lets be a bit philosophical, shall we?

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

I do get where you're coming from,

I had a bit of an epiphany when looking at my collection. I'd spent a ton of money on something that someone else had done, apart from paying for it, where was I in all this!? It was this that reminded me why I loved garage kits so much, granted I was spending the money, but, then I got to spend all the time building and painting them. Then, when they were done, I could sit back and appreciate something I had done and I found that all the more satisfying.

Rogerbee wrote:
I do get where you're coming from,

I had a bit of an epiphany when looking at my collection. I'd spent a ton of money on something that someone else had done, apart from paying for it, where was I in all this!? It was this that reminded me why I loved garage kits so much, granted I was spending the money, but, then I got to spend all the time building and painting them. Then, when they were done, I could sit back and appreciate something I had done and I found that all the more satisfying.

That's pretty much why every single one of my figures is a kitbash, built from the ground up, representing a fictional character I've created. I don't think it would be possible for me to enjoy simply collecting figures sold as complete sets.

ThePhotogsBlog wrote:That's pretty much why every single one of my figures is a kitbash, built from the ground up, representing a fictional character I've created. I don't think it would be possible for me to enjoy simply collecting figures sold as complete sets.  

Me neither. If you just want to collect boxed figures then they don't even need to be on display. Keep them in their original boxes and store them in a safe location. I can't see any use for them except as an investment. Everything I have on display is something that I have put a part of myself into or has some kind of sentimental value (such as keepsakes from a relative or friend).

shazzdan wrote:

ThePhotogsBlog wrote:That's pretty much why every single one of my figures is a kitbash, built from the ground up, representing a fictional character I've created. I don't think it would be possible for me to enjoy simply collecting figures sold as complete sets.  

Me neither. If you just want to collect boxed figures then they don't even need to be on display. Keep them in their original boxes and store them in a safe location. I can't see any use for them except as an investment. Everything I have on display is something that I have put a part of myself into or has some kind of sentimental value (such as keepsakes from a relative or friend).

There is certainly no shortage of people who buy figures for investment purposes and keep them mint in box, which in my mind defeats the purpose of action figures to begin with.  This being said, there are things one might buy only to display; for instance, I have always wanted a replica of the Maltese Falcon statuette from the film and the only thing I could do with one is to display it as an overt testament to my love for the film noir genre and the particular film that changed the trajectory of my favorite actor's career.....

But back to 1/6th scale figures, like you, I like to photograph mine, using them to create alternate realities, etc.  The whole appeal of 1/6th collecting to me revolves around the enormous kitbash potential made possible by the huge amount of parted out material available.  Like you, I put a part of myself into the effort with every figure.

I get what you guys are saying, most of mine are custom too, but, it was still largely other peoples' stuff I was doing. Granted a garage kit is sculpted by someone else initially, but, everything else is down to what you do. You have to bring the entire thing to life with the assembly and paint. That to me, as I am now, is a bigger reward than putting something together out of pre-made parts.

Rogerbee wrote:
I get what you guys are saying, most of mine are custom too, but, it was still largely other peoples' stuff I was doing. Granted a garage kit is sculpted by someone else initially, but, everything else is down to what you do. You have to bring the entire thing to life with the assembly and paint. That to me, as I am now, is a bigger reward than putting something together out of pre-made parts.

Doubtless that if I built an ultralight out of parts I found in a junkyard and it actually flew, I would take huge satisfaction at that too, but life has both big and small rewards as well as those I can afford and those I cannot. It also goes to what you like to do with the finished product, which in my case is much more than simply to display.

Tjolnir wrote:
thanks for all the replies and i especially hope you(skywalkersaga) are doing fine by now and everything is ok.

Glad you enjoyed your holiday, Tjolnir, and thanks so much for the well-wishes. Real life can be pretty scary, stressful, and uncertain these days, and perhaps, paradoxically, that's why I cling to familiar and beloved fiction. But yes, thank you, I am doing ok. 

