Kit stashes - an investigation 🤓

[theskits62]

Reading some of the replies here makes me feel a bit better about my 12 x 84 litre boxes sitting in the attic. Don't have an exact count but its certainly in the hundreds, mostly ww1 aircraft in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32nd scales including 40+ WNW kits ! In a cruel twist of fate i've now been bitten by the ship bug and have spent the last 4 years scratch building nautical stuff ! Hoping it will pass but but who knows.....

[SafetyDad]

3 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

Doesn't explain why people model in the larger scales, or at least why some of those who do, build stashes as well.

 

 

It's easy Graham. Manufacturers sometimes fold unexpectedly. Take what happened to Frog. You and I are of an age - think of the Frog Sea Vixen and Shackleton?

 

My Trimaster stash was collected pretty quickly after the company went under in the 90s. I only had a handful, if that, before then as their kits were, as my daughters would say, rather 'spendy'. Once they were gone I tried hard to acquire quickly what I could as I knew they could become really expensive. I did well -most of these were half list price.

 

3 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

I can remember a time when it wasn't necessary to buy a kit because it wouldn't be there next year (or next month).  In the early 70s (I know, ancient times) I could walk into a model shop in Surbiton and there was a shelf of cardboard boxes, each filled with one of Airfix's 1/76 range. 

 

So true. Woolworths in Newcastle used to carry virtually every Airfix kit all of the time. we had the luxury of just relying on them being there when we wanted them. I could walk to my local village shop  (J G Hare in Rowlands Gill) in the early 70s and be able to obtain or order any Airfix kit. The shop was tiny and specialised in knitting! 

 

And 1/32 modellers - why have a stash? 

 

2 words - Wingnut Wings 

 

They come and they go...

 

SD

 

 

 

 

[Graham Boak]

Yeah, but 700 Wingnut Wings?

 

When I think of Frog, I think of the Venom.  That was a missed opportunity.  I was offered one about 10 years back, but when I asked "Are you sure it isn't a Sea Venom?" it all went quiet.  Nowadays I don't buy jets, but I might make an exception at a standard price.

 

Things were different in the 50s and 60s, when I bought my William Green books at a local newsagent alongside Eagle warships, but by the early 70s things were beginning to thin out.  Which is why I chose examples that recent...

[Stef N.]

8 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

As Duncan puts it, no-one sets out with the intention of spending fortunes, and it you add up the total actually spent over time (in my case 55 years covers the range of buying dates of ones still unfinished) it doesn't add up to all that much.  But it is just plain nasty to go into your local friendly model shop and not come out with something,  No real modeller could ever do that.  Though there is always a need for a new paintbrush or Humbrol 33 matt black.  Or what about this rumour that H30 has been reformulated and is now a good match for RAF Dark Green?   Let's not talk about stocks of paints, but I could always sell you a tin of H30. 

 

There is never the intention of selling kits off in the future: the intention is that they'll be available when the urge to make that particular type hits assuming it hasn't already.  Then if a significantly better example comes along.  Or just perhaps it might be better and it's certainly worth a punt.  Or until the urge to make every Spitfire variant in every user's markings actually dies.  If it ever does - it has receded but not gone away completely.  

 

And if I could have in my bank account every penny spent on models, miraculously made up to inflated numbers, it still wouldn't buy me that Ferrari.  Let alone 55 years worth of running costs.

I tend to buy something when I go into a shop, maybe not a kit but some product that will come in handy. I did go into one shop recently that wasn't very welcoming so I don't abide by this rule religiously. If you show no interest in your customers don't expect much in return.

[Paul821]

As to the issue of many kits now being one run at least it has not got as bad as it is for model railways where the only way to ensure you get your hands on a particular model is often  to pre order it, in at least one case five years in advance, sometimes with a deposit.

On the other hand some railway related injection moulded kits are still in production 50 to 60 years after they first appeared - think Airfix/Kitmaster stil available from Dapol.

[spitfire]

When I was nearing retirement I decided to "stock up" with kits, paints, decals reference works etc as I knew I would not have as much money as I would only be on a pension.

So the stash was augmented quite a bit, luckily I now only build in 1/32 scale and stick to WW2 subjects only so on average I only buy 2 or 3 kits per year, which is lucky as I am a very slow builder.

This is my 1/32 scale aircraft stash which last year I moved out of the loft, the 1/35 scale AFV's, and 1/48 scale aircraft are still up in the loft.

I did sell approximately 200 kits a few years ago so this is the slimline version, building models is my main hobby so I like to have a good variety of kits to choose from.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[SafetyDad]

On 07/04/2023 at 19:51, spitfire said:

When I was nearing retirement I decided to "stock up" with kits, paints, decals reference works etc as I knew I would not have as much money as I would only be on a pension.

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

Dennis, I did much the same thing. Laid kits down for future use when finances would be perhaps more restricted.

 

SD

[IanHx]

26 minutes ago, SafetyDad said:

 

Dennis, I did much the same thing. Laid kits down for future use when finances would be perhaps more restricted.

 

SD

 

Pretty much the same thing I'm doing - although whether I'll still be able to afford glue and paint after retirement remains to be seen !

[Keeff]

There's some great pictures of stashes, or in some cases collections appearing! 😁

 

Keith. 😁

[spruecutter96]

I got talking to a fella at a UK model-show a few years ago. He "swore-blind" that he'd once visited an American kit-collector who had a mere 250,000 models in his house, multi-car garage and massive, converted barn. 

 

Now, if each kit costs him a (very theoretical) 10 bucks.... well, you do the maths....

 

I wonder if the man ever actually built one?

 

Chris. 

[LorenSharp]

I would have liked to have had his money...

[LorenSharp]

Aside from 15-16 kits still boxes the rest of mine(around 200+) are all in zip lock bags stored in 6 - 210 liter plastic containers. Only way I could save on space.

[AlxBNE]

This thread has made very therapeutic reading. Take home message:

Each to their own, what ever makes you happy and (most importantly to me...) my stash isn't that crazy!

But I do have the dilemma of the double stash:

When I was a kid I built a lot of models. Never threw anything out and had a mini stash. Later in life I added a few kits to that mini stash because the topics were of sentimental importance to me ........so the mini stash grew but was never actually touched.

When I emigrated to Australia I was forced to down size and gave all the non-important kits to a charity shop.

If I knew then what I know now!!!....I should have sold some of them (old/rare/valuable) and given the cash to charity. Some were definitely worth more than I suspect the charity shop would sell them for. But that is an aside.

So stash A is my collection of important models that I have some kind of attachment to and will definitely build one day.

But....on returning to modelling again after a 30+ year break I find my skills are not good enough for me to feel happy building from stash A.

So I bought a model just to practise on. Which just proved that I need more practise so I bought another.....and so stash B was formed.

I am absolutely loving my return to the hobby but have so much to learn. Which has justified the enlargement of stash A because now that I am back I to the hobby I will definitely build all those models of sentimental importance one day. But as I learn more my standards have risen and my skills have not kept pace so I now justify the enlargement of stash B so that stash A will be built to the high standard that I aspire to.

Don't get me started on FOMO (fear of missing out) purchases for stash A now that I realise that a lot of models are short run and might not be available if/when I ever finish everything in stash B.

[Keeff]

8 hours ago, AlxBNE said:

 

Each to their own, what ever makes you happy and (most importantly to me...) my stash isn't that crazy!

 

I have to agree with you there.  I only have a few (less that 10) kits stored.  A couple will never get built, more collectable and worth more as they are.  

 

 

Keith  😁

[Neil.C]

With some of the huge collections shown and frankly many people not making any headway into them it begs the thought that the majority of it is not for the model building hobby at all, rather for investment purposes?

[-Ian-]

58 minutes ago, Neil.C said:

With some of the huge collections shown and frankly many people not making any headway into them it begs the thought that the majority of it is not for the model building hobby at all, rather for investment purposes?

I doubt that's the intention for most people. It's hard to predict what kits will significantly appreciate in value over time, taken as whole the combined resale value of most stashes will almost certainly be less than the initial purchase price after you take into account inflation, selling fees (in the case of eBay), postage fees etc.

[Gaspode]

Way back, when I was doing Warhammer 40k with my son, I quickly learned that the easy part of the hobby was the buying stage. Building, converting and painting too lots more time. So much so that I'm now selling off most of that stuff as I'll never have the time to finish them and game with them if I want to build the models I've bought.

 

As a result I'm trying to limit myself to one scale, RAF only and 1970s timeframe. Result? 3 Gnats, 2 Phantoms, etc.

[Nigel Bunker]

18 hours ago, Neil.C said:

the majority of it is not for the model building hobby at all, rather for investment purposes?

I disagree. These days, models are issued in batches of so many thousands then not reissued for many years, if at all. So if you want a Tamigawafix Scruggs Sennapod, then you have the option of buying it whilst it is available or waiting and paying extortionate amounts through the second hand market. And that is my defence for my stash.

[Shorty84]

20 hours ago, Neil.C said:

the majority of it is not for the model building hobby at all, rather for investment purposes?

For sure not. As others said you most likely get less for your stash if you sell it than you've invested back then. 

The most valuable items I ever came across were the OOP Cutting Edge conversion but even here the profit was a few 100$ at most decades later. Hardly a good investment. 

 

The simple reason is that buying is way easier than building and the 'fear of missing out'. One thing I've learned is that if I see a kit I'm interested in and can justify the cost I buy it now. Otherwise it will be gone once I change my mind and have to hunt it down, likely for a higher price. As explained above, once the issued batch is gone you have to wait for the next reissue which maybe is years away. So I buy it now. 

