down and also keep anything from getting damaged from our 3 dogs and 2 cats in the house. This has really hindered the two builds Im currently working on, however that is finally changing.

I almost have my 10'x20' building all set-up where I can do my models and not worry about spilling paint or putting everything back up and Im the only one in there so it will stay as I left it without the critters running around possibly breaking things. I have to install a window for my A/C and put my work bench together when it gets here and I will be ready to rock on some models. Of course now that I will have all this dedicated space will I keep my stash to only 25 kits or run out and buy 2,500 more kits? Hmmm.. even if I did I still dont think I would be a hoarder! HAPPY MODELING

[Johnny]

I don't think most modelers are hoarders as defined on the A&E program of the same name, i.e., people who hang onto things that are of little to no value, even though they may be unsanitary. There's a vast gulf of difference between having a large model car collection and, like one woman on the show, having two years' worth of used adult diapers piled up in your house, or, like another woman, a refrigerator filled with expired, rotting food because you just can't bear to throw anything away.
As the show has also illustrated, one of the reasons true hoarders have difficulty getting rid of things is that they develop emotional attachments to them. Speaking for myself only, that's not the case with me any my models. I'm pretty mercenary and will gladly flip a few kits on eBay or at a swap meet for some quick cash!

You are absolutely right Ken! I have seen this first hand having a sister that is a hoarder! We have cleaned up her place 3 times and now have just given up as each time she filled the place up faster than the last time!
All her husband says is "well, it's her house".

[peter31a]

I have to admit to hoarding including having multiples of some kits especcially A's, T's, 28/29 Lincolns and 32 Fords. Probably well over 400 + and well as numerous resin kits. "Hi! My name is Peter and this is my first Model Car Kits Anonymous meeting. I was referred by my friend Bill Eh? I admit to being a kit hoarder. I can't stop buying. I get so many neat ideas." Group: "Hi Peter!"

[RodneyBad]

Mmmm,
A hoarder? No.
I've seen the show Hoarders, I can still walk around my room and not on top of anything.
It is all confined in one room (sort've)
A Historian? Maybe.
Collector, No because I do build.
Finish? That is a whole nother story
I'm not out cruisin Bars, drinking, Gambling, or Causing trouble.
My money is my money and her money is her money.
All bills are paid.
She will always be able to find me (not a good thing all the time tho )
There was a time I couldn't afford much and told by my folks to grow up or I'll grow out of it.

I love to show my folks my Hobby room now

[CAL]

No hording here. I only have 400+ kits. I knew some one with 3,800 kits, which I kind of class that as hording.

[mikemodeler]

Mmmm,
A hoarder? No.
I've seen the show Hoarders, I can still walk around my room and not on top of anything.
It is all confined in one room (sort've)
A Historian? Maybe.
Collector, No because I do build.
Finish? That is a whole nother story

I'm not out cruisin Bars, drinking, Gambling, or Causing trouble.

My money is my money and her money is her money.

All bills are paid.

She will always be able to find me (not a good thing all the time tho )
There was a time I couldn't afford much and told by my folks to grow up or I'll grow out of it.

The one thing my wife does get about this hobby is that I could be spending as much or more at poker night, bowling night or hanging at the bar getting drunk.

Whenever I do get the occasional time at the hobby desk, she will inquire about the car I am working on, not that she knows the difference between a '57 Black Widow and a '32 5 Window

[Modelmartin]

I can't watch that show for more than a few minutes because I know some people who are hoarders. It is just too sad. If not for my mom my late dad would have completely spiraled out of control. The way it was it took two years to clean up all the useless ###### he accumulated over a lifetime. I know a few model guys who do qualify as hoarders because they do things like buy more kits when the heat and water bills are unpaid! These guys are trying to fill an emotional hole in their lives.

I know other guys who have lots and lots of models but have them nicely arranged and their lives are going well! I call them enthusiastic - probably a little neurotic but what the hey! They put the fun in dysfunction!

As for myself I probably had about 800 kits in my 20s but got rid of lots of them in the 80s. In the 90s and 00s I bought more here and there. About 3 years ago at a model car club meeting someone asked how many kits most of us had. I didn't know how many I had! I went home and counted. I had 600. I instantly decided to start thinning out and here is my reasoning. I know all about the math part (kits divided by years to live) and that isn't it.

I have many kits that are just fantastic kits, some with lots of great accessory parts and detail sets, etc. I also have a handful of cars I want to semi-scratchbuild or scratchbuild. Most of those 600 kits are a distraction and why would I possibly build something that isn't as awesome as the really cool kits I have. It's the distraction from what I really want to accomplish with my modelbuilding that motivated me to divest. I have sold off a lot of kits since that day and continue to move them out. I don't miss any of the kits that went out the door. I wouldn't mind getting down to about a hundred or even less.

One advantage of having sold off so many kits and many were great kits is that I am no longer tempted to pick up more. Why would I buy something ho-hum because it is cheap? I just got rid of twenty kits that were way cooler and I still have a hundred kits that even cooler than that.

But there is one kit that I won't sell. It is the first kit I bought with the intention of saving. I was 14 and the coolest kit to my mind back then was the Jo-Han Sox & Martin Cuda. I still have it and it is still shrinkwrapped! I am 54 now!

[Iron Fist]

I have to ask, why do you guys collect so many models? you will never be able to build them all. Currently I have two on the go and two waiting to be built, thats the most I have ever had at any one time.

[GHoneycutt]

YES!

