lets be a bit philosophical, shall we?

hi folks,

blame it on the sun, the whiskey or whatever, but for quite some time i've been pondering the question:how often do you really appreciate your collection, or do you appreciate it at all?

more often than not i find myself losing interest in a topic once i've completed a diorama or even midway. yet i "enjoy" owning it. there are times, now specifically, when other hobbies take the lead and i rest assured that my collection is just a room away.

still i don't bother checking up if "everything is alright" for weeks.

matter of fact i find myself thinking of reducing the living space in the distant future in order to reduce working hours as well, since i found out that my raging tinnitus gets less the more I reduce stress at work.

but less work equals in less money so in the end i'd sell my house in order to make up for it.
as much as i like my fallout diorama for example, playing it is a far more
intense experience as recreating it with figures.
don't get me wrong. the power armor figures are insane and i am very happy how my 3d printed customs turned out. still the 1/6 hobby occupies a lot of space and i'm not sure i can provide said space forever.

this is however not a goodbye to the hobby in the next few years, yet i feel as if i don't appreciate the things i got right now as much as i should.

this might be read a lot more serious than it is intended to be, still i'd like to hear your opinion on the matter.

cheers
tjolnir

I’ll have to ponder this further before I can make a reasonable reply. Good food for thought question.

I have paid off all my debts so can cut back on work to reduce stress and give me more time for hobbies. My income is curtailed but so are my expenses. I like collecting miniatures but don't have much interest in the figures themselves. My collection consists mainly of gear and accessories. Now I have more spare time I can make a lot of these myself. With action figures I only purchase maybe 3 or 4 each year.

I used to make full-sized replicas of historical weapons and armour. Now THAT took up lot of space to display. About five years ago I started making the same things in small-scale so that I wouldn't need so much space but eventually I still ran out of space. On "Welcome to Marwen" some of the walls in his house had holes cut out of them to make room for more displays. He effectively turned each hole into a "room box" for holding a diorama. I'm thinking of doing the same to my house.

My collection is not that big, and I don't know how big it will become, consisting as it does, entirely of kitbashed figures.  The thing is that I have been recreating the world in miniature for most of my life, with plastic model kits, toy soldiers, war gaming miniatures, model trains among other things.  This particular collection however, is the one that corresponds to a fantasy vision of a post-apocalyptic nature and to boot, it integrates well with the another great love of my life; photography.  I find it quite fun and challenging to get a 1/6th scale figure, or better still a group of such figures.  As with a lot of other collectors, each of my prime figures, has a name, a history, a fantasy persona built around it.  This is in a sense, not very different from my model railroad, which has a name, a setting, fictional towns, and each locomotive and car has a number and a function. Where the model railroad tries to recreate the operations of a real railroad as realistically as possible within a tiny space, my 1/6 collection allows me to create a completely alternate reality; the world as we should never want it become. Both allow me to express myself artistically, which may be the real reason I do this.

Very good question, which is to say there is no easy answer. Your dioramas are more ambitious than mine, and I'm sure it has occurred to you, but I would advise making them in such a way that they could be taken apart into relatively easily storable components as much as possible. It will not solve all space issues, but it would solve many.

I’ve been collecting things of all sizes and expenses most of my adult life. From literature to comic books, bladed weapons to firearms, toys and action figures of all sizes. I tend to throw myself whole-heartily into whatever collection piques my interest, in as much that I will research extensively whatever the latest hobby I’m involved in. When it comes to books, much of which is rare and “collectible”, I’ll even go as far as to read about the life and times of the authors whose work I’m committed to, to have a better understanding of their written work. And when I collect, I collect thoroughly— making sure to acquire every piece of writing by certain authors that I can get my hands on.
When it comes to 1/6 figures, I started such a long time ago, I can only recall the recent reason for coming back to this hobby. For a few years prior to the release of Hot Toys Selina Kyle and Avengers Black Widow, I had been perusing the Web and seeing all the cool dioramas (mostly military) that were, and had, been done, and thought it was neat that people were basically “telling stories” with action figures — having always had an interest in that, I got back into collecting with the two above mentioned figures. In 2013, I joined my first ever forums for any of my hobbies, and then became obsessed. In that time I have managed to acquire probably over 400 figures, maybe a 1/3 of which are bashed.
Now, to get to your questions... I wouldn’t say I don’t enjoy what I’ve accumulated, but I have pulled many figures from my shelves and boxed them up. I simply do not have the room to display everything, like most folks, and decided to keep out the figures that I enjoy looking at. I don’t spend hours and hours staring at them, and I generally don’t “play” with them, but periodically I will turn on all the cabinet lights and examine each and every shelf — sometimes adjusting a pose here and there, or even just thinking about cool things to do with them, that I simply don’t have the time for. So, I guess in a way, I’m not really getting tired of the collection, but I have slowed down considerably from when I first got back into this hobby — it’s just too costly, and takes up too much space, to get everything my heart desires. I’m even considering selling off a bunch of the stuff that I boxed up, but then I dread the idea of having to take pictures and all that to put in Sale posts — ugh! So I guess in a way, I’m bored of those figures that are boxed up.

