Fit for a Duchess

Just yesterday I was cleaning out my body box; I was looking for some craft supplies I had tucked away in the same general area, and sorting happened. One of the bodies was of a Classics Duchess, a mold that I’ve grown rather fond of in recent years.

Like a lot of hobbyists ca. 1980, I dismissed the Duchess mold in the “Black Beauty and Friends” Gift Set as the plainest and least interesting member of the quartet. A standing mare, in unmarked Bay: a description doesn’t get any more nondescript than that.

In more recent years, however, she’s grown to become my favorite. There’s a casual, backyard beauty to her that’s been obscured not just by her initial paint job, but also a bit by the rougher finish Chris Hess went with with this set. One of these days, I tell myself, I’m going to do a custom that reveals it.

So after a long day at work today, I did a quick scan of the Internet for any breaking news, and look at the latest BreyerFest Special Run announcement: there’s a Duchess in it!

Dang you Reeves, for reading my mind, again. (The full announcement is on the BreyerFest Blog site, if you want to read the particulars.)

I probably shouldn’t get too excited about her, though, since this pair – Mancha and Gato – are items specific to the “Breyer Mercado” – aka this year’s version of the Pop-Up Store/Tent of Despair.

Nope, nope, nope. I’ll sleep on a sidewalk overnight, walk around a dirt arena in high heels and/or a funny hat, or saw models in half, but that’s just one line too many to stand in.

I really do not understand Reeves’s reasoning on these Pop-Up Stores. If they are as concerned about the Friday morning goings-on as they say they are, why add a couple more first-come-first-served scarce (but cheap!) Special Runs into the mix?

If the Pop-Up Store is really meant to have a more casual tourist/gift shop atmosphere, the items within can’t just be less expensive, they also have to be more plentiful. That’s about the only way I can think of that could cool down that situation.

If I want to add a few more Duchesses to the herd, shelf or body, I’ll just have to prowl the hotel for them. It’ll be a lot less stressful, and cheaper too.