Had another rough week at work (long story, don’t ask) so I’m focusing on a few things that are making me happy:
That three-legged Merrylegs in the latest batch of bodies to arrive. (Exactly the kind of body I was looking for!)
The ridiculously tasty gourmet ramen I had for lunch yesterday: spending a little extra for the good stuff is really is worth it. No more 35 cent ramen for me!
On the cheaper side, I discovered that those 25 cent packets of wildflower seeds from Dollar Tree are also worth it. Thumbs up, would recommend.
My Spoooky Stablemates haven’t arrived yet – which I’m totally cool with, I am in no rush there – but the Brighton did:
She might not have the same flash or panache of the other releases in the Stablemates Club this year, but she’s much nicer in person than I expected her to be. She does kind of remind me of my shopping experience at BreyerFest this year, though.
I thought I’d target a few less-pricey/more common items to fill out some holes in my collection, but I had the hardest time finding anything that wasn’t either (a) extremely recent, or (b) super-popular and/or trendy.
I mean, I get it, I understand that it’s hard packing everything you have for sale in your vehicle, and choices have to be made. But it does inadvertently invert the market: “common” items become rare, and “rare” items become common.
You want a previous BreyerFest Raffle Model or an Exclusive Event piece? There’s probably at least six or seven of them in any one of the hotel hallways you’re standing in. But trying to upgrade your Regular Run Running Foals from the 1990s? Good luck with that.
I get the sense that Brighton – who is pretty but not flashy or groundbreaking, not a Regular Run, but also not really difficult to acquire – will become another one of those pieces that will eventually…vanish.
Which is a shame, really. And gives those of us in the middle or bottom of the market our own unique challenge: what do you do when you collect things other collectors don’t think anyone else wants?
8 comments:
I'd advertise anyway---you never know!!! So many collectors seem to be into the "new and current"--but us "oldies" are still out there!
You have so many unique pieces in your collection! We might not know what exactly that you're looking for if you don't say!
FWIW, I am not actively looking right now - trying to finish up some old business first, and maybe sell some stuff, too.
This year while Clarion shopping at Breyerfest I noticed this. It seems like all the rooms were selling the same things, lots and lots of SR's and LE's from the past three Breyerfests. If I wanted those models, I already had plenty of chances to buy them; however I wanted a Moody Saddlebred and couldn't find one anywhere. Found a nice Huck on Sunday and snagged him, but otherwise my only Clarion purchases were bodies; including 2 Nikolas for $10 each and that was enough to make me happy.
I saw several Moody Saddlebreds but I had them all. Only one I added bedsides one I had put a deposit on and was picking up was Muir Woods.
I've had a selection of relatively commonplace Breyers on MH$P for months, at really good prices, and very seldom sell anything. People only seem to be interested in buying the ultra-rare stuff at prices that are very cheap or virtually free. (I seriously need to take another sweep through my boxes and boxes of OFs and find more to sell.)
I agree! While I did not browse casually as much as I wanted to this year or make too many CHIN purchases (thank you, Hamilton, ha ha) it does seem like a lot of what I currently want to target (remaining "low end" and some mid-range) outside of a few specifics on conga molds that might go a little higher, I just don't see that much of. Even at the local swap meet last weekend, I found a few things that were must-haves, saw a few others that I thought about but it didn't feel like the right time, and a few wish list items not within what I was willing to spend in that moment. But mostly, stuff I didn't need or want. Not sure if it's reflective of the overall market, but interesting that at least a few of us are having similar experiences.
Thank you for posting this!! I have been looking several RRs from the 90s and it’s been frustrating. There is little to choose from, and I don’t think the prices are great on what is currently for sale. I feel like many people just want to make sales that will get them that big mark up and don’t want to waste time selling items where there will be little or no profit. Or, all these 90s items went to Goodwill/trash when the kids that owned them grew up and there’s not as much out there.
I've seen it where someone GAVE another person a vintage test color Paddock Pal because it was "just" a Paddock Pal and therefore pretty worthless. IDK what's going on with the hobby right now - things are upside down and backwards.
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