thanks guys for your opinions and thoughts / tips. helps me to get a wider perspective on things.
feeling i got right now is something akin to "enjoy it while it lasts" for i don't know if and when i'd have to cut corners in order to lower the living costs.

my dios right now are build in "smaller" segments and usually put and held together by nails or similar little rods. rarely are there any heavy, chunky pieces like the wooden floor of one building.

if everything works out i get rid of my mortgage in 2-3 years which would free up a good chunk of money a month which i could then sacrifice in order to reduce working hours and still afford the space.

still i don't take my current situation for granted, even should i make it to retirement in quite some years in the future

i mean right now i'm affording myself the luxury of 2 basement rooms solely for unfinished and maybe never to be finished stuff, mainly my broken first 1/6 tiger tank plus the second one i got in a separate defunct dio a room away. couldn't possibly take them with me if i had to move. ain't no market for them here in germany either, sure ebay would be better than just getting "rid" of them. would make my heart bleed.

anyways enough of the doom and gloom. cured my vacation hangover and gonna enjoy the last few days under the sun.

by the way, it would have been a brilliant background for conan and fallout themes alike. bummer i had to check for the weight.

many thanks
tjolnir

It is a depressing thought, even realizing that things that make (or made) you happy will probably have to be let go -- even in the indefinite fullness of time. If it comes to it, I'm sure you will be able to find them new good homes and hopefully get some money for them too -- whether on eBay or through contacts on boards like this.

As I said, your dioramas are probably far more ambitious than mine in size and complexity, so my advice might not readily apply, but you might consider if it is something you could try in future. It does help tremendously if your work can be folded up into a few pieces and stored away when you don't need or want it displayed, without having to inflict damage to it. Truth be told, in terms of actual dioramas rather than mere placeable backdrops, my work has mostly been for smaller scales, especially for the classic (Kenner, now Hasbro) 3.75-inch Star Wars action figures. For example, the Death Star gun bay below, which is made up of four foamboards with glued-on wall panel printouts, cutouts and only a few elements (door frames) that add volume to the basic thickness of the foamboard. They are held together with velcro and can stand easily because they are placed so as to form a curve, as in the film. Then you place as many shiny Death Star floors (also foamboards, with glued-on liner) as needed--unfortunately not very seamless when you need multiple ones, and a few figures and other items. It can all be taken away, folded up, and stored away without damage when necessary. But ultimately it is not very complex. (In these photos, the 3.75-inch figures and diorama are supposed to be part of a model put together for a competition by a "real" 1/6-scale stormtrooper and gunner team.)





For 1/6-scale figures I have generally used simple printed-out backdrops, sometimes amplified by additional ones to form a corner or place a floor. This is a slightly more "complete" one, a corner control panel Death Star environment, which is really a partly-sliced black foamboard (so it could fold into a wide corner) with a partly glued-on and partly cut up printed control panel area. Again, I kept it simple and collapsible, so it can be folded up and stored away.



This next 1/6-scale one is just one wall section but technically more ambitious, including all sorts of tiny 3D elements (including paper clips). It cannot be folded up, but still takes little space.



This next 1/6-scale one is a folded printed background (to create a seamless corner) and a separate printed flood background.



