The VIP

Well hey, this showed up in my mail box:

Which is a very nice and welcome cap to an emotionally draining week! 

In addition to the Uffington and the Best of BreyerFest Stablemates Set, I think I’ll be going with Ansel and Queen of Hearts/Josie. 

I decided on Ansel because I love Blue Roan pintos in general, and the “concept” behind it: honoring Ansel Adams, a photographer whose mastery of his medium was so complete that it takes you a moment to realize what you are looking at is only Black and White. 

Josie I waffled on for a bit; while I love her chocolately bay color, I was a bit concerned about how her unique markings will render in production. Ultimately, I decided that the Bristol mold is popular enough that should I not find her to my liking, she wouldn’t be hard to rehome later.

I want to sleep on my selections one more day before I pay for them, though, because I was operating under the (usually correct) assumption that I wouldn’t have to worry about this decision until much later. 

I know it sounds like a rather depressing assumption, but as someone who is not naturally gifted with luck like some people are, I prefer to think of it as both pragmatic and absolutely necessary for my mental health.

I was also not surprised, at all, that people are trying to sell their tickets – at a nice markup, of course. Since you had to buy the entire package – two Special Runs, two Limited Editions, et al – I can understand selling off an item or two that you might not have wanted in the first place. 

But the whole package? Tacky and gross. I’m glad that Reeves put out a statement on the BreyerFest Blog to address this issue:

https://www.breyerhorses.com/blogs/breyerfest-blog/a-note-to-breyerfest-newcomers

The kicker is that Reeves is doing everything it can to make sure that everyone can get everything that they want – at least in terms of the Limited Editions – and effectively rendering much of the “pickup” industry moot. Why pay double for a Josie or Apollo, when you could just buy the All-Access pass and get the Celebration Horse and online access included for the same price?

I know some hobbyists are not happy about this development, also arguing that allowing backorders renders their “Limited Editions” worthless, or at least worth less. 

As someone who buys primarily for herself, this is a moot point for me; there’s a whole other discussion about rarity and value I’d rather not wrap my head around today.

And to be honest, if it helps tamp down some of the less honest among us who use the inexperience and desperation of the less informed among us to profit, so be it.