The Same, But Different

Another day that was longer than necessary. Sigh. But I did find another BreyerFesty thing at the Salvation Army on the way home. And when I did get home, I channeled my remaining frustrations into something also necessary - and overdue: I cleaned off the deck.

I’ll call the day a wash.

I only had a chance to open up one of the Reissues, but it was the one I was most excited about - the Pacer! And he didn’t disappoint:

Dark, more shading, more metallic, a differently colored hoof - and just look at that beautiful face! If you’re a fan of the Pacer mold, I highly recommend going forth and buying one.

I already have a Strike Out - the model that this is a Reissue of - though there’s a slight possibility that I don’t. It was a model I picked up in the sales tent many years ago, before the NPOD became a "thing". Back then they’d occasionally have loose (bagged, not boxed) recent Regular and Special Runs just sitting in unsorted piles on tables.

They didn’t look any different from the models they claimed to be on the bag labels - and back then, we didn’t give too much thought otherwise. There was no way to tell if these were true "Samples" or just loose models that they happened to have lying around the warehouse or offices.

This was pre-VIN numbers, and before anyone put much effort into looking for handwritten notations. I did find a few with notes or initials on them, that most of my hobby compadres found more curious than noteworthy.

Being a fan of the Pacer mold, and in need of that particular release, I bought the Strike Out. I picked up a few others, too; Pretty Buck, and the Bay Quarter Horse from the 2001 JC Penney’s Riding Academy Set both come to mind, both purchased mostly because I liked the coloring on them. The prices were good - comparable to Traditional Regular Runs, perhaps a tad cheaper - so whether they were something special or not wasn’t that much of a consideration. I bought them because I liked them, plain and simple.

So I may, or may not have a Sample Strike Out. One of these days I’ll have to pick up another and see if there’s anything significantly different from mine. I doubt it, but you never know, with these things. (Yes, I kept the labels they came with. Because ephemera.)