What's the point of hoarding kits?

Maybe to be able to satisfy oneself by being able to say "oh, I already have that one".

Yeah,
It worries me a little - I know a guy who has 2000+ unbuilt kits, and another who has around 1200............What's the point, you ask? Is there one?
I admit I have around 80 unbuilt kits, but I don't go looking for new kits to buy before I build one I already own. I'll buy a new one if the subject matter "grabs" me - but I can't see much value in "hoarding" kits.
The only thing you'll do is make extra work for your dependants when your will goes through probate...................
Cheers,
LeeTree

I envy those who can afford to have as many as 2000 kits. But not to assemble them? Why, in the world???

Warning : this hobby may be hazardous to your free space. Modelling has a way of compelling people to purchase what they don't already have. To some, it may provide a sense of security (I can build what I want, when I want to.) Others may see it as a way of preserving the history of models. (airplanes are meant to fly - why are they in a museum ?) Whatever the reason, it is insensitive to refer to someone else's collection as hoarding. That implies that the only reason that they have the kits is so that someone else doesn't get them. Simply reading the questions and answers on this forum demonstrates that these modelers are not selfish people. They have their own reasons, and that is that. Its not important to know why. Let them enjoy what they like, as they let you enjoy what you like.

In my case I have over 150 kits I have collected and intend to build or sell someday. Why save and sell? Let's see I like Sci-Fi and one of the kits I have is the MPC Space:1999 Hawk kit, that sold for $7 in 1977, today it goes for over $60. A subject I would like to buy and build but haven't is an Aurora Moon Bus from the movie 2001: A Space Odessey. The kit was released in the early 70's, not sure what it went for but probably less than $10, today it is worth $300-500 depending on condition.

For these reasons, I typically buy two of a kit, one to build and one to save to build again later or to sell.

Pixilater, rossjr, I understand what you're saying. I have over 250 kits in storage myself including many "spares," all of which I plan to build. I wasn't talking about storing kits for later projects or sale. Here's the difference as I meant it:

"Storing"- the person collects the kits for putting together "someday" or as an investment ( selling later when the kit is discontinued ) or, as Pixilater suggested, as part of a historical collection. Apologies to anyone who falls into this category and thought I was being "insensitive" and accusing them of "hoarding." What we had there was a failure to communicate .

"Hoarding"- Someone who never intends to build the kits he buys or plans to sell them. As such, they wouldn't likely show up here ( their hobby is strictly collecting, not building ) since they wouldn't need any tips other than the "Where do I get _____" type. If I used the wrong word for this, I apologize and am open to suggestions for a less offensive adjective.

It's a small group, I know, and I was just curious what the reason was behind it.

I supose i am guilty of being a kit hoarder in a small way as i have a few kits that i probably will not build but that is because they are quite old (airfix control tower in plastic bag with a card header for one example) the way i figure it is that it is old, has survived all this time without getting built and is readily available as a new kit so why build it and lose its rarity. dont get me wrong, if the kit is one i want to build and it isn't being produced at the time i will build an "oldie" as the frog fairey 111F in my model room testifies. i also have a bristol freighter and a fairey rotodyne on my to build pile and they are both early kits and not reissues. anyway i suppose its like stamp collecting, someone could have thousands of stamps and never use any of them even though they may still be usable. its the kit that interests them and not the building and displaying. Hey Rossjr you got me banging my head against a wall right now. i gave a friend the airfix issue of that space 1999 hawk kit a couple of years ago(boy do i feel stupid LoL) still if he enjoys building it what the heck its only money. still i would love to get my hands on the 1999 eagle transporter but i don't want to look at how much they'll be going for now i heard the cost of the hawk. cheers...Greg

Maybe they collect kits like some people collect stamps or coins!
I have about 250 kits but I am always building something .
I also have a small stamp collection,a small coin collection,a small baseball collection and so on and so on.
So if it ok to collect stamps,coins,cards and other stuff then why not a kit collection.
I am not lobbying for the kit collecters or hoarders.
In fact I do not like what they do either .
But If you think they should give up thier kits to us or you think they don't have the right to buy everthing a the tables then you must also feel that those collecters of stamps, cards,coins and such should give up their collections as well.
Right???
I doubt any of you feel that way about it.

