When we were working on this year’s Vintage Club lineup last year, I knew that the Brighty release was going to be mega-popular, but I had no idea he’d be “four-figures in pre-sale” popular.
I mean, yeah, I’ve seen the prices for the Micro Run Cornelius, but the prices for most Breyer Longears in general are just crazy. Even the Hickory Hills Wall Street Brighties that were dumped and heavily discounted at Ollie’s a few years back are now going for big bucks.
Though to be honest I did kinda-sorta see the price increase on the Wall Street Brighties. Seeing them at Ollie’s reminded me a little too much of my experience with the S Justadream: a local farm store literally had an entire wall of them – at least two dozen – and I had a good laugh about the misfortunes of their purchasing department when I saw them.
Two years later, they were selling for $250 apiece on eBay, NIB. I could have made a killing, if I had only known. But I didn’t, and I didn’t.
I did a favor for a friend and bought her a carload of those Brighties, and I’d do it again if the opportunity presented itself. I am just not that lucky when it comes to capitalizing on things like that. That’s why I don’t go out of my way to even try, and why I am more-than-sometimes annoyed by hobbyists who somehow manage to make it work.
The only exception to the recent longears trend is the Balking Mule, especially the original releases in Seal Brown and Bay. This kind of blows my mind, because they were notoriously difficult to find at my local flea markets for years, to the point that they became one of my grails.
I could have just taken the easy way out and buy one from another hobbyist, but I was determined to wait until I found one locally. Then I found three in the space of one weekend, and I’ve managed to find them on a semi-regular basis since then. I still have two of the three, incidentally, including this very chestnutty-looking Bay:
I tell myself that that’s what’s going to happen once I find my first vintage Decorator in the wild, but I’m still waiting.
Anyway, I felt especially proud of myself yesterday because I finally managed to find a body quality Standing Donkey at a price that did not make me uncomfortable. I have a couple of Donkey customizing ideas and I wanted to have at least one body on hand when the time and the mood finally align. And you know me, I wasn’t going to take a Dremel and hacksaw to the mint or near-mint examples that inhabit my saleslist on a near-perpetual basis.
I tried scoring one through a local auction website recently, but (of course!) the price went well above what I expected it to be.
7 comments:
That is the brightest Old Bay mule I've ever seen. :) Congratulations on such a find! I wish you luck with that glorious phrase, "A Deco in the wild." It's never happened to me, but you never know.
Wow! I never noticed that the Balking Mule has individually sculpted and painted teeth. What great details!
Shoot I haven't been able to even sell my glossy Hickory Hills for what the matte goes for. sigh. I got 2 of him that year, but also a glossy Liberty!
This model always seemed an oddball to me. Maybe because of his color (no bald face, no stockings), his weird bridle, or because he's being disagreeable.
I love his teeth, though! What other Breyer has teeth? I feel like Breyer/Hess wasn't big on teeth.
I've NEVER found a bay balking mule in the wild, and I don't even have one in my collection and I've been collecting for about 40 years. Somehow I did end up with a seal brown. But the bay, for whatever reason, is really hard to come by. And that's coming from someone who has found 2 decorators in the wild! I really think it must be regional. Like certain stores bought certain things and others just didn't. So if you are in an area that never really got them to begin with, you may never find one. Or that's my theory anyway! Breyers must not move around as much as we think they do, at least ones in non-collector hands.
I don't suppose anyone around here knows what's going on with Blab? I haven't been able to access the site all day, and I don't see anything about it on the Blab FB page.
And I will *always* be grateful to you for snagging me that veritable MOUNTAIN of Hickory Brightys! Hahahaha!! I still have... most of them. Lol! I've sent a few off to the chopping block (aka to be customized). *evil grins*
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