for me the miniatures are 100% childhood-fantasy-fulfillment. I played a ton of counter-based games as a kid, many were $5-$10 from SPI. Back then I liked looking at people's painted miniatures, but I lacked the money, skill and patience to get into that. But now with cheap mass production and big-boy resources at my disposal, it is so much more evocative and, well, *fun* to play with little toys. I would have killed for them as a kid...