Wargamers can be a flighty bunch, flitting from one project to another accumulating a pile of lead (or plastic) in the process. I certainly was until a few years ago when I made a conscious effort to clear my backlog of unfinished projects and not buy anything new unless I had a firm plan for it. Of course like most plans mine didn't survive first contact with the enemy. Despite my best efforts I have bought several items that I later regretted. Some were mistakes, others were pure impulse overriding common sense. Here's my top ten in reverse order.
A Wargamers Top Ten Impulse Buying Disasters
10 - Charity shop gaming mat
I've bought plenty of gaming mats over the years but one was a classic mistake. I picked up mat from a charity shop but didn't open the box in the store before buying it. When I got home I found that the mat had been very badly painted to represent hills and a river. Fortunately the mat only cost me a quid and it quickly migrated to the bin when I discovered its clumsy customisation.
9 - The inadequate tube
I bought a large 'map tube' to store a 6x4' gaming mat in. When I got home I found the tube was actually only 3'9" long. A friend of mine ended up with the tube which he used for the innovative purpose of storing maps in!
8 - Scale creep
Scale creep is something we are all familiar with but still managed to catch me out. I bought some figures from a bargain bin at a show only to find they were completely out of proportion to my existing collection. Most remained in my lead mountain for a long time only to be given away years later.
7 - The wrong tanks
Another rookie mistake I made occurred when I started collecting historical forces for the first time. I merrily bought loads of 15mm WWII vehicles based on what I liked, rather than building a particular army list. This was a case of shinybloodyitus pure and simple and several of the models I bought never made it into any of my armies.
6 - The 'special offer'
I'm not normally one to get swept away by marketing or 'sales' and try to keep a level head when buying stuff. But at Salute a few years ago I was about to leave the show after a long successful day shopping and saw a special offer on a KR model bag. The fact that I didn't need the bag didn't stop me from picking up this bargain. The bag was eventually sold several years later at the SELWG Bring a Buy for a third of the price I had originally paid for it.
5 - The unused army
I'm guessing I'm not alone in investing in painted figures only to never use them. But I have gone one further, an entire army that never saw action. Way back when I first started wargaming I played Warhammer Fantasy Battle and bought my friends Dwarven Army when he decided to change forces. They were very nice models and remained very nice for several years because they never came out of the boxes I bought them in.
4 - A shattering experience
Another impulse buy made at Salute was a rather nice looking WWII building. The 15mm resin model of a row of bombed out houses came pre painted and really looked the part. However I should have realised the structure was far too fragile for resin and within hours of getting it home I dropped it, breaking it into twenty or thirty bits.
3 - Bargain basement varnish
I had run out of my favourite varnish and rather than wait for my on-line order to arrive I bought a cheap can of spray varnish from a high street discount store. I've no idea how old the can was, or if it had been stored badly by the retailer but the varnish came out completely opaque. Fortunately I tested it first, narrowly avoiding ruining a newly finished infantry platoon.
2 - Twice as good
I have a big collection of books and not surprisingly most are about military history. I came across a nice collection of second hand books on a stall at a living history event and after a bit of haggling on the price walked away with two great books on German armour in WWII. When I got home I found that I had both books already. Worse still they had the prices I paid for them written on the inside cover in pencil and it was less than I had just paid at the show!
1 - There's Sable and then there's Kolinsky Sable
The worst purchase I ever made has to be a whole set of Games Workshop brushes I bought several years ago. For the last decade or more my brush of choice has been the Winsor and Newton Series 7. They are expensive but the quality is outstanding with some of my current brushes still going strong after 10 years service. Why I bought the set from GW is beyond me and after just one use I threw the lot in the bin. Maybe I bought a duff bunch but I have never encountered brushes as poor as those and I really should have known better and stuck with my tried and trusted series 7's.
So having now made a public spectacle of myself the question is, what were your worst hobby purchases? You don't have to list ten, but what about your top five worst impulse buying disasters? I can't be the only Wargamer out there with a tenuous grasp on his money!
A Wargamers Top Ten Impulse Buying Disasters
I've bought plenty of gaming mats over the years but one was a classic mistake. I picked up mat from a charity shop but didn't open the box in the store before buying it. When I got home I found that the mat had been very badly painted to represent hills and a river. Fortunately the mat only cost me a quid and it quickly migrated to the bin when I discovered its clumsy customisation.
