Is this too many models

[Modelbuilder Mark]

"Too many" is relative. Too many to build in a life time? Too many to fit into the space you have? Too many to justify? Too many to remember what you have? What does SHE mean? Ask her how many of X(purses, shoes, etc etc) she has, and then if that is too many. Let's face it, all we really need is food, water, sleep, shelter, the rest is all bonus anyway. Most of us on here have more kits than we will build....as kits.  BUT, they are not there simply to be built. They are that collectors item you were looking for, that kit that took you back to your childhood so you bought it again, they represent a parts yard, trade fodder, future projects, etc etc..  As long as they do not prevent you from other obligations like making the mortgage, paying the bills, etc. and you enjoy the hobby, then so be it. As my dad would say, you don't have to feed them........but you do the wife.

[slusher]

  On 1/7/2016 at 1:26 AM, Mahogany Rush said:

Yes, you have too many. One wife is too many!

If you have the room and want them your models are an investment.My wife is very supportive of the hobby..

Edited January 7, 2016 by slusher

[disabled modeler]

I have a very simple solution for any of you that think you have too many kits...

Organize your collection or stash...it makes room and cleans up the look of them plus helps avoid damage to them.

If you still have too many...just send them to me...Ill make room for them.... 

[Bennyg]

I'm about to move tomorrow. I only agreed as long as I can have a model room. Getting a new airbrush and spray booth soon too. I have a fair amount of models myself. I don't keep them after I build them though. I usually give them to the person who owns the real thing or it goes to a truck museum. I build slow though. Painting is hard due to the adverse weather at times. 

Ben

[gtx6970]

Looks more like a good start. To many is all relative .

 

There are days I think I have to many ( between 400- and 500 ) But a good chunk of mine are old builtups and having multiples in boxes hides a good portion of them to prying eyes . Then again ,,,Some say all I have is a good start........ as I believe there are a few on here with kits in the 1000's

My wife never complains about them either, we both buy pretty much what we want when we want . Although she did tell me once I better get busy if I plan to build them all .

That will happen when I retire to southern AZ in a few years ...Soon,,,,,very very soon .

[ZTony8]

Yes,Bill,there are some of us on here with over a thousand kits(I have between 1200 and 1300).A couple of guys in my model clubs each have three to four times that.

My kits are my life insurance policy.I need to live to be about 400 years old to build them all.So far,so good!

[DrKerry]

Too many kits???? Heck your just getting started!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JTalmage]

I'm getting close to 200 unbuilts... not sure how many rebuilders.. but it's getting bad lol

[Dave Van]

You're fine......a nice but not overly large collection. In 2015 I sold 2000 kits........and I still have enough to build one a day........for a long long time.....

[Scott Colmer]

  On 1/7/2016 at 5:22 AM, Pete J. said:

Jesse-

  The mutual friend that you talk of(yes he is real)  had models every where.  All the cabinets in the kitchen.  Heck he even had an oven full of them.  The fire department told him he had to do something when they came on an emergency and couldn't him out.  I loved him as a modeler, but he was a model hoarder extraordinaire, not to mention a craftsman.  We will just leave the name out of this out of respect.

Hmmm. Pete, I think I may have been to your friend's house up in Nor Cal. An unbelievable collection. The nicest guy. I still have a kit I bought from him.

[gray07]

theres over 2000 unbuilt kits, a lot not opened, ive got around 300 built that are in tubs, but I keep telling my wife if something happens to me, sell the kits and have fun.

[charlie8575]

Fortunately, I have no wife to deal with, but a house shared with parents and it gets a bit tight at times. 

One of my major goals for the next 18-24 months is to get my own home again- either a decent-sized apartment or a house/trailer/something, and then I'll have room enough for everything again.

Charlie Larkin

[DaveM]

  On 1/7/2016 at 7:15 AM, slusher said:

 Solomon had 700 wives 

There is a downside to polygamy.  He also had 700 Mothers-In-Law... 

 

You don't have that many kits...  Keep buying until your storage unit bill costs more than your health insurance and then get back to us. 

Seriously, if you don't think you have too many kits, then you don't!  I agree, though, straighten them out, and get them stacked more securely on shelves to keep the bottom ones from being ruined.  Part of the fun of this hobby is the big pile of raw kits just waiting to be transformed into works of art!

[stavanzer]

I'm down to about 600 (both Cars,Big Rigs and 1/48 scale planes) I've sold and am selling off the rest of the 1/72 kits. I just gave all my 1/72 armor kits and diorama supplies to a friend, who only asked to look through the box. He had wanted a couple of the tank kits. I just gave him the whole thing. Out of my shed and into his. I'm trying to consolidate my collection down to a more manageable size. But, I'd buy a kit a week, if I had the $$$. I don't have the disposable income I did ten years ago, and my mortgage is much more than my rent used to be, so I've had to really cut back. Not griping , however. I have a great house, and more kits than I'll ever build. It is fun just to sit and 'grok' the open ones sometimes and plan for the future build. I'll 'third' the motion on cleaning and stacking kits. When we moved from the rental into the house we bought, I found at least a dozen kits that had been ruined in storage. They were either crushed, or eaten (bugs/mice) I lost at least three 1958 SMP kits that had been very close to mint. Dang Mouse had eaten holes in all of them....... Nice way to see $300.00 go up in smoke. I've been much more aware of how my kits are stored ever since.

