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So I come from fairly poor to lower working class family. One side of my family barely makes any money. And recently during christmas my mom brought up my hobby of building kits and how much one cost that she got me. I told her later that I didnt like it cause I dont like people knowing how much I spend on things. Both her and my aunt told me not to be ashamed and that I have built up my hobbies by myself(considering alot of it was christmas and B-day stuff) and I shouldnt feet ashamed considering I dont drink or do cigarettes like the rest of my family.
But I cant help but hide this expensive hobby from my family. And I have been thinking about this because I saw the build and paint kits and wondered if I should get the larger ones for my two nephews. But Do I want to get them into a hobby their family cannot afford.
So Im wondering, does anyone ever hide their hobby because of how expensive it is?

The hobby only really needs to be as expensive as you make it. You can make tanks out of household recycling or you can spend hundreds on 'high end' model kits. Like wise, you can labour days or months into just a couple of models and spread your purchases out very far, making your hobby cost very little on a per day basis, or you can buy a new kit every week (probably leaving it as little more than a pile of grey plastic).

Why would the hobby need to be a burden on their family? My family wasn't exactly in the gutter, but besides replacing outgrown clothes and food I would only get given things on Christmas and Birthdays. You can be the 'model kit guy' that gives them their models at these times. Perhaps when you make visits to the family you can give small gifts such as paint sets and so on to keep their hobby stocks supplied.

Also the hobby is a great excuse to spend time with the kids, you can teach them scratch building techniques, helping them make scenery, vehicles and dioramas.

Only problem being is kids are insatiable, often 'more' is one of the first words people learn. So don't feel bad and good luck!

I was the same way.

Went from upper middle class to poor. Felt guilty for spending what little play money (read leas than 100$ a year,) had on minis instead of the norm such as videogames.

It faded for me when I became independent and every dollar was a dollar I earned by myself. If it makes you happy, then do it.

If you still feel guilty even after all of that then justify it with the occassional purchase or being more moderate but, still a hobbyist.

Be your own man or woman, within reason and do what makes you /happy./

Does anyone ever hide their hobby because of how expensive it is?

Nope I just lie to my partner about how much it costs.
Any packages coming into the house by mail are 'for a friend', all bnib is kicked home, hidden in the garage, antiqued then squirreled into the hobby room to be casually revealed at a later date as 'this old thing'.
I count her shoes and accessories on a weekly basis, she must think I'm stupid.

Haha, said like a true gamer Alex!

Yeah, it no ones business but mine how I spend my time and money (significant other aside). I cannot understand the mentality of feeling ashamed of have more than someone else, even if it is only on a relative scale. I'm pretty sure most normal people certainly do not begrudge others having more than them.

Nonetheless it's only right that a little humility is shown in the other direction, no one like their noses being rubbed in the fact the have less means than you.

Of course if they have money for booze and smokes then feck 'em.

I've never been ashamed of any aspect of the hobby. It's hard for people to say 'that's too expensive' when they're paying £50-60 for a Call of Duty/Battlfield/Assassin's Creed that's exactly the same as the last one every year, or spending what I'd pay for a Tactical Squad on a night of clubbing every week! It's similar to what I said in another thread about time spent on the hobby; so long as you can afford it, and other aspects of your life aren't suffering for it, there's nothing to be ashamed of.

I do try and hobby 'on the cheap' as much as possible, but that's simply to make my fairly limited budget go further, same reason I rarely buy new/full price video games, buy clothes in charity shops ect, rather than because I am in any way guilty about the stuff I buy.

If you want to do some hobby-related stuff with family members that can't really afford to play 40k, why not look into one of the many cheaper alternatives? You can pick up a box of 1/72 WW2 soldiers or a Spitfire or a Panzer for about $10 or so, download a free and simple ruleset off the internet if you want to play with them ect. That way, they can share in your hobby without breaking anyone's bank.

 Alex Kolodotschko wrote:
Does anyone ever hide their hobby because of how expensive it is?

Nope I just lie to my partner about how much it costs.
Any packages coming into the house by mail are 'for a friend', all bnib is kicked home, hidden in the garage, antiqued then squirreled into the hobby room to be casually revealed at a later date as 'this old thing'.
I count her shoes and accessories on a weekly basis, she must think I'm stupid.

There is a running joke among firearms enthusiasts: My greatest fear is that when I die my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them... Personally, me and my partner have separate and dedicated fun-money budgets that we can use as we like and there's no requirement for subterfuge.

If it's your own money then it's no-one else's business. I'll hazard that their cigarette habit would support a 40K budget quite nicely...

As for getting other people into this or any other hobby I think it's important to be clear about the cost - both the need-to-spend and the want-to-spend amount. Where they're kids it's more difficult because they don't have their own money to spend.

Not really. I never make an effort to really let them know, but I don't exactly hide it either. Most of the time people find out about it when I'm painting somewhere where they can see it, or see my cases in the car. The reactions are always interesting if I've not mentioned it, especially among coworkers when we're staying somewhere together, but that's about it.

They ask questions for a few minutes, ask me how I got into it, ask if it's hard, then that's usually the end of it.

