Sunday, April 15, 2018

The Point of Diminishing Returns

        I wasn't the best student in school. Which makes it surprising that about the only thing I remember is from an Economics class; the point of diminishing returns.  I won't try to explain it, but below is an illustration from a website that I came across when I Googled "the point of diminishing returns". This illustration will explain my thinking as it pertains to this post.

      I passed the point of diminishing returns many years ago. I have more toy soldiers than I will ever get to use. I find myself getting bored with all that I have. Figures bought for  one off project, which  never get completed.  With my lack of gaming in the last couple of months, it has given me time to reflect on my collection. I have decided to thin out my plastics collection, although what to do with the culled figures I know not. I don't want to sell them on Ebay. I would like to find a good home for them to go to, preferably to someone who could collect them in person. Last resort would be to trash them, which is something I don't want to do.




From fellowshipone.com.  This shows how I feel about my toy soldier collection.  I passed the "Happy & Grateful"  point 20 years ago! My goal is to cull my plastic collection until I'm back to the Happy & Grateful stage.

Bins full of plastics; just part of the collection.

This dresser is full of mainly plastic toy soldiers.

Still more of boxes and storage drawers full of plastic toy soldiers.

For comparison, most of my metals collection are in these storage drawers. 

   
     

5 comments:

  1. Howdy,
    Which plastics are you thinking of getting rid of? I rarely buy metal anymore (unless they're used) because of what I consider frankly outrageous prices. Fortunately this is the golden age of plastics, especially in light of the spray paint that bonds to plastic that's available now.

    Assuming our interests in plastics coincide, I might be interested. Mass is a bit too far from VA for me to make the drive to pick them up, but mailing them may work...

    In any case, best regards,

    Chris Johnson

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    Replies
    1. I have figures from Ancients up to WW2 (I have Modern figures but plan to hold onto those). Many different manufacturers; Esci, Revell, Hat among them (probably some Airfix too). Certainly mailing within the USA would be easier than overseas. Last time I mailed overseas it took 20 minutes for the clerk to type in the information. The main reason I wanted to give the lot away is so I wouldn't have to sort through all the figures. The vast majority of the figures are mixed together in the bins; the sorted figures are the ones I want to hold onto.

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  2. I saw your comment on Ion's (Archduke Piccolo's) blog. I/we are always interested in second hand 1/72nd figures. We are in Australia though, so that may be sufficient deterrent to you! :)
    Anyway, a click on my profile will take you to my/our blog and my contact details, so I'll leave it to you.
    Cheers, James

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  3. James,
    I actually sent a package to Australia a couple of weeks ago. The worst part is sending it through the post office, as it takes them forever to type in the information. However, as I plan to send another package to Australia soon, I am open to mailing overseas; of course the problem is cost. I believe flat rate starts at $23.50 to Australia. I did look at your blogs and I have many Napoleonics. However, I don't think I can part with my Airfix Napoleonics. I do have lots of other makers which I would be willing to send you, along with other periods. By the way, I don't think I've seen your blogs before. I think I will spend some time today going through them. I love seeing Airfix & Escis Napoleonics in action.

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  4. Hello,

    I have, until recently, been a staunch metals gamer. However, life intervenes and plastic has become a necessary choice due to affordability. If you haven't already purged your collection, I'd be glad to pay shipping to North Dakota. I'm primarily interested in Horse and Musket and WW2 figures, but would pass on the remainder to those in need. Drop me an email if interested: dosmill09 AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete