Everyone who reads this proabably is a collector of minatures in some form or fashion. However I doubt that most people consider themselves purely a collector without any of the gaming dimensions involved in the hobby. I for one was one of those people for years. There was one person who on a forum stated that they were just there to collect the miniatures. I thought that he was nuts in just collecting for the sake of collecting.
Now-a-days, I tend to see more of his point. A few weeks ago, I took an inventory of what I still have after selling several armies from my WFB collection. I would have to say that what I have left over is really more of a collection rather than a set of armies. I still have my dwarf army pictured here, which I don't plan to sell or get rid of ever. It has just too much sentemental value to me. Along with that I do have enough for a High Elf, Empire, and Beastmen army, but overall everything else is just some odds and ends from the lines of Chaos, Vampire Counts, Bretonnians, Dark and Wood Elves, and Orcs and Goblins that I have refused to sell as of now. Now that I am still holding on to these models, I am thinking that I have more or less passed into being a collector more than anything else with my WFB miniatures.
With that, I am now figuring out what to do with these models. Well for starters I do plan to get some of these painted for the sake of display if anything. I have no idea if they will ever see the light of a gaming table, but I really dont care any more. I am ever looking for a new system that will work with these guys. I believe that my Empire and Bretonninas may end up on a gaming table, but most likely they will be facing the hordes of humans rather than something more from the realm of fantasy, and in a historical set of rules.
What few miniatures that I do buy now are mostly the older metal models as stated here more or less. Most of the older models just have the classic look that I want to collect. It may be that it is a bit of nostalgia creeping in, but I guess that it is the way of a collector to look for something more esoteric and something that is no longer made any more. As ever I am suprised to how great the older GW metal models are holding up compared to what we have now. I am waiting on John Larroquette to reconstitute his "Incurrable Collectors" show and knock on my door.
I have to say that the guy at White Knight has a great idea in filling out a collection of models by making his own. Some of his models are great, whereas some are just not my style. There are a few ranges from GW that I wished that they went further with, but did not. WH's idea is something that I may think about at some point in time when I am better at sculpting than now. I doubt that I will ever get to a point where I can be as good as he is, but it is a minor dream right now I guess.
