I get into a period maybe because I like it, I've watched a movie about it, listened to Ray or the inner voices, read a book and then the research starts with looking for suitable scales, manufactures, painting information and hopefully historical information.
I believe a lot of wargamers go through this process in some variation and the journey and joy begins but I think that's the problem, I think I need the figures available when the juices start flowing and not months later of painting and funding the fecking project and some other fecking period lures you away!
I have painted and sold so many periods over the years (Napoleonic, SYW, Pirates, Romans, WW2 x4 times, WH40K (everything they did including epic) Samurai, Darkest Africa, Fantasy, Zombies, Sudan, Medieval, WW1, Modern, Vietnam, Sci-Fi, Back of Beyond, Warhammer Fantasy, ACW, LOTR, Cowboys and some I've never even told Ray about!)........some I've kept!
As I get older the main problem is funding these periods so a period goes on eBay, I paint for somebody else or sell to friends who shaft you (you know who you are Postie) so they remain within the group hopefully, I'm very lucky that at the moment I get to paint a lot due to work circumstances (......but the job ends this year and how do I feed the illness then?) but there is a downside as I have a lot of time and get a lot done and Curt's painting challenge got me into a whole new scale and period which is now spiralling into 2 more!
What I'm trying to say is.......is it just me?.........I am alone....I am just a mad, angry loser (I'll let Ray have that one especially)....is this a real disease....should we do a fund raiser....or an intervention, some will say what are you whining about you've got loads of time to paint and should be happy but that causes the problem in the first place with funding and time and changing scales, the itchiness in the eyes (don't get me started on the eyes because of the smaller scales I'm going cross eyed) and periods (I could have done a crude joke by now but I won't but I want to!) and I'll tell you how bad it has got that I've started doing 15mm zombies (I have them in 28mm) and I'm going to sell the 28mm to fund their 15mm counterparts!!!!!!
This is what the Wargamer and painter goes through on a daily basis even if he's not painting but he's plotting or scheming.....
I'm thinking of 15mm Sci-Fi as well, Battle of Los Angeles anyone?
I need to fecking lie down!
Are there more sufferer's out there......Shinybloodyitis is real!
I need to win the lottery and get nubile naked women to paint figures for me of everything I could possibly ever game.........now I really need to lie down.
.
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!
ReplyDeleteKeep taking the pills, and just think??? June the 3rd and you'll be working with me again,(evil grin!) now that'll bring you out in spots, you Fecker!!!!
Kiss my flame haired ass you 45 year old work dodger!
DeleteI'm afraid I'm with you on this; symptoms include obscure miniatures arriving on the doormat that have nothing to do with current projects and thinking about obscure scenarios that would be 'fun to do!'.
ReplyDeleteYou said it Michael, I'm looking at QRF at the moment for some insurgents!
DeleteHave you been reading my diary? It's all of us!
ReplyDeleteI'll sign you up Irqan!
DeleteThis happens to me every few weeks or months. I stumble upon something interesting and then decide that I HAVE to make a miniatures game out of it. So far I've been through WW2 Normandy, The 1993 Amiga Game Hired Guns, Zombie Apocalypse, Lovecraft, DnD Dark Sun, BattleTech,... And the list just keeps on growing, never letting me finish something I started! :D
ReplyDeleteA lot don't even get finished which is the main killer!
DeleteFran, mate, you are indeed affected by shinybloodyitis, but it goes deeper than that, it starts as newperiodbloodyitis first!
ReplyDeleteAnd since like most of us wargamers, you like to put on a good looking show that means good terrain and good well painted figures, which you do. Problem is simply the time factor... Its not like a computer game where you fancy playing chuck it in the machine and start playing and get bored, and play something else... each miniatures wargame has a big lag start up (if you want it to look good). The trick is trying to stay motivated and on schedule to get playing. This will be helped if you are really keen on the period anyway (consider it painting for the fun/love of the period), and if you have encouragement from local playing buddies who are also at same time painting up for the same game period.
I noticed this phenomenon more so watching my son grow up with me - his mind jumps from period to period, faster almost than the computer can keep up! He constanly asks "dad can we play period with your figures... and invariably I have to say "sure... come back to me in 6 months and I'll have it all done" coz thats the reality.