I take the most pleasure from making something in miniature that is indistinguishable from the full-sized item. It isn't always possible but when it happens it is magical.

You're right, shazzdan, there is indeed great pleasure in miniature versions of the real thing! That is what we are all here for.  Though I think that if some people get that pleasure from collecting, rather than creating, then that is their prerogative as well.  

And Roger, it's great that you're willing to devote such time to 'garage kits'. It must indeed be satisfying to have  something like that that you painted entirely yourself. Just to clarify though, by that term, do you mean the statues that you purchase in pieces, and then paint and put together? Or are there 'garage kit' versions of 1/6 action figures as well? Because while statue-painting is a very admirable skill, I don't think one can completely equate it with kitbashing or customizing action figures, as there are often different materials and skill sets involved....and vice versa.

Which brings me to something I've been thinking about in relation to my own projects lately. I have been feeling somewhat guilty at times for not always being able do every single part of a project myself. But realistically....not everyone has the time and skill to devote to perfecting such things. While I love to create custom figures and accessories, I've been struggling to do so for a variety of reasons these days. In fact, feeling pressure to 'do everything myself' has made me feel fatigued with the hobby enough that some days I don't feel up to attempting to work on anything at all. I fully admit that if I could pay someone to just make the exact thing that is in my head FOR me, right at this minute.... I would. But it's not that simple.... and one of the reasons I even got into customizing at all was that I realized there are some things one just has to do oneself, in order to get it 'right'. But while there are of course benefits to doing entire custom piece oneself, I personally have limits to the types of skills I am interested in and willing to devote time to 'mastering'. Painting, re-painting, sewing, and making certain types of accessories out of faux leather....these are probably the realistic limits of my abilities at this point.  Possibly re-hairing with mohair/tibetan lamb hair, but that is another skill where I'm still only just barely scratching the surface and don't quite feel comfortable tackling more advanced work yet. And there are tons of other skills I'd need to have in order to create my 'perfect' customs entirely on my own, such as using power tools, sculpting, certain types of modd'ing, etc. And I'd rather devote my very limited energy and enthusiasm to skills I have a knack for -- and which are, more importantly, activities I enjoy! -- rather than trying to master every damn skill set all at once. 

So yeah... I guess what I'm saying is that I do love to customize, but I'm also not afraid to ask for help and/or commission others to assist me when it comes to certain parts of a project where I feel my skills are not quite at at a high enough level yet.

ETA: Meant to add that I've realized that what gives me far more satisfaction than even being able to say 'I made this', is in fact having beautiful finished pieces that I can handle and 'play with' and set up in scenes. I get impatient and depressed about having so many unfinished WIPs laying around. So if that means that, at times, I need to get outside assistance to complete some of them, then so be it. ;p

Nothing we make is entirely from scratch. If nothing else we need to buy the naked figurines. And none of us is good at everything. Some can paint head sculpts. Some can make miniature accessories. Some can make clothing. Some are good at scenery and backdrops. We have to decide how much of a project we want to make from scratch and how much we will purchase. The act of putting everything together to create something unique is special in itself. I get pleasure in simply researching a scene to get all the details right and then hunting for all the pieces needed to bring it to life.

shazzdan wrote:Nothing we make is entirely from scratch. If nothing else we need to buy the naked figurines. And none of us are good at everything. Some can paint head sculpts. Some can make miniature accessories. Some can make clothing. Some are good at scenery and backdrops. We have to decide how much of a project we want to make from scratch and how much we will purchase. The act of putting everything together to create something unique is special in itself. I get pleasure in simply researching a scene to get all the details right and the hunting for all the pieces needed to bring it to life.

So true...nothing wrong with playing to our strengths. Ultimately, I would like to think that this works out in everyone's benefit, since we can share our skills with each other in various ways. 

And I love to see the scenes and accessories and other miniatures you create -- you have a great eye for detail and for scale, so it's always a pleasure to see what you come up with!

Skywalkersaga— You should NEVER feel that you need to do it all. Customizing and kitbashing doesn’t mean you have to do it all. There are very few people who have the skills (or the time) to do it all. Hiring someone to do custom work isn’t a cheat or a dishonor to your vision. I’ve sewn some things myself, but I do it by hand and it’s too tedious for me to do complex articles of clothing, so I’ve hired Amy Jones a few times to do things for me, based on my vision, and despite the final work being hers — I’m still proud of it. I’ve had head sculpts commissioned, and put my input into all stages of the process, and though the final work isn’t mine per se, it still has my mark on it.

I know you may not see it as such, but creating characters and figures in this hobby isn’t a competition. Shazzdan likes to make his own stuff, and he has the skill to do it. I’ll make things when it’s necessary, but if I can purchase something pre-made that saves me a $#&tload of time and effort — I’d much rather do that, as I’m ultimately very lazy. Doesn’t make my appreciation for what others can do, and what I’ve done, any less. Enjoying the hobby, in whatever way you can, is ultimately the only point. It’s not supposed to be a chore. I’ve never made a diorama before the mighty Jabba, and while it’s been somewhat frustrating at times as I’ve run into errors due to my own lack of experience, it’s ultimately been a lot of fun, and very educational — and I’ve enjoyed it far more than it frustrated me.

I started making my own stuff because I'm cheap! It costs less to make one than to buy a commercial version. I don't even like buying materials; I'll try to scavenge everything for free. My main ongoing expenses are glue and paint. It's actually a pretty inexpensive hobby if you stay away from buying boxed figures.

shazzdan wrote:I started making my own stuff because I'm cheap! It costs less to make one than to buy a commercial version. I don't even like buying materials; I'll try to scavenge everything for free. My main ongoing expenses are glue and paint. It's actually a pretty inexpensive hobby if you stay away from buying boxed figures.

I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt.

skywalkersaga wrote:

And Roger, it's great that you're willing to devote such time to 'garage kits'. It must indeed be satisfying to have  something like that that you painted entirely yourself. Just to clarify though, by that term, do you mean the statues that you purchase in pieces, and then paint and put together? Or are there 'garage kit' versions of 1/6 action figures as well? Because while statue-painting is a very admirable skill, I don't think one can completely equate it with kitbashing or customizing action figures, as there are often different materials and skill sets involved....and vice versa.

Garage kits are either vinyl or resin, the majority of the earliest and best are of licensed subjects. Did you know, for example, that SSC started off making garage kits before they branched out into figures? Billiken could well be considered the Enterbay of their field and Horizon the HT. A lot of others were more limited run and weren't licensed and it's pretty much this section of the market that continues to this day. Because of the assembly and paint required I don't think you can truly call them statues, even though the end product is largely similar. A lot of the paint skills are transferrable, indeed it's techniques from Darren Carnall, who repaints 1/6 heads, that I intend to use on my kits. I found it all very enjoyable when I did it in the 90's and I don't doubt I still will.

Rogerbee wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:

And Roger, it's great that you're willing to devote such time to 'garage kits'. It must indeed be satisfying to have  something like that that you painted entirely yourself. Just to clarify though, by that term, do you mean the statues that you purchase in pieces, and then paint and put together? Or are there 'garage kit' versions of 1/6 action figures as well? Because while statue-painting is a very admirable skill, I don't think one can completely equate it with kitbashing or customizing action figures, as there are often different materials and skill sets involved....and vice versa.

Garage kits are either vinyl or resin, the majority of the earliest and best are of licensed subjects. Did you know, for example, that SSC started off making garage kits before they branched out into figures? Billiken could well be considered the Enterbay of their field and Horizon the HT. A lot of others were more limited run and weren't licensed and it's pretty much this section of the market that continues to this day. Because of the assembly and paint required I don't think you can truly call them statues, even though the end product is largely similar. A lot of the paint skills are transferrable, indeed it's techniques from Darren Carnall, who repaints 1/6 heads, that I intend to use on my kits. I found it all very enjoyable when I did it in the 90's and I don't doubt I still will.