I never tell them how much I spend on it though. Mainly just because I don't want to hear the questions of "how you can spend that much on models?" I usually just crack jokes about how I never have to spend money on booze so I have tons of money left around for whatever I fancy

I plan to have a small, well painted section of my army on display in the living room or near it. Not a huge geek wall of stuff, but I will proudly display it to anyone that comes over. It will probably be as small as a few models framed/encased on a shelf. Heck, I've been longing to buy a piece from Jen Haley to display proudly as both a work of art and geekdom.

As others have said, there are a lot of very expensive hobbies out there, and few of them ever are ashamed of it. For as much as you've spent on miniatures and models, there are people who have spent tens of thousands on cars that they don't drive.

Life is short, pointless, and everyone will die. So who cares how much you spend on something so long as it's within your means and not hurting you or anyone else?

It also helps that geek media is so much more acceptable these days with the rise of comic book everything.

Nope, I'm lucky enough to have a partner who finds the time and effort I put into my little plastic men, a wonderful quality. Its not just her but even when others have taken pot shots at me because of my hobby I've never felt ashamed, It relaxes me and I have a physical item to hold in my hand that represents my time spent that I look at with fond memories. If someone is petty enough to dislike you for a harmless hobby that doesn't interfere with anything then well that their problem.

40k is something I enjoy and even if there is abit of sticker shock, its nothing that isn't easily overcome with some of smart budgeting. If you enjoy it, enjoy it.

I think I'm more ashamed of it being considered massively nerdy. It always makes me cringe when people come round my house for the first time (especially girls) and they go "Oh is that, like, Warhammer?" followed by something like "My little brother used to play with those". I've strategically hidden all my actual Warhammer stuff where people won't find it. But to people who don't care, Soda Pop and Infinity etc, is all Warhammer, and it conjures up bad memories of that time they went into GW to look at all the cute stuff, and some smelly neckbeard flipped out at them, unexpectedly, for touching something.

the cost is more annoying than embarrassing. I remember maybe 5 years ago, my former flatmate expressed an interest in picking up some space marines, but when he realised how much they cost, his face change from "interested" to "outraged and disgusted", and needless to say it put him right off the idea (and that was 5 years ago's prices). I can't say I blame him. When you can buy a big bag of green army men for 99 pence, it's a bit difficult explain why the slightly better army men are £12 each.

No, I don't.

Anyone that doesn't like my hobby can duck my sick.

I spend less than my coworkers do on bass boats or season tickets to the Bears or other hobbies.

hotsauceman1 wrote:Both her and my aunt told me not to be ashamed and that I have built up my hobbies by myself(considering alot of it was christmas and B-day stuff) and I shouldnt feel ashamed considering I dont drink or do cigarettes like the rest of my family.

I'd listen to them, TBH. This hobby can be expensive, but I don't drink or smoke meself, and when I look at some of the expenses there, I feel like I'm saving a bit that can be diverted towards a few models.

On the subject of embarassment, I've got a slight advantage in that I can open the discussion with the sculpts I ocassionally make and how much it costs other people to buy them off me.

And I have been thinking about this because I saw the build and paint kits and wondered if I should get the larger ones for my two nephews. But Do I want to get them into a hobby their family cannot afford.

I think this is a different matter to feeling embarassed about your purchases for yourself. I don't have any easy answers, although I think other posters have already been helpful there. I'd agree that it depends on whether you're getting them into the wargaming hobby or - pardon the expression - the GW HHHobby. GW might be clever by introducing 'gateway' models to toy shops, but I'd debate how advantageous that is to the person then attracted to start 40K. If they're not already hooked on 40K, they might be able to get just as much fun from something... cheaper.

But it's up to you. I'm not twisting your arm. If you think they'd get a kick out of it, and if they can keep going with gifts and discounts etc. (and if you want to join in) then go for it.

kronk wrote:Anyone that doesn't like my hobby can duck my sick.

And thus world peace was achieved.

Nope. If I had to hide this hobby because of cost, I would also have to figure out how to hide my watches, car, guns, knives and all my other hobbies that are more expensive than this one. Warhammer is no more expensive than a video game system, extra controllers and 10 or 12 games.

OP: I think that its natural to want to downplay your valuables when other people are struggling, but 40k isn't expensive enough to make or keep anybody poor. People find $5 a day for smokes or scratch offs, that adds up to way more than a 40k army a year.

Personally, I'm an adult with an adult hobby. Anybody other than my wife tries to tell me how to spend my money, we've got a problem. Even my wife is fine with me spending money on things I'll actually build, paint, and use. She just doesn't want me buying stuff that's only going to sit on the shelf in the box.

 Toofast wrote:
Warhammer is no more expensive than a video game system, extra controllers and 10 or 12 games.

Neither is a pair of $400 Gucci sunglasses, but that doesn't mean there isn't a huge markup.

 Smacks wrote:

 Toofast wrote:
Warhammer is no more expensive than a video game system, extra controllers and 10 or 12 games.

Neither is a pair of $400 Gucci sunglasses, but that doesn't mean there isn't a huge markup.

What does that have to do with anything?

Hmmmm... I have run games at the mall, I have run games at Burger King, Wendy's, and Old Country Buffet.

I run a game at a local dry bar, and I used to run the game at a summer program for gifted youth.

Every year I run a game at a pagan retreat - in spite of being Unitarian, not pagan. (The Unitarian church helps run it... we play 'More Religiously Tolerant Than You' games. ) Where my good lady sat skyclad in my lap, in an attempt to seduce me (I just thought that she was a pagan being a pagan, and trying to freak the 'dane*).

I paint miniatures at Burger King so often that the manager has sent me customers to paint miniatures for.

I am very shy and insular about my hobby....

The Auld Grump

* It took years, but the seduction did work, eventually....

As others said before, this hobby is as expensive as you make it. Impulse-buying aside (some people really do have a problem with that) I'd say it's cheaper than smoking.

 Toofast wrote:

 Smacks wrote:

 Toofast wrote:
Warhammer is no more expensive than a video game system, extra controllers and 10 or 12 games.

Neither is a pair of $400 Gucci sunglasses, but that doesn't mean there isn't a huge markup.

What does that have to do with anything?

Came up in a thread about GW prices - I think that the general consensus was that anyone silly enough to buy $400 sunglasses is also silly enough to think that GW provides good value for money. (Yes, there was somebody using the fact that they bought overpriced sunglasses to justify GW prices... takes all kinds.)

The Auld Grump

I'd only be ashamed if I had Mantic models in my collection.

 Bottle wrote:
I'd only be ashamed if I had Mantic models in my collection.

Because properly scaled inexpensive miniatures are so shaming.

So much better to have a figure popping out with skulls like they were zits after a pizza party.

The Auld Grump

There is no need to hide or to be ashamed.
War gaming is something you should take with pride.

OP, I hear you. I'm an adult with a steady job, but I live within a pretty tight budget. Bills come first, hobbies come last. If it wasn't for scratch building and second-hand minis, I wouldn't be in this hobby at all. I have found some amazing deals, but the temptation is always there to buy more, more, more. Just think of how much money I saved compared to retail, right? But you know what? You can go broke saving money. So I keep a tight grip on my spending, while still trying to have fun.

I think it's great that you are thinking about getting gifts for your nephews, and I give you credit for considering if those would be appropriate gifts for them given their financial situation. Others have mentioned that 40k is not as expensive as some hobbies, and this is true, but it's all relative. If your nephews' families are not in a position to support this hobby, then maybe buying them some starter kits isn't the best idea. You can share your hobby interest in other ways, like inviting them over to paint, build terrain, scratch build some tanks, kitbash, etc. If you have enough models for 2+ armies, you could play a game with them. Then you would be spending time with them and sharing your hobby interest.

Have you shared your hobby with your nephews yet? Have your nephews expressed interest in the hobby, or modelling in general at all?

Ashamed?
Not that I can recall, but I didn't start this gaming hobby until I was 18-19 and using my own money.
I don't exactly hide my hobby but I don't really advertise it, either. Whether other people approve or not is irrelevant to me.

I had made model kits prior to this, and done electronics kits, but I didn't know about gaming until mid-high school, when I had better things to do (science/chem nerd) - but the goths/metal/rivetheads I used to hang with were ALSO gamers, so it was hardly a secret there.

I'm not ashamed at all, and whilst I don't seek out opportunities to bring it up with work colleagues, I wouldn't avoid 'confessing', and will happily say that I am into it if the conversation goes that way. That happened last month, and the person I was talking to turned out to be a gamer as well. One more opponent to enjoy!

Not really of how expensive it is, no. In fact, I go to great lengths exactly why FoW can be played so cheaply, since you can't copywrite WWII.

I don't hide it much otherwise. I avoid discussing it with certain people who feel that it's not a real hobby for anyone over 10 years old, but that's because that's all they have to say on the matter and there's no convincing them otherwise, so why bother.

Mind you, this is an audience of folks that go to a web forum to trumpet about their addiction....

I don't think there are that many in such an audience that is ashamed by either the hobby, or how much they spend on it.

(Hey! Look at how much money I am saving by backing the Bones III Kickstarter for $400! )

The Auld Grump

It's not something I bring up on a first date usually...but I think my years of being nervous about telling people about my hobby are behind me. Even though I've received some flack about it from co-workers in my adult life for some strange reason.

Ever since I started "hobbying" and not so much "gaming" Ive stopped being concerned about what others think because I'm starting to take real pride in my painting skills and what I produce.

Usually people are interested and ask questions when they see the display cases full of beautifully painted mini's. I'll answer questions about it but usually try not to ramble on too much so they don't get bored. I think most people ask out of a morbid curiosity or politeness. But I had a friend who kept on asking about it for weeks, until I realized he was actually interested in the game and started playing. I guess I figure most people don't care.

The only thing I feel a little weird about is telling people how much I spend on it. Even I don't like looking at my bills.

thought for SURE this was a males shame over girls finding out about it. i never consider something i buy shameful. That is I don't buy things that are actually shameful like alcohol and cigarettes.