[DrKerry]

I've got just a touch over 500 kits un built..... I tend to keep it "around" there, until we get our own home then all bets are off!!!!!

[High octane]

  On 1/7/2016 at 12:41 AM, gray07 said:

My wife is saying theres too many, what ya think, it goes from ceiling to floor and everywhere between, the boxes and tubbs are full

I'd say, "build on."

[High octane]

  On 1/7/2016 at 7:15 AM, slusher said:

If you have the room and want them your models are an investment.My wife is very supportive of the hobby..

Investment??? You'll be lucky if you get 75 cents on a dollar on most kits. And I do mean lucky, as I've been "thinnin' the herd" for the last two years. Sure if you have some late 50's & early 60's kits as well as JoHan kits they are a good investment, but a lot of what we buy are kits that have been issued or re-issued in the last 10 years or so, and everybody already has those.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Hmmmm...TOO  MANY  MODELS...???

I'm not sure I understand the concept.  

[Mark]

Get everything organized, and it won't look so sprawling/intimidating.

And get rid of that Gnip-Gnop game...

[Harry P.]

I know I'm in the minority here, but I never understood the concept of amassing hundreds and hundreds of kits. Obviously they can't all be built in your lifetime, so why do it?

I guess I'm the oddball here, but if I buy a kit, it's because I want to build it. It doesn't always work out quite so neatly, but after 50 years in the hobby I have maybe 25 unbuilt kits, tops. And that seems like a lot to me, because it represents several years of building.

[Ace-Garageguy]

  On 1/8/2016 at 12:09 AM, Harry P. said:

... I never understood the concept of amassing hundreds and hundreds of kits. Obviously they can't all be built in your lifetime, so why do it?

For the amount of time I've been able to spend building the past couple of years, it's really idiotic to have as many kits as I do. A few were purchased specifically as grail kits, ones I had when I was a kid and loved, or ones I really really wanted and never got. The nostalgia hit I get from those is worth it, but most of them I acquired in missing-parts or otherwise less-than-perfect condition...and a lot of gluebomb trash.

To me (because I build mostly heavily-modified models or original designs... never out-of-the-box), having so much stuff is the same as having a 25-acre junkyard out behind the hot-rod shop. Pretty much anything I can conceive, I have most of the parts to get a solid start...engines, chassis, wheels, tires, frames, body panels or clips, you name it. Same thing as an artist having an extensive array of colors in differing media, lotsa blank canvasses, etc.

But that's just me, and I'm nuts.

[Harry P.]

No, you're not nuts. Actually, that's about the best explanation of "kit hoarding" I've ever heard.

[mikemodeler]

  On 1/8/2016 at 12:09 AM, Harry P. said:

I know I'm in the minority here, but I never understood the concept of amassing hundreds and hundreds of kits. Obviously they can't all be built in your lifetime, so why do it?

I guess I'm the oddball here, but if I buy a kit, it's because I want to build it. It doesn't always work out quite so neatly, but after 50 years in the hobby I have maybe 25 unbuilt kits, tops. And that seems like a lot to me, because it represents several years of building.

I see both sides Harry. I agree that any more than 10 or 20 is probably considered "hoarding" but some of us might decide that collecting a bunch of particular kits in the hopes of someday building them is justified. I was one of those people, and at one time had over 400 kits. I have since seen the light and have been thinning my collection and stash to the point where I still have a ways to go but am feeling better about my "problem".

[dieseldawg142]

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Edited May 11, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[gtx6970]

  On 1/8/2016 at 12:36 AM, Harry P. said:

 

 

No, you're not nuts. Actually, that's about the best explanation of "kit hoarding" I've ever heard.

Agreed  100%

 

Most of my stash of kits includes multiples of multiples  . ( as an example I have well over a dozen of the various kits of the 1962 Impala drag car kits.  then maybe a dozen of the 1964 Thunderbolts.) 

I can use them for parts or with different decals turn them into another drivers/teams car from the era.

I would say maybe a 3rd of my stash is old long dis-continued kits . And those I have to buy when,,,,,,,, A - When they become avail ,,,,,in conjunction with ,

B - I have the disposabe income

 

And would guess at one time I had close to 1000 kits on hand . At my age I realized the odds I would build them all wasnt likely . SO I sold off the ones I knew I would never get to,, Be them a subject I wasnt interested in. Or  If it was a collectable kit I looked and saw thousands of dollars just sitting there . So over the course of a couple of years me and Ebay were good partners .

Edited January 8, 2016 by gtx6970