Been giving thought recently to how pricing is affecting my participation in this hobby. I have always been a figure guy first. As such my historical interests capture a wide span of history from Ancients to WWII. My scale of choice is 1/30 and primarily matte with some glossy (especially for bright decorative uniforms that are non-combat figures). I find figures smaller than 1/30 don't really capture detail I want and anything larger is too big to collect. Budget keeps me from collecting many figures in the Aeroart/FL spectrum but K&C, Figarti, Thomas Gunn, John Jenkins, Collectors Showcase and Honour Bound have the combination of quality and price that usually work for me.
I have always added vehicles, tanks, planes etc to compliment my figures....not the other way around. With many of these pieces hitting $300+ in price I'm cutting waaaay back and focusing more on figures I absolutely want (despite price increases). I am now not a completist in any line and never get duplicates for firing lines, marching, standing at attention etc.
Recently the rash of 1/30 scale planes releases have really excited me however the price and size are prohibitive. Despite that the RAF, USAAF and Luftwaffe ground personnel released recently are awesome and planes are a necessary purchase to compliment them......but only selectively, one per nationality. I've been considering expanding my collection of planes by buying from the Corgi, Witty Wings, Franklin Mint etc 1/48 or 1/72 scale range as they are more affordable and many are high quality.
So thats how price is effecting me, fewer vehicles, planes and more focus on figures. :smile2: