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I’ve talked before about how I very often will sell my wargaming models. I do this for a couple of reasons. First, my primary enjoyment of models is in the painting of them and I buy way more models than I could collect for an army. Second, because I buy so many models, I kinda need to be able to pay for all of those, so this eBay flipping kind of creates a revolving door. And third, my goal with this website is to review games, but I review so many games that I can’t possibly keep and play them all, so rather than having a massive set of shelves that never get touched, I sell them to someone who wants them more.

But in the last two weeks I have done far more than usual. In fact, I sold ALL my Warhammer models. There were several reasons I did this, most of which fit into the categories I outlined above. But it does seem weird to have sold all of it. Even the stuff that I loved the most I sold: the Kharadron Overlords, the World Eaters from The Horus Heresy, the collection of Death Korps of Krieg that was on its way to becoming a full army.

And then today I did the round up sales: I gathered up all the bits and bobs–three squigs here, five Sisters of Battle there, the Space Marines I used as test paints. And I sold them all as a lot. And then I realized I had more models lying around, and I sold them as a lot. And then I realized I had more, and I THINK this final lot is the last bunch.

This is not to say I’ve sold all my miniatures. I never sell my Bolt Action, partly because I love it so much, but mostly because it just never gets a good return on eBay. (I have sold some tanks, and regretted it.)

But it’s weird that my shelves that were full of models I’d painted in the Hobby Streak are now empty and devoid of… anything.

At the same time, it’s also very freeing. There are a lot of models that I have wanted to collect that I never saw as an option, but now I have the space and the money to get them. (I know it’s weird but I sold my Horus Heresy World Eaters for enough for me to buy an all new Horus Heresy Age of Darkness because I want Word Bearers.)

I kind of love having empty shelves. There are new games that I want to get involved in, and now I feel like I can do it. I want to play Jeremy from Black Magic Craft’s Idols of Torment. I want to play Uncle Atom and Vince Venturella’s Space Station Zero. I wish I had endless money to invest in model after model, but I just don’t, and now that I have some extra I can do it.

I also am investing more time into my model railroad, which is one of my favorite things, because it is using all of my wargaming skills–building terrain, painting models, weathering, scratchbuilding–and channeling them into what is essentially a great big diorama. On of the first installments on the train table was a wooded hillside where Flames of War Sherman tanks were fighting a frog monster. I’m getting a lot of hobby in on this.

I promise to have terrain tutorials coming up, and tutorials about how to making pipes and steel look grimy and rusted. They are coming.

In the meantime I’m kind of in a waiting game. My locomotive broke and it’s getting fixed, but the reason it broke is because I had laid some track wrong and clogged the wheels with ballast. (If you haven’t been following my train build videos you can find them here, and here, and here.)

For now, I just feel very free. I’m excited to see what’s next on the table.

I also have a confession to make: after 565 days, I am going to break my hobby streak. My wife and I are going on vacation to Scotland and I just can’t see a good way of taking models and paints with me on this trip, although I’ve taken them on roadtrips before. So the hobby streak will end, but then I’ll start back up again and that will be another fresh start.

I hope that when I get back from Scotland I’ll dive into another project and begin at Hobby Streak Day 1, and I’d encourage you to join me on the journey.

It’s time for fresh starts.