Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Avalanche!

Whatever I had over the weekend is still kicking the stuffing out of me. The only symptom I have at this point is exhaustion - I actually fell asleep while attempting a change of clothes today! That was entirely the dog’s fault: she was so excited at her first real experience with snow that I ended up taking a couple of nasty tumbles on our walk today. No injuries mercifully, just muddy, soggy clothes.

Speaking of the dog… we do crate her. Vita is almost constantly supervised: it’s literally the moment when our back is turned that the trouble tends to occur.

She doesn’t have any major behavioral issues other than the "wanting to eat everything" one. She’s great with other dogs, good with kids, doesn’t bark too much, is mostly potty-trained, has no problem with the vet, the groomer, inclement weather or the mail carrier.

Well, she likes to run too, but the leash usually puts a stop to her more antic antics.

Most of the problem is that she’s a Wire Fox Terrier. Anyone who had any experience at all with terriers knows they’re not into the "obedience" thing. We just have to figure out a way to convince her that chewing on her bones is way more fun than nibbling on hubcaps and underpants.

Now onto another calamitous event: the Alpine avalanche.

I was among the unfortunate multitudes who never managed to break through the Alpine phone lines. I never even made it as far as an answering machine: all I got was an hour and a half of busy signals. Another Silver Filigree out of my reach. Sigh.

I admire them for experimenting with other forms of distribution, but I wish Reeves would go back to Shopatron for these kinds of specials. I’d rather take the gamble of a canceled order than the agony of hitting redial over and over. It’d eliminate some of the human errors, too, such as the reports I’ve heard of some people managing to get in orders for multiples. (Does this company have no institutional memory AT ALL? Criminy!)

What’s really saddening is to see the level of acceptance within the hobby for what is essentially scalping behavior. No, "everyone in the hobby" does not do it: I don’t. I’ll turn around items I find at the flea market for a tidy profit, but when it comes to collector-direct items, I won’t do it. If I do buy something for someone, it usually goes to him or her at cost plus postage.

What I’m doing is bringing items that were out of the market and putting it back into it. Buying a model like Alpine and slapping it on eBay 15 minutes later is more akin to ransoming: you’re taking it out of the hands of someone who wants it more, and gambling that the monetary difference is worth the effort.

I sure could use the money, but I’m not sure I could live with myself if I did something like that.

3 comments:

nicknack47 said...

Hello I am looking for a listing of christmas horses the Beryer model for each year since thay started doing one, I think i Lost some of mine and I am about reddy to scream. Sorry Please contact me at nicknack47@windstream.net my real name is Sherry Traveny or call me and I will call you back 814-687-4700 thank you!

Anonymous said...

I'm sad about Alpine. I was at work, so could only call intermittantly and always got a busy signal until when I finally reached a person, they were sold out. I missed out on Silver Snow, too. Guess I'll have to be happy with my one silver horse, Grane.

Anonymous said...

I agree on wishing Breyer would go back to selling them Shopatron. I work all day and, due to living in a sprasely populated region, am not where I would have cell phone reception anyway. I didn't even try for an Alpine knowing it was impossible. I think the internet is a better way to keep it fair (no doubles!!) and give more people an oppurtunity to purchase one since you can do that without getting busy signal after busy signal.

I am also in agreement on selling these items right away. It makes me so mad that I usually won't even try to buy something like that until later. I don't mind people deciding they don't like something AFTER they have received it but right after you put in your order is sad. There are always circumstances that come up and I understand that but, on the same note, if you can't afford the horse in the first place or have big bills coming in, maybe just pass on it and let someone else have a shot at adding one to their collection.