GWS 2023: Unpainted figures
By Jon Freitag
One of the new questions asked in the 2023 edition of the Great Wargaming Survey explored the number of unpainted figures awaiting a slap of paint. Perhaps an innocent question for some, and possibly traumatizing for others.
The range of responses from having none or very few unpainted figures all the way up to having more than 1,000 unpainted miniature in the ‘pile of potential’. While estimating the number of unpainted figures one holds may be a difficult, if not impossible, task, where do YOU fit into the larger scheme? Let's see what the survey says...
By counts, less than 4% of survey respondents maintain no, or hardly any, surplus of unpainted figures. Almost 41% of respondents have between 100 and 500 unpainted figures. About 82% hold fewer than 1,000 unpainted figures in their storeroom. Still, that means that the remaining 18% of wargamers hold more than 1,000 unpainted figures. Why maintain a stockpile of so many unpainted figures? When is enough "enough" to have on hand?
While the survey totals above illustrate the distribution of these unpainted figure piles, can the survey offer any more enlightening insight? To help in answering that question, these numbers are broken down by a few demographic attributes.
Age group
When stratified by Age Group, what does the survey suggest? Broad themes seem to rely on the notion that younger gamers have fewer unpainted figures than older gamers. Focusing on the extremes of the unpainted figure count distribution offers an interesting observation. Once a wargamer reaches the 41-50 age cohort, the share of respondents having unpainted collections of over 1,000 figures doubles.
While small inroads are made into reducing the unpainted figure pile down to nothing as one ages, the share of gamers having more than 1,000 unpainted figures remains stubbornly high at about a quarter of all respondents. This observation suggests wargamers never really paint down their pile of unpainted figures.
Primary Interest
When stratified by Primary Interest, gamers tend to bifurcate into two groups. Fantasy/Sci-Fi gamers tend to hold fewer unpainted figures than the Historical and Mixed groups. This tendency is likely due to the nature of their games and gaming. Notice that Historical / Mixed gamers hold collections of over 1,000 unpainted figures about twice as often as their primarily non-historical counterparts.
Collection Size
Examining the relationship between painted and unpainted figure collection sizes, produces an unmistakable correlation. This finding illustrates that as painted collection size grows, the percent of respondents having an unpainted pile exceeding 1,000 figures grows. Often dramatically. By the time a collection reaches 20,000 figures, more than half of those gamers have unpainted figures totals exceeding 1,000 figures.
What can we deduce from looking at these results?
Survey results reinforce the anecdotal notion that wargamers never really manage to address the elephant in the room. That elephant is the large, unpainted pile of figures growing silently in the background. Is the accumulation of a large pile of figures, seldom seeing a lick of paint, a misallocation of resources? Why do we tread down this path? Do these piles of figures slowly and silently accrue over time, unbeknownst to the holder?
How large is your unpainted pile of figures? If the pile is large, why? Do you ever intend to fully paint down this stockpile of unpainted figures?
Where do I fit into this scheme? For those who know me, the answer is clear.
12 comments
Yep, I have a lead horde that could almost cause a gravity well around my house. When the money flowed the projects came thick and fast and were never completed. Now the money is more tight I buy less but the shiny new project still means I only return to past projects on occasion. I guess for me it depends on who I am gaming with and what we as a group are playing. I think I need to move more of it along.
@Will,
The notion of Years (Months) of Supply and painting rates did come up in the discussion on my blog post. The survey does not capture painting rates or throughput, so there can be no obvious possible correlation identified without the underlying data. Good idea but perhaps difficult to capture.
@Brian,
You bring up an interesting point. Does a wargamer actually get into a situation of having thousands of models due to reluctance or hesitancy to complete a figure, model or project? The thought of intimidation halting progress is something I have not considered or encountered. I guess I do know some modelers (I am thinking of plastic model kits) who have large boxes of half-finished models. Something to consider. Thank you.
Actually, as one of the 1,000+’s I think I can tell you why. In addition to gaming habits and impulse buying as suggested, I would say some of this is due to the “model building” aspect of the hobby and fears of messing up the paint job.
I have tons of built and partially built models,several models on sprue that may stay there for years cause spare parts, and some where I look at them and think “it needs something, and I don’t mean paint.” You can actually get lost just on the building side of things and once your done you have to ask yourself “okay now what color?”, and before you say that’s absurd you just should plan that out before buying Brian, I have actually seen guys ask around my FB groups “what color should I go with for my space army?” In general painting can often a more intimidating part of the hobby for some and do actually have to take time out of your schedule to do it.
You are missing the more obvious possible correlation between unpainted figures and painting rate. I have a stash of 4,000 figures but I complete around 2,000 a year, both from the stash and new purchases. Does the size of the stash worry me, yes of course and I periodically review it and sell off what is no longer needed. This also helps me to focus me when purchasing so I don’t just buy what I will sell in a couple of years at a loss.