So just how big is this hobby?

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Pestie

New member
Hi

it\'s only when i joined in on the other thread about local painting teams, that it became evident that this hobby of our is huge. to have such a proliferation of painters so close to where I live (which is not a major metropolis by the way), from a website that some may consider \"specialised\" - must mean that this hobby (nee GW influenced hobby?) must be pretty darn big!

so, does anyone know just how many painters there are out there? or gamers? and is it growing?
 
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DaN

New member
When you consider how much GW can charge, and still be in business! :)

Surely most kids have made ONE model kit when they were growing up - even if it was just a Meserschmitt BF 109 and never did another!
 
Dragonsreach

Dragonsreach

Super Moderator
When I last checked there were just short of 4000 painters with images posted of their miniatures.
There are 7927 pages of miniatures (as of today) with 10 images each.
And this is not the only site to deal with miniature painting.

If you take into account all the historical based sites (as this one is mainly SF/Fantasy) and the number of Historical gamers who do not subscribe to GW\'s influence, the number of RPG players there are quite a significant number.

Go to any wargame convention and you will find that the SF/Fantasy genre is perhaps 10% of all the wargames out there.
Having said that not all of the Historical games are up to the professional levels of GW/Rackham/Celtos/Privateer Press.
A lot are small companies run by 1 perhaps 2 people out of a Garage on a Saturday afternoon.

If I was forced into an estimate, I\'d expect that 1 in 20 of the UK\'s population have played a wargame or painted a miniature/model of some description.
 
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SebastianRushworth

New member
I think there are lots and lots (and lots) of gamers, but I think the turnover is also pretty big in that community.

When it comes to people who just paint, I think we\'re quite few, but with a relatively low turnover. And since there are so few of us, I think we also go out of our way to meet and socialize with each other.
 
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LavronYor

New member
I agree that turnover is big, but many people leave it for a while and then come back when they have new friends that also play. I would guess that the numbers probably grew exponentially for a while, but as online gaming has gotten better and better, I would guess that growth has slowed way down. The card game craze has probably brought as many as it has taken. I even think the prepainted stuff from WOTC probably brings us some new blood as they aren\'t painted above a 6. And we all know that since the 40 year old virgin painted minis, there has to be many that we don\'t know about.
 
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funnymouth

New member
id say its big...bigger than youd think. by our very nature most mini gamers are lurkers
smiley_suspicious.gif
 
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finn17

New member
It\'s big...

I\'m 47 and a \'professional\' and I wouldn\'t dream of telling my peers about my hobby. They\'d think I was insane...mind you..most of them think that reproducing is an extremely clever thing to do. Twats!:bouncy:
 
Dragonsreach

Dragonsreach

Super Moderator
Originally posted by finn17
...mind you..most of them think that reproducing is an extremely clever thing to do.
Click to expand...
For some it\'s an example of how tolerant the female of the species is. (or how visually impaired).
 
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