The "Oooooh, Shiny!" Syndrome

We've all done it. Walked into the local shop and saw the new codex, army book or boxed set that just came out, and your hobby A.D.D. kicked in. The next thing you know, you've got a new army, whether you finished the one you were in the middle of or not, using previously mentioned new, shiny codex/army book/boxed set.

Let's not confuse this with "Bandwagon" syndrome... Though similar, the "Oooooh, Shiny!" syndrome refers to anything brand new, whether it is competitive or not.

So how do we avoid this wallet-sucking syndrome? Do we even want to? I mean, just LOOK at the new Ogre models!

If you've read some of my articles, you probably caught the one about "Investing" in your hobby future. I suppose that could have been a bit of a precursor to this article in a way, as I mention that wouldn't have been able to do half of the conversions or have even a fourth of the options I have if I hadn't purchased so many different things over the years. Notice, however, that I never said exactly what motivated all those purchases.

The vast majority of those "investments" were motivated entirely by the "Oooooh, Shiny!" syndrome. Something new came out, like the Red Scorpion upgrade packs from Forge World, or the new Vanguard and Sternguard, or even the Eldar army box when their most recent codex came out, and without even thinking I instantly bought them because they looked amazing. If GW had packaged them in a foil box, I literally could have bought the new shiny thing on the shelves, and it literally would have been shiny!

This is why it's different from the "Bandwagon" syndrome. None of those purchases reflected what was currently hot on the tournament circuit, or the latest theory-hammer that was out there. No, really, look...Eldar. But they were new and shiny!!!

I have since tried to reign in this money-hungry syndrome, but it's a hard habit to break...Current case in point, the new Ogre models soon to be released that I've peppered this post with. (It also gives me a good reason to post some of the models too!) I don't even know how to play Fantasy...but I will now that I've seen the new Ogre models! Even while I currently own a Dwarven force, I just HAVE to have the Ogre models.

So how do I even try and reconcile the future Ogre purchases? I'm committing to learning Fantasy, as well as committing to enter some of the new Ogre models into Golden Demon next year. This way I don't just buy because they are such beautiful sculpts, even though they are, I'm buying with a dual purpose in mind. See? I used the word "purpose". That makes it all better! No, seriously. Stop laughing.

So in the end, do we avoid the "Ooooh, Shiny!" Syndrome? No... At least I don't think we should, otherwise I wouldn't be "investing" into my hobby and bitz box hardly. I just think it needs a little tempering with willpower. Otherwise I'll have a lot of boxed plastic on my shelves. Not that that's an entirely bad thing, mind you.

But my wife would kill me... Let's not forget that.

- Tim