Some harsh decisions have to be made

Given that the amount of spare time that I can devote to my hobby is finite and that the funds available for hobby purposes seem to be ever dwindling (everything else in life is getting increasingly expensive, but my salary stays the same) AND given Mrs. History PhD's increasing ire at the burgeoning amount of space my hobbies take up (in an already smallish apartment), I have come to the conclusion that harsh problems require harsh solutions. 

(As I added the above photo, Mrs. History PhD said "Look! You both have the same amount of hair!")

In any case, I've thought about my time periods and scales and come to the realization that, given that I'm anything but wealthy and that, at almost 52, I'll certainly never live long enough to paint and game with everything that I've already bought and bearing in mind that I'm definitely going to keep buying SOMETHING (addictions demand continued feeding), the following decisions have to be made:

WWII naval: I have approaching 750 or so 1/2400 scale ships and a number of packs of aircraft. 95% have been assembled and primed and put on a shelf. The other 5% never made it out of their blister packs. There will now be a permanent moratorium on further investment of time and money. I need to find a way to sell off this overly fragile lot. 

Early 80's NATO v WarPac: I started out doing this in 6mm and then soon duplicated the whole thing when I fell in love with 3mm. I have a fair few vehicles in 6mm, but my main investment is in quite a number of really gorgeous buildings, some no longer in production. This interest will now go forward in 3mm only. The 6mm vehicles will be sold off. My dear 6mm buildings, which I'm sentimentally attached to, will sit on a shelf and await further tortured deliberations.

WWII Western Desert: I began this in 3mm and while I still feel interested in it, work on it has been idling for 4-5 months now. As 3mm isn't overly space-consumptive, I'll pack this stuff away in a drawer and await renewed interest. 

Napoleonics: My interest in this (in 6mm Adler and I've thought about starting it in 3mm) seems more attached to the mind-boggling variety of beautiful uniforms and nations involved than in any real interest in actual gaming. Of course that didn't stop me acquiring a modest sized lead pile, mostly geared towards the 1806 Prussian campaign. A small percentage of the pile has been painstakingly painted and based, though not yet textured or flocked. This will now be halted and as much as possible will be sold off, given that it's all quite fragile (bayonets, swords, poles for standards). 

American Civil War: This is one of my first interests and is four decades old. My expansive 15mm collection was sold off years ago and 6mm took over, which was also sold off due to an intercontinental change of abode, so I actually have very little lead left. There is a small amount in 6mm and I have flirted with going to 3mm. I have to admit to myself that time and money will never allow me to return to my first love. You can never go home again, you know? So I'm going to stop fooling with it mentally and let it go. 

Vietnam: I began this several years ago in 6mm and I've invested considerable money and time into producing a very nice Brown Water Navy, as well as quite a lot of vehicles, terrain, buildings, etc. I briefly started over in 3mm, but Vietnam was not a war of maneuver, at least not on the ground. The terrain just would not allow it. Vehicles were used in small numbers and even singly, which just does not suit 3mm models. My continuing strong interest means this will be retained, but only in 6mm. The little work that I did in 3mm will be repainted and reused in NATO v WarPac (see above). 

And needless to say, all of the above areas of interest have their own associated reference books, paints which pertain only to them and have no application in other time periods, etc, etc. something will have to be done with all of that too. And it's quite a lot!

So there it is. 6mm Vietnam, 3mm NATO v WarPac, and 3mm WWII Western Desert will be staying. The rest have to go. Sad but necessary. If you'd like to buy any parts of a large pile of lovingly used lead, you know where to find me. I will mail!

And, yes, I AM going to stop buying things I don't need! Believe me. Why would I lie? Ssssssss....