Oak

In spite of the pretty tight crop on the photo, this one was pretty easy to peg, except for the part about it being an ordinary BreyerFest Special Run, and not a Raffle or Prize model:

That should make “Oak” easier to acquire, depending on your ticket draw. It’s too early to determine if he’s going to be the Gloss/Matte Split model. At this point, I would say no: Georg is still too new and popular for that kind of promotional hoo-ha.

I guess my only complaint at this point is that they are… laying the blarney on extra thick with the rationale for incorporating a Noriker into this year’s theme:

Oak trees feature prominently in Celtic mythology – they are an aspect of a magical trilogy of trees related to fairy lore. Their use in sacred rituals dates back to the First Century, when Pliny the Elder described their incorporation into fertility rites performed by ancient Druids, and Celtic Britons under Roman rule worshiped Daron, the goddess of the oak tree. Even the town of Kildare finds its roots in that of the oak tree – Cill Dara is Irish for “church of the oak.”

I get it. You’ve got folks on staff (and a significant portion of the hobby) who are very, very, very personally invested in this theme. Meanwhile in my corner of the universe, the closest I can come to a connection is that there was a story on Dad’s side of the family about a male relative who was a coachman for an Irish Duchess.

No evidence whatsoever, just a story.

And I was in the Highlander Fan Club for a few years. Because I loved sword fights, the Queen soundtrack, and the male leads were all nice to look at. (RIP Stan Kirsch.)

But I am going to be very frank with you and say that some of my lack of enthusiasm goes back to 2015 when I felt very… alone in my love of the French theme. And kind of put out by the execution of said theme (a Spanish Fighting Bull as a Tent SR?!?) and the fact that I couldn’t find three people – out of thousands! – who had even heard of Le Petit Prince. Which made me feel more than a little crazy.

It’s certainly not for a lack of effort this year: the models, so far, have all been lovely. And I am not normally one who gets too worked up about mold selections or appropriateness, unless they’re real eye rollers. Like the previously mentioned Spanish Fighting Bull, or the baffling selection of the Stretched Morgan as the Early Bird Raffle Model Bennington for the British Invasion theme in 2012.

But you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t get rapturous when Celtic words and phrases or obscure Irish trivia get thrown at me. Versta?