Cruising

First, thanks to everybody who’s helping me out here on the trip planning front. As the timestamps of my blog posts attest, I have a nonstandard work schedule, and I’m not normally awake or available during normal business hours. It tends to make interacting with the rest of the world a little challenging sometimes. 

I have a couple of projects that absolutely have to be done this week, but once that’s over and done with I can get back to planning and scheduling!

She’s yet another shelf hog, but I’m a big fan of Shagya Arabians and of the Yasmin mold, so the BreyerFest Online-Only Traditional Special Run Studebaker is another must-have for me:

Many others online have pointed out her similarity to the BreyerFest 2019 Open Show Grand prize Victory. The major difference between them is pattern: Victory is an Overo and Studebaker is a Tobiano.

Well, that and the price. There’s no way I’m ever going to buy a Victory: even if I had that kind of money to spend, you guys know that’s just not how I roll. 

At the end of the day, all we’re really dealing with here are pieces of plastic in the shape of horses. Yeah, sure, I have a few… thousand of them, but believe it or not, they’re only an incidental part of my retirement planning. 

I’ve said this many times before: collectibles are not a wise investment. Heck, most investments aren’t wise investments, mostly because most people don’t take their time to do their research. 

If I have any financial goal with my horses, it’s to break even. Not taking into consideration all the time I’ve put into the research – most of which I’ve done for the sheer enjoyment of it anyway – I think I might come close to that. 

Which would put me ahead of the game, investment-wise. Most investments don’t make back their money, and I find it a little exasperating that collectors – not just in the model horse hobby, but in general – have that expectation. 

Antiques Roadshow is not reality: 98% of the stuff that gets dragged there is not worth all that much. Or is even all that interesting. (My pet peeve: Victorian Crazy Quilts. Ugh!)

(FWIW: I recently ran the numbers, and I’m in slightly better shape financially than I thought I was. And selling off large swaths of the collection wasn’t even a part of the retirement calculus. So don’t be Googling my house and making plans just yet.)