Patience is the game mate.
I am sure you know all this already, and are just venting your spleen to the blog-o-verse, and that fine too.
Now go and enjoy that lie down for a mo'. You'll be feeling better soon.
regards
Scott
Thanks Scott you're one of the good ones unlike Ray!
DeleteYou and me both mate. I think I need to enter a 12 step program. It's got to the stage where I have to smuggle new figures into the house!
ReplyDeleteSmuggling or lying to the SWMBO my friend is part of the disease!
DeleteI am not sure that the International Classification of Diseases-10 (aka ICD-10) does not in fact have a similar illness to shinybloodyitis, which is known as Mental and behavioural disorders due to shiny buying. Now this group of disorders can encompass simple dependence, patterns of harmful use, or far more worryingly (especially among the sub-set of sufferers that may be referred to as 'fluff-monkeys') psychotic disorders.
ReplyDeleteget yourself to a self help group and you may pull through if you are motivated enough.
I recommend a Shinyholics Anonymous meeting; I am sure there are plenty about. Recovery is possible. Personally I am going to wallow in my own shinyholism...
If not I'll form my own one!
DeleteMy blogpost yesterday echo's your post today 15mm is making very tempted to do sci fi
ReplyDeleteYep! I sold off my all custom figures "Walker's Immortals"/Central American armies/1850s American Filibusters in Nicaragua figures because I looked at the finished figures and asked "Why?"
ReplyDeleteIt's asked a lot by us sufferer's!
DeleteI feel your pain, but in my case I do limit myself to scale and period. At the moment it's kept down to a couple of periods but about to revisit a third and also a new scale (20mm. Only way I can fund it is paint for others, that has got me into painting 28mm WWII, so reality is that I am working 5 periods and I just know as I start to play with more players the spread just gets worse.
ReplyDeleteThe point about time is the big one, in your case you get paid to paint via work, why should we feel sorry for you!!!!! ;-)
ian
Thanks Ian:P
DeleteHave to agree, I think we all suffer from Shinybloodyitis. I know I do! I do very much like you idea to have naked women to paint figures for me of everything.
ReplyDeleteI'm off to have a cold shower after spending too much time thinking of the nubile naked women I want to paint my figures! Hubba, hubba, hubba!
ReplyDeleteIt's a good dream to have and go have another shower.....
DeleteWell I go through similar things, though I'm not a wargamer of painter. I think a lot of people go through similar things. It must be a lot more difficult for a wargamer though because by the time you can fulfill your obsession, you have a new one, and realize you've probably wasted time and money.
ReplyDeleteDon't feel bad – you're not alone. I have a huge pile of completely unpainted metal and plastic, in addition to partially painted batches of figures from several periods (25mm Norman Conquest, 100YW, Three Musketeers, FIW, Napoleonics, Sci Fi, 15mm SYW, 10mm ACW) not to mention periods where I painted enough to game, but then stopped shortly after completing them (WWII). In a way I'm "lucky" in that I don't have enough time to even get started painting most of them, so in the end I lose the money, but don't waste time. But I too know the temptation, and the frustration, and I feel your pain, brother.
ReplyDeleteAmen Bard!
DeleteI think I am somewhere close.
ReplyDeleteAll I ever sold was my SciFi stuff when I gave up playing SciFi (Battletech, Warzone, VOR) so I do not care too much for those. Plus I sold my Battletech minis at a time when they were OOP and were catching ridiculous prices (paid for half my DVD collection, two holidays and a good portion of my initial diving equipment).
With my historical minis I have not sold a thing (painted) except for two units that I did not need since I had bought and painted too many.
What often happens though is that I decide to get into a new period and buy stuff for it (lots of it) and then loose interest before I even paint one of them. In the past I just let those sit there for the day when I would find the time, but over the past two years I have decided to sell those off and it has been a great releave.
The worst thing though are those periods that do not let me go and where I keep buying more then I paint and I wonder when I should ever find the time to paint it. Right now I estimate it is enough to keep me going for 20 years. The good thing is I was up at 30 years worth of minie at one time.
Hope all this rambling make only a vague sense to some of you!
