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I was sitting in my hobby room today when I had some kind of Marie Kondo-esque, midwinter sadness inspired feeling to get rid of a bunch of my stuff. Not the majority of it, mind you, but a sizeable amount. I can point to multiple collections I have that I just don't use (which I know thanks to my blog, where I can see when the last time I played a game was).

15mm Ancients for rules I don't like anymore, indie skirmish games that I can't find the time or opponents to play against, larger games that have been abandoned by their creators that also have the same problem of time and opponents.

One part of me wants to just shove everything I'm not currently interested in up in the attic, so I can potentially pull them back down in the future. But another part of me just wants to move on, to shed any dead weight on my hobby. Yes, I may regret if later on, but at least I'll be able to say that I moved on for a reason.

Any thoughts on this? Do you tend to store projects that have fallen to the wayside, or are you firm in that if it doesn't see time on the table, it doesn't belong in your hobby wheelhouse?

This is a tricky one for me as I have two very different experiences to draw from.
When I first moved out here I sold my IG army as I didn't expect to be continuing with the hobby, this decision I later came to regret as I am still here 18 years later!
On the flip side of that I have kept hold of various things that I acquired in the expectation of using (Infinity and Malifaux stuff largely) that I kept around for a long time despite them never seeing the top of either a table or paint desk. When I eventually cleaned out all of these backlogs last year it was something of a relief.
However when going through stuff looking at selling and trading off backlogged minis I came across a bunch of my B5 minis from wayback and they kickstarted my interest in that again!

If I’m not playing it or using it, I sell it.
Fact of the matter is, if something is good enough to make money from, it will eventually be back. Usually bigger and better than before.
There are always new games to play and there is never a shortage of them to play.
I tend to concentrate on what I enjoy the most and actually use. If I’m not using it I clear it out with no regrets.

Thats tricky. I put a whole lot of years and love into my warhammer stuff, for example, and when they nuked the world I tried to carry that over into AOS but I probably would have been best served just donating my armies off and being done with it.

Keep it all, any time I've sold stuff off I've bitterly regretted it later even if the cash and extra space seems initially attractive

(including when selling some stuff was a financial necessity and the stuff had been in boxes for years)

but that's just me, and I know others do find having unused 'stuff' around a drag

You've got to figure out what sort of person you are..... have you sold off a bunch of old 'stuff'' of any sort before, did it go ok? have you bought much of it over again?

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
You've got to figure out what sort of person you are..... have you sold off a bunch of old 'stuff'' of any sort before, did it go ok? have you bought much of it over again?

I have, and I haven't bought it back (apart from kind of buying back into 40k a lttle to try Kill Team, SW:A and One Page Grimdark, but even those I move on from again).

Projects I've moved on from that I can recall were Strange Aeons (played some games but moved away from the group), All Quiet on the Martian Front (game died, so did peoples interest. It's back, but not the interest), Full Thrust (never played) and Horizon Wars (6mm project, fully painted two armies, but never really did anything since the rules never seemed to cohere into a game worth continuing with).

I think the one project I came back to was going from 15mm French Indian War to 28mm French Indian War, and that's because I had people who wanted to play, and still want to play, Muskets & Tomahawks in the scale.

Some of the stuff I want to get rid of would probably fall into the first category, like my Wrath of Kings stuff and Gates of Antares. But I've got some 15mm Ancients when I'd probably rather play in 6mm.

I rarely sell stuff. I downsize to reduce the clutter, but get rid of it all? Not unless the game's model aesthetics really don't work for me anymore, and it's more likely I'll just give them to someone who wants them.


I can stop playing a game, yet keep the models that drew me to that game (and then find another set of game rules where they can be used. I use my 40k SM in my Tomorrow's war games, where SM play like SM should).

when you're no longer attached to the model/s or set game. for me I try to reduce clutter by selling odd collections from my main armies, some units I now see having quite a bit of difference in term of paint job, OOP models I am still attached I would strip and repaint, others I sell to save time as buying new is easier than strip and repaint.

I always take good pictures of models, so even if I sell them I would still have the images and reflect on that memory. Always sell ahead of time, like a year ahead to get maximum profit instead of a fire sale to a buyer or a store, even better if you know you might be relocating. I think taking images is very important, it helps you organize your collection, reflect on memories, encourage you to paint, and putting them on for sale, though you might have to take recent images if models have ware or broken parts.

When my Squats were...well squatted, I sold them in a fit of teenage rage. getting back in the hobby after a 25yr break, I've had a hankering for some convict biker gang fun, which was quickly shot down by what I would have to spend to aquire those same models. I shoulda held on to them since the expansion chamber I bought for my dirt bike using the proceeds sure didnt increase in value. how in the hell did my $100 turn into $1500?

After "learning" from that mistake, I am really cognizant of what I buy/sell and for what reason am I doing so.

Hopefully my mistake wont happen again....hopefully.

If you're not playing it then move on, if you hesitate then reconsider.

I would hang onto the 15mm ancients though, those can be used for pretty much any ancients ruleset, so will be useful if you ever decide to get into that, even if the ruleset is different then.
Also small and easy to store.

It depends on the type of person you are. If you sell then repurchase later, then no. If you are the type to have no regrets, then do so. Until now, I've always just stored things away since I will usually come back to something, even if it is a decade later. Now I'm well into middle age, and have many, many projects in various states of completion. I've decided some it has to go. So I'm weighing what interests me enough to complete, and the rest goes. As Big Mac has pointed out, I don't want to sell in a fire sale situation (say when I'm verging on senility and have medical bills). If I have regrets, I'll learn to live with them. Although I will still have enough minis to keep me busy for my foreseeable hobby life.

Over the years, I've sold off various collections when I've tired of them -- comics, RPGs, war games, miniatures, etc. Now that I'm getting on in years, I regret selling them... every single one. I'd give a lot to have them back, for nostalgia if nothing else. Well, nostalgia and the pure cash value of my alpha and beta M:tG cards. I could pay off the mortgage with them.

Since you mention Kondo - I find that her "does it bring joy" works for me, and it is now the bar I set for selling / getting rid of stuff.

I have collected and played since the 90s, and I have gotten rid of a lot of minis in this time. The only ones I have regretted later and have ended up having to re-buy, are the ones I was uncertain about at the time. (like my 90s empire minis).

So my rule is that if it brings me joy / if I feel bad about getting rid of something, even if I do not see myself playing with it or painting it for years, I will keep it. Everything else goes to make room for better stuff.

IMO, it feels good to downsize / cull some collections to make room for more of the ones that give joy.

I keep it all, and find new ways to use it. I often have "generic rulesets" that can use just about any junk I have sitting around in new combinations. Yes, I have even used Martian Tripods in different games against Imperial Space Marines.



If I have enough stuff to play a whole game such as rules, minis, terrain, then no one can ever take the game away from me. If I don't have enough stuff for a full game, if I can't fill in proxies or self-made replacements I MIGHT consider selling.

If it is a dead game, I almost enjoy it more because then there is no "official" police hanging around telling me what I can and can't do with it.

Granted, I don't have huge piles of stuff I don't use anymore, as I tended to be pretty judicious in what I buy, and pretty committed to painting it all before moving on.

I would say pack it up and put it in storage in your attic. I have only ever regretted selling minis or giving them away to be honest!

I'd say sort it out and box it up into neat ordered storage so that you can easily lay your hand on specific items and know where things are. Then get it out of your line of sight - store it away in the attic/basement etc... Basically declutter your work/hobby area, but don't throw stuff out at this stage.

Sometimes decluttering is very important, other times you can easily get overwhelmed by it and enter a state of mind where you're far more likely to get rid of things just because its decluttering - only to regret it much later.

Then see what you think in 6 months time or such.


Basically store it up but then keep your mind open. I found this works rather well because it means if you do decide to start selling it then the choice is made over a long period of time; it reduces the chances of you having a sudden regret and it also means that you're more committed to your choice when you get to it.


In general creative stuff is hard to give up and sell because you'll often go through swings in your interest and hobby stuff. You can easily go through years not wanting to play and then suddenly BAM you want to play again. Selling and rebuying later is always more expensive and rebuying later some things might just not be for sale any more.


That said sometimes things improve - I've had more desire to sell off my old epic now that I've seen the awesome new warlords and knights that GW has been producing even though my epic was the first stuff I got when I started wargaming.



I've also recently sold off a load of half-done projects or never started projects. Loads of high elf and other models (many out of production) sold off. I'd boxed and stored them up for years and I was never getting them out; meanwhile I was picking up new armies and new models so I decided to clear out the stored stuff and focus on what I am gaming with. A part of me does regret some of those sales, but not by too much and I've enjoyed the mental "release" its given me to focus on other armies without feeling that guilt of "but you've got loads more to build/work on".

Because it was a choice I made over a long period of time its much easier to live with rather than reacting to a sudden impulse sale which I'd later likely regret when that impulse passes in a few weeks.

I hate hoarding, so I always sell off (or in cases where there's been no takers at all, just dump it) models and games I no longer play or enjoy. I've had a handful of cases where I regret it later, but very few and far between, and the free space and lack of gamer guilt (I have it, why don't I play/use it...) is worth it to me.

When I sold all my WFB and 40K stuff off, I had a fair bit of regret simply because classichammer is now a thing and I could have been playing them all this entire time. However, some of those armies were incredibly old minis I didn't really care for, or predominantly pewter, so rebuilding them will actually be a bit rewarding, if not a touch infuriating as I know I could have eliminated a step.


Now if it was a game that was deleted and had no real fan base in my area? I'd sell it like it was my job.

Assuming that you're not using something any more, t's a question of balancing time invested and rarity of models/components versus a desire for simplicity and storage space.

If I've spent three years piecing together a unique Praetorian Guard army with carefully converted rough riders, sentinels, and so on? It'll be difficult enough to replace, and I'll be attached enough to store it. If it's a batch of plastic Ork modelsI bought on a whim, assembled half of, then threw into the 'to-do box for five years? To ebay with it! It's easily replaced and holds little sentimental attachment.

With the amount of time that goes into this stuff I'd say there's a couple tiers of response:

The grey tide, the unpainted, possibly even nos, you haven't put the work into getting these painted, if they aren't on your short list and you want to downsize they're a good place to start.

The painted dead, you put time into these but the game is simply dead. With particular focus on things with rules or miniatures that are just plain unavailable. At this point look at them and consider if you want to keep them, or some of them as display pieces or mementos.

The old timers, you painted these for a game you play ages ago and haven't touched them in years. This is where I see regret becoming far more likely, I still have some ancient GSC 2nd ed minis that I've stripped and painted more time than I can count. I couldn't bring myself to sell those, but the 2nd ed tyranids found there way to someone building a retro nid army a few years ago. At this point it's about attachment and if you're considering revisiting.

Then there's your standards, perhaps some are falling out of rotation, consider what you want to do with those. I rather rarely ever get rid of these, but if I do they're generally for niche games.


Personally, I've just managed most of my clutter, but I've got a couple painted dead who have been sold off and a whole slew of grey tide marines went out with a minis swap a while back. I've still got years of potential backlog, but who knows maybe they'll stop releasing new stuff I like for a few years and make nothing but marines or something.

I'll keep anything that I think I'll use again, or which fits as part of an overall collection, but I try to be realistic about it. At the end of last year I looked at the Khador army I'd bought and never played in 8 years or even really started painting, the Infinity team of the same, the random other bits and pieces that were taking up space, and just got rid. It's a better way to be.

Games I didn't put effort into (making/painting) I eventually sell. Games I put time in I store for later use.

I sold my X-wing when I didn't like it anymore. I'm keeping Dropzone commander and LotR around (lack of players right now).

Main advice?

Keep Your Conversions.

Stock items are easily replaced. Conversions cannot be remade the same.

Faced a big decision with miniatures recently. Here's my story.

After 7th edition came out, my gaming club broke up. I bought armies off my friends cheap, thinking they would come back and thank me for it later. Never happened. There were 2 closets in the basement filled with other people's stuff.

Starting in 2015, I gradually started selling off the stuff I would never use, then the stuff I would never get around to painting. There came a day when I took stock of what was left, still more miniatures from more armies than I could ever use on a table.

