Conflicted

When we were kids, we used to make jokes that if Publisher’s Clearing House ever came to our house, they’d never be able to use the “Happy Winner Gets a Giant Check” video in their promos because the first words out of Mom’s mouth would be something along the lines of “It’s about (****) time you got here! Do you know how many stamps I’ve spent on your contest?”

Then she’d grab the Giant Check, mutter “Well, thanks, anyway” and then unceremoniously close the door on them. End of footage.

That was the first thing that popped into my head when I read this e-mail I received today:

Considering the number of very kind offers to purchase the Hawthorn of others (thank you all for offering, incidentally) I almost got the feeling that they only got to my name because they’d run out of everyone else. By now, the only other accounts left on the list are ones in people’s pets names whose owners already been selected on their human accounts.

(I kid… but only slightly.)

(No, incidentally, Vita doesn’t have an account.)

I am happy, but conflicted about it. I’ll give myself a day or two to decide.

Another conflict: the Collector’s Club Appreciation Box arrived yesterday. Open now, or open Christmas Eve, as planned?

I will probably wait until later, only because opening it means cataloging the contents, and since I bought a lot of Stablemates, that could take some time – time that I genuinely don’t have right now.

(This week: I need to bake cookies for a party, take my car in to get a melted wiring harness replaced, get caught up on three weeks worth of emails, finish the mountain of financial paperwork on my desk….)

I am also conflicted about the news that the solution to the order mishaps is going to be… make more models Glossy?

I have a feeling this year’s two-step system was set up to better track their inventory, but if only the “complete” orders were counted before it was declared “sold out”, that could potentially mean hundreds of incomplete orders could have been logged in during the interim.

(I have no idea. I am just speculating on the numbers here.)

If it were just a dozen or so added to each run, I wouldn’t be that concerned. But if it ends up being 40-50-60 of each, that will seriously skew the production numbers that some hobbyists base their purchasing decisions on. While I happen to think that hobbyists place too much emphasis on rarity over all other factors in determining collectability, it is still a factor, nonetheless.

I kind of hope they go the Logan/Colton route and Gloss up a sixth model to cover the mistakes. Same quantity or slightly more, if necessary.

All I hope is that they do release the revised numbers, because changing the quantity just doesn’t affect the present or future value, it also created live showing documentation issues.

Sigh.

Let’s end on a happier note – I am pretty psyched that a movie I’ve been wanting to see for a while is getting rebroadcast on Turner Classic Movies on Thursday: You Never Can Tell! It’s about… well, here’s the most succinct summary I found:

Beginning with a far-fetched premise—cracker tycoon leaves fortune to dog—Lou Breslow’s movie swiftly plunges into full-on derangement, as the dog is reincarnated as a detective and tasked with solving his own murder, assisted by a reincarnated lady horse.

There’s a trip to Animal Purgatory, Dick Powell eats dog food, and his sidekick – the former racehorse – flirts with other horses. As a person.

In other words, my kind of movie!

And it’ll be a nice change of pace from the usual holiday movie reruns.