Thanks for explaining! I wasn't aware of the particulars of the garage kit history, but I appreciate the info. And apologies if I was mistaken in calling them 'statues' -- what term do you prefer? Just 'figures'? And yes, of course, the painting skills are most certainly an area of overlap -- when I referred to the differences, I meant mostly in regard to the fact that action figures tend to require clothing and accessories to be complete, whereas I am guessing all of that is usually sculpted in a garage kit? Again, I was certainly not implying one hobby was better than the other,  but just saying that from my very inexperienced perspective, it didn't seem that they were 100% comparable. 

And I love watching Darren Carnall's painting videos! 

Stryker2011 wrote:Skywalkersaga— You should NEVER feel that you need to do it all. Customizing and kitbashing doesn’t mean you have to do it all. There are very few people who have the skills (or the time) to do it all. Hiring someone to do custom work isn’t a cheat or a dishonor to your vision. I’ve sewn some things myself, but I do it by hand and it’s too tedious for me to do complex articles of clothing, so I’ve hired Amy Jones a few times to do things for me, based on my vision, and despite the final work being hers — I’m still proud of it. I’ve had head sculpts commissioned, and put my input into all stages of the process, and though the final work isn’t mine per se, it still has my mark on it.I know you may not see it as such, but creating characters and figures in this hobby isn’t a competition. Shazzdan likes to make his own stuff, and he has the skill to do it. I’ll make things when it’s necessary, but if I can purchase something pre-made that saves me a $#&tload of time and effort — I’d much rather do that, as I’m ultimately very lazy. Doesn’t make my appreciation for what others can do, and what I’ve done, any less. Enjoying the hobby, in whatever way you can, is ultimately the only point. It’s not supposed to be a chore. I’ve never made a diorama before the mighty Jabba, and while it’s been somewhat frustrating at times as I’ve run into errors due to my own lack of experience, it’s ultimately been a lot of fun, and very educational — and I’ve enjoyed it far more than it frustrated me.

Thank you for the words of wisdom, Stryker. And you are right, it's NOT a competition, and I certainly don't view it that way myself, though I suppose it is nonetheless easy to start to feel inadequate, and compare oneself to others in an overly self-critical manner, even if not doing so with a competitive spirit, if that makes sense. But, like with any art or hobby, the best way to approach things is to focus on what you're doing, and do it to the best of your ability, and not get bogged down in what others are doing. Easier said than done sometimes, but I can try. 

I also feel you completely on the 'customizing out of sheer necessity' side of things. While there are some areas of customization that I enjoy and find soothing [for instance, I really do like making and painting little accessories and stuff like that], there are other aspects that I find tedious and daunting, and which I tend to put off as long as possible until I've explored all other options and found nothing else already existing out there. 

But yeah... the minute something starts to feel like a competition is the moment I am 'out'. I simply cannot handle that kind of pressure. I have noticed that for some collectors [not the ones on this forum], it does seem to be a competition of who can make/buy/commission/acquire the 'best' figure, and while in one sense it's great to push the hobby to new levels, I personally can't participate in that kind of mentality. Especially since these things are so subjective. Just as an example, right now the trend is for hyper-realistic figures, so that is what many people deem to be 'the best', but that is not necessarily what everyone who is participating in the hobby is trying to achieve. 

Ultimately, all I want are figures that I like and that fit my personal preferences and tastes and go along with the focus of my collection, and some of those might be purchased boxed figures, some of them might be kitbashes, some might be partially or entirely commissioned pieces, and some might be my own creations. Or a blend of all of the above. 

I think when people are in this for 'bragging rights', then being or having 'the best' becomes more of an extreme focus. But those of us who are in this for maximum personal enjoyment, then all that matters is that our figures make us happy. 


ETA: Meant to add that I'm so glad you decided to share your Jabba dio-making journey with us, it's been incredibly inspirational and educational from the viewer's perspective, as well. :')

Skywalkersaga,

There are some people in just about any form of modeling you care to name that are driven by competition and the need to prove they are the best, which when it comes to art, which this is, is purely subjective. The overwhelming majority of modelers however, do it just because they enjoy the process of building, take pride in the finished product and enjoy the result afterwards, which might be sticking the figure on display for others to admire or in my case, shooting photos with it. I could care less about competitions myself; I'm not in it for that. like a lot of people however, I enjoy sharing my work among other aficionados of the hobby, reading their opinions and feedback and doing the same for their work when they post it. I get more satisfaction out of that than I could possibly get out of winning some sort of competition. Don't get me wrong...the stuff cranked out by competition level modelers is awesome in some ways, particularly painting and weathering, though not in my opinion all that original in concept. This being said, I'm in it to enjoy myself, and so far I am. Nothing in my collection would win any kind of competition, but then again, why would I care?

interesting idea about competition and "incentives" . i chose 1/6 figures as a means to make my virtual hobby come to life. my very first figure was a 1/6 dragon german machine gunner(the name eludes me right now) but it was meant as a battlefield 1942 mascot when out on lan parties well, competing. even thought about case modding him into my pc but once i held the figure in hands i couldn't bring myself cutting him apart (was supposed to look like a tank hatch on top of my pc case). instead i thought about giving him a proper backdrop in my shelf, sandbags, barbed wire obstacles and all.

over the years i found some kind of relaxation when working on my figures / dioramas, something that wasn't tied to achieving a particular goal or placing 1st in a tournament rather than putting my mind at ease, kinda focusing without a definite goal in mind. similar to an open road with lots possible outcomes.

in everyday life, most results are forced upon you for the money's sake. then there's results that you put upon yourself, been there done that. for 2 years i trained, ate and slept on point to reach the goal of how i wanted my body to look. made the gym my second home and was honestly amazed that by the time people came to me for training routine questions or nutrition. up until 27 years of age my buddy kept saying i had to enter the door twice to be seen so bulking up as much as i could was kind of a big deal to me.
yet no matter how much gains i put on, i wasn't satisfied even after having the obligatory "cycle". i felt great, was in the best shape of my life and still sad i was never getting the proportions of the "real guys" you see at the mr. olympia.
but somewhere along the way it "clicked", that in order to grow i had to mix various "supplements" and would soon hit unhealthy levels and still not be anywhere near the big guys, so i quit fighting with myself.
i still hit the gym, still admire the 250+pounds around but i came to enjoy my results as my own and try to build the best "me" instead of chasing an unreachable phantom.

so personally 1/6 isn't so much of a competition for me rather than an incentive and inspiration. i love seen stuff done i wasn't even thinking about myself even if i can't reproduce the result 1:1 due to lack of skills and/or patience. but it broadens my field of view and makes my arsenal bigger next time i try something new.

right now my first and foremost pastime is gaming and let me tell you, being toxic at any possible confrontation is the norm not the exception for your every move is recorded as statistics. how many kills per deathm points per minute and so and so forth. it keeps you on your toes but burns you out just the same for you don't want to be on the lower end of the score list.
so basically my best from today has to be the norm for tomorrow. only at some point you can't improve any further linearly and that's where frustration hits you, thus the toxicity.

so all i'm saying is i'm thankful having found a hobby where the results only ever matter to me and every external influence is an inspiration rather than a challenge to the death

cheers and thanks for the food for thought

Stryker2011 wrote:

shazzdan wrote:I started making my own stuff because I'm cheap! It costs less to make one than to buy a commercial version. I don't even like buying materials; I'll try to scavenge everything for free. My main ongoing expenses are glue and paint. It's actually a pretty inexpensive hobby if you stay away from buying boxed figures.

I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt.

All inventors are lazy at heart. The underlying desire is to create a device that can help them do less work.

shazzdan wrote:All inventors are lazy at heart. The underlying desire is to create a device that can help them do less work.

Didn't someone (other than me) say that laziness is the mother of invention? Well, if they didn't, they should have.