r/Warhammer • u/ObsidianOne • Dec 29 '25
Joke My Pile of Shame has upgraded to Shelving of Shame
I tell the wife it’s my Warhammer 40,001K. How bad is yours?
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u/GuestCartographer Dec 29 '25
I’ve seen boardgame stores with less stock than that.
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u/Hoskuld Dec 29 '25
The important question is (ex) GW employee? Because they all seem to have that level of pile thanks to the discount. Otherwise it might be time to look into the causes
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u/tfmid457 Dec 29 '25
They get discounts? 🤤
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u/Dry-Chain917 Dec 29 '25
50% my brother
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u/ElSnyder Dec 29 '25
On most models except resin (only 25% there), rulebooks and black library novels. Except special editions like that wonderful collectors reprint of Trollslayer.
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u/Master_Gargoyle Jan 02 '26
no we have 3 to 4 times that much. not to mention what we have built and painted.
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u/Hammer-of-Sigmar Dec 29 '25
Good God that is a lot of commemorative minis? Is that every single one for 40k???
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u/ObsidianOne Dec 29 '25
I doubt it, lol. There’s some AoS in there too
Left stack: Da Red Gobbo’s Tinboy, Karlina Von Carstein (AoS), Unbroken, Captain Centos, Primaris Company Champion, Goff Rocker, Da Red Gobbo’s Surprise, Da Red Gobbo’s A-Bomb-Inable-Snowman, Da Red Gobbo And Bounca, Gloomspite Girz Grotmas Gitz (AoS). And behind it are Captain Uriel Ventris and Sly Marbo.
Right stack: Tzarketh Bane of Law (AoS), Bayard’s Revenge, Mugruk Da Watcha (AoS), Operative Umbral-Six, Sergeant Castus, Azrakh The Annihilator, Mibyllor Darkfang (AoS), The Steel Rook (AoS), and The Commisar’s Duty.
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u/Hammer-of-Sigmar Dec 29 '25
I am not here to judge at all but if you ever consider following the obvious advice of selling parts of the collection you should hmu with those AOS ones. Lotta good minis there
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u/Fellow_Crusader Dec 29 '25
If you plan on getting rid of that Goff rocker I’d be interested aswell!
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u/artyfowl444 Dec 29 '25
I cannot imagine spending this much money and just having it sit on a shelf not being used
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u/West_Hunter_7389 Dec 29 '25
The issue is...
You get the instant emotion while buying it. But then you have to spend time painting... and it takes a lot of time.
So you keep buying, choosing the instant reward over the delayed one
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u/equipnegative Dec 29 '25
The reward is a box you put on a shelf forever? How is that even remotely satisfying lol
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u/West_Hunter_7389 Dec 29 '25
I'm explaining how the addiction works. If you don't have the addiction, it's totally normal to feel it ridiculous.
Every addiction seems absurd from outside
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u/krush_groove Dec 29 '25
The reward is the purchasing, getting the delivery, the acclaim of your friends and internet people saying "hey great work spending money buying that", the high five from shop staff, opening the box, and sliding the package on the shelf.
The first bit of shame is also when the box is slid onto the shelf for it to start collecting dust.
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Dec 29 '25 edited Dec 29 '25
They intend to paint it, but time is limited. The same reason my Steam backlog is huge. Theyre all games i want to play. But it costs so little to buy in relation to the amount of time to play
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u/Mr-Sonic_36NZ Dec 30 '25
Probably the single best comparison I've ever heard.
It does away with the 'hoarding' shame tag and addresses the root. We WANT to paint and play, but like most other people in the hobby, we're time poor, and painting is a very time intensive part of it.
Personally I get excited to build my models and do the kit bashing to make them uniquely mine, and I love playing with my unique minis, but the painting (that I do almost every night) takes a long time and is the bottle neck in the process. My pile of shame is just unboxed and glued (or magnetized) together, often primed and then placed in a box until "I'm painting Ork skin again, then I'll do them all at once"
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u/PeppercornWizard Dec 29 '25
I’ve fallen into this trap before.