I'm a little befuddled by the collector with say 1000 kits and counting. There is no way they are going to build all those kits, unless they are retired and have nothing else to do. For the person who collects to resell, you might think of the stock market or bonds or whatever. I mean say those kits cost $20 each that is $20,000 sitting on your floor! [:0] I just can't see much return unless they go OOP or are really old and desirable. As they say its too each his own. I don't have a great stockpile of kits, about a dozen and I find that the newest kit suddenly becomes the kit I build next. Oh well, to each his own.

"It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it."-R.E.Lee

Well, you never know when you'll wake up in the middle of the night with an overwhelming urge to build an F-111, or a Spruance-class destroyer, or a Romulan Warbird

I've got 40-50 kits - around 30 1/72 planes, the remainder being 1/35 armour and figures, and 1/24 cars - and have the intention of building them all. Finding time is a different matter!

Because of the storage issues, I'm now on a "Build 2 before buying 1" regime. However evil Hannants had some great deals at their stall at RIAT, so I've just added two massive kits - Revell's 1/32 Hunter and the Panda 1/48 JSF. I'm hoping for a long, cold winter!

I'M GUILTY! I have in excess of two hundred unbuilt kits stored away in cartons in the garage. However, let me assure you that I bought every one of these with the intention of building them all. This includes the thirty Airfix and Frog kits that I bought at three for a dollar when a local hobby shop was going out of business. And all of those Matchbox 1/72 jet and multi-engine aircraft kits I grabbed when H.L. Grant was closing.

I learned very early to "buy it now" when I saw a kit that I would like to eventually build. How many times have you waited only to find that it was no longer available when you were ready to build? I recently finished building the Hasegawa 1/72 Ki-84 kit that I bought in the mid 1980's.

I will never build many of these kits because of two reasons:
1. There are now better kits available of the same subject.
2. I will never live long enough to build them all.

Pete

I think we're talking about collectors here. The same question could be asked about gun collectors, or stamp collectors or tax collectors... well, maybe not them...

Anyhoo, every one of us is in this hobby for our own reasons and I guess some choose never to build and only collect. My Dad was a bit of both, he bought stuff that he intended to build and stuff that he had no intention of even cracking open. The result was an absolutely ludicrous number of kits and a similarly crazy amount of related stuff. I won't even go into the die-cast.

Alotta this stuff he got specifically to resell in the future; he always joked that "the collection" was his retirement plan. Unfortunately, he never had the chance to implement the plan...


Fade to Black...

God bless the hoarder! If it weren't for him old kits would be lost to history. Then potential builders and other collectors would SOL. Keep up the good work guys.

THAT  HAS TO BE THE BEST RESPONE TO KIT  COLLECTING I HAVE EVER SEEN THANK YOU

MY WIFE SAYS I HAVE TO MANY KITS .I TELL HER ITS BETTER THAN HAVING TO MANY WIVES

I have 140 at last count. I have them because they talk to me, and I  answer them. Usually late at night. Some times they seem angry.

Patrick

don't know if I could handle that many angry voice's on a dark night .

That's why I sleep with the lights and TV on. (:>)

Patrick

If I only was making my paycheck now when kits were $5-20 a piece not $25-100. I'm at about 200 give or take.

My stash started to grow a bunch of years ago when my best friend got into a nasty divorce and gave me his stash and modeling supplies (maybe 150 kits to add to my dozen kits).  A few years later, I met a lady whose modeler husband who had passed away, leaving her with a couple hundred assembled kits (which she donated to her local airport for dispay) and something like 625 stash kits. I bought the stash for 500 bucks, then sold all the 1/48 kits (mostly Aruroa (sp) which left me with some 400+ kits and 600 dollars. Now adays, my stash hovers around 450 to 475 kits. I build a few, swap afew (even give one away on occasion) and add new kits that I really want to build.  I understand I will never build all of them (I'm 72) so the wife and I are planning what she can do to sell most of them since neither of the boys are interested in modeling, (it beats simply throwing them away!)

UhOh ;

 Does that mean me ? No , not really  . At 73 I realize I have many , to many to build in the Garage and my Closet . Sooo.... I have been winnowing them down by giving them to the Veterans Recreational dept at my local V.A. These guys are even appreciative of ones I've started ! .

 That said I still have way too many to keep . I won't give them away to anyone except folks who can't afford them or the supplies . I expect that my landlady will be able to find homes for the remainder at the same place .This includes the tools and paint too .

 Now there some I fully intend to build for the sheer pleasure of doing so .These can be given to whomever wants them . I won't be here to worry about that . But , I will be able to make the crossing knowing that my hobby has brought pleasure to others .

 Yes , maybe it sounds trite . You know though , I get as much satisfaction seeing someone's eyes light up as they receive a kit I donated . It makes me feel warm and fuzzy .  Model On ! !   T.B.         P.S. Some will of course go to my model building Adopted son .

It doesn't make any sense 

I guess anyone that keeps 1,000, or 2,000 kits is their business.  To each is his own.  I personally don't understand this but that is just me.

I've been modeling since 1977 and I only have 15 or so unbuilt kits in my inventory and they are all special kits.

For most of these years I would have no stash at all. Build one then buy the next one. 

Kits are crazy expensive now.  I'll buy the Hobby Boss M1070 plus finishing supplies and figures is $250. and that is one kit with Black Dog figures.  I have the Trumpeter Leopold in 35th scale with two boxes of figures.  The Revell Germany 72nd B-36 with the special decal sheet. 

These kits are special kits and that's why I will buy them to build at some point. 

 

  I always liked the Verliden Napoleonic 1/16th figures which are pretty incredible. Now he is out of business so I will probably buy several of them before they dissappear.

 

I will also never be working on more than two models.  One being a years long build like the Revell 1/400 QM2 ongoing,  and a few smaller builds per year while that long build moves forward.

Hey, whatever works for the individual.

 

 

16 years. That is how long it would take me to build out my stash at a rate of 1 kit every two months. That won't happen in the forseeable future! I had no stash when I joined FSM back in the day but once I was fully back into the hobby it didnt take long to form. It is not intentional as I never thought to myself to have 100 kits on the shelf, it just happened.... mostly on impulse more than likely. It is what it is now. I know that I will likely never build my entire stash and will probably start bartering/selling some of it to purchase some of the higher end stuff that I am interested in. 

Back to the topic, I can't come up with a good reason to buy a kit with no intention of building it.

I have 548 unstarted/unfinished kits. 127 are "started", some won't ever be completed, but most of these are kits that I hit a step that I didn't feel like doing at the time and will definitely come back to. Having a large stash enables you to avoid that kind of block. Also, if you're like me, you like to look at how the kits depict the real object and also go thru them to imagine how to build and what details to add to them. Its fun sometimes to go thru some of the boxes and just look at the plastic. So my hoard serves purposes beyond just sitting in a closet.

 

I suppose the purpose "is" that -- 13 years later someone can come along and drag a thread about hoarding kits back to the front. 

On the other hand, the question should be, why do YOU still have a hoard after 13 years?

The best response: "I'm not hoarding!  I just haven't built them yet!"

Take care!

Gary

 

I've got a stash, too, accumulated like so many others--"I'll build this, someday."  I've got a couple of themes that drive my stash, too-a theme for "All US Aircraft Used in the Battle of Midway" including the separate but adjacent Aleutians invasion, and General Tinker's ill-fated attack on Wake Island; a "Doomed at the Start" collection of US aircraft in the Philippines during the Japanese invasion; a yellow-wings collection; a collection of USN aircraft from WWII, and on and on.  And mostly I stick to 1/48 scale.

I also have a stash of 1/700 ship kits, and Maschinen Krieger kits.

But lately I have been thinking more that I will never build them all, and also, I just don't have the room to display all of them, even if I did build them all.  So I may start shedding kits and pare the stash down to a more reasonable size.

As far as reviving old threads go, I don't have a problem with someone resurrecting one.  But we've hashed that out, too, in some other discussions.

Best regards,

Brad

What's worse; Having a massive hoard of kits or a bunch of started kits that probably will never get finished? The latter could very well be me in the future, LOL! I am bad for starting a build then either forgeting about it or losing interest.