2021: A Year In Review

In the blink of an eye, 2021 has quickly gone by.
While 2021 was quite similar to 2020, things on the pandemic front were thankfully a whole lot better. Life could basically carry on despite the few scares and cutbacks that did happen, but ultimately they worked to improve our resilience to power through these challenging times.

2021 brought new responsibilities and commitments, which took time, energy and motivation away from the hobby. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a gap of time to fully indulge in model kits, the specter of an unaddressed email or social obligation just looming nearby. But whenever I managed to carve out the time to break some robots out of their plastic prisons, the experience - however short-lived - was a great respite and distraction from the machinations of everyday life. That's how a hobby should be, bringing you joy on your own terms at your own time. If you feel like you have to get back to building model kits just for the sake of it, that's called a job, not a hobby.

A Robust Turnout

Along with adding many (many) bricks to my box fort, I put together a total of 48 builds this year, which is actually pretty impressive considering how little time I had. The breakdown of the builds are as follows:

• Straight Builds: 11
• Light Builds: 5
• Painted Builds: 13
• Customised Builds: 19

For each build, I will try to put up the photos and my thoughts and fictional lore onto this blog as soon as possible There are still a few WIPs stuck in waterslide decal hell, but these are still shared on the blog as they are since I don't know when they will ever be fully completed.

Strangely enough, 19 Customised Builds were created this year - model kits that feature some form of kitbashing and/or modification and are not simply just a repaint. In particular, I completed 8 custom EXAMACs from the 30 Minutes Missions series, which is really a godsend for people who do not have the luxury of time to tackle overly complicated kits. 30MM kits result in decently detailed, highly articulated robots that are not characteristic of their low part count, and are also priced very affordably. The Maxion Forces' EXAMAC designs also greatly appeal to me, which explains the 4 Spinatio variants produced in 2021.

Going into the new year, we will likely see more Straight Builds than any other type on this blog, but I will do my best to put out content as often as I can. I will also try to unbox and review the Metal Builds and other figures that I have amassed over the years, I am wayyyyyyyy behind on those.

Here's to an amazing 2022!