Friday, September 13, 2013

It Ain't Easy Being a Fangirl

Whatever had gotten into me has now gotten out of me. I suspect the shrimp I had the night before may have been involved.

Lots of news in the meantime…

The Reissues are starting to ship - and appear on eBay. A buyer is free to do with a model whatever they please, once they buy it, but I’m still going to find it tacky when that something is reselling it at a significant markup when it’s still available from the retailer.

A little bit of a markup, in acknowledgement of your error in thinking it might have been different or more rare than it turned out to be? Or as a fee for the service of dealing with the sometimes quixotic nature of the Breyer web site? Sure. Hoping to profit on your customers not doing their homework? Squicky. 

(PSA: Everybody except Huck is still available on the Breyer web site, folks. In plain sight.)

The RCMP Horse is now available for pre-orders, and is shipping by the beginning of October. He also appears to be more of a Dark Mahogany (a la the Adios release "Mesa") with a glossy ("clipped"?) maple leaf on his behind. For those of you ready to kvetch about the model having too much white for a RCMP Horse, the RCMP Foundation has apparently given its seal of approval to the release.

Also shipping in October - and even more exciting pour moi - is a sweet Appaloosa Performance Horse in Dappled Buckskin Appaloosa, with every sixth one being extra special in some way. (It’s a little unclear if Being Chalky or Having Indian Markings is the special feature. Or both.) This explains the happy reappearance of the mold at the benefit auction in Kentucky this year.

I want them all - whatever they are and in Glossy, if it comes to that. (Those of you attending the NPOD next year better secure your holy relics now, because if I see any extra special ones lurking in the Sample boxes, that’s all that’s going to protect you.)

Judging from the reaction I’ve been seeing on Blab, so do lots of other people. Warms my heart that I’m not the only APH lover out there.

Not so close to my heart: the reaction from The Usual Suspects about the latest Vintage Club release, which is (as I expected) the Jumping Horse "Kiowa" in Indian Pony-style Chestnut Pinto, with Indian markings. If you’ve seen the number of them up for pre-sell, you know what I mean.

I know I sometimes come across as a Breyer Fangirl (not without some justification!) but you know I’m also not above snarking molds and releases either. I have preferences for color, mold and scale, but I consider myself one of those increasingly rare creatures: a Generalist. I like a little bit of everything. I am a Breyer collector, not just a Glossy Breyer Collector or a Stablemates Collector or even an APH Collector.

I have no snark to offer about the Kiowa. I like him a lot. I love the color, especially - a rarely seen and rarely used one that would look good on a lot of molds, I believe. (Want badly, right now: the APH in Indian Pony Chestnut Pinto).

I like the Jumping Horse, even though I don’t have that many: size and shelf space are the biggest issues there. One of these days, when the price and time are right, I am definitely picking up the State Line Tack Special Run "Jumping Jupiter", and that funky Semi-Gloss Dark Dapple Gray 1997 Sears Christmas Special Run.

(Y’all might also remember my heartbreak/meltdown/pity party over not winning the Best of British Contest last year, with the Fleabitten and Dappled "Sterling" as the prize. Not my best moment, but I'll own it.)

Just remember: a few years ago, the notion that a Special Run on the Appaloosa Performance Horse could be as warmly received as it is now was considered risible.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

A little from column A, a little from column B, a little from columns C through Z and possibly into some of the Cyrillic and far eastern alphabets as well. Sometimes even things one doesn't care for still manage to hit a sweet spot and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Julie said...

I no longer feel bad, that there seems to be no rhyme or reason for my collection. I buy what I like. That's it. Not a conga collector not a color or breed collector. Just the model horses I like. And I'm ok with that.

Christi said...

The RCMP horses have patterns done on their rumps with a stencil, and the hair brushed the "wrong" way. I wouldn't think that's too much white for an RCMP horse, myself, although they don't want a whole lot of white.

Check out http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/mr-ce/gal4-eng.htm#tab15 - some of those horses have more white than Breyer's.

I would love to see the Musical Ride someday, but it looks like I'll have to actually go to Canada to see them, they don't seem to tour very far south. Good excuse for a trip, anyway. :)