Still Waiting for the Other Shoe

Well, that didn’t take long: Glossy Vintage Club Mr. Chips, yo.

The piece count this time is 95; Lucy’s was 80, so it seems safe to say that they’re making 500 pieces of these Vintage Club Bonus models anyway, and just glossing the unsold remainder. That they sold fewer of the Mr. Chips than the Lucy makes sense, since only his paint job could be classified as Vintage. 

Since it’s technically a Vintage Club exclusive, I’m a bit hesitant to put it in the same category as Frosty, Cosette, Mischief, the Warehouse Specials, the Two Foal Set, et al. What I’m think of will be something available to more people, and it’ll make a significant portion of the hobby lose it.

I know what you're thinking, but the Premier Club Croi Damsha doesn’t count either. I am a little surprised at the intensity of the drama leading up to her (presumed) unveiling this week, especially since the only thing we didn’t know about that was the specifics. (Me, the Vintage Models Forever person, almost joined the Premier Club last year because of it. My loss!)

Anyway. Here’s another BreyerFest addition I haven’t talked about yet, the little Pink Appaloosa Stablemate Birthday Cake:

I’m not normally a big fan of the color pink, but my first reaction to seeing it in person was Oh, I could just eat you up!

Like almost everything else in the Anniversary Store, Birthday Cake sold out too, in spite of having a 2000 piece run. (I received mine through the kind graces of a friend, since my schedule and circumstances kept me from even attempting the Anniversary Store).

I’m assuming that the experiment succeeded, and this means we’ll be seeing another Commemorative/Souvenir Stablemate next year - I hope with either a bigger piece count, or a stricter limit enforced on purchases.

There’s been some talk among hobbyists about a Stablemates-of-the-Month Club: namely, why don't we have one yet? The demand is certainly there for one. The primary prohibitive factor there is cost: once you factor in postage, packaging, promotion and manufacturing, the price per month would end up being $12-15 each.

This is not out of line for what the BreyerFest One-Day Stablemates go for, but for hobbyists used to getting individually carded Stablemates for four bucks, retail? It might be a bridge too far. Part of the addictive nature of Stablemates is that they’re cheap: forty bucks can get you one nice Traditional Horse - but 10 Stablemates! More, if you do your homework. (Y'all know about the Ollie's sale, right?)

Double the price, and some are going to hesitate. That Birthday Cake sold out as quickly as it did was partly because she was only five bucks, not ten.

There are creative ways of getting around the cost problem. They could double them up (like the Classics Foals), sell them quarterly in sets rather than monthly, charge a one-time flat fee for a year’s subscription, or set up various BOGO offers (Buy One SR, Get One RR Free!)

Actually, I think they did consider doing something like that when Stablemates were first introduced, if I’m remembering right. I’ll have to go digging for the evidence later this week.