I liked collecting and painting Warhammer 40K miniatures when I was a kid, sure, but one thing I liked more was heading to this local store that always had models painted by a professional.
Stuck behind glass and painted immaculately, they were so damn expensive I never got the chance to buy one before the store closed down in the early 90s. I've never gotten over that disappointment, so to treat myself, I routinely forget my own awful attempts at painting and stare, sometimes for hours, at the fantastic work done by people who have earned the right to call themselves professionals.
These shots, from the excellent Forge World, run the gamut of the 40K universe, from Space Marines to Tau and everyone in between.
Oh, and in case you missed it earlier in the year, here's a similar gallery, only with badass miniatures in action on a battlefield so lifelike it's got smoke.