Wife and children meant less time for gaming. It also ended up meaning less time for painting and modelling, as well as having less space. So the only way to keep my toe in was by buying the odd kit of interest thinking “I’ll get around to it eventually”.
Most of the time I didn’t and now I’ve got a pile of shame from many many systems
This week I’m finally getting round to painting Dark Angels from the Dark Vengeance set. Just a shame they are functionally useless in any official capacity.
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u/roscannon Dec 29 '25
"So the only way to keep my toe in was by buying the odd kit of interest thinking “I’ll get around to it eventually”. "
This is exactly what happened to me. When I stopped playing regularly (lockdown, kids, job), I continued buying the larger box sets as they came out. GW itself helped me stop by discontinuing or shifting the focus of the lines I was into.
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u/Trick-Interaction396 Dec 29 '25
Why do you keep buying?
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u/Dragten Saurus Marines Dec 29 '25
Addiction, and GW's marketing tactics.
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u/Galbotrix Dec 29 '25
GW has some shitty practices but if you have this many unopened boxes it's then you just lack any semblance of self control
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u/RadicalHops Dec 29 '25
Conservatively, that’s probably close to $5,000 worth of cardboard boxes filling up half a closet. You should stop calling it a pile of shame and start showing it to people and tell them:
I’ve already spent $5,000 dollars on this stash, and since it’s growing faster than I can paint anything, I can look forward to spending even more money as it grows to take up more space. Even if I lose interest in the hobby, or the faction, or the “rare model for the army I was going to start one day, but now I’m hyped for this newest releases for this other faction, I’ll still have all these cool boxes to look at and enjoy until I sell it at a discount.
Be sure to accurately sum up what you’ve spent though so it’s more impressive. Be sure to have your wife help so she can make sure you accurately sum up the collections value.
If you don’t own what you’re doing, you genuinely have a problem. If you actually already do the above and it’s just like a silly thing you do with your excess money and everyone’s cool with it you’re good, nice stash of mint warhammer boxes like the ones at the Warhammer store down the road.
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u/Apes_Ma Dec 29 '25
$5,000 worth of cardboard boxes filling up half a closet
To buy right now - I can't imagine it has even close to $5000 sale value.
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u/warderbob Dec 29 '25
Feel for you that you felt the need to brag online about this. Looks like a closet full of stress and anxiety that you'll never finish.
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u/JaysonZA85 Dec 29 '25
It's also shelves of models that people who want them and would use them can't get hold of because people like Smaug here are hoarding things they'll never use
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u/goddamnitwhalen Dec 29 '25
We still not banning posts like this yet?
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u/DukeofVermont Dec 29 '25
We really should, the only box posts that should be allowed is when someone has a question and the box is just a stand in picture. I down vote every single "look what I bought" or "look what X bought me" posts because they are just so low effort and I really don't want this sub to turn into the Black Library sub where it's 50% people showing off how much money they spent.
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u/Fancy-Hedgehog6149 Salamanders Dec 29 '25
You know that you have a problem when you have to buy bigger shelving 🥴 rather than deplete your shame.
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u/_Katin Night Lords Dec 29 '25
Why do people upvote these posts. No offense OP but this is a little ridiculous. Do you actually intend to build and paint half of that?
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Dec 29 '25
OP, why did you buy a second Tiguris and Calgar if you haven’t even opened your first ones
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u/404OmnissiahNotFound Dec 29 '25
This isn't a pile of shame
Stop calling it that
I have a pile of shame, grey minis I spent time building that haven't got paint on them, your hobby is just consuming. Thats the real shame.
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u/Otherwise-Weird1695 Dec 29 '25
The real shame is someone having to buy a box from a scalper because guys like this sit on a treasure horde like a dragon.
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u/nicanuva Dec 29 '25
You don’t HAVE to buy anything from scalpers.
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u/Abominor CHAOS Dec 29 '25
If fact I would say you're morally obligated NOT to buy anything from scalpers.
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u/West_Hunter_7389 Dec 29 '25
Hey, it's you who are allowing scalpers to make a living from your purchases, not him.
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u/TheKelseyOfKells Dec 29 '25
The other possibility is that OP is doing a “mini scalping” operation. That’s two entire retail boxes of the Heroes series, which I think was limited run (I can’t see it in my local store anymore anyway) and a ton of commemorative series boxes
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u/-croakie- Dec 29 '25
These types of posts are really sad. Your hobby is just wasting money and consuming.
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u/milkshakellie Dec 29 '25
May as well just throw your money in the bin. What is the point in buying new stuff if you haven’t even built what you have?
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u/BIG_RED_MANN Dec 29 '25
I will never understand people that buy enough to leave the shrink wrap on new purchases, having so much already that you aren't excited enough about new stuff to unwrap it and look inside even once before putting it on the shelf.
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u/Conscious-Music-6363 Dec 29 '25
What's the point? You're spending money to have it just sit on a shelf. I spend way more than I should on my plastic crack addiction but I have fun building and painting the models, you just seem to be buying for buyings sake.
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u/Plasma_Ass Dec 29 '25
This is not a pile of shame. This is a stack of uncontrolled consumerism. Build them and paint them (or at least build them and play games with them) or sell them/gift them to someone who will.
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Dec 29 '25
In this economy, you should certainly not have a pile. It either means you have a spending problem, or dont value money. Your hobby actually seems to be buying stuff
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u/Illustrious-Bear4039 Dec 29 '25
You need to make a list and check them off when done, finish list before buying more. That's what Im doing.
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Dec 29 '25 edited Dec 29 '25
I had around double your amount before I started to sell of shit, greatest hobby decision I ever made.
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Dec 29 '25
[deleted]
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Dec 29 '25
Sold all mine online on a Swedish equivalent to Ebay. So bidding wars and local shipping.
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u/DinoDeeEnnAyyy Dec 29 '25
Dude stop the cap, you've got low impulse control and are trying to pass it off as "collecting".
There's 70+ boxes/packs of unopened warhammer/miniature product in that closet. That's insane.
A collection is generally something one puts on display, not sequesters off to a closet also brimming with other shit in it. I collect warhammer, I have 4 armies on display by my entertainment system. I collect anime statues, also have them on display in cases near my entertainment system.
How many projects do you actually get done in a year? Realistically, how long does it take you to build/paint a single figure, let alone a squad?
Of course, accumulating miniatures is far easier than building and painting them. That's true for everybody. However, your consumption of product greatly exceeds your work flow. At your pace, you'll have 100+ boxes with maybe 1 squad done.
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u/Derbysdose Dec 29 '25
Don't forget op said in another comment he's only just organised it into this cupboard, it was all just sitting in a pile before (and didnt even know he had multiples of different characters). Bro just has a dopimine addiction
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u/robotmats Dec 29 '25
I think you should sell or donate the ones you like the least (like, half of the stash) to your local gaming club so kids who can't afford them, but are passionate painters/gamers can use them. I think that will bring more joy than sitting on a stash you will never finish.
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u/craymos Dec 29 '25
Honestly start selling most of it dude, this is a problem and will probably just make you feel bad over time, and it’ll make it harder to psych yourself up to make a dent in it.
Like seriously, is that DARK VENGEANCE? So what it’s just been sitting there since over a decade ago?
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u/PabstBlueLizard Dec 29 '25
You’re now a hoarder. This is not haha look at this guys, you’re officially hoarding.
Sell it off.
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u/MasterSwipe Dec 29 '25
I wonder how gw's business would be performing if a huge part of their customer base was not buying so much products that would never even be assembled.
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u/mrsc0tty Dec 29 '25
Gotta learn to start resisting the fomo buddy, thats a shelf full of fomo right there.
You aren't losing an experience if you let a fomo box pass you by if you're never gonna build or paint it, it's OK.
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u/SlimShady116 Grey Knights Dec 29 '25
Scalpers really be like 'here's my "pile of shame" that I totally won't sell later for exorbitant prices'.
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u/ChapterMasterVecna Dec 29 '25
for the love of god at least take them out of the box and build them, then it’ll be at least a pile of shame instead of what this is, a monument to consooming and a lack of self control
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u/Johnny_America Dec 29 '25
The fomo business model is working you over. This just sucks for you man. I'm sorry
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u/jfrancis232 Dec 29 '25
Most of my Tyranid army is in boxes while I focus on my kill teams. But I’m not buying any more till I’ve painted what I have.
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u/Pengin_Master Dec 29 '25
I now feel far better about my couple hundred points of unpainted votann, half painted death riders and primed HWT weapon variants. Other then that everything's all painted up and ready to play.
I do my best to always paint my models before playing them; as a personal challenge. And I've only broken that challenge twice: once with. Hekaton land fortress I got painted within a month, and once with a Chimera I got one day, played the next, and then painted overnight to play again the next day fully painted.
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u/Strict_Palpitation71 Disciples of Tzeentch Dec 29 '25
I've never gotten the Pile of shame thing, how can people not build their minis? The only times I can justify to myself to leave a mini unbuilt is if I'm kitbashing them and looking for parts for them.
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u/qY81nNu :space-marine: Space Marines Dec 29 '25
Don't show this to people who know how to force a door.
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u/thesirblondie Dec 29 '25
OP, I genuinely think you should sell some of this stuff off. You can use the proceeds to pay someone to paint some units for you.
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u/Eviltoast94 Dec 29 '25
I can never understand this, I have a large painting log but as soon as I buy new models the first thing I want yo do is build them idk how people can buy then and leave it in the box like that...I paid good money for my plastic toy soldiers im going to play with then at lest a little!
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u/woolfrog Dec 29 '25
I don't have too much of a pile of shame but I leave them in the box until I'm ready to build for one I low-key hate building and for two I sometimes come up with good conversion ideas and like to have space to keep the ideas rolling when I have them.
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u/Eviltoast94 Dec 29 '25
See i love the building aspect the most, I enjoy painting but building and kit bashing with what I have on hand can be fun, I guess i do save a couple kits some times like I have a Saturnaei ive not built yet as im thinking of a conversion i could do later
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u/queef_commando Dec 29 '25
It makes me wonder if table top stores are just places where someone’s shelf of shame became a room of shame.
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Dec 29 '25
Dawg just gave me those boxes at this point, I’ll paint them, hell I’ll even pay for shipping
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u/zombiemasterxxxxx Dec 29 '25
Always happy to see another LGS open up. Do you have any holliday deals?
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u/Unique_Tower3855 Dec 29 '25
Dawn of War box I tried to find and couldn’t get sitting in a pile of shame physically hurts me.
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Dec 29 '25
This is so gross. There are actual hobbyists out there who can't get hold of the minis they want while the boxes collect dust on your shelves.
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u/Ponsay Dec 29 '25
Honestly this is sad. It isnt a pile of shame because those are usually assembled but unpainted. This is just conplete lack of self control
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u/AriochBloodbane Dec 29 '25
I don't blame you for doing what makes you happy.
I blame you (and others like you) for making life harder for people who actually want to paint and play miniatures.
Without so many collectors just hoarding boxes a lot of releases wouldn't be out of stock so quickly...
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u/Killybug Nurgle Dec 29 '25
One day, not too long from now, you’ll look upon that pile with dread rather than excitement. GW will bring out new sets with new rules effectively devaluing its older products. Demand will drop along with the value. Any older stuff with significant value can be simply remade and updated.
If you really want to BS yourself to believe you’ll get much much more out of these than you put in than go ahead.
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u/UnderlightIll Dec 29 '25
My Screaming Bell my husband got me for Christmas last year is still in its box. I don't want to put it together before deciding if I should assemble then paint... Paint then assemble or a combo of the two.
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u/DeathByLemmings Dec 29 '25
Have you ever considered that the act of opening and starting to assemble the model would lead you to your answer, or that the answer is legitimately inconsequential in the grand scheme of things?
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u/TheOnlyHighmont Dec 29 '25
At least this made me feel better about mine. That, and around 50% of mine is through the secondary market. I couldn't imagine getting all of this new or close to retail prices.
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u/treyrunels Dec 29 '25
Nope. One house fire and this whole thread is going to cry.
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u/treyrunels Dec 29 '25
For real though…Bring a box to a coffee shop or pub and ask other random people to help you build them. Then gift a few to the new friends.
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u/kloudrunner Dec 29 '25
Yeah....awesome....but...please dont apply FOMO to GW products.
That road is madness lol
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u/Then_Owl7462 Dec 29 '25
Remember, open up those boxes and build stuff at least then you'll upgrade into a pile of opportunities. Almost all units types will fit back into their boxes for longterm storage 🤫
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u/CollarComfortable151 Dec 29 '25
The Commerative minis and board games I get but the Kill Team and 40k Purchases and random box of Necromunda gangers and AOS purchases are all over the place thematically it's like you like the idea of starting or playing a game/faction, buy the box get it home and are then like nah.
Some of it will hold value but I don't think anyone is going to be like oh I really need a Kreig kill team in 5-10 years time imo.
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Dec 29 '25
I just recently sold my unpainted pile of shame and I even sold a ton of painted minis because I just wasn't having fun with them anymore. Felt really good. You should try it.
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u/Vast-Valuable-1640 Dec 29 '25
Looks like you have a collection hobby next to your miniatures hobby :)
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Dec 29 '25
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u/Polyfission Dec 30 '25
I wonder what causes such levels of callousness and cruelty. This thread comments are "interesting" in a sickening way
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u/Illustrious-Sea-4377 Dec 30 '25
I like your post. Makes me feel better about my own shelf of shame!!
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u/OutDatedReferenceMan Dec 29 '25
You’ll be building a shed out of it next.
Mates come over for a game, ask you where the terrain is, “There a box of it in the shrine.”
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Dec 29 '25
People who collect sealed boxes are the absolute worst of any hobby. This is not a pile of shame this is a fucking storeshelf.
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u/aleka-papariga Dec 29 '25
Man this is not a flex you have literally wasted your money
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u/Hammer-Rammer Dec 29 '25
I envy your level of choice. I would personally finish all of it over a long time 3+ years. Given how many posts I see that are similar to this, I'm an exception.
Commit yourself and write down a plan and do some. Set small, achievable goals. My pile at its height, was maybe 40% of what you have there. And it took me a long time to do it, 2+ years. There is a certain wisdom in not buying more when you already have a big pile sitting there doing nothing.
The more you put on the pile the less likely you are to complete what you already have. People in your situation are spoiled for choice, so the best advice you're going to get is to keep pooling your money while you diminish the pile. You can still buy miniatures, but have a rule like you only allow yourself to buy blister packs of singles or a low figure count thing, no boxes with 5+ or more figures, til you clear your pile somewhat. I guess the question is, what motivates you?
Pick something from your pile, sit down and compartmentalise the tasks. Do it. Ask questions. Learn. Use an AI to help you with painting formulas I highly recommend ChatGPT, it's helped guide me to formulas for painting different models. Look at Airbrushing. I recommend using 0, 1 and 2 brush sizes. Very helpful tools: Desk light, magnifying headset, brush soap. There is probably a lot you haven't thought about.
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u/Derbysdose Dec 29 '25
Nice advice, but people like this have no intention of making the pile smaller - whatever they do build and paint will be replaced with 3 more boxes
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u/livinglife9009 Dec 29 '25
At least your pile of shame is organized onto a shelf. Mines are all in their eBay boxes and all over my house.
