I’m just musing again and thinking that this hobby community is as niche as other model builders but more socially relevant as we’re not bound by the emotional tie to the technology of the models. I’d say nostalgia is what holds people to rail and sail modeling. Perhaps an element of the “Ooh Shiny!” response, aside from the dopamine kick of novelty, is how we as gamers envision our gaming. We want to be the epic hero and create the demand for dynamic minis of epic proportions (er.. within scale). The mini world is a microcosm of our imagination (yes, it literally is). Maybe that might also lead into the underpinnings of our collections as collectors, gamers and hobbyists.

• A collector may never play a particular game or even touch something with paint or build but will enjoy the artistry of a model but purchase to attain the mini for the posession. This also might also give a real relic status to figures for the history of companies and personalities.
• A gamer goes to get more figures because there are lists to build and matches to play that demand “tiny fighting men” on the field in order to explore chance of dice roles and rule sets put forth to experience/experiment with others (maybe just by themselves as has been spoken about in a few sit downs sessions).
• A hobbyist will sculpt the figures or engineer basing, delve into the technical aspects of materials/techniques and expand on the physical components that makes epic visions come to life.

Thinking of myself as more a collector/hobbyist at present I turned some thought to where I get my minis and games. Looking forward I see GW and large scale indie creators playing a great role in the continuing production of quality sculpts in figures on mass scale and a vast array of European makers for bespoke runs. I can’t say there’s much hope for the North American market as I look at the generic gaming figure manufacturers of Wizkids and Reaper doing their production in China. With current escalation of crackdowns on the gaming industry for not being compliant to the CCP and President Xi Thought (the TSR Red Box is not the same as the Little Red Book) this might well be a point where the solo production using 3D printers is not just novelty but one of the few reasonable means of having nice things for the tabletop (the present battleground of character designers and 3D sculptors for our hard earned cash). It also could mean that publication for physical books heads deeper into the weeds for our hobby. Our hobby community is a very individualistic luxury and doesn’t play well with being lumped into collective ration. Perhaps its just a manifestation of Maslow’s that we are able to do what we do.

All in all the mini world isn’t such a small world after all (Death to those that sing the song as outlined in the rules for Small World).