I feel you pain my friend, join the group and introduce yourself!
DeleteSorry when I first say the title I saw it written as shinybloodytits.. and thought you had gone off on a completely different rant.. thankfully that is not the case ;)
ReplyDeleteSuffer the same, but hardly ever sell.. so I just keep collecting, and like Big Lee.. I usually fund it by painting for others..
And really.. is it such a bad thing? I mean really now? Painting, while supposedly working? Trade seats in a heartbeat with you mate..
I understand but the job is ending this year and how will I feed the addiction?
DeleteSell Ray on the black market.. simple problems.. simple solutions :)
DeleteI like it Mr.Lee, lets not tell Ray!
DeleteWot????
DeleteNothing to see here Ray.. move along now.. :)
DeleteI'm fairly certain I have OCD as I get hooked into new periods and I go all out for 3 or so weeks (Rules, figures and a little painting) but then I get asked to play a game of something else. This then means tidying up other figures and finishing off things thus shelving new projects.
ReplyDeleteSince Nov last year I have started 3 new periods (15mm sci fi, 15mm fantasy and Sci Fi Startships). I have the rules, the figures - have a played ? No as I need to finish a 15mm Prussian Army for a campaign. Its not like I dont paint (2 hours a night most nights) its just I sijply buy far far too much :)
It's the same old story I'm afraid!
Deletebest of luck
ReplyDeleteNever fear Fran you join good company, as I think everyone involved in this hobby (madness) has touches of the aliment you describe.
ReplyDeleteI have made a concerted effort this year not to wander away from the kits and figures I already have and yet to build paint or fix up.
It is fecking hard not to be tempted to wander or stray mate, so do not feel too bad if you have hiccups now and then.
I never sell completed stuff, as I tend to give them away or swap if I do not need them or have lost interest. This helps in the old boy connection when you are in a jam or want something from some other clown who shares your affliction.
I think its time to stop feeling sorry for yourself and pick up the paint brush man...Or work out some other ways to make Ray's life a living miserly.
Model on Franonia!
I'll go with making Ray's life a misery!
Deletehe makes my life a misery everyday already, its called breathing!
DeleteDon't go cold turkey - it will shock your system!
ReplyDeleteGeneral, Sir...the troops are rumbling on about a rumor that zombies from some place called Sayonia, or Bayonia, are straggling across the border and eating our men!
ReplyDeleteThat's not bad Jay, I like it!
Deletei know your pain. the worst part is that this is either that or another addiction. Typically, that's impulsive behavior. I start wandering blogs, like the mini, end up at 2 am on merchant site, push inconsciently the "checkout" button, send to my office, and then smuggle little by little into the snatch.
ReplyDeleteNow, I should sell, but I have the weak answer : it's for my son (he’s two, what a liar I am). so I cumulate and buy more than I paint...
That's a good reason cedric, I'll have to get a kid!
DeleteI've ordered some miniatures some weeks ago (mid of march) that I haven't received yet due to some unforeseen delay. I don't really need (Need. Yeah, right!) them anymore, because my mind has already moved to the next project (and to be honest the next project after that). I won't cancel the order, because I am sure that someday I will be interested in Pike & Shotte zombie hunting again...
ReplyDeleteYesterday I thought about buying some 28mm WW2 miniatures. I think I really, really need some.
I call it the Too-Many-Projects Syndome. It's like Shinybloodyitis...buying, smuggling, everything, but without the selling of miniatures.
Whiteface / Oliver
The selling is a major problem with Shinybloodyitis!
DeleteI think we all suffer from it to some degree. I still have boxes and blisters of stuff I bought in the 90's. Unpainted and unused, but I can't bear the thought of parting with it. My reason for venturing into 1/72 plastics is to keep the cost down, so far it hasn't quite worked. And for some reason I keep reading Shinybloodyitis as "Shiny bloody tits".
ReplyDeleteBoth diseases are fine Sean!
DeleteI completely understand what you are saying. The more blogs and the more forums I frequent, the more ideas I get. And before I even start funding one idea, another jumps in my head. It takes a lot of will power to resist. But even though I haven't completed my main focus; Zombies, I spend a lot of time thinking about figures I need for a sci fi project.
