The Always Forwards Hobby-Strategy

In a comment to my last post Maudlin Jack Tar wrote ' I've never seen so many of these figures together in one place!"

Somehow I needed some days to see what that really means. It's so right. Who, back in the early days when these minis came out, bought so much fantasy miniatures? Nobody had something like that, fantasy wargaming was not a big thing. And later, in the 80's, people had different miniatures I think. From Ral Partha, Grenadier or Citadel(?). 

So someone really took the bull by the horns, right?

I don't know how the collection once was build up and I can't speak for the previous owner. As for me: I'm not rich. The opposite is the case. In fact, I got these old figures so dirt cheap that you would fall out of your chair if I told you how cheap they were. You could have dinner with your wife in a restaurant for what I gave. But it wouldn't be enough for a second time. OK, I heard you falling...

So I just grabbed an incredibly good opportunity. And that's the strategy I follow for while now.

In the past I have observed again and again that even people who - based on their financially situation - had the chance to get ahead more easily in their hobby (or other things) but always just plan, talk, hesitate, hesitate and then do nothing. They have this one quirk: they can't decide. These are people who could sometimes purchase anything they say they want or need for their favorite project with the money they can easily spare in just a single month. But then always just talk about it, so that in the end nothing ever happens.

At some point I realized that hesitation is nonsense.

To be honest, the things that we need for our hobby, for example, are actually not out of reach for most of us. I have therefore decided for myself that I will seize a good opportunity if there is one.

However, sometimes you have to take a risk. As a (nearly former because I'm about to give that up) trader - I'm maybe a little more used to jumping in at the deep end and saying "yeah, give me the three boxes." And don't let me be bothered by the fact that some deals come with a bit of junk.

I did that again a few days ago. I was offered a large stock of old moulds still in their original packaging and I bought them all. I will take some for my collection to exchange existing used ones for good new ones and the others I will probably sell and get most of my money back, if not more. 

Collectors have always done this. They take advantage of the fact that most people are afraid of the risk of a bulk purchase. And they don't shy away from the effort of selling the surplus again or using it as barter goods. Some collections can only be completed in this way because if you are waiting to buy things individually without 'risk', you may be looking for forever.

By the way, not that the impression arises that I would like to seek some kind of absolution for my purchases here because I said in my "Mission" that I would like to go the cheapest way possible. Not at all, I only want to explain that I am currently pursuing a kind of 'forward strategy' and that it seems to be working. And it also works in other areas of life, I've found.