Another one of those all over the place days.
First, RIP John Romita, Sr.: Steve Ditko may have created his iconic look, but Romita was the definitive Spider-Man artist.
Second: what’s up with the price of knock-offs lately? I’ve been trying to pick up a couple of them just for novelty’s sake, but in some cases they’ve actually been selling for more than the Breyer mold they’re copying!
Or is just another case of everyone getting on the same page again and collectively deciding this would be a cool thing to do? I kind of get it: who does not love a Wee Western Prancing Horse?
But darn it all, I really wanted to get a few more of those Hong Kong Mini Me’s! Just another thing to look for at BreyerFest, I guess.
Third: I wish there was a better way of defining what names go with what molds. Reeves has been attempting to give molds generic, descriptive names, but the problem with that is that “Loping Quarter Horse” and “Working Cow Horse” don’t really convey the personality of molds like Latigo and Bobby Jo.
And what happens when they come out with another, but slightly different Loping Quarter Horse? Do they start getting numbered at that point, or are they described by their size compared to the other(s)? That kind of naming scheme just replaces one problem with another.
Picking an actual name-name, or giving them a very specific descriptor or kooky nickname is just easier. Except there’s never been a real formula for this sort of thing, either: sometimes it’s the first release, sometimes it’s the most popular one, and other times it’s something hobbyists make up out of thin air (hello, Foalzilla!)
And getting everybody on the same page is hard, regardless. (Remember the Othello vs. Winter Song Wars?)
With older molds with already established names, I’d just do a gentle redirect with newer collectors: if someone at BreyerFest looking for Zenyatta, tell them your Lonesome Glory models are on the top shelf and to the right. Unless you genuinely don’t have any Lonesome Glory molds, or have absolutely no idea what they are asking about.
The only time I visibly got angry with someone over misidentifying a mold is when I had to deal with someone who repeatedly referred to the Desatado as the Marsh Tacky, several years and several releases after the 2013 BreyerFest Special Run.
(In their defense, I’m not sure the kid was picking up anyone’s social cues.)
And finally, for the curious: the blog averages about 500 page hits a day – that’s for the whole blog, not any specific post – though the stats have been a little messed up recently because all US-based web sites are getting slammed due to overseas interference.
More would be better, but I can’t complain. About that, anyway.
3 comments:
Oh I’m so sorry to hear about John Romita Sr! What a huge influence he had.
Yes, one of the FB groups I'm in has been having a field day with mini Western Horses & Prancers. They are adorable...
Well, I just had an Ebay BIN sale cancelled, or so it appears. Well, the seller just said the item was delayed, and didn't have a tracking number (strangely, the other DVD I bought from them did...and somehow they couldn't ship them together...), and I think they gave me a refund within minutes of me asking about it a second time, even though a refund isn't what I'd asked for.
And they seem to have relisted the item at a higher price. Sadly, it's only a few dollars more, and I wonder if it will be worth it to them when I post screechingly negative feedback on the item they did see fit to sell me.
I wonder how many more people this has happened to! Seems like an easy situation for an Ebay seller to avoid...just start prices high and negotiate down.
Last year, I found a secondhand store with a few Breyers, some of which were hilariously misidentified. One of them was an Isadora Cruce, which the tag identified as Sporour fra Bergi.
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