Fall Shopping

Feeling like a bit of a grumpus today; I discovered very late yesterday that I’ll probably be needing some expensive dental work ASAP. So today has been an unhappy game of “Which Test Colors gotta go?”

Among other things. (Sorry Four Stars, I guess you can’t stay after all.)

Buying new stuff or fun stuff is out of the picture for the foreseeable future, outside of obligated purchases (car payments, subscriptions). The flea market might even be a no-go zone at this point; I won’t know the extent of the work I'll need until early next week.

I never put in for the latest Big Cat Special, the tiger-striped Padma, on the Ruffian mold; not that I didn’t like her, but prior to the now urgent dental problem, I had planned on paying off the credit card by the end of the year, too.

The budget is also the reason I’m taking a pass on the Collectors’ Club Fabien – a Dapple Gray on the Totilas – and not out of any concern over the dappling or issues with the base. Funny how the first batch sold out so quickly, regardless of the griping. (I promise you this: though I may be critical new dappling techniques, I will never use the word “crapples” here, except to mock it.)

Jesse and whatever new colors the AQHA horse appear at my local Tractor Supply stores are also out of the question. Here’s hoping there’s a reasonably priced and accessible (BreyerFest? Regular Run?) Wyatt release next year. Like a lot of other hobbyists, I suspect that Jesse will be in short supply right after the holidays, as customizers snatch up the discounted leftovers.

While I probably will sign up for the Stablemates Club, I have mixed feelings about it. Anything greeted with that kind of near-manic enthusiasm within the model horse community tends to crash and burn with equal force.

The likely culprit there will be price: of the models maybe, but of the postage definitely. In fact, I can already hear the distant rumblings of it, especially in the overseas community, already hard-hit by the arbitrarily high shipping costs the web site tags onto orders heading abroad.

But I’m also a little concerned how some hobbyists appear to be interpreting the Stablemates Club not as another club like the Premier or Vintage, but as an alternative to the Collector’s Club. I don’t know if that’s wishful thinking, or – like when the clubs first debuted – a profound lack of understanding of how subscription clubs work.

Decisions on the others are still a ways down the road for me. The 2016 Vintage Club offerings do look fun: a Man o’ War and Western Prancing Horse, at last! I’d rather have the colors switched – a Dapple Gray MOW and a blanket Appaloosa WPH, but whatever.