I haven't been in a gaming group since 2E days, but when I was, I loved minis... never could have too many of them. Nowadays, even though I don't game anymore, I still collect and paint minis, just because it's fun and relaxing. I'm not really a noteworthy painter, but it's still fun.
My mini collection numbers slightly over a 1000 (last time I counted anyway), and covers a pretty broad range. The first ones I ever owned were some of the amazingly craptacular Heritage ones (any of you other old farts out there remember them?). Since then, I've gathered an eclectic group of them.... a big bunch of older Ral Partha ones, GW ones ranging from their first edition of Warhammer to the latest lines, Old Glory minis (mainly Alamo figures.. another interest of mine), and a bunch of ones that I picked up at various Gen Cons that I have no idea who made them. Along with the huge asst. of D&D and D&D -ish figures I've gathered, I have a bunch of Zulus (converted to be NPC fantasy jungle natives), an entire Warhammer dwarf army (my nephews play it and wanted me in on it), some conquistadors, Mongols, Sudanese rebels on camels, Byzantine light cavalry, Iriquois, Sioux, dinosaurs, and old west pioneers. In the long run, I found that collecting and painting minis of animals (current and prehistoric) was what I liked most, as it is a challenge to make them look like the real thing... you can fudge the colors on a beholder, since noone knows what a 'real' one would look like anyway, but everyone knows what a deer or elephant look like, so you can't screw up too much on them....
