Shame, or possibility?
A quick note for anyone brought here by the WordPress algorithm. This article has nothing to do with self improvement or psychological wellbeing. It’s about painting little toy soldiers.
Goobertown hobbies has become regular viewing for me this month, and I was struck by this video about something every wargamer has: the pile of shame. Those unpainted miniatures bought on impulse or with intent years ago, but never touched.
Watching this video I was struck by how often Brent used the word ‘possibility’ to describe what he was looking at.
That got me thinking.
I wrote my own pile of shame article back in the early months of this blog. I had considered featuring the article as part of the Once upon a Wednesday series, but I realised I didn’t have much to say other than “still haven’t painted many of these.”
When I think of these miniatures in terms of possibilities though, my feelings change – a bit.
I won’t claim this is everything, but it’s a fair selection of what lies under the house, waiting patiently for the touch of a paint brush.
The large box has a mix mainly of historical models and Lord of the Rings figures. Assembled, based, even undercoated. All effectively abandoned. Possibly I could get those arbalesters painted up into a nice large unit, pay around the with chariorts, and get those trolls done.
My mother bought those chaos knights for me in 1994. I’ll paint them one day. I like the new Slaves to Darkness warriors and knights, so maybe I can start a chaos army with both old and new models. I could call it the chaos chollection, or something.
The SAGA Revenants box is one I would love to get back to. I painted 12 of the 48 metal zombies.
Elsewhere in the image are more Lord of the Rings possibilities, some Bad Squiddo miniatures, and for some reason two different versions of Harald Hardrada. On top of the pile of Lord of the Rings boxes are miniatures I forgot I had. Young children have given them a start, but possibly I could possibly start them all over again?
The sprues here have dark elves, and a Nazgul on a winged best. Behind stands an opened dungeon bridge set from Tablescapes Dungeons.
The possibilities…
Scent of a Gamer 
I like this view of things! I have loads of possibilities! 🙂
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At the very least I really ought to at least make an inventory. Shame on me!
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Don’t you mean “Possibility on me!”? 😉
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Hmm, an inventory is actually a really good idea mate.
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Love your little disclaimer at the beginning. Do you get much of that kind of thing?
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I’ve had odd ‘similar to’ articles appear in my reader when looking at other blogs, so I figured this might turn up on someone’s self improvement read, which would probably not go well!
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I started to write a reply to this and it grew so long that I turned it into a blog post. I definitely have a pile of shame/potential which I’ve been battling with lately. I’m not sure that I have an answer, I suspect I just rambled thoughtfully, but you certainly got me thinking about it – and a lot more positively and proactively than my usual “dammit, why do I keep buying miniatures?” which doesn’t do anything for my enthusiasm in encouraging me to clear that backlog 🙂
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I love your post – I’m not sure whether there is a one true answer that would fit all of us hobbyists. What worked for me (at least so far) was to make new miniatures a reward for painting existing ones – at a ratio of 8 painted to 1 new mini. I am currently ‘saving up’ for a Slaves to Darkness start collecting box
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Thank you! Wow, 8 painted for every 1 bought is quite the commitment, it’s a good way to trim down the unpainted pile though. I’m just aiming to have painted more than I’ve bought (hopefully significantly more but I’ll settle for only a bit more) – something I was on track for, although the new 40k box being a limited run (and therefore something I’ll need to snap up if I want it) may set that back a bit.
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I think this is a more manageable backlog than many people have and I’m surprised to see so many LOTR models waiting to be painted (I guess I expected more Warhammer). I think saying that a backlog is full of possibilities/potential is a good way of looking at it and so long as you’re honest with yourself about whether you truly have the motivation and the time to paint the things you’re hanging onto then there should be no shame involved at all in keeping something long term with the intent to paint it. Thanks for sharing this! It was an interesting read 🙂
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Oh, that’s not all of it! There’s another two boxes the size of the large cardboard one full of… things, a few plastic regiment kits from various manufacturers, most of which have been opened and used to an extent, and then a few more modern kits like Warhammer Quest Silver Tower and the Orcs from 2016 Blood Bowl. By my current count I have around 580 unpainted, but probably about another 100 waiting to be properly counted and added to that total.
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I take back what I said haha. That is quite a backlog and would take you quite a few years to paint all of it. I salute you as that is quite an impressive collection!
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That’s some great stuff to be working on, from army projects to individual models. I see my collection more as a treasure hoard that I enjoy digging through regularly, planning for future projects.
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Yes, I like the treasure hoard image more than the shameful pile!
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I’m impressed that you can face yours… I don’t think I could.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Haha ditto Pete
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I think the inventory is a good idea for. I don’t know what I’ve got in the Fungeon but I know there’s a shit load haha. I like Goobers set up. So neat, so tidy but I work better in organised chaos.
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On a whim (or proably a post-illness high!) I went down to the Reject Shop and picked up a bunch on plastic ‘storage solutions’ to transfer plastic and metal from my four grubby cardboard boxes into something that makes them easier to see. Found plenty of surprises in there, and I’m only half done!
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Haha
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I’ve been watching Goober’s stuff a bit lately as well. I’d seen him before but wasn’t that interested, but seeing his response to the GW statement made me feel like he was someone worth my time watching. I don’t even dare show my own unpainted stuff, but the tray concept I got from some guy online is helping me slowly chip away at it…
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