At least the garden’s looking respectable now. It’ll be a few more days before I can say the same of myself. Stupid allergies!
I finally got the chance to debox my Pecos; I’m usually pretty diligent about that sort of thing, but as I’ve said before, been busy (and of late, itchy.) I think I got a pretty nice one, with good dappling:
He has a couple of very slight scuffs on his left hip, but they blend in with the dappling. And I don’t intend on showing him anyway, so whatever. He was the nicest of the three I had, and I was not displeased with the ones I had to choose from. Most of the flaws I saw were minor, nitpicky things. Nothing to harass the guy at the ticket window about.
I was hoping to bring home a few more Esprits this year, but that didn’t happen. I think everyone was expecting some form of Esprits in the NPOD - the Chestnuts, the Bays, or at the very least the Dapple Grays - but if there were any in there, they were few and far between.
I can understand their hesitation about the Chestnuts causing some commotion in the Pit, but I thought they’d at least have a decent pile of the Dapple Grays in there. Very odd. (Come to think of it, there was very little WEG stuff, period. Where was Snow Globe Mountain?)
From the lay of the land that I got while scoping out the Pit, I did get a sense that they were holding a few things back, so maybe there’s some crazy Grab Bag-style promotion in the not-too-distant future. Not saying there will be, but I wouldn’t rule it out.
I thought I still had a shot at getting a Gloss Pecos at the Costume Contest this year. I briefly considered not going ahead with my entry, due to the previously mentioned engineering problems, but once I saw the one they had in the Silent Auction, I doubled down and got it done. (After a quick trip to Lowe’s, for supplies.)
As I exited the "Dressing Room" in my full Princess Beatrice regalia - yes including The Hat - I was feeling pretty good about myself. One of the ladies at the Raffle Ticket booth actually burst out laughing at the sight of me. Awesome.
Alas, if you look at the picture of the winners, you will not see me among them. After the first two winners were called, it became pretty clear that the judges and I had differing judging criteria. Most of the entries I thought had a legitimate shot also went unplaced.
Admittedly, I was stretching the definition of a "fairytale character" just a bit by doing a real-life person, but no more so than many of the other entrants. Hey, she’s a Princess, she attended what was described as a "fairytale" wedding, and she wore a hat that defied both the laws of physics and common sense. Seemed like a perfect fit to me. Besides, after I found the matching dress at a local Salvation Army, I felt like it was something I had to do.
Next year’s theme is "British Invasion," so if the Costume entries call for your favorite Brit, past or present, Princess Beatrice just might make a return appearance.
(Because despite of entreaties to the contrary, I’m not selling The Hat for charity.)
8 comments:
Yeah, I too was disappointed at some of their choices for winners. Not all of them just some. Oh well better luck next year. If it's any consolation, I thought you were going to win.
BTW would Mr. Tumnus fit with next years theme? ;)
Only if you get someone to dress up as a lamppost, and another as a wardrobe. Hmm.
I loved your costume as well as Lady Godiva. I was surprised by some of the winners but I'm finding out more and more that Breyer plays favorites.
Who do you think won only because 'they' played favorites? Who didn't deserve to win by your standards? If you're going to complain publicly, might as well go the whole way and name names instead of a whisper campaign.
Seriously, I'm tired of the sour grape public mutterings that happen after every such contest about how some entries clearly didn't deserve to win or some people only won because of perceived favoritism. It just makes the winners feel bad and makes the hobby look like it's full of petty people.
It's just a contest, it's meant to be fun, and if you enter with any expectations of winning than most of time you are going to be disappointed. Enjoy the experience, and anything else is bonus. Most of us who entered lost, and we all thought we deserved to win or we wouldn't have entered in the first place. There were some pretty cool costumes out there and I'm glad I wasn't a judge.
My intention wasn't to upset anyone. I liked the costumes...really! I just remember hearing how upset Breyer was a few years back that the names weren't put on entries to one of their contests by the volunteers. Perhaps I jump to conclusions but I assumed it was because certain names might go further than others.
Trust me...no sour grapes here...I didn't enter but had my fair share of giggles over the costumes. As a rule, I don't enter such things...just observe.
I didn't think I would get an Esprit at all. The nearest Breyer retailer is an hour away and I don't like buying online sight unseen(or paying an arm and a leg some wanted). I got very lucky tho and got a nice one at Tuesday Morning for 20.00
No sour grapes here either. But the red riding hood group that I was impressed with was the group that had the mascot style wolf that had the 3-D eyes! As opposed to the group that just had a leftover Halloween mask. BTW the mascot wolf was not a rental costume, it was commissioned costume that the person owned. ;) Rentals are no where near that nice.
My sole problem with the Costume Contest (and the other contests too, actually), is that there's no way to know what the judges are looking for. Many times they seem to judge on "bling." It seemed to me that they were giving preference to "obvious use of a Breyer" in the costume contest, which is understandable. But it would be nice to have some idea what they wanted.
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