I took all the remaining models and sorted them into storage boxes. I put notecards on the front of each box, indicating the contents. Everything was bagged so I could move it easily without having to empty the boxes.

I did a second sort, where I pulled the stuff I wanted for new armies. Specifically, I wanted to make new Daemons, Guard, Ork, Dark Angels and Grey Knights armies to compliment what I already have. And I thought I might do something with Eldar, so I put them aside.

The stuff that was left over, I gave it to a local hobby shop for store credit. This got me missing pieces for Guard and Dark Angels. For the rest of it, I gave myself a year. Anything I hadn't worked on by then, I was going to get rid of.

Right now, I have my CSMs, my Daemons, my Chaos Knights, my Death Guard, my Thousand Sons, my Guard, and my GKs. The troops fit into 5 carrying cases, the vehicles sit on shelves. It's very well organized.

I sold all the Dark Angels, Orks and Eldar stuff, along with other stuff like vintage boxed sets, original series paints, and the like. Got store credit for most of it and replaced it with new kits. There's a shelf stacked with covered with NIB Greater Daemons, Baneblades, Havocs, Plaguebearers, Strike Squads, etc.

Seller's regret never set in because I have all this other stuff to look forward to. Armies should not be static, they should update with the times.

I've found the biggest mistake in an expanding collection is extra factions. Even if my interest in the game doesn't waver, whenever a new edition comes around, I just won't be able to get them all up to speed in a reasonable manner and some will just languish. These days if I want variety, I look to a different game.

If you honestly don't intend to use something, go ahead and sell/trade if you must.

I personally would never do that with the armies that I have and especially with stuff that I have painted. Each unit/model is a mini art project I put hours into. Even for stuff I don't use anymore I would never sell or trade.

During 7th Edition WHFB I built a 2000pt Chaos Dwarf army using old OOP stuff. I haven't even taken it out of storage in...almost 10 years. I will never "move on" as it were. I put a lot of effort into finding, building and painting that stuff. No amount of dust will make me get rid of it.

There are no rules about the matter, it completely depends on personal history of the hobbist.

My experience: I had 3 armies, 18k of stuff, sold one (about 4500 points of drukhari) in september because I needed space and I was also feeling that I had too many unpainted miniatures but I had enough models to keep enjoying the hobby anyway. My ultimate goal has always been to keep two armies that are completely functional in all the editions I've played (3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th).

I'm also leaning towards smaller games of 1500 points as it was the standard format years ago, and it's still my favorite one in terms of size of the armies.

So I sold drukhari, which weren't 7th and 8th oriented while not functional in old editions but also very appealing for buyers since they're working very well in 8th. So I ended up selling all my space elves, 1500 points of SW and 3000ish points of orks. I still have 1000ish points of SW to sell.

All good input, everything, and thanks for that.

I've moved the stuff I'm "meh" on up to the attic, which has actually made my hobby room a little less oppressive. I'll wait until spring and, if none of them pique my interest, I'll probably move to sell them.

Well lets see-some of it is nostalgia. I basically will not part with any of my forgeworld models even if I hardly use them. but at the same time I have sold off 5 full armies for cheep to help new players getting into the game. I game a friend a couple dust walkers to help get his army started, and I even gave my entire flames of war british force to the younger brother of a friend so he could start playing with his own army.

I do regret a few items(ravenwing units) I sold off since we have been playing some older editions of 40K of late.

as of right now I am going to pass on some old metal scouts I have sitting around to a new player in need, not sure if I am going to thin out other parts of the collection outside my DIY marine faction that is my primary 40K army.

I was just given a box of models that one my my son's physical therapists had sitting in her garage. Apparently her father in law died before being able to finish his small Space Wolves army, and she gave them to me with the stipulation that I don't sell them, that I pay it forward. So now I'm sitting on 6 Wolf Guard Terminators, Ragnar Blackmane, what looks to be a few Rogue Trader era pewter Wolves minis, and a ton of pewter Grey Hunters/possibly some Long Fangs.

So now I get to chase down a recipient. Yay. Hopefully they'll want to swap some 3rd ed or later plastics, my daughter is eyeballing the models and wants to start her own army to play 3rd Ed. with me.