Monday, January 13, 2014

Adding Some Texture

Just when I thought I’d be getting one or two nights of reprieve in my schedule - boom! - out comes the revised schedule.

Money good, but sleep also good. Crossing my fingers for next week being slightly more plentiful with the latter.

For what it’s worth, I wasn’t meaning to be sarcastic at the close of my last post. Over the past several weeks I’ve had a number of people in my circle - friends, coworkers, other hobbyists - comment on the recent outbreak of "niceness" on the Internet. And not favorably!

While we all claim to desire less rancor, conversations and debates are a little less lively or textured if we completely suppress every bit of negativity. So I find it comforting to see that the hobby - to a degree - is still bucking the trend a bit.

I wish the orneriness was a little less predictable - especially the writing off an entire BreyerFest based on a handful of the 30-35 different releases they’re going to throw at us part. If you want models made to your exact specifications and desires, there are other avenues for that. BreyerFest is - or should be - about way more than the pursuit and purchase of more horses, new or used.

Anyway, back to some actual model horse talk. I had about a half an hour to kill last week between assignments, and I had a chance to stop at a toy store I don’t normally go to because it’s way on the other side of town.

They had some Icicles! I was all excited until I got to examine the three they had left on display: they all had overspray and/or those gloss "goobers" that have been a real problem for Reeves lately. Darn it! Oh well, that’s what I get for trying to save a little money on gas.

What was even more interesting to me was the assortment of Trakehner Hicksteads they had. I have commented before that the ones I saw previous had a very buffed or polished look to them, which I found a little off putting. I missed his slightly textured surface, which I think is part of the mold’s charm.

They had Hicksteads with the old textured finish. Sitting on the shelf next to the smoother ones.

What does that mean? I’m not sure. Did they manufacture some from previously molded stock, or are the "buffed" ones just subjected to a more rigorous prepping process? Gah! I haven’t seen enough Hicksteads in person to judge, and the ones I’ve seen on eBay mostly use the stock photo of a textured Sample piece from the web site, which is not helpful at all in judging the relative rarity of each version.

http://www.breyerhorses.com/hickstead

My guess would be that the textured one is scarcer. But that really is only a guess.

Of course I want one now, but it doesn’t look like I’ll be over in that part of town any time in the next two weeks, which may turn it into another Icicle for me - i.e., another item to add to the want list.

More on the Trakehner, next time.

6 comments:

Denise said...

I noticed this too! One store had the textured Hickstead for about a year now, while a local feed store got in their Christmas shipment of Breyers and the 2 Hicksteads they got in were smooth! Wonder if they retooled the mold?

Anonymous said...

My Icicle isn't too shabby, but then I enjoy imperfections because they make each model an individual with a plethora of dopplegangers. What I can't find out is just how Limited Edition he is, tried looking on the Breyer website and it's like he doesn't exist. Would anyone else know by chance?

ANDREA said...

I believe the piece count on Icicle was supposed to be about 3500 - roughly the same quantity as a Mid-States SR.

Anonymous said...

I really hope they haven't retooled the Trakehner! I much prefer his texured self! My observations from Breyerfest: I saw the smooth ones (yuck!) so I went in pursuit of one of the textured ones. All the textured ones I found at BF all had this weird giant goober on the barrel on the right side... like when someone splatters paint on a wall. I thought it was just one, but they ALL had it. It made me worry something had happened to the mold (thus the retooling). I ended up getting a textured version from eBay, an auction that used an actual photo so I could see that it was textured and also did not have the weird defect! Now I sort of want all three examples... just for the useful history of it.

Anonymous said...

For someone who wrote in a public forum that I was a "rampant abuser of the word variation!", you sure like to nit-pick to find minor variations in models! It's actually pretty funny to see you being the one calling the kettle black. Sometimes you tend to show your true colors of being jealous of those who have what you don't have.

As for controversy, it's highly overrated. Why ruffle feathers just for the sake of doing so? Some people aren't happy unless they created storms for others. These folks usually aren't happy with their own life, so don't want others to be happy either. So sad.

Denise said...

The textured Hickstead that I saw had a factory line across barrel so didn't buy him.:( Not sure if this is a factory flaw now and that's why they smoothed him out?