David Bickley's Wargames Blog

The occasional ramblings of an average gamer, journeyman painter, indifferent modeller, games designer, sometime writer for Wargames Illustrated and host of games in GHQ.



Thursday, 9 January 2025

A Second Christmas Gift to myself

Towards the end of last year I mentioned that I'd ordered two items from Caliver Books as a Christmas gift to myself. These were a copy of Midgard, which I went on to blather about, and also the Wargamers' Annual 2025, which I made no further mention of at the time. If you'll bear with me now I'd like to put that right in this post.

I must admit to a fondness for this very Old School concept, a Christmas annual for wargamers of my vintage I'd guess, a nostalgic throwback to Christmas annuals of childhood! In fact I own the full set, including the Summer annuals that featured for a number of years, and often enjoy dipping back into earlier iterations. But this year's has given me cause to pause and reflect more than usual. The fact is that the first article was penned by Peter Nicholson, one half of The Iron Brigade (with Kevin Calder), who sadly passed away unexpectedly towards the end of the year, while the last article was by Tim Hall on his experience in dealing with a large Wargamers' bereavement sale. Obviously Peter's estate must include a large element of figures, terrain and books which perhaps his family have little idea of either value or avenues of disposal? 
Tim's article is timely there perhaps, but also in a wider context relevant to those of us with veteran status and decent sized collections. I know I've blathered on about this issue more than once, but I felt the article in question had a wider application so I invite you to get hold of a copy if you need the benefit of Tim's advice and experience in either planning or dealing with disposal of a wargames collection.
To end though on a more cheerful and positive note, I continue to recover from my bout of "Theres a lot of it about!" and have managed some painting in short sessions. Some Wargames Foundry Late Roman/Arthurian infantry, of which more in due course I'd hope. 


16 comments:

  1. The Annuals are indeed very good - I also have them all since the every first issue (2010?).

    As for dealing with collections ... I'm only 58, but I do rationalize now and then already. Anything of which I think "I'm not gonna use this during the next 20 years" is out. It makes it easier mentally to let go of things at regular intervals rather than doing it at the end.

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    1. I struggle now to offload more, several collections have moved on but still too much left.

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  2. I too like the annuals and also ponder on what will happen to my collection when I shuffle off, this year I aim to get rid of a lot of figures etc that I will never get around to doing anything with, even when these go it will still leave a decent collection. I haven't got this years annual yet so will make a purchase to read the article.

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    1. You'll not regret the purchase I'm sure.

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  3. Kind of scary but 59 this year and have made the decision to cull everything back. However on a good note I had never heard of this before so have ordered a few of them via Evil Bay as it sits well with my future plans!

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  4. A splendid Christmas gift to ones self indeed. I was greatly shocked on hearing of Peters unexpected passing I shall miss our chats at Partizan greatly.

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    1. Yes, a great shock, feel for Kevin as well as his family.

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  5. A nice gift to yourself there David:). The topic of disposing of collections in advance was a major topic when meeting with friends last year, as most of us are now in our 60's, with health issues coming more to the fore. The general consensus was to dispose of what we really don't play with and keep those core forces for periods we really enjoy and play a lot. It would also prevent the family from having to try and sort this stuff out when we've shuffled off this mortal coil.

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    1. Easier said than done though, especially if said periods are outside mainstream or current fads like Mudgard.

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  6. Well I'm 56 and even I have begun to think about my collection and what to do ahead of time. I've been thinking of moving along some of my 28mm except for my core periods and down scaling to 15mm or even 10mm for some periods as it won't be such a burden in the future to offload. Big boxes and big price tags of 28's is harder to move along then smaller boxes with smaller price tags of 15mm/10mm I would think. Something to think about anyways.

    Christopher

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    1. Indeed, something many of us are mulling over I'd guess.

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  7. I thought I had solved the problem by declaring an end to collecting and have now decided on gathering another army of 4-500 figures and I’m certainly in the departure lounge. The benefits that come from the sheer enjoyment of a new project and commanding them in the future far outweigh my concerns about the future.

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    1. A strong defence of acquiring more! Good to know I'm not alone in that respect!

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  8. I for one will continue collecting and painting as long as it gives me pleasure and relaxation... as for eventual disposal, they can be given away to friends and family to hopefuly add to their enjoyment of our wonderful hobby!
    (not planning on going anywhere soon though) so they'll have to wait a bit! đŸ˜‰

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