But, again, these are essentially backdrops more suitable for specific photos than permanent interactive display, for which some more thought and complexity will be necessary to keep things modular, collapsible, and storable.

i tend to think i do enjoy my collection even if some of them are incomplete or neglected. honestly though it is hard to get motivated to show them off, because i have no dioramas, and no dedicated photobox atm.

Tjolnir, are you feeling overwhelmed with fallout?  I was just playing it. I wish Fahrenheit was a companion akin to Clover from Fallout 3. Have you thought about making 1/6 statues instead of figures?

Do you feel like switching what you want to collect or purchase? I like Star Wars, but I kind of regret getting the first order troopers yet kick myself for not getting a Shoretrooper.

Does your stress make you feel too fatigued to focus on making more designs? Do you like your job? Are you happy working there? If there is an emergency at work, I feel like I am there forever, by the time I get home I just sleep. My job makes me feel fulfilled, maybe I should take afternoon naps so I won't be too exhausted.

Do you have different genres you are collecting at the same time? (1/6 or 1/12 version of Marvel, DC, Doctor Who, Voltron, GIJoe, etc) I was getting Tbleague fantasy characters but decided to stop.

You mention the sun and drinking, are you in the sun too long outside? Do you drink more than twice? I am a foodie, so if I eat battered fish and fries, I want something malty, Heineken. hearty Spanish foods with a Modelo. I never like drinking unless I am eating a big meal which complements the experience. At times, I might be in the sun for too long during work, and I get these headaches that drain the energy out of me.

A very thought-provoking question, Tjolnir -- I've been far too stressed and busy this past weekend to even attempt to respond to this thread, but you definitely got me thinking over the last few days. 

First, in relation to what you said specifically about your own situation, it is certainly possible to wholeheartedly appreciate one's collection while still having a healthy level of detachment towards it. So there is nothing wrong with enjoying your collection and creations 'while it lasts' as you say, while simultaneously keeping in mind the fleeting nature of life, finances, personal situations, etc., and being prepared to let go, if need be. That doesn't make your participation in the hobby any less meaningful, it just means that you have a practical perspective on it. 

I also think that just because you may not be engaged in the hobby 24/7, this doesn't mean that you don't appreciate your own collection anymore. As you say, it's sometimes comforting to know it's 'there' even if you don't physically interact with it all the time. Of course, when it comes to dioramas, you are right that space can be a major issue, which is one of the reasons I have not built any yet. GF's suggestions for temporary, easily broken down dio's are excellent -- and I love those example photos! 

Also, unless you own your own house and are very 'settled' there for the long term, it's understandable that certain aspects of this hobby might have to be sacrificed every now and then. I speak as someone who has been living in various rental properties for years now, and struggled for years to have a permanent set up even just for personal day-to-day living, let alone for storing or display collectibles. 

[Edited to remove the more personal portion of the original response as I no longer feel comfortable sharing it here.]

When the new Disney Star Wars stuff began its unrelenting onslaught, therefore, I was able to find some solace and escape from it by creating a SW blog focusing on the Prequels and Original Trilogy eras (or 'the REAL Skywalker saga' as I call it) as a safe haven for myself and for other fellow fans

...I hated the way Disney was treating the saga so much that, wherever possible, I did not want to support them by purchasing their output. So I focused on collecting as many older figures as I could, especially those relating to my favourite fictional character of all time, Anakin Skywalker. :')  

But you are missing out on so much more in the new expanded universe. Mandolorians, Resistance squadron. And pretty soon, Sith and Jet Troopers.

MerylAkiba — I have my personal reasons for ignoring the Disney stuff nowadays, and I don’t think this is the thread to get into the details of it. If you want to know more about my views, you can check out my SW tumblr, https://the-far-bright-center.tumblr.com. Posts tagged ‘anti-sequels’ or ‘anti-Disney’ should cover my thoughts and feelings on the matter. : )

I only brought it up here because it’s a huge part of why I started collecting in the first place — to create a little world for myself where all that crap didn’t exist and where I could be happy and retain my love for Star Wars .... something that I came close to losing in the aftermath of certain of Disney’s output. Truly, this is the last aspect of my post that I wanted to be under discussion, and I only mentioned it to give context to my views toward my collection, in an attempt to respond to Tjolnir’s original question.

Obviously, this is a free forum and everyone can talk about what they want, but please don’t bring up details about ‘new’ SW stuff to me.... I spend a huge amount of effort attempting to avoid spoilers for Disney SW, even so far as to not visit many types of websites where spoilers would be abundant. I have no wish to rain on anyone else’s parade about it all, but I personally just wish to stay away from that side of things indefinitely.

Thanks for understanding. : )

But... Mandalorians.

But seriously, I know myself, and I know what makes me happy when it comes to Star Wars, and I prefer to stick with that.

I don't mean to be difficult, and I get you don't want your appreciation for Star Wars to be undermined by the present silliness, but if you don't plan to see any of them, are spoilers actually a threat? For example, I can't promise I haven't integrated any dismissive reference to the Sequel Trilogy in some humorous post... And do you partly exempt Rogue One?

Hey it’s ok, I understand your point. At this stage though it’s more of an emotional issue — I don’t like to know spoilers because of the way my mind works... i just struggle to deal with the implications of every little thing and often find even just knowing the title or subject matter of an upcoming movie upsetting in and of itself, so I figure it’s best for my mental health to just tune out of it altogether. Hope that explains a bit better. : )

Anyway, apologies for the off-topic turn of the discussion, it was certainly not my intent.

Well... it's a philosophical discussion, even if on a slightly different topic than the original post...

If you don't mind, I want to say another thing on the topic. When the Sequel triology appeared, everyone was hating against it and saying ONLY THE ORIGINAL COUNT! Now nostalgia has cought up and everyone is yelling ONLY THE LUCAS SIX COUNT!
I expect when Disney relases Star Wars 10-12 (not Skywalker Saga) Everyone is yelling: ONLY THE SKYWALKER SAGA IS REAL STAR WARS! Go away with the new BS.

Don't want to be mean, but that is my overall perspective on SW right now But you should watch whatever makes you happy.

Welcome aboard, Antarion.

By the way... I still think the prequels suck.

Stryker2011 wrote:Welcome aboard, Antarion.

By the way... I still think the prequels suck.

I think one of the very few that doesn't suck is "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," which comes after "A Fistful of Dollars," and "A Few Dollars More," but is clearly set before either tale, has a higher budget, and is arguably the greatest of ALL the spaghetti westerns. Actually, I reject all arguments; it IS the greatest.

I think one of the very few that doesn't suck is "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," which comes after "A Fistful of Dollars," and "A Few Dollars More," but is clearly set before either tale, has a higher budget, and is arguably the greatest of ALL the spaghetti westerns.  Actually, I reject all arguments; it IS the greatest.  

I did not know that it was a prequel, All this time, I've been watching this trilogy backwards. My family knew and never told me. My sis just laughed at me.

This makes alot of sense. So after he couldn't rescue one partner, and Tuco double-crossed him in tGtBtU, In his next adventure, he is a loner, who handles everything by himself, until the Barkeep and undertaker become his ally and help him in FoD, and in the final film he reluctantly teams up with Mortiner, just like the odd couple, thus regaining the importance of friendship...kinda like Shrek and Donkey, Dredd and Anderson, Woody and Buzz, Bill and Ted...

MerylAkiba wrote:

I think one of the very few that doesn't suck is "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," which comes after "A Fistful of Dollars," and "A Few Dollars More," but is clearly set before either tale, has a higher budget, and is arguably the greatest of ALL the spaghetti westerns.  Actually, I reject all arguments; it IS the greatest.  

I did not know that it was a prequel, All this time, I've been watching this trilogy backwards. My family knew and never told me. My sis just laughed at me.

This makes alot of sense. So after he couldn't rescue one partner, and Tuco double-crossed him in tGtBtU, In his next adventure, he is a loner, who handles everything by himself, until the Barkeep and undertaker become his ally and help him in FoD, and in the final film he reluctantly teams up with Mortiner, just like the odd couple, thus regaining the importance of friendship...kinda like Shrek and Donkey, Dredd and Anderson, Woody and Buzz, Bill and Ted...

