How long have you been in the miniatures/painting/gaming hobby? For me, medium-ish, I’d say. Not as long as others, but the time since beginning to now is substantial.
It all started when I was a wee lad in 1989 or thereabouts. There was a local hobby shop that carried trains, toys, squirt guns, model car kits, games, miniatures and paints. That is the origin story of my hobby experience. That store was pretty much all I could think about in those young dawning years.
Ral Partha, Citadel, Grenadier, Marauder. Rogue Trader, Space Hulk, Advanced HeroQuest, Man O’ War, and many more. This was our mecca.
From 5th grade to 9th grade were the gaming years. Not that I was a big gamer. I really wasn’t. I liked the art, painting, and building.
Hobbying started to tail off a bit in middle school, then high school rolled around. 1993-1994 and that was it. Too many other priorities. In hindsight, I should have saved space in my life for the hobby and not followed other paths. Live and learn I suppose.
Fast-forward to the pandemic, and we’re stuck in the house. So of course we start exploring the dark corners of our abode. Turns out I still have all of my old hobby stuff.
I knew I still had the stuff, but hadn’t given it much thought. That stuff is for kids. But now with seemingly unlimited time on our hands, I figured I’d dust that stuff off. Lo and behold, it’s still awesome. I can still feel a bit of that magic from my childhood. It’s a different type of magic than the childhood joy of playing with toys. I felt that fade and wink out in my 20s. Sidenote: I pulled out some Playmobil toys for the first time in YEARS and I could see/feel/remember the feeling that I had when I was younger. And right before my eyes, it faded, faded, faded and finally winked out. It was startling, sad, and at the same time, not wholly unexpected. But that can be another story.
Long story short: we’ll call it roughly 5 years that I was “in hobby”. The I was out. That includes 1994 when I was definitely tailing off. So 4 or 5 years.
Looking back at what we were into as kids, our hobby shop actually had pretty old stock. We weren’t looking at the latest releases for the most part, it was mostly stuff from the 1980s. So we were in a bit of a time warp even back then.
So now I’m back in! It started in late 2020 and it’s now 2024. The second round is almost as long as the first! I always prided myself on being a good painter, and for a kid I probably was. But I’ve painted WAY more miniatures as an adult, and better paint jobs too, I’d say.
My hobby journey spans 35 years! But has really been more like 8ish. It always tickles me when I see someone post about something “old”. Lots of times that set or mini came as I was on my way out! This is more “welcome to my lawn” than “get off my lawn”.
So welcome to everyone just getting started! Hello to everyone that has been here a while. And welcome to those of you who are coming back home.
