Toe Exams

I promised myself that I wouldn’t do anything halfway at BreyerFest this year, and I apparently lived up to it in every sense of the word: all the medical professionals I met this week were very impressed with the extent of my foot injury.

Due to those various appointments, the plan for multiple posts this week didn’t work out, obviously. Today was the first day this week I didn’t have to go anywhere or do anything, other than unpack the car - at last!

First, does anyone need a few extra Anniversary blankets? They seem to have stuffed all my Sales Tent bags full of them. I did toss a few into my free box, but I still ended up with eight of them total. I’ll keep two - one for each of my Gootzy-Tootzies  - but the other six are free for postage.

I did get one of each of the Boxed and Bubblewrapped Gootzies - I had two tickets, and they offered both - and my cursory examination didn’t reveal any significant paint differences between them. The Gloss on them - on all the Gloss models I saw at BreyerFest this year - is deep, thick and wonderful. Reeves had been having some issues with their Gloss Finishes lately, so it’s nice to see that they had been working to resolve them.

(A-ha! THAT’s what that really neat Super Glossy Black Appaloosa Proud Arabian Stallion in the auction was about!)

It almost makes up for the lack of extra detailing we were all hoping for: his eyes are nicely painted and the base is silver, but there are no dapples, no undershading, no sparkles to be seen. His Gloss Finish is so nicely done, though, that I consider him a more than adequate representative of the mold in my collection. (I’ve had others before, but I’ve let them all go.)

Originally I was going to just keep the boxed one (with the documentation, naturally) but I just took a second look at the VIN numbers, and there is one subtle difference between the two. My Boxed Gootzy is dated April - but the Bubblewrapped one is dated June! That’s what another toe exam gets me, more trouble….

If I do decide to let the Bubblewrapped one go, I don’t think I’ll have much of an issue selling him. All the Gofferts we had for sale in our room - except for an original Goffert - sold briskly, and generally for asking price. (The original Goffert had a lot of lookers, too, so I think it was just a matter of time with him.) He may not be a super-popular model in certain segments of the hobby, but casual collectors and younger hobbyists can’t get enough of him.

And as I (and others) have said before, if you really can’t get rid of your extras within the hobby, donate them to charity. Spread that Breyer love! And just imagine how lucky some little kid will feel to get a Shiny Black Horse as a gift. I certainly wouldn’t have turned him down.