Harper, Ginger, and Inventory

This was the first week of the year I was able to devote myself to one of the scarier tasks on my resolution to-do list: inventory. For various sundry reasons I straight-up abandoned inventorying early in the year, and now I have nearly a year’s worth of models to sort out and catalog.

I think I thought it’d be fine because I was being good about restraining my horse purchases, but my lack of shelf and office space says otherwise! So until I sort out this mess (where did all these Stablemates come from?!) I guess I’ll have to really rein in my purchases even harder…

January is nearly over and done with and so far, so good: the only “nonessential” models I’ve purchased have been those in the Tractor Supply Mustang Set, the one from the first half of last year that featuring the Harper and the Sport Horse Foal. I spotted them at Tuesday Morning a couple weeks back, while I was looking for craft supplies to finish up some even older items on my to-do list:

I’m willing to forgive myself with this one, since it’s not sticking around: I bought it primarily for research purposes. I haven’t owned or examined a Harper mold prior to this, and the price was good enough that recouping my investment later in the year shouldn’t be an issue.

Many hobbyists see Harper as a modern replacement/upgrade of the Classic Ginger mold. Although the Ginger mold is a little further down on my “Favorites” list, I do still have a certain fondness for her.

I like Harper’s pose (obviously) and I like the way the mane and tail are sculpted: sculpted hair is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. I think the way a sculptor handles the terminal elements of a mold – the mane, tail, muzzle, ears and hooves – says a lot more about the artist’s mastery of the subject matter and the medium than the biomechanics do.

(Which is why I think the selection of “Great Hair Day!” as the BreyerFest Custom Contest Theme Class this year is secretly brilliant.)

But nice hair is not quite enough to overcome my nostalgia for the Ginger, just yet. Put her in the right color, finish or set and I might eventually change my mind, but for the time being I have a couple hundred uninventoried equines telling me to turn my attention elsewhere.