Builder or collector...???

I only scratchbuild models or master patterns but I still buy kits (not sure how many 2500+ for sure) so I guess I'm a model builder but kit collector.

wing_nut

Beyond any shadow of a doubt a builder.

MAJ Mike

Question -- At what point does a group of unbuilt models in storage become a "stash"?  Is there any specific number, or is it a state of mind? 

For over 30 years I had a grouping of model kits in the closet, meaning to build them some day.  If you continue to add to the group in storage without building any, are you officially a "collector"? (Must be because you sure as aren't building any.)

Just wondering.

For me, the number is whatever I feel will keep me building for about 30 hours a week for 2 years, and never having to purchase any others during that time...  However, there are ALWAYS kits are not in the stash, and haven't been for years, that suddenly get re-released and MUST be added ASAP, lest they go OOP again for ten years... Also, kits that have more than one version to build, copies MUST be purchased (like the Monogram P-38. Need to build the P-38L, P-38M, Pathfinder, and F-5 versions ya know...) And all three P-40B versions in the Monogram kit.. Both P-51Bs, since there are two different canopies, and the B-17Gs must be paired too, OD/NG and NMF... Oh, there's also the mumble, mumble, mumble, mumble.........

Manstein's revenge

...c'mon be honest---what best describes you?...

100% Builder..  Although some kits are collecting dust, simply because I haven't the space (yet) to display them built and on a proper diorama base.. But that's changing, and soon... Never collected kits, never saw them as an "investment"...  Manufacturers re-release kits too often, and unless the molds have been lost or destroyed, right after you plunk down 200.00 bucks or more for that OOP for 25 years1/32 P-40, it'll get re-released with the same decals and box-art thirty minutes after you got it home...

In the meantime, I'll take all those 1/32 Revell "Jack" kits you gus are never gonna get around to building anyway.. Give ya... Ohhhh..... 35.00 per... That's ten times the MSRP, ya know... Where ya gonna deal like that? I'd be doing y'all a favor, too... Raised lines and rivets, and all that stuff you guys hate...

Collector with the intent to build. I have more models in the boxes than finished. But I haven't bought any in quite a while and am starting to whittle them down.

Also planning on getting rid of some that I bought and lost interest in over the years.

I plan to go through the stash and sell of the ones I have little or no intention of ever building.  Some are are out of production and might bring enjoyment to another builder.

I'm a builder with a decent-sized stash.  I don't collect them just to look at (although that is fun if you don't have time to work on them), I do intend to build them all one day.   Maybe by the time I turn 229 yrs old I'll be caught up. 

Jeff

I'm a slow builder with a large stash of "non-collectible" kits,,,,,,all the shrinkwrap is long gone, most of the inner bags have been opened, etc,,,,,,,,no collectible value left,,,,,they truly become "used" in the hobby shops parking lot before I even get them home

Rex

Beyond any shadow of a doubt a builder.

I collect only what I plan to eventually build...

...except for the spares that are "just in case" I come up with something later and don't want to pay collectors' prices later.

The only other exception are the extras that come in ebay lots with the kit I actually want.

I have a big stash, but build two, three at a time. So both!

I started out as a  builder. I am back in the hobby room now that my wife is doing better. I buy kits to build. I didn't mean to become a collector but I  do admit I have more kits than I can ever build.  I still have factory sealed Aurora and Strombeck kits I haven't built yet.

Well i have 22 finished kits, 16 in the stash unstarted, 2 hanger queens and 5 under construction so to be honest i'd guess i'm a builder...

I'm a slow part-time builder.  My stash is probably about 6 and a couple on the bench.  I got into the hobby intending to just build replicas of the USAF aircraft I had been involved with, but have added a few others.

Ken

I am a collector of alot of stuff, but I dont buy model kits to collect them.  when I build a kit its for one of two reasons.  One, the price being amazingly low, the second being a want for the kit or seeing how it could be used usefully in the future.

I dont finish alot of kits, I work on them untill I get bored or frustrated, I just keep building to keep learning.

fox

A VERY slow builder.

i am more an accumulator than a collector though my 250 kit stash doesn't necessarily reflect that. i have 2 or 3 of kits i really like because they were on sale. and some big kits  like 1/35 rr stuff that i do hope to get to. i am a half builder with about 14 kits in progress. this will change as my painting improves as most are at the "ready to paint" stage and i am just learning airbrushing. hopefully, with practice, i will enjoy the painting as much as i enjoy the building, seam filling, and paint prep work.

I guess it depends on your intentions.  If you buy model kits with intentions on building them you are a builder.  If you buy model kits so they sit in a shed so you can look at the box you are a collector. 

Having a "stash" doesn't make you a collector due to you planning on someday building the model kits. 

That said, I am a builder. 

I am a stash-ollector that that would have most of my kits built, if I didn't have higher priorities with serving God, work, home ownership, and family commitments.  Just not enough time.

I would say I am a builder with a lot of kits in my collection queue.

I buy way too many kits and only get a few built a year so I guess that would put me in the collector category.

A stasher as I have probably 15 kits with some started.  Not a collector as I do not have them stored properly to save the boxes in perfect condition being crammed on shelves in the laundry room.

.......yes.............

Definitely a builder.

A VERY slow builder.

Jim

During my conversations at my LHS,  a stash seems to be any groupment of unbuilt models.  Apparently all modelers "of a certain age" have resources beyond a kit-at-a-time production schedule.

Sooo, a stash is whatever you/we choose to make it.  I really do intend to build models from my stash, but much like a child with ADHD, I'm distracted by new model kits.  Of the six kits I've built since returning to the hobby, five are new purchases.   Go figure.

I have a stash .i build . im a builder .

Ron

Since my purchases out pace my building and the stash is ever growing, I'm more of a collector. I honestly don't see how anyone with a sizable stash could ever complete it if they keep buying new kits, which most of us do. I do buy single subjects (no duplicates) with the full intention of building them. But we all make impulse buys and our styles change. 

MAJ Mike

Question -- At what point does a group of unbuilt models in storage become a "stash"?  Is there any specific number, or is it a state of mind? 

For over 30 years I had a grouping of model kits in the closet, meaning to build them some day.  If you continue to add to the group in storage without building any, are you officially a "collector"? (Must be because you sure as aren't building any.)

Just wondering.

MAJ Mike- To me a stash is any number of unbuilt kits in storage that the owner intends to build. A stash could theoretically be just one kit.

I differentiate 'builder' from 'collector' by considering that the kits I own will be built someday. It's not necessarily a fixed date, but the intention. If I say that I will not build kits but still buy them, then I'd consider myself a collector.

Question -- At what point does a group of unbuilt models in storage become a "stash"?  Is there any specific number, or is it a state of mind? 

For over 30 years I had a grouping of model kits in the closet, meaning to build them some day.  If you continue to add to the group in storage without building any, are you officially a "collector"? (Must be because you sure as aren't building any.)

Just wondering.