Waban

Just when we though we were safe, after the 350-piece release of the Woodgrain Special Run Jasper Hawthorn back in December, Micro Runs are ba-ack with the Gloss Charcoal Buffalo Waban:

The problem that comes with Micro Runs – namely, that so many people enter Micro Run drawings not for the item itself, but for what they can get for it – seems so insoluble that I’d feel like an actual genius (and not just a presumptive one) if I could somehow engineer an equitable solution to it.

But so far, nada.

The closest I can come is this: since many Nonhorse collectors are also Vintage enthusiasts, future Micro Run Animals could be exclusive drawings for Vintage Club members. The odds would be better – competing against 500 people instead of a couple thousