Do you say and try not to buy any more kits but

[Bills72sj]

I want what I want, I can finally afford it, why the heck not? I am 59 and still working. I call them my retirement presents.

[RSchnell]

I always say I'm not buying more until I get some of the stash built. Hasn't worked out like that since I got back into modeling 7 yrs ago. Stacking kits is like a real life game of Tetris!

[slusher]

5 hours ago, BeakDoc said:

Carl, if I had a dollar for every time I said that and didn’t follow through I’d have a lot more money.... to buy......more......kits.

I often wonder if we would save money or buy something else...

[stitchdup]

I've said that many times, but last year I got rid of my tv to make space for more kits and still had to add more shelving. Currently I have them stacked to the roof and under anything that has space for a kit. In my deffence, the past year was different as i was working a lot more so spending it on kits for when my wages drop was like me planning ahead

[Tom Geiger]

9 hours ago, alan barton said:

Similar but different, I keep telling myself I am not going to build any more scratchbuilt or semi scratchbuilt models, just ones that are stored one to a box so that as my completed model tally goes up, my stash drops in size.  good plan, eh?

Been trying for ten years.  Built eighteen models this year, exactly two came from a single kit box.  Nahhh, not working for me!

Cheers

Alan

Ha!  You’ve seen my basement! ?
 

And with all the great kits and resin I own, I’m much more likely to fiddle with old scrap or the parts box to build something!

Edited November 18, 2020 by Tom Geiger

[Spottedlaurel]

1 hour ago, stitchdup said:

In my deffence, the past year was different as i was working a lot more so spending it on kits for when my wages drop was like me planning ahead

Excellent example of man maths there ?

[Plowboy]

I've slowed way down on buying kits the past couple of years. The last new kit I bought was the Revell '68 Chevelle. I think I've only bought one, maybe two models this year. A couple of years ago, it hit me that if I spent the time and money that I do on small scales on a full scale, I could have something cool that I could drive and enjoy. So, I decided to sell my kit collection. I went through the daunting task of inventorying all of them. What a chore! Then, I contacted a few people about selling the entire collection. What an eye opener that was! They only wanted the rare kits for half their worth. Common kits are only worth $3-5 a piece. So yeah, I still have them. I'll build what I can while I can and when I can't, I'll give away what I can and burn the rest. I would hate to leave that mess behind for my wife or kids to go through.  

[Bill Eh?]

Most of my stash are Japanese sports or racing car kits, (Tamiya, Fujimi, Hasagawa, Aoshime, Ebbro) and I have more tah a few duplicates. The buying of duplicates really slowed down when Tamiya kits went north of $60 Canadian. Apparently this has not been enough to stop me from adding more kits to my stash. LOL

[TonyK]

I've done much better these last few years and don't buy too many models. Seems I've got a new approach where I get excited about the upcoming releases and then when they become available I'm not that excited anymore so I end up not buying them. I sit back and read many comments on message boards about the new kits and that helps my decision whether or not I might buy one.....or two.

[Tom Geiger]

2 hours ago, Plowboy said:

 Then, I contacted a few people about selling the entire collection. What an eye opener that was! They only wanted the rare kits for half their worth. Common kits are only worth $3-5 a piece. 

Which is why I haven’t sold anything! A while back when doing inventory I found I had a dozen 1950 Ford pickup kits, mostly bought cheap at shows. I took the unsealed ones and dumped them into my 50 Ford parts box. Worth more to me as parts. A bit more confidence when trying something radical, if I screw up a part I just toss it out and reach for another copy.

[tbill]

Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.....

[High octane]

Being in a building slump for awhile and having more than enough plastic and resin kits to last much longer than my days, I've got real tired of tying up my green for plastic and over the last few years I could count on one hand how many kits I've bought, other than for my grandson who seems to like model building and I need to get him back on the bench. By the way, he hasn't seen my "stash" as yet.

[bobthehobbyguy]

5 hours ago, Plowboy said:

I've slowed way down on buying kits the past couple of years. The last new kit I bought was the Revell '68 Chevelle. I think I've only bought one, maybe two models this year. A couple of years ago, it hit me that if I spent the time and money that I do on small scales on a full scale, I could have something cool that I could drive and enjoy. So, I decided to sell my kit collection. I went through the daunting task of inventorying all of them. What a chore! Then, I contacted a few people about selling the entire collection. What an eye opener that was! They only wanted the rare kits for half their worth. Common kits are only worth $3-5 a piece. So yeah, I still have them. I'll build what I can while I can and when I can't, I'll give away what I can and burn the rest. I would hate to leave that mess behind for my wife or kids to go through.  

I haven't bought any new kits in 3 or 4 years. Been thinning out some kits where I know they just won't be built. But still have a sizeable stash of unbuilt kits of parts to last several life times.

In regards to collection buyers. Fifty percent is actually reasonable. They are going to have costs of business plus it depends how long it takes to move the kits. An unsold kit means there money thats sitting on the shelf.

If you sell your kits yourself you will have costs also. If its a show you have the cost of travel, food, gas, and lodging. Plus your time. In the end you have to decide what works the best for you. 

[bogger44]

It really is kind of an addiction, as it's hard to pass up a kit you really like or even good deals on kits you may not have a ton of interest in.  But, you can add me to the list of those who are at least trying to slow down on buying kits, though I've about doubled the amount I bought this year (probably 10 or so) compared to the last few years.  I have sold off around 35 kits the last two years, as well as a few to a co-worker who is getting into the hobby.

[Tom Geiger]

8 hours ago, stitchdup said:

In my deffence, the past year was different as i was working a lot more so spending it on kits for when my wages drop was like me planning ahead

I’m in the camp of having kits for my retirement. Do you remember the Twilight Zone episode with the reading enthusiast whose wish that all people should go away so he could spend all his time reading? He woke up one morning and everyone was gone, he got his wish!  Then he broke his glasses and couldn’t read!

i worry that I may decline physically and won’t be up to building all those great models I intend to build one day. So it’s one day at a time!

[JollySipper]

I envy you guys that can afford to buy kits on a whim! I buy a kit and whatever paints and materials I may need, then I build said kit... Once it's done I try to do that again. I may buy a kit every couple months....

[Snake45]

2 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Do you remember the Twilight Zone episode with the reading enthusiast whose wish that all people should go away so he could spend all his time reading? He woke up one morning and everyone was gone, he got his wish!  Then he broke his glasses and couldn’t read!

Eventually everyone came back, and then he was The Penguin! 

[bobthehobbyguy]

2 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

I’m in the camp of having kits for my retirement. Do you remember the Twilight Zone episode with the reading enthusiast whose wish that all people should go away so he could spend all his time reading? He woke up one morning and everyone was gone, he got his wish!  Then he broke his glasses and couldn’t read!

i worry that I may decline physically and won’t be up to building all those great models I intend to build one day. So it’s one day at a time!

I remember the episode. Berguss Meridith was a bank teller who loved to read. His lunch habit was to read in the bank vault. One day ww3 came. When he ventured out he found he was the only one. He finds the library and finds all the books he wanted to read and then he breaks his glasses. The ultimate nightmare.

 

And yes Snake he went on to play the penguin in the original Batman TV series.

[Dave Ambrose]

I'm fairly certain that buying kits and building them are two different hobbies. I was initially driven by fear of missing out (FOMO). But realized that these kits are generally going to be available for as long as I might need one. 

I've backed way off on buying kits though I love to look around at model swap meets. At this point, my kit stash is right about where I want it, tho larger than my wife anticipated. Both my son and daughter build Gundams, so there are a lot of kits around here. 

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

I remember the episode. Berguss Meridith was a bank teller who loved to read. His lunch habit was to read in the bank vault. One day ww3 came. When he ventured out he found he was the only one. He finds the library and finds all the books he wanted to read and then he breaks his glasses. The ultimate nightmare.

Years later, I wondered why he didn't go into a drugstore and pick up a pair of generic readers. 

And Rod Serling told a variant of this very story (much darker) in the very first episode of Night Gallery in the '70s. 

Edited November 19, 2020 by Snake45

[ChrisBcritter]

When I first saw the episode, I kept thinking "Uh, you know he's going to be dead from the radiation in a few days anyway, right?" 

2 hours ago, Snake45 said:

And Rod Serling told a variant of this very story (much darker) in the very first episode of Night Gallery in the '70s. 

You mean the story with Joan Crawford and Tom Bosley, directed by Steven Spielberg?

[slusher]

7 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

I’m in the camp of having kits for my retirement. Do you remember the Twilight Zone episode with the reading enthusiast whose wish that all people should go away so he could spend all his time reading? He woke up one morning and everyone was gone, he got his wish!  Then he broke his glasses and couldn’t read!

i worry that I may decline physically and won’t be up to building all those great models I intend to build one day. So it’s one day at a time!

Tom when you can retire, don't work too long. I am so worried my brother has worked to long.

[slusher]

15 hours ago, Plowboy said:

I've slowed way down on buying kits the past couple of years. The last new kit I bought was the Revell '68 Chevelle. I think I've only bought one, maybe two models this year. A couple of years ago, it hit me that if I spent the time and money that I do on small scales on a full scale, I could have something cool that I could drive and enjoy. So, I decided to sell my kit collection. I went through the daunting task of inventorying all of them. What a chore! Then, I contacted a few people about selling the entire collection. What an eye opener that was! They only wanted the rare kits for half their worth. Common kits are only worth $3-5 a piece. So yeah, I still have them. I'll build what I can while I can and when I can't, I'll give away what I can and burn the rest. I would hate to leave that mess behind for my wife or kids to go through.  

What you already bought is paid for not costing anything to have unless you have them in a starage building. i don't have many compared to most. i got rid of some by giving them to Carl Perkins prevention of child abuse and some boys had models for Christmas. I was healthier then...

[Bills72sj]

16 hours ago, TonyK said:

I've done much better these last few years and don't buy too many models. Seems I've got a new approach where I get excited about the upcoming releases and then when they become available I'm not that excited anymore so I end up not buying them. I sit back and read many comments on message boards about the new kits and that helps my decision whether or not I might buy one.....or two.

I am am in the same camp. I have been pretty good about only actually buying kits I truly WANT to build. I avoid buying duplicates but some times buy similar kits if it has different parts for a different version.

[Tom Geiger]

11 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Years later, I wondered why he didn't go into a drugstore and pick up a pair of generic readers. 

Come on! Logic has no place on television!