 

And in the end it is a hobby which means life often get's in the way of actual building. Let's face it, many things in life have a higher priority than sticking bits of styrene together. Especially if you are not retired yet, the job alone occupies a good part of the day and then you have your wife, kids and a lot of other things too requiring your attention. 

In my case, even though I'm single, quite often I'm not in the mood of sitting down in the evening and on weekends I tend to go out and meet friends or family (especially in spring/summer). So modelling gets on the back burner as a result. Still, I buy kits I may never build because a) I can, b) they don't go bad over time, C) I may build them though. 

 

Cheers

Markus

 

 

 

 

 

[klr]

3 hours ago, Nigel Bunker said:

I disagree. These days, models are issued in batches of so many thousands then not reissued for many years, if at all. So if you want a Tamigawafix Scruggs Sennapod, then you have the option of buying it whilst it is available or waiting and paying extortionate amounts through the second hand market. And that is my defence for my stash.

I have literally waited 40 years to buy some kits, such as the Heller Saab 91 Safir. I couldn't afford to buy every kit I wanted when I was young, and the window of opportunity for buying a given kit can be very small. Get it while you can. Also, kit price inflation tends to be considerably higher than general inflation (at least in the long run), so it makes sense to buy when you can. That inflation does not make the stash a goldmine though. The investment is to have the kits on hand, allowing you to build them whenever it suits.

[ckw]

4 hours ago, Nigel Bunker said:

These days, models are issued in batches of so many thousands then not reissued for many years, if at all. So if you want a Tamigawafix Scruggs Sennapod, then you have the option of buying it whilst it is available or waiting and paying extortionate amounts through the second hand market.

But, you never know - Hobby 2000 has put out some great reboxings that I missed first time round ... and by current standards, at very reasonable prices. I currently have a reboxed Hasegawa b-26 and Dragon Do-335 on the bench, both of which I would have paid more for a 2nd hand original. My thinking is a) as long as the molds still exist, someone will re-release it sooner or later b) with so many short run companies around these days it is quite likely that a subject you want will be released in a much better kit than an old Airfix/Frog/Matchbox version.

 

In short I have absolutely no justification for my own stash. It has simply grown because I'm a) impulsive an b) wildly optomistic about how long my builds will take!

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

[Neil.C]

2 hours ago, Shorty84 said:

For sure not. As others said you most likely get less for your stash if you sell it than you've invested back then. 

The most valuable items I ever came across were the OOP Cutting Edge conversion but even here the profit was a few 100$ at most decades later. Hardly a good investment. 

 

The simple reason is that buying is way easier than building and the 'fear of missing out'. One thing I've learned is that if I see a kit I'm interested in and can justify the cost I buy it now. Otherwise it will be gone once I change my mind and have to hunt it down, likely for a higher price. As explained above, once the issued batch is gone you have to wait for the next reissue which maybe is years away. So I buy it now. 

 

<snip>

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think you have hit the nail on the head there Markus.

 

FOMO is very real. 

[AlxBNE]

5 hours ago, ckw said:

 

In short I have absolutely no justification for my own stash. It has simply grown because I'm a) impulsive an b) wildly optimistic about how long my builds will take!

That sounds like justification enough for me 😀

[Keeff]

I'm sadly lacking in FOMO!  Having sold almost all my former stash after realising I'd never get them built, I buy kits as I want them rather than have to find storage ..... or refill the storage space the former stash lived in. 

 

I would like the Airfix 1/24 Typhoon, but as I wasn't modelling when it was released, I know I'll have to hunt for a pre-owned one 😕

 

 

Keith  😁

 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

Until recently I owned a lot of kits, many more than I would ever build. The thing that drove me to buy them was childlike greed and the thing that enabled me to buy them was grown up income. Basically the kid with a credit card scenario.

 

When I was little, if I had spent my pocket money on more chocolate than I could eat, my mum and dad would have called that being greedy and I think they would have been right. 

 

They have been dead for years but when I looked at all of those models, most of which I didn't even want to build anymore, I would feel their disappointment. 

 

Recently, I sold all of the kits that I'd bought as bargains, or because we were all talking about them, or because I had ludicrously grandiose ideas about a huge project, or because I knew I could write a WIP about them that would get me lots of attention (note that these are all child like motivations🚸).

 

I now have one boat in progress and five more in hand which I think I will build if I live long enough. (There are a couple of tanks and some figures and diorama accessories too but they are destined for sale on Saturday next.)

 

I feel proud of myself for recognising my immaturity in this matter and taking suitable action. I think I'm a bit more grown up, a little wiser perhaps.

 

Note that this is my personal experience of kit stashing, I am sure other experiences are available. 

 

 This morning I noticed that my bookshelves contain 202 reading books (not reference books) which I have bought and not yet read. Some were charity shop bargains, some were bought to impress other people, some were to make me part of the gang...

 

Sigh! 

 

Does this personal growth stuff never end?😏