Ours is a hobby that easily leads itself to obsession. We've all either witnessed it or been subject to it.
This particular post is inspired by an incredibly vivid dream I had last night. Vivid dreams should be spent doing things like riding a harley off a cliff while playing an electric guitar which is on fire before plunging into a sea of decent whiskey, or flying a pirate ship made of crystal that smells like cinnamon through a sea of paperclips wearing a lavender mankini. Or other... pleasurable scenarios.
Not picking out oldhammer blister packs from an imaginary game shop. But that's what happened. Myself and a few friends (one of which, incidentally, was the first one to comment when I mentioned this on the oldhammer FB page) were walking through a town when we came upon a game shop. Not one I'd ever been to, just a gameshop. While perusing I discovered a wall of old Citadel blister packs. The next 20 minutes of the dream were spent picking out various packs. This part was so vivid I can remember the John Blanche art on the card backing and the various contents.
I know.
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| I had it in hand man! Right in my hand!! |
Anyway, I had that feeling of brief but intense disappointment when I woke up. I've been mulling over the dream ever since. It's pretty indicative of an obsessive interest in miniatures, which I'm totally fine with. I've long since made peace with my deep fascination with models and gaming. What interests me is how this made me pause and appreciate how deep this fascination really is. It's not a 'must buy entire box of boosters for one card' kind of thing, though I have been known to scour the planet for a specific model to complete a range I've been collecting. I don't weep tears of blood if I don't find said model, but it's pretty full on I'll admit. It's more stepping back and observing how much time and energy I devote to the hobby in general. Don't misunderstand, I don't feel the need to change anything, but sometimes it's useful to step out of yourself and look at what you're doing, and how you're doing it. At the very least it might give you an insight into how to do it more/better!
So, the point of this self indulgent ramble? It might be interesting to look those moments where you've gone 'Woah. This is pretty hardcore. Maybe I AM obsessive.' and add them into the comments, if you feel like sharing. Like gamer group therapy. Or just a game of who's done the most crazy stuff. Either is good.
Hi, my name is JB and I am an obsessive pathetic maniac.
ReplyDeleteWhen I discovered tetris, I played until I played in my dreams too.
When I eat liquorice sweets, I can eat somuch I get heart problems.
I've already done dry builds and kitbashes in my dreams.
I've already dreamt of picking another blister than the one I had picked when I was a lad.
I see hobby stuff all arond in DIY stores.
I see hobby stuff in every toy shop
(insert endless list of weird stuff here)...
Do these make me a bad person? I don't think so, just a really weird and sometimes creepy but somehow nice manchild.
Hi JB. Everyone say hi to JB.
DeleteI think you'd be hard pressed to find a hobbyist who doesn't see DIY shops primarily as hobby stores. The liquorice thing though. That's impressive.
When I was a small child, I once had a dream that my parents had bought me the Castle Greyskull playset from He-Man. It was so realistic I had to go downstairs and check if it was real or not that morning.
ReplyDeleteIt was not.
I never got that playset.
Are you posting from prison? I ask as that kind of experience can turn a man stone cold. Sounds like my AT-AT dream.
DeleteIT Project Management.
DeleteSo, you know, similar.
I remember waking up in the middle of the night as a kid (the night before my birthday), and going into my parents room to be comforted and finding them both awake- assembling and putting the stickers on Castle Greyskull. The look on my face was priceless (so I'm told) and they had to let me go get some figures and play with it for a while. That story often gets dragged up in my family.
DeleteFor what must be the last 25 years I have had frequent dreams of finding large quantities of hitherto-unknown Fighting Fantasy books (always with the traditional green spines) in second hand bookshops. During this time of hundreds of FF-finding dream sequences I can count on the fingers of ONE finger the number of dreams about goings on with members of the Spice Girls. It was Scary as I recall.
ReplyDeleteScary the spice girl, or just a terrifying experience? I actually have found caches of FF books in second hand bookshops from time to time. Good times.
DeleteLOL I think we all get a bit carried away from time to time & what are dreams for if not to live out our fantasies in & while mine might be of a couple of lovely girls wanting my body kind (I wish) I might also be in a bit of 28mm action.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that last sentence fared well from the overall context of the comment Frank. ;)
DeleteWe all have had random thoughts about the hobby. Just yesterday as I was prowling the aisles looking to get everything on my list for the supermarket, I could not help but day dream about painting up my unit of Sosibowskis Polish Airborne Brigade. But I'm a man of a certain age and retired and have time to day dream.
ReplyDeleteYou did amuse me when you related your dream. I had a dream some fifteen years ago which I still remember vividly. I had died. When I came to consciousness I was seated at a sumptuously finished wargame table with the most beautiful looking Napoleonic miniatures I had ever seen.
Then I looked across the table and saw my opponent. It was Bill. Bill who was the source of more annoyance, angst, and downright anger at his manner of almost cheating play. I fumed at seeing him and muttered, "Why God? How could you let him into heaven?" And a voice responded "Who said this was Heaven?"
Jerry
The Celtic Curmudgeon
"Grumpy is good."
Nice. To be frank, I daydream quite a bit about various hobby-related subjects. Making coffee yesterday I drifted off while wondering exactly how to simulate heat marks on gun barrels.
DeleteI can't look at the recycling box in our house without imagining how many hills, trees, hive city underpasses and space bases it could make. I feel reluctant to throw out old spaghetti because I know you can glue it to card, spray it black and drybrush it silver for elaborate pipe effects. I only eat ice lollies so I can keep the sticks and turn them into fences.
ReplyDeleteLife is good.
Sing it brother.
DeleteI really liked the cartoon and Mattel toyline "Marshal Bravestarr" as a kid and had all the big, Barbie sized figures, vehicles and a massive Fort playset thing- anyway there was a character in the show ( a female Judge) that they didn't make a toy for, and I remember having this dream that they did and my parents had gotten me one.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of the realest dreams I've ever had, I remember waking up and racing downstairs to where the toy was in my dream and being so confused and a little weirded out that it was just a dream.
On miniatures, I'm thinking about them near 24/7- though I'm proud to say never while "on the job" (honest)
This seems to be a pretty recurring theme, with the racing downstairs to massive disappointment.
DeleteGood post... I have had similar dreams, though usually I am staring into display cases full of painted mini's, not so much the racks on sale... not quite sure what that signifies !? Nice to see its an old LOTR figure pack that got your attention, I collected a few of those back in the day too, now long since sold off... but avidly still collecting the current range...
ReplyDeleteYour dream sound like a trip to Foundry. I do like the old and new LotR ranges, but those Uruk-Hai are something special.
DeleteI thought I had sated my need to paint when I finally finished off Kranon The Relentless last night, then I saw this post... Damn you! Now that Chaos Spawn is calling out to me!
ReplyDeleteGlad to be of service. ;)
Delete