9 - The inadequate tube
I bought a large 'map tube' to store a 6x4' gaming mat in. When I got home I found the tube was actually only 3'9" long. A friend of mine ended up with the tube which he used for the innovative purpose of storing maps in!
8 - Scale creep
Scale creep is something we are all familiar with but still managed to catch me out. I bought some figures from a bargain bin at a show only to find they were completely out of proportion to my existing collection. Most remained in my lead mountain for a long time only to be given away years later.
7 - The wrong tanks
Another rookie mistake I made occurred when I started collecting historical forces for the first time. I merrily bought loads of 15mm WWII vehicles based on what I liked, rather than building a particular army list. This was a case of shinybloodyitus pure and simple and several of the models I bought never made it into any of my armies.
6 - The 'special offer'
I'm not normally one to get swept away by marketing or 'sales' and try to keep a level head when buying stuff. But at Salute a few years ago I was about to leave the show after a long successful day shopping and saw a special offer on a KR model bag. The fact that I didn't need the bag didn't stop me from picking up this bargain. The bag was eventually sold several years later at the SELWG Bring a Buy for a third of the price I had originally paid for it.
I'm guessing I'm not alone in investing in painted figures only to never use them. But I have gone one further, an entire army that never saw action. Way back when I first started wargaming I played Warhammer Fantasy Battle and bought my friends Dwarven Army when he decided to change forces. They were very nice models and remained very nice for several years because they never came out of the boxes I bought them in.
4 - A shattering experience
Another impulse buy made at Salute was a rather nice looking WWII building. The 15mm resin model of a row of bombed out houses came pre painted and really looked the part. However I should have realised the structure was far too fragile for resin and within hours of getting it home I dropped it, breaking it into twenty or thirty bits.
3 - Bargain basement varnish
I had run out of my favourite varnish and rather than wait for my on-line order to arrive I bought a cheap can of spray varnish from a high street discount store. I've no idea how old the can was, or if it had been stored badly by the retailer but the varnish came out completely opaque. Fortunately I tested it first, narrowly avoiding ruining a newly finished infantry platoon.
2 - Twice as goodI have a big collection of books and not surprisingly most are about military history. I came across a nice collection of second hand books on a stall at a living history event and after a bit of haggling on the price walked away with two great books on German armour in WWII. When I got home I found that I had both books already. Worse still they had the prices I paid for them written on the inside cover in pencil and it was less than I had just paid at the show!
1 - There's Sable and then there's Kolinsky Sable
The worst purchase I ever made has to be a whole set of Games Workshop brushes I bought several years ago. For the last decade or more my brush of choice has been the Winsor and Newton Series 7. They are expensive but the quality is outstanding with some of my current brushes still going strong after 10 years service. Why I bought the set from GW is beyond me and after just one use I threw the lot in the bin. Maybe I bought a duff bunch but I have never encountered brushes as poor as those and I really should have known better and stuck with my tried and trusted series 7's.
So having now made a public spectacle of myself the question is, what were your worst hobby purchases? You don't have to list ten, but what about your top five worst impulse buying disasters? I can't be the only Wargamer out there with a tenuous grasp on his money!
Morng Lee,
ReplyDeleteThere is a common denominator here and the word is cheap. Most wargamers are always looking to get something cheap, which turns out to be a waste of money when you get it home. I made the mistake of buying 10 tubes of super glue from a local pound shop, [yes for a pound ], only to find it wouldnt even glue my fingers together, which is my normal test for super glue.
The same goes for cheap bright green flock, plastic Chinese trees and inferior but cheap mdf bases that were cut with a pair of crimping shears.
Yes, beware a bargain is sheep's clothing! I have found a few inexpensive alternatives to glues and material but often the bargain falls far short of what I need.
DeleteSome years ago I decided to do the 12th SS Hitlerjugend Division in 20mm, no not the whole division, but enough to play the battles around Caen with IABSM. I ordered two books on the division from Amazon and started to search eBay for suitable kits.
ReplyDeleteI bought two Matchbox Jagdpanther kits based on the box art wich apparently depicted hitlerjugend Jagdpanthers counterattacking in Caen. The kits arrived and while nice, I found that they were a bit bland and lacked a lot of external features, like the track skirts. So I bought a couple of photo-etched accessory packs to upgrade them, only to find out that the difference between 1/76 and 1/72 made them not fit. I then bought two Revell Jagdpanther kits instead. I had just started building the new models when the books arrived and I learned that the Hitlerjugend division didn't have Jagdpanthers at Caen, but regular Jagdpanzer IV's. They didn't get Jagdpanthers until Battle of the Bulge.
