Tractor Supply Time

Another good day at the flea market: a #327 German Shepherd, some vintage Classic bodies, and a Tractor Supply Nevada Joe Sterling from 2002 – who isn’t minty-mint, but he has nice shading and was a relatively low number (74/5500), so I couldn’t pass him by.

Low numbers on hand-numbered Special Runs don’t really mean anything, per se; metal molds don’t deteriorate over time like ceramic molds do, and they don’t keep track of them that way regardless. (The 74th piece numbered is not necessarily the 74th piece out of the mold, or the 74th painted.)

A low number is just a nice little plus, like a cherry on your sundae. 

I already have a mint, low-number Nevada Joe Sterling (97/5500) that I bought locally; I can’t recall if any of the other Smokies were of similarly low numbers, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that was the case. It’s been my experience that most models bought locally tend to stay local, though this has been gradually changing over time, with the Internet et al.

I was at my local TSC yesterday, incidentally, and they were just setting out the stocking stuffer bins, which (I’ve found) go up a few weeks before the rest of their holiday merchandise. I was able to sneak a peek at some of the shelf labels for potential Stablemates, and found them: the Paint and Play Unicorn Assortment, the Surprise Paint Kits, and the Mystery Unicorn Blind Bags.

But which Unicorn Blind Bags? The Walmart ones with the Black and Gold Florentine Magnolia, or the standard Regular Run assortment with the Navy Blue Alborozo?

This is important because of what happened last year, with an unusually high number of Copper Florentine Chase Piece Djangos turning up in the TSC assortment.

I’m fine with either – the local hordes cleaned out most of my local stores of both Unicorn assortments. (Though I did have a chance at a Magnolia, walking away from a full and unopened box in a rare moment of clarity.)

The speculation about the Traditional pieces is focusing on more recent molds – from the past 15 years, that is – with my cohort coming to the conclusion that the Smarty Jones and the Brishen are two of the most likely candidates; with Flash, the Marwari, and the Andalusian also being in the running, though slightly less likely.

Personally, I’m also keen on the Giselle, Bluegrass Bandit, and Bouncer – but that’s not intuition or deduction talking, that’s me just liking those molds and wanting to see them in new and attainable colors. (Especially Bouncer: he is about due for a new release!)