One of the many fabulous things I found in the Pit on Friday morning was a Taima - the Connoisseur Tortuga Buffalo - at an exceedingly good price. I didn’t get pulled for one when they came out, and I was way too much of a "Buffalo" myself to pay retail for one. So when the opportunity presented itself Friday morning, into the buy pile he went:
It wasn’t until yesterday, as I was finally starting to unpack the last of my personal stash, that the thought occurred to me: what if, was he, could he be…? He didn’t come with a velvet bag, or a certificate, and he wasn’t numbered. Hmm. So I pulled out my July/August 2010 issue of Just About Horses, and checked.
… all the lumps, bumps, swirls and bubbles match: he IS the very same Sample used to illustrate the announcement in Just About Horses! (The scanner hasn’t been behaving, so you’ll just have to refer to your own copies, folks.)
I actually found myself shaking, for a moment. It has always been a dream of mine to have a photography Sample; I have a few that I suspect might have been, but in this case there is no doubt.
I found myself carrying my newest treasure around the house the rest of the day, holding him up to every available window. In spite of my abundant joy, foremost in my mind were the comments of a couple of fellow hobbyists I shared my find with, who had dismissed him altogether. "Oh, he wasn’t very popular to begin with." "Eh, I thought he was kind of ugly, myself."
Definitely not the responses I was hoping for. Not unexpected, mind you - I’ve lurked on enough boards to know just how catty and judgmental my fellow hobbyists can be - but, yeesh. Way to put a little damper on a momentary bit of happiness.
Look, you don’t have to like the choices other people make when it comes to collecting, but when someone shows you their latest "score", the proper, decorous response is to be happy for them. Especially if they got it for a good price, or through some extremely fortuitous circumstances. They want to share their happiness: for Pete’s sake, let them!
I was already excited to have gotten the Taima for such a good price; now that I know his specialness goes beyond his cheapness - well, I just wanted to share.
(Oh, and FWIW, his name is Basil. After my "Buffalo" Great-Grandfather.)
9 comments:
Aw, congrats! I'd have snatched him up too being a buff nut. I probably wouldn't have known what I really got though beyond noticing he wasn't numbered.
Very cool find!
WOW Congrats!!
Congratulations!
He's cool! I just let the hobby nay-sayers (neigh-sayers?) talk to themselves. I find that they are either jealous or just Negative Nancys and aren't worth another thought. :)
Awesome find! What a neat piece for your collection.
Considering how early you arrived to visit the Pit this year, you certainly deserved every special find you got. Who else would have recognized Taima as a photography sample? Kudos!
Beautiful! It's great that he has special meaning to you, besides being a photography sample.
Congratulations! That's a mighty fine find, and good deals on nice models are always nice. Especially if it's something you wanted to begin with.
If peeps were giving you that sort of dirt because you found something better than anything they got, don't pay them any mind. They're just jealous. ;)
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