On Getting Close To Completion And The Price Of Old Toys

 The fact that I am now of pension age, is still settling on my mind, but even though it sifgnals the third and final stage of my time on this planet, it has acted as a supercharged burst of hobby-based determination, not only for me, but a couple of other friends too.

I have been making lists and opening long forgotten boxes to get my fantasy collection thoroughly completed, but the cost is not something I think reasonable, as scalpers and profiteers run amok on the internet, claiming that figures produced in their thousands are 'rare'... The truth is that they are not generally rare and can be found very easily.

Let me demonstrate...

The pic below represents some of the stuff I've purchased this week:

As you can see there are 4 of the 5 Dark Elf War Eagles I managed to find from various sellers, both on and off eBay. These averaged £45 per model against an original £7.95 40 years ago - Not bad by modern standards but still eye watering. They weigh around 400g each so are not small, 

The Golgoth giant Balrog was another £7.95 model which after haggling, cost me £55. Now I only need one of these, so I was prepared to suck up the cost.

The 6 smaller Eagles were 70p originally and these cost me £6 each

Finally, the Red Orcs, of which I have a couple of hundred set me back £114 collectively against an approximate £12 original cost. I admit that these are becoming harder to find, but as I said, I have a LOT of these from back in the day, and so I am ambivalent about paying a high price to finish off the collection. The figures with separate swords are a tad difficult  to get - mine are mostly minus the scimitar, being armed with pins as spears instead, .

So, I paid £385 against an original cost of £55.95, almost 7 times the original cost. I would suggest that a realistic cost would be around half that, but the rush of middle aged men to complete those childhood wish lists and half-finished armies, together with the outrageous gouging of several well known eBayers is warping the market.

I don't see my armies as investments for the future, but some probably do... These are toys to be loved and played with, and that's my aim and ambition for them.

I am sending all my figures off to be painted and I hope that by the end of 2024 95% of them (if not all) will be painted and ready for the tabletop where they belong.

But, I know of many, many gamers who buy hundreds of models and already have thousands more which are languishing in boxes, unpainted and deteriorating. 

What's the point?

I also wonder what other gamers have planned for their collections when they die - as they will - and these models still sit there in plastic tubs.

I am planning to see that my collection stays together, which is why I want it to be all painted and at it's best. It's a roadmap of a human lifetime in the last years of the 20th century, and so I want it to be a reminder and record of me. I'd love to be able to pass it on to someone who would curate it for another lifetime, and then do the same.

I would not leave it to another grognard becauise like me, they will be short on remaining years, and to be honest figure collectors strike me as a weird bunch. As I have already stated, these are in my opinion, toys to be played with and enjoyed.

I wonder how many fellow gamers are putting off considering or refusing to accept their mortality. I get it, it's bloody frightening to think that one day those lights will just be extinguished, but look at the effort we put inti creating these miniature armies. Surely we should care what happens to them and plan accordingly? Think about it - just not at 3AM... 

TTFN