The first of the three films to be made was "A Fistful of Dollars.  It was a low budget remake of a Kurosawa samurai film with Toshiro Mifune.  So low budget that Clint brought most of his wardrobe from the US; the gun belt and boots he'd worn in Rawhide, two pairs of black jeans a sheepskin jacket and hat he'd bought in a store in LA.  The poncho came from some shop in Spain, where they actually did most of the shooting.  Because they had no back up wardrobe and because he didn't trust the Italian film crews not to lose the items, he brought them back to his hotel every night.

The second film, "For a Few Dollars more seems to have had a higher budget and a bigger cast and was the first to feature Lee Van Cleef.  

Both of these films appear to be set sometime in the 1870's, maybe 1880's,

"The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," is set during the Civil War, and the characters carry Navy Colts or a Remington M1858 (Van Cleef) as opposed to the Colt M1873's used in the previous films. Also, if you notice, at the beginning of "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" and for most of the film, Clint's character dresses quite differently tan he does in the previous two films, but in the second half of the film, starting with when he leaves the prison camp, he acquires the costume he wears in the other two films, minus the poncho, which he picks up in a ruined building after giving comfort to a dying Confederate soldier. For the rest of the film, we see him dressed as he was in the earlier movies. This was all clearly intentional.

 Since it is set during the Civil War, 1861-65, it could only be a prequel to the other two films, which would lead one to ask what happened to all that gold that Clint (Blondie) rides off with at the end of the film and why does he have to take up his old life as a bounty hunter and mercenary again?  

I frankly don't think they gave this much thought. For my money, "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" stands alone very well and could have been the only film of the three ever made.  It would still be a classic.

Stryker2011 wrote:Welcome aboard, Antarion.

By the way... I still think the prequels suck.

Thanks!

Sorry for off topic, will hopefully also add some more meaningful stuff to the other threads

hi guys and gals,
sry for the late reply, was enjoying the last days of my vacation away from home. besides the internet connection wasn't particularly good but ok enough. but i don't choose a holiday location based on the wifi quality
so the sun and whiskey part was referring to relaxing at the beach and making good use of "all inclusive"
at home i don't drink nearly as much for it's messing with my aim ingame. on a side note i found out i ain't that bad of a shot in real life either, so thats a bonus.
i don't feel really "overwhelmed" by fallout rather than having to distribute the limited spare time to those hobbies that feel most rewarding at the time.
fallout is a game to calm down whereas i'll have to stroke my ego every now and then playing games like quake and battlefield competitively, sometimes screaming and cussing at the top of my lungs.
still if i don't play every other day i feel out of shape so it sucks up a lot of time per se.

thanks for all the replies and i especially hope you(skywalkersaga) are doing fine by now and everything is ok.
if my "plan" works out i'll have my mortgage off my back in a few years and no intention of giving up my house as long as my steady income is holding up (even if i'm gonna reduce the hours i'll sell them)
we got two hairy rascals ourselves and even if cats are less demanding in terms of time than other pets i still want to provide them the best environment i can, as they are 100% family .
the 1/6 hobby, as i enjoy it now, wouldn't be possible either without a "permanent " space to store my goodies.

regarding the star wars part of the conversation i can only personally state that there are only 3 movies in existence and the are from the late 70s and 80s. everything after that from jar jar binks to other atrocities ain't my cup of tea. had the first of the recent trilogy running on tv the other day and turned it off after 20 minutes or so, guess that tells you enough

in terms of figures i fondly remember the kenner figures from the 80s i had tons of them as a child, sadly except an at at walker, the cost a fortune back in the day.
strangely the spark never jumped over for me for 1/6 figures for star wars is "mass figure display" for my taste. can't have one storm trooper standing around and seeing
the price tag on them figures put me off getting into the theme.
though a vader chopping through rebel infantry intro scene might be something.....hmmm....
but in the end for me star wars lived from huge settings, space ships and backdrops. and i really cant dig a hole in my backyard and build a 1/6 sarlac pit, my wife would literally force choke me to death

ok enough rambling, still feel my little jet lag.
thanks again for the exchange of food for thought
cheers
tjolnir