ReplyDeleteFirst world problem, I think.
It's a killer my friend of us idiots....
DeleteI just suffer from the shinythings syndrome since I was 13 and went to rehab when I was 14.
ReplyDeleteI always bought new stuff and didn't sell anything. Even today I still have all from those days.
Since then it got a lot better. A few years ago I bought some figure blisters and boxes and stored them away. If the urge to buy new stuff arises I just get those stored blisters and boxes into a bag and behave like I just bought them. Most time this helps but sometimes the need is too much to surpress with such simple tricks and I just go and buy some new stuff, just to have it laying around on my desk. Most times even unpacked.
I'm kind of jealous that you get stuff even painted. My buying/painting ratio is far below 1.
That's not bad Oli!
DeleteMy name's Jim and I'm a shinyholic. It's been six days since my last purchase....
ReplyDeleteI'm awful for it... you've read my blog! Fortunately because I get caught up in the organisation and setting fluff, my enthusiasm for a project will sometimes wane before I've bought the figures, so I have a lead hillock rather than a mountain.
Sticking to one or two figure sizes helps too though, at least the terrain and buildings can be re-used.
You do it well with longer reading and planning, I need to start thinking more and buying less before the interest wanes....
DeleteCheers! But in that way also lies madness.
DeleteI don't have the misfortune of being attracted to every period going, but did you know there have been 47 wars since 1945, in the Far-East, Africa and the Middle-East alone? Most with pretty much unique features and equipment used... I started out being interested in just the one...
Then there's the Renaissance, Thirty Years War, 1930's conflicts.... so much lead only one lifetime!
I too fall victim to this dread malady! - around Christmas especially (when the immune system is low!)- when every company I like brings out new ranges-- AAAGGGHHH!
ReplyDeleteThe only cure is discipline, my dear sir! - good luck!
I have the discipline lately of an eight year old in a sweet shop with a fist full of fifties......
DeleteIt's those inner voices Loki.....
ReplyDeleteI suffer from a similar problem. I buy lots of figures but am such a slow painted I have tons of unpainted figures just lying around.
ReplyDeleteTake comfort from the fact that you are not a sole sufferer Fran. And at least you have the ability to let go of stuff that you have painted up in order to move on to something else. I used to hang on to everything and there are some things that I will never part with but I have managed to let some of my stuff go and not suffer nightmares as a result.
ReplyDeleteCertainly if I ever win the lottery I will be more than happy to have my figs painted for me although I had never considered them being done by naked women, but that's definitely a thought worth considering.....
Well worth considering......
DeleteHmm, how would I smuggle the naked women into my man cave?
DeleteMaybe its because you spent so much time on it you dont want to look at it anymore...
ReplyDeleteI think it's one of the main problems...
DeleteOh definitely a serious disease with no cure in sight. I think its even worse within a club. Suddenly its not just you drooling over some new line its five or six guys feeding the frenzy. Like sharks drawn to blood in the water. Minis are ordered and painting begins and then before even one game with those shiny new minis its off to the races with another period and another manufacturer offering up hot pewter newness. Sometimes I can resist, such as WWII naval, I'll play with your ships thank you, but other times I bite the bullet hard and suddenly there are boxes arriving full of bright shiny miniatures begging to be painted. That's probably why there are six army projects on my desk. Its a serious disease, very serious, no cure, no hope but to keep painting and hope that someday the madness will end (not really, what would I do in my free time, oh wait, I think I have a girlfriend.).
ReplyDeleteGirlfriends....we don't let them know do we?
DeleteIn general best to not let the girlfriend know. If it must be revealed then never mention how much the cute little pewter men actually cost. Or distract her with even cuter mouselings from Reaper. Does the trick every time.
DeleteKris, you can't stick with one thing for more than five minutes. How many projects do you have going right now? Admit it, you're the worst offender of the lot!! And what will you do when your girlfriend becomes your wife? It won't be so easy to hide it then will it?
Deletehahaha wow now that sounds like quite the process, no wonder you are going cross eyed..hahaha sadly I don't think there is a cure for the disease, just like a certain rhyming cat you are stuck with your affliction.
