I probably have close to 1K miniatures unpainted.
Nowadays I try to avoid any 'character' figures, and focus heavily on monsters or bit characters like bandits, that I know I'll be using.
As my painting level has increased, I'd say from a 4 to a 6 on a scale of 1-10, I spend more time per figure, which is a bad thing, so occassionally go back to the 4 and hurry the process, and sometimes, for a specific NPC, go the other route and throw in some black linning, some wet blending, and some other goods to try and make that miniature really stand out.
I find that I use figures fomr a wide variety of companies:
Reaper has to be one of my favorites.
Not quite with the senority,
Magnificent Egoes has some interesting figures. I really like their pilgrim figure.
Odd that I don't want any more characters, but he's perfect for someone like Solomen Kane from Robert E. Howard.
Of course Rackham makes some fantastic figures too, but do they have an English version website? Other French compaies like Illyad (?) and Fenryll make some awesome figures.
In short, too many figures, not enough time, and some sculpts that I don't need, but find so cool I buy anyway.