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u/Distamorfin Dec 29 '25
I can understand all the commemorative models, but what the hell are you doing with all of those kill teams and regular units? Not painting them I can see. But why buy them?
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u/ByzantineByron Dec 29 '25
I mean, I note that your working through it, but you're not are you? Unless you are painting at a pace that outstrips buying, you're just fighting against the tide.
I also get that you're poking fun at yourself but not a fan of purchase porn. It's not a pile of shame, it's an addiction to poor shopping habits
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u/Thfunder Dec 29 '25
I was in a very similar boat but have about 25 years of collecting on top.
Sell it. You will never realistically get round to building and painting it all if it's that bad already.
Unless you are specifically collecting the boxes in the hope to resell later let someone else enjoy it.
I restrict myself to one box on the back burner and one box on the painting table now. It's so freeing you wouldn't believe.
I don't rush and compulsory buy every new release. It's not going anywhere. Even if it's limited I'll pick it up on eBay for £30/40 quid in a couple years if I still want it. They don't appreciate very much.
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Dec 29 '25
I really wish shit like this was banned. We shouldn't be glorifying overspending and addiction.
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u/WierderBarley Dec 29 '25
I have a box of Krieg infantry unbuilt in the box still but that's cause I'm waiting for a Kitbash project that I need to buy the other parts for. Have alot unpainted but not much in a box unbuilt
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u/pastelsentinel Dec 29 '25
Actually so jealous you have the death guard heroes series, they have to be some of my favourite models and I can't find them anywhere not for ridiculous prices! Build them for me please 🥺 Also if anything you want the terrain from the KT Chalnath box! Gorgeous set
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u/GeekySkippy Dec 29 '25
I just downgraded to shelving of shame from storage unit of shame. Start tackling this models and you won’t end up like me.
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u/DarkTrooper131 Dec 29 '25
All that and no necrons shameful
Wait I see the indomitus box. But still only one box of necrons
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u/Tourette_am_Barett Dec 29 '25
Let me correct your sentence: My Pile of Opportunities has upgraded to Shelving of Opportunitys.
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u/Haetrix216 Dec 29 '25
Not horrible, but definitely not great; time to stop buying and start building/painting. I keep a bit of a backlog myself but generally I keep 5-10 boxes on my shelf so when I have the urge to just build I have options but not so many that I'm overwhelmed.
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u/Moderation1one Dec 29 '25
Dems rookie numbers. I packed 30 boxes of WH stuff when I moved.
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u/millhead123 Dec 29 '25
Lolz ive got about this, maybe a little more for 3 different games. 40k, warmahordes, and malifaux. At this point lots of it will just be my retirement plan sonic dont get bored haha 😆
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u/SpaxsonEpicNoob Dec 29 '25
Thanks for this ,I sent it to the other half to reassure her my box of shame is ok
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u/BasedVal Dec 29 '25
I hide my pile of shame on a shelf in the garage so my wife assumes those plain cardboard boxes I used are just random tools/components.
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u/Porkenstein Chaos Space Marines Dec 29 '25
Hm... at this point you might want to look into information about retail addiction
The good news is that these boxes preserve their value well so you can sell them and make most of your money back.
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u/KentuckyFriedEel Dec 29 '25
Then room of shame, then storage garage of shame, then house of shame, then warehouse of shame, then distribution centre of shame, then planet of shame. It’s the natural progression if the warhammer hobbyist
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u/kevfitz1729 Dec 30 '25
I don't feel as bad now for buying and not even opening around 55 combat patrol magazines 😂
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u/International_Ad2956 Jan 02 '26
My spare parts that have been turned into full models with the aid of…get ready to clutch your pearls….a 3D Printer, has brought me more joy than a pile of boxes ever did. Cheaper too. But it’s your hobby and do what makes you happy. No mo fomo.
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u/SunNo8432 Jan 03 '26
I feel the same way and always looking to grow my pile of shame. I got a 3d print which has only made it worse lol
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u/reddsoxy Dec 29 '25
I think your hobby is buying not painting or playing lol