Doh!
Ouch. Been there, done that.
DeleteThey all sound (and feel ) Familiar to me!
ReplyDeleteI expect (or rather, hope) I'm not alone in making these mistakes.
DeleteI've done most of these the exception being the map tube
ReplyDeleteI was so chuffed with the tube I bought right up until I tried to put the mat in it. There was a few comic second while I tried to get the mat to fit before the truth dawned on me.
DeleteYup, I've managed to buy the same book twice a few times.
ReplyDeleteAs for your (4) you could always think of it as having bought a large set of urban ruins ;)
I did piece it all together, reinforced it and then repainted it. Hours and hours of work repairing a model that was originally bought to save time.
DeleteBought a very large batch of 6mm H&R ACW figures enough to both Feds and Confeds easily 30yrs ago and still waiting to be painted.
ReplyDeleteBought 15mm 7th Cav and Indians along with set of Pnoy Wars rules approx 20yrs ago still waiting to be painted
Bought more 15mm WW2 Germans and British than I would ever be able to field on my table and large chunks remain unpainted
Various minor purchases of the 'oh shiny' variety of figures for periods I will never game
As for rule sets !!!!!!!
Pretty much same with board Wargames lots of 'must haves' with at least half unplayed
But it's all part of the....um fun..... So I don't see it ever stopping :-)
Yes all part of the fun...which begs the question do we enjoy the thrill of the chase more than the playing of the game?!
DeleteGreat idea for a post, Lee!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Aaron
Thanks
DeleteI would not classify any of these as disasters but I certainly buy my share of duplicate books. Happens more regularly than one might think.
ReplyDeleteI was bragging to my wife about the great books I'd bought when I discovered that they were so good they were already in my collection. The look she gave me was a classic.
DeleteAll been there.
ReplyDeleteIf you can narrow it down to only 10 you are doing rather well! Great post, I'll think on my list of shame and woe...
ReplyDeleteOh there's definitely more...this is just the stuff I'll admit to!
DeleteI'll have to give this a go on my blog Lee, the map container made me laugh!!
ReplyDeleteFeel free mate, I'm sure we all have tales to tell.
DeleteI think up there for me is selling armies only to regret it very soon after and start buying the exact same figures to paint up all over again. This has happened too many times to me. You'd think I'd learn.
ReplyDeleteI also remember commissioning some scratch built scenery from a well known manufacturer. I asked for a hill to represent Little Round Top. What I got was one of his standard hills with some pebbles glued to it....
Yeah those Series 7 brushes....can't be beaten. cheers
ReplyDeleteExcellent post Lee.
ReplyDeleteI brought two metal Universal Carriers off a secondhand site for a hefty price after P&P was added. They arrived but scale creep made them too big for my needs.
About six months later gave them to my mate Al, who found they were too big for his needs as well. He gave them to Gerard.
Gerard just got out of 20mm gaming, so has broken up his collection and in one lot that I picked up off him, guess what I found...
Model on!
Ha, I've also had boomerang models that I thought I'd got rid of. Although in my case I was happy to see them back in my collection.
DeleteGreat post Lee. We've all had those situations, my library also replete with second copies of books I just had to have only to discover I already had! Also staring at a squad of Panzer IV's that I acquired on impulse at the last moment of a bring-and-buy and lived to regret it. They are noticeably larger than any 1/56 - 28mm scale AVs so I think they may be 1/48 or something like that. Not only did I blow a good portion of my profit that day I have not been able to off-load them since - it appears everyone else knew they're too damn big but me! Doh!
DeleteI think EVERY wargamer has some model, terrain piece or book that they now realise was a waste of money - That's what Bring-and-Buy's are for.
ReplyDeleteTony
Apart from falling foul to most of the above, I make most of my own terrain so when out and about I will buy something that will be useful 'one day'. This item then gets filed in a box with all the other useful stuff. A while later I will start a terrain project and buy more of what I already had because I had forgotten about them. I mean to say, nobody really needs two packets of 25 30 x 30mm sheets each of sand paper for roads!!
ReplyDelete