A month ago, I posted something about 'drawing a line under' the acquisition of new stuff. I was thinking mostly about my Napoleonics, but I had more than half a thought to the rest of my projects as well. I have way too much stuff.
Well: guess what. I didn't really think I'd get much from last sunday's annual bring-and-buy at the Club, but, as one never quite knows what goodies might be found, I permitted myself one hundred Kiwi dollars. Just in case, don't you know. But, things didn't go the way I expected. I was about to say 'planned', but one can't really plan in situations like this.
At any rate, here's what I bought, for just 50 Kiwi bucks...
5 Airfix kits - 2 Churchills, 2 Matilda IIs and 1 Grant tank. $5 the box.
3 boxes of Zvezda Samurai foot - well, at $5 the time that really is grabbing by the throat and yelling 'Buy me!' don't you reckon? Had there been 5 boxes I might well have bought the 5. I've emptied and de-sprued one of the boxes as you can see.
23 pine trees - Rather loose and wanting more foliage; 6 bases missing. I spent an evening buffing these up and basing them in groups of 3 (2 in one case). The bases have had green paint drabbled over them, and will receive some flocking in due course. These are very tall trees for war gaming, but will go reasonably well with my Army Men project. $5 for these.
I rather forgot to include in the ensemble one item that I was clutching in my little hot hand when I happened upon this pile of stuff (well, directed there by Paul and Tony). It was this - or these:
Altogether, I am quite chuffed with this score. Plenty to work on here, and all bought with some purpose in mind. And I spent just half of what I had allowed myself. I call that discipline, don't you?
This is a great score, no doubt!
ReplyDeleteI reckon!
DeleteA good haul and at very reasonable prices, the samurai foot are a real bargain, nice figures too!
ReplyDeleteDonnie,
DeleteThe quality of the Zvezda samurai figures was certainly a consideration. The question remains now is just how I am to organise these fellows. Something to think about, anyhow.
Cheers,
Ion
An excellent haul for $50.
ReplyDeleteCheers! Last year I spent $80 getting a lot less (though I never regretted that purchase). Swings and roundabouts.
DeleteHi there Ion,
ReplyDeleteNow that is a great selection of bargains! Intrigued by the Army Men project…..
All the best,
DC
David -
DeleteOh, the Army Men thing? It hasn't been doing much lately - and in fact Kiivar has lost 2 of its Centurion tanks to the Harad project.
These are mostly 'el cheapo' 2-3-inch soldiery one buys in department stores together with the odd tank, artillery and other odds and ends. This started back in 2011, when a dude hight 'Jono' rolled up to the club with his fantasy world wondering what to do with his idea.
For a long time I called the project 'Jono's World'. After a year or so he moved on. I didn't, prezackly, but decided then to go in my own direction with it. It might be an idea for me to post an article or two about this, just to gather the threads a bit.
Cheers,
Ion
A great haul! Have fun putting the Matildas together, they are lovely models.
ReplyDeleteI've just been putting together one of the Churchills whilst watching Manawatu Turbos beat Northland Taniwha 31-30 in a thriller match, then Denzel Washington do his Equalizer gig, and a late episode of banshee. Good evening. Thought the running gear would be more of a challenge than it was. I think I have a broken Churchill somewhere about. Now I think I know how to fix it.
DeleteCheers,
Ion
Bargain! I think the trees are fine, most wargamers use trees that are too small for the height of figures and buildings. Dedicated dense wods perhaps?
ReplyDeleteNeil
I think so, Neil. I admit to preferring to go 'down scale' with my terrain pieces, but the tall trees will add density and darkness to my forests, I think.
DeleteAll the best,
Ion
Been there done that ! Though with different bargains.
ReplyDeleteAndy -
DeleteI tend to have a nose for what I want or would like to have, rather than for bargains. This was one occasion in which the two came together.
Cheers,
Ion
A great way to circle and recycle the stocks of wargame friends. I think the Nebelwerfers were a lucky find.
ReplyDeleteNorm -
DeleteThey were the first thing I noticed, and for a while thought that might be the sum total of my purchases. Now, I'm just wondering if any of these things were mounted on the late Maultier half-tracks. A quick squizz indicates not. Oh, well. Useful assets all the same.
Cheers,
Ion
You certainly really well there Ion! Not often I see anything at a B'n'B these days that catches my eye, but you never know...
ReplyDeleteAlways worth a look, Steve. You never know. Mind you, the 3D printed Bob Semple tanks I saw (corrugated iron draped over a bulldozer, with machine guns sticking out of it) would always have been 'surplus to requirements'.
DeleteCheers,
Ion
A very good bargain- over here if you purchased two 1/72nd Tank KIts plus postage- it'd cost about $72 AUS....like $35 a Tank. Anyway- have fun with the new items.
ReplyDeleteKev -
DeleteYe Gods! It has been so long since I bought a kit that I had forgotten just how pricey they can get (the upside, of course, is that I don't have many unmade kits around). The kits and the Samurai were part of a great pile going for $5 the item. I don't know who was selling.
I have a bit of a plan for the Matilda IIs - in one of which they enter service with the Red Army somewhere east of Kharkov...
Cheers,
Ion
That's an incredible haul! $50 for the Zvezda figures alone wouldn't be unreasonable if they are all present and accounted for..
ReplyDeleteJohn Y -
DeleteThe boxes were still sealed in their plastic wrappers. Whoever was selling that stuff was probably looking for a quick and hassle-free sale. There was at least one Airfix Valentine kit I probably ought to have picked up, but I already had as much as I could carry. I (quite deliberately) didn't take a carry bag...
Cheers,
Ion
Good haul! Smiling at your depiction of the buying process.
ReplyDeletepancerni -
DeleteThat's the thing about Bring-n-Buy sales; you can never quite tell what you might find.
Cheers,
Ion
Well done Ion. I suspect it’s often a case of swings and roundabouts. Some good Bring & Buy sales, others less so.
ReplyDeleteAt least you’ve obtained some “stuff” that you will use and at a price that suits you - the seller has disposed of things they probably weren’t going to use & have obtained some $$$ in recompense.
Cheers,
Geoff
Geoff -
DeleteI gather it was a deceased's estate, the disposal of which sometimes leads to something like this. No doubt the seller could have got more, but decided to keep things simple and sure. I gather the whole pile was sold by the day's end.
Cheers,
Ion