Things Left Unsaid

What a fun weekend: I picked up a rash, got whacked in the head with a doorknob, suffered a couple bloody noses, and lost a filling. (Filling is already fixed: thank you, my awesome dentist.)

In slightly-less-calamitous news, I picked up another collection, too. It’s smaller, and mostly bodies, so prepping is not going to be the big drama it was last week. But this endless parade of bodies is starting to get tiresome. If I get any more, I may consider selling them by the pound!

Among the newest arrivals, this bee-yoo-ti-full Classic Black Stallion, the 660 "Chocolate Bay" Arabian from about ten years ago. Gorgeous shading, with a dead-matte finish, and minty-mint: definitely a keeper!


Among the other non-Breyer goodies: a few nice chinas, a couple bits of jewelry, some fun minis, and a vintage PEZ dispenser - cheap! I stopped collecting PEZ dispensers a few years ago because the vintage ones were so hard to come by around here. I might just keep him for old times’ sake, but that extra bit of cash could come in handy, considering the amount I’ve forked out over the past couple of weekends.


Now on to a topic I’ve had in the queue for a while now: I know this may some heretical - especially coming from moi, the Princess of Provenance - there are times when some pieces of history may be better left undocumented.

I know all sorts of crazy, unknowable things. Several hobbyists have tried to prod me - in person, and online - into touching on some of the craziest, or more controversial bits of this knowledge. Sometimes I do, inadvertently (it’s not just fillings that fall out of my mouth) but there’s quite a body of information that I’ve chosen not to disclose publicly.

The reasons why a lot of this data are undisclosable vary. A lot of it is like a single piece to a 100-piece puzzle that I don’t have a picture to: it might be valuable, but I just don’t know where it fits or what it fits into. Some of it is of dubious veracity, or is tainted by gossip of a highly personal nature, or has a significant element of wish fulfillment within it.

Another category of information has been rendered untouchable because of the nature of the relationship of the person giving it to me - in other words, by insiders. That information usually has a high degree of veracity to it, but because it was given to me in the strictest confidence, it cannot be discussed in public without damaging that relationship.

(The good thing about this kind of information of this sort is that it eventually makes it way out into the real world. I just have the luxury of knowing about it first. FYI, it’s not usually the kind of information I can capitalize on; my checkbook would be in a lot better shape if I could.)

Some information I have is very much tied to the person giving it to me. As in, I learn the why or the how of something, but it’s the kind of why and how that can’t be disclosed without damaging the reputation of the person or persons involved. A reputation should be yours alone to damage.

And then there’s information that many hobbyists simply refuse to believe. Goodness, there’s a lot of that. I’d say that the majority of topics I’ve chosen not to discuss fall into this category. Certain narratives and certain beliefs have become so ingrained in the hobby, that even providing actual documentation to the contrary doesn’t dislodge them. If I want to lecture to a brick wall, I have family members for that.

(Another thing about the weekend, best left unsaid.)