[Keef]

im not a hoarder, im a purveyor of fine unfinished but half started styrene toys requiring finished assembly

[kitbash1]

Are we Hoarders? I consider myself a Collector more than a Hoarder. Hoarders amass useless ###### and garbage, as in stuff they take from others trash cans and from inside of dumpsters. My model collection ranges from 1/43rd scale to 1/8th scale. I have ( at last count ) over 3900 kits. Some are in storeage boxes, others are on shelves and in closets in my hobby room and basement. I will build some, sell or trade some and others I will not build. But, I will enjoy them all. I enjoyed finding kits from my childhood, and finding that rare kit at a fleamarket or a yard sale.

My name is Douglas, and I am a Builder and Collector of models. I am not a Hoarder.

Edited by kitbash1, 02 April 2011 - 01:54 PM.

[Mark Brown]

I have to ask, why do you guys collect so many models? you will never be able to build them all. Currently I have two on the go and two waiting to be built, thats the most I have ever had at any one time.

Let me ask you - how long have you been building? For me, part of it is time - I've been building for over 40 years and I don't throw anything away, so I've accumulated a lot of stuff just because of that.

Another part of it, for me, is how I build. A typical project of mine might involve parts from a dozen different models. I never build anything from the box, and rarely even close to that. I won't build all of those kits, but they're all potential sources for parts.

Another big factor has been mentioned....over time, I've missed out on many kits because I didn't grab one while they were available. Once I got to the position in life where I could buy them as I wished, I started getting them while the getting was good, in case I never got the opportunity again.

[Erik Smith]

Lot's of reasons here for amassing large quantities of unbuilt model kits. I have to say, it is nice to have kits to steal parts from - I am not afraid nor do I hesitate to rummage through all my kits and borrow parts or replace missing/lost pieces. I pitty the fool who gets my kits after I pass on and has to figure out why the heck some idiot went through EVERY single kit and removed one shock absorber or wheel!
I do have a plan for just about every kit - problem is remembering what that plan is years down the line.

Edited by Coyotehybrids, 29 March 2011 - 03:53 PM.

[Ben]

I consider each model box a "building block of happiness"! I'm pretty darned happy, I can tell you that!!!!!!!!

[RodneyBad]

I consider each model box a "building block of happiness"! I'm pretty darned happy, I can tell you that!!!!!!!!

Perfectly said.

[my80malibu]

I dont feel that I am a hoarder.I do feel! I am a man with not enough time to model the subjects I want to. If you asked my wife I am the worst hoarder on the planet.then I remind her of all those shoes that she has and only two feet to wear them on. I dont have stacks of clutter in my living room or places where you can hide a body.I want to prevent that at all cost.

[1320wayne]

Not a hoarder, a collector of unbuilt models hoping one day to be built. I think I'm like a lot of folks in that I have enough models to last me at least three lifetimes, considering the rate that I build them. I think I currently have somewhere between 400 and 500 models. I think that puts me somewhere in the middle of the road with most folks. My wife constantly asks why I have to but something new since I have so many to bebuilt already. My response is always the same. I've been waiting for this one to be released for so long now that I have to have it.

At least it's good to have a friend that doesn't live too far away that fits the hoarder category much better. He is single and owns a three bedroom house. He doesn't have to answer to anyone so that being said, he has models in just about every nook and cranny in the house. Even the pantry in the kitchen is about half food and half models. It's not an exxageration to say that he must have approximately 2 to 3,000 models, easily. And the amazing part is, is that he knows where everything is.

[gpugh1976]

Ok, so here's my stance. I, at one time, had a collection of about 150 models. I had just gotten married, had bills, not enough time, yada yada. I put the collection on ebay and sold everything, and I mean everything (except for the few finished cars and the one half-started car I had) for pennies on the dollar. You don't even want to know!

Then, fast forward a couple of years. I decide to finish the one "in-progress" car I had. That of course sparks the fire again. This time I played it smart. Here's what I did:

I made a list. I listed the kits that I built as a kid that I would like to try as an adult. I listed the kits that I remembered being so cool and influential. I listed the "gotta-haves". So now, I have roughly 85 un-started kits on shelves in my closet, along with about a dozen or so misc cars, whether they are built-ups needing restoration I've picked up from ebay, or resin kits, or parts cars I haven't given up on yet. So other than some of the releases or re-releases that come out that I just gotta have, for the most part, I'm done (except for the 9 or so that are still on the list) .

As far as my finished builds as an adult, I've got 9. The first of those was completed 10 years ago last month. So in doing the math that you all do, I end up completing just less than 1 a year. So I'm 34 now, if I continue on this same path I will finish my last one when I'm approximately 134 years old. So, this "list" I figure, is a good way to go. I have no business buying any new kits not on the list!

[niteowl7710]

So, this "list" I figure, is a good way to go. I have no business buying any new kits not on the list!

I don't have a list of my old kits I built as a kid, but I do have a box of every instruction sheet of every kit I did up to and including my first solo glue ki..eerrr bomb I did when I was 10-11. Showing amazing forethought for my age I kept the instructions, which must have started a trend that I followed right up till I moved out of my parents house at 19 and the wheels fell off the model building train until last summer. There are sheets for things I don't even remember building, which demonstrates the care-free restraint we had as kids. Building so many models so fast you don't even remember doing them.

[Nick Notarangelo]

I got about 90 to 120 kits and thats just not to say there all car models either,I do a mix of things from cars to ships,armor,warhammer and wood ship models.

but my wife is like what Zuk said she has her hobbies and I hove mine and she thinks mine is pretty cool and she builds when she can.