ReplyDelete"and get nubile naked women to paint figures for me"
ReplyDeleteI'd go for something a little more energetic with my nubile naked women...
These 28mm zombos you're flogging... got any pictures?
http://theangrylurker.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/zombie-tanks-and-hordes.html
Deletehttp://theangrylurker.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/my-28mm-painted-modern-zombie-horde.html
http://theangrylurker.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/28mm-modern-zombie-game-report.html
Just some pictures from the blog, can do some newer shots if you want!
I hear you buddy, Shinybloodyitis, all I have done in the last year is start new project, after new project, I dont even sell my stuff, its just building up....is that worse?
ReplyDeleteIf you can afford to do so then no it's not, my circumstances mean I sell some but some periods never will be sold!
ReplyDeleteI pray for speedy recovery from this awful disease or maybe not, come on look at that list of eras you had listed.
ReplyDeleteBut by roaming with Postie and Ray you have brought this on yourself. Fundraiser is an awesome idea too. Amazon lets you open your own store right? Cross eyed? But it all worth the masterpieces you create. Hopefully you never get tired of this gift and you are always inspired.
lol you've created monsters? post em!
ReplyDeleteFran
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly not you. It is indeed all of us - I feel your pain, brother, for I have also been there!! The only way I found to stay anywhere near "on track" is to try and find a handful of periods which are fairly representative and stick with then, trying as I go along to build in the other things I find attractive from other periods. So, I have a single horse-and-musket, a single modern period, a single medieval period and so on. The theory is when I see a new period or army I like, I try not to be tempted to buy something but keep my wallet in my pocket and think of how I can crossover from the new period/ army I like to the current handful of periods I collect and game in.
Well, that's the theory anyway. I started this approach about four years ago and there's been some successes with staying on track and looking at "cross-over" figures and painting ... and some random departures (Dark Ages, ACW Naval, Pig Iron SciFi). It's all a learning curve - but compared to what I could be doing with my spare time and cash, I don't get too stressed about it!
You're right Sidney but I'm damaged goods!
DeleteNo you're not alone. I bought a 28mm crusade army from Gripping beast about 5 years ago, because historicals were great and amazing and the best thing since sliced bread. Sat in their blister packs till the day I sold them. Then again, started collecting Tau to get back into 40k as some of my friends were. I think I used them once before a voice in my head said "What exactly are you thinking, don't be so fecking stupid"
ReplyDeleteI like to think of as the great circle of gaming life. As figures are accumulated, eventually some must be sold. Of course though, the funds from this are always used to buy the next thing. It must be true, I'm sure Elton John wrote a song about it (more or less)
We're just keeping them for othersin the great circle of models!
DeleteI hope your dreams of the lotto winnings and painter woman come true. I send you most of my luck for that,(I have to keep some to stay alive). Have a great rest of the week, Fran.
ReplyDeleteNow you know I'm not a gamer, just a painter, but I'm jonesing bad for some new stuff. The Dark Templer got me hooked on Malifaux and I'm not done with the figures I've got. Right now I'm trying to find an excuse to buy them. It goes something like this "Anne, you've got armored figures to paint and you don't know a feckin' thing about painting armor. You need more practice with capes before you do the critter you have so really buying those Malifaux figures would benefit you as a painter." I've almost convinced myself. Next I have to convince the Hubby.
ReplyDeleteI'm terribly sorry to hear the job is ending luv. I hope something opens up for you in the meantime and I'll add you to my nightly prayers. I know you're lapsed, but I'm not and I may have some pull with the big guy upstairs so I'm calling in those chips on your behalf.
You're a good person Anne!
DeleteI'm with Mr.Lee. I'm a bit dyslexic so I thought you were bleeding from your nipples. Something maybe a bit more serious than what you describe ;)
ReplyDeleteI think if someone doesn't have the compunction you describe then he isn't a gamer! It's not the disease it is the fact of our existence. If not, why do we all have a lead mountain?
I do this all the time. I have 7 different spaceship fleets, parts to convert another and am in the process of buying ships for an 8th. I almost never get a chance to play spaceship games. my bits-box is a *bits-closet* literally. Granted I need to keep a stock for my work, but it's a handy excuse. I have 5 large armies in stages of half painted down to spru. So many skirmish and blood bowl teams. Our group has been doing Weird WWII, which I got sucked into, making 3 different forces, and then Saga came up and Ive bought two armies. I also feel tempted to start in on 15mm element base fantasy armies.
Any new period or genre I get into I also *must* have 2 factions for it. I start thinking 'what if I need to get someone else into it? I need an opposing faction."
I'm hopeless.
Both sides is a compulsory purchase for me!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain! So many things to do and never enough cash to do them!
ReplyDeleteToo bad they don't sell minis in bulk! I hope one day you win the lottery and can spend the rest of your life painting minis and keeping them! (and heck buy a house to put them in!)
But I don't know what its like to keep being swept away by a new time period, I play video games about the anchient Roman/Greek times and watch movies and documentarys about that period too!
I vote to see your sci-fi painted figures!!!! With a Dr Seuss wargame miniatures set as a close runner up!!
ReplyDeleteShiny/figures/rules/books/periods-itis afflicts all gamers I fear to greater or lesser degrees of madness.
ReplyDeleteOnly difference I have from thee is that I could never part with anything I have painted/collected/toiled over it would be just too traumatic !!
I love shiny things, simple that why we all complete tons of lead.
ReplyDeletewe are all like this let us face it. Movies are the worst they draw you in make you want to paint them. I started off with LOTR stuff, then 1:160 trainsets, 1/72 greeks and persians, then romans, then medievals, then romans again, then medievals again and now moderns. atleast I shall stay on 1/72 I think I have found my home there.
ReplyDeleteBTW do you want an 1:160 train set might be fun, blody thing cost me over $1200
$1200.00!!!!!!!!
DeleteYou know, out of all the potential "diseases" one could have.. you're not too bad. Fundraiser might be pushing it maybe? But I dunno. Win the lottery, that sounds like a great idea.
ReplyDeleteWe're going to need good music for the fundraiser mate!
DeleteWell, I'm still clearing up the left overs from years of neglect and killing off figures that have been half painted for ages. I'm also starting to accumulate and paint figures for my new (kept it at bay for about 30 years) WSS project. BUT, this week alone I've been toying with the idea of resurrecting my 30YW project, launching my VBCW scheme, getting into naval (ACW and Anglo-Dutch wars) and 28mm Napoleonics (French, Dutch-Belgian, Prussian or Austrian!?!).
ReplyDeleteIt's quite a common condition amongst wargamers because without it many companies would go bust. Consider it a commercial and social necessity.
It's big brother wargamer keeping us on the hook and feeding our habit!
Deletei'm glad i haven't caught the "disease"....yet. ;)
ReplyDeleteThere are those who admit to this syndrome, and those who lie about not having it. The entire wargaming community at varying time shares your sense of lost drifting and endless collecting!
ReplyDeleteHopefully SALUTE will make you feel all better soon, and you can get yourself something nice and shiny!
Hope you feel better!
ReplyDeleteThank you AL, thank you for saying what we probably wish we'd all said out loud instead of under our breath throughout all our wargaming lives.
ReplyDeleteFran,
ReplyDeleteHave you actually chosen to not buy food for a few days, to then live off the calories that 2-litres of Coca Cola provide (having bought them on sale)and then used the money saved by taking to this particular liquid diet to then purchase new shineys?
It is how I have lived for years now...taking care to actually eat solid food for a few months and then switch to Coke again...
But I deny that a disease is involved, instead it is a passion!
Coca Cola is good for you and full of vitamins though!
ReplyDeleteOh I'm totally with you on this! Wish I had your time though!
ReplyDeleteI've got it so bad that as soon as I start painting the very first miniature from a spankin new project I'm already thinking of the next fargin one!
Christopher
New army list = new options. Must have them. Get an idea for some sort of mad army list combo....go buy the toys. Months later forgot what list and combo I got them for! My unpainted though, is still smaller than painted stuff. That's what I keep telling myself anyway.
ReplyDeleteThis is what the Wargamer and painter goes through on a daily basis even if he's not painting but he's plotting or scheming.....
ReplyDeleteoh yes thas me....