New Year Resolution - Toy Tally

This post is inspired by a fools daily episode, which you can find here, talking about New Years Resolutions. Unlike Conrad, Jen and I have actually done particularly well in our Hobby resolution. Our resolution was pretty simple though, basically so we could overcome our 'cupboard of shame':

 Before your allowed to buy any new models, you must paint one old 'project' and one new 'project'

This is intentionally very vague. One of the things that me and Jen decided was that we never wanted our hobby to be a chore. Forcing yourself to paint one thing can easily make it onerous. Painting is an emotional thing and the best thing to do, in my opinion, is to ride those creative ways, whilst not becoming some form of new age hippy.

 So why have a resolution in the first place? One of the things which is cool about painting is the sense of achievement you get when you paint something your are proud of. Having this 'toy tally' system helps you have some motivation. Also, I know this doesn't apply to everyone, but having deadlines and goals helps to motivate me. Recently I have been attending multiple Malifaux competitions and, although in many of them I don't have to, I like fielding painted crews and it has got me to do lots of painting

The last nice thing about this system is that you get a reward for painting your models. When you have done your old and new models you can then get yourself a reward. Everyone likes getting new toys.

Why do I keep calling it 'Toy Tally'? Basically we didn't want to be in the position where if a fancy new model/ kickstarter came out that we were held back, so we wanted a way to 'bank' our new toys. Therefore, when we complete and old project, we put a notch on the toy tally to be used at a later date.

So what do you class as a 'project'? Well that is debatable. We try and make it that whatever 'projects' you finish, be it a single character for a painting project or a regiment of soldiers, you can buy the equivalent size thing as your new toy. So I paint a warband of uruk hai bezerkers for Lord of the Rings, that means I can grab myself a Malifaux crew. Obviously this up to interpretation, but I suggest not being a facist with your hobby.

That's it from me, hopefully this will be useful for other hobbyists. The next post will probably be on the weekend to do a report from 'Not a Bad Thing'. Chat then.