How did your stash get to where it is?

My current stash stands at around 30 kits.

I was never one for stashing, but I guess it all got started when I moved from modelling AC to Armour. As my skills progressed, so did my imagination. At one point, I decided to build a massive project, and as such, started collecting kits for it.

waikong wrote:

Ross, I'm not sure you can put "ONLY" and "281" together in one sentence. That's a pretty big stash!

Compared to Rob's (and a few others I've seen/heard about) it's a drop in a styrene sea!

And at the rate I'm building, my kids will inherit most of it! 

Oh well.

If they catch me, they catch me.

So let me just apologize beforehand. Then maybe the handcuffs won't be so tight.

Hi all, 

My stash has been slowly building since about 1994, and about half of the kits in it are gifts. It now stands at a whopping 21 kits with three after-market sets.

I did go through a short period where I did some impulse buying, but I quickly came to my senses and figured that I'd just put my efforts into scratch-building and improving kits. Then I really came to me senses and figured that my efforts are best spent on doing a better job with assembling and finishing kits mostly out of the box. That's the best way I know of for becoming a better modeler.

Anyway, given my glacial building pace -- a pace that's slow because of working full-time, going to grad school part time, and having a 1-year-old at home -- the stash size is just right.

Regards, 

Oh sorry.

Holy Crap was in response to seeing the Rob Gronovius stash.

I have only 285, not counting model railroad stuff.

My stash got its start from a fellow named Ralph Poznecki, bless his heart, who gave away huge  amounts of his older stash to local club members. It's grown from there, largely because I've had so little build time. 

I have about 40-50 kits, I usually buy them only on a great sale or a great price at a model show. Unless its a rare OOP kit that I really want to build. I have to say that it was my wife who got me back into modelling. I modelled when we first met, but it stopped with the usual college, work, and marriage taking a higher priority. But as a surprise one year, she got me a kit since she knows I still love to look at models all the time.

...and absolutely, let's hear it for the wives who encourage us!

My 34 kits started out in 40-50% off sales then graduated strictly to ebay.

I've got three platic containers filled with kits... probably like 30 in all.

When I was younger I got a few kits for birthday, christmas, etc, then kinda quit building. I bought a P-47 at the LHS for $10 and built it. The race was on. I bought a lot of my models at Hobby Lobby when they had their 50% sale. I also grabbed a few at the local IPMS competition. Then I have 3 or 4 eBay steals. I got an Accurate Miniatures P-51A for..... Drum roll please.... $7!!!! 

Holy Model Kit Stash Batman!!   Rob, you've floored me...I thought my stash was a lot!  I just got back into this a few months ago and my stash has grown to a whopping total of 24.  But then again you've been at this for quite a while and I've had a 28 yr layoff.  Wonder how long it would take me to fill a basement.....

I already had a couple of stashes before I even met my wife. My original stash from my grade school/high school days, then my college days stash, then my stationed in Germany stash, and a few other stashes from each time I moved to a new location.

As I stated in the linked post, being close to my parents home during my last assignment, I had the opportunity to drive there and collect up all my unbuilt/half built kits and consolidate them at home. Plus I knew my parents were retiring and moving to Florida so I knew I had to get them or they would be gone (land fill, yard sale).

My current quarters at Ft. Knox has a sizeable basement and for the first time in a couple of decades I was able to uncrate, layout and organize my collection. I've given a lot of stuff away, donted some to raffles, sold a few things, traded some as well, but it doesn't seem like I've put much of a dent into the pile.

Which Aurora kits are you looking for? I did trade a couple of my MBT70s away to someone from this board.

Lets hear it for wives who encourage their husbands to build, even with the catch it is a good deal. I went to the LHS one time and saw a lot of old oop kit and started grabbing them. When I asked the owner about them she said one of her customers was getting married and his wife was making him sell them - I said to myself I am staying single, that is until i met my beautiful wife who encourages me to build and even to collect. She was there with me when I got my Rommel's rod.

Cheers ,

Eric

say Rob nice collection 

this explains some of the "top secret" places our military is guarding  YOUR stash

lol     

o h btw  up here in your old stomping grounds  at devens  they are turning it into a civilian city my brother got a job there and it is a 4-6 yr min. guaranty

Rob, WOW! I am impressed. How long did that take you to collect. And if you ever want to ditch those Aurora tanks let me know. That is a better selection than any of the LHS's that I have ever been to in recent times.

Cheers ,

Eric 

I've only been back into modeling since February, so my stash is not huge- 19 kits.

I find I like to collect kits as much as I like building them. I intend to build them all, and I don't plan to have a stash in the hundreds. (Famous last words.)

When I get a new kit though, I really enjoy examining it, sometimes I blog about it, and of course I love the research. It may take a while to get to it, but I'll build it.

I have slowed down a bit- a few months ago I was buying a kit every time Hobby Lobby had a 40% coupon. Now I only buy if I find a really good bargain, or it's a hard to find kit.

Of course, 5 years from now I'll probably have a stash of 500 and tell a different story.

Here's a post I made in 2005 about how big my stash ended up.

http://modelgeek.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=55050#461658

Good job on quitting smoking, I am an ex-smoker too, and buying kits is a much better use of the dollars!

Cheers ,

Eric

Really simple,   I was single with the modelling bug. Then I stopped smoking and that gave me a budget of 200$ more a month

The stash would be way bigger (I have about 70 kits)if I was still single 

I, too, traveled alot in the past and whenever I was laid over I would hunt out the local hobby shops.

I would find an OOP kit and think "Hey!  I better pick that up.  I may never get the opportunity again."  Or, when a new kit came out, I would worry that they would stop production before I had a chance to pick one up.  OR!!!!  And this is the most recent reason.  Hobby Lobby willl have one of their 30%, 40% or even 50% off sales and sure as thunder they will have a kit that I have really wanted but, couldn't see paying the price that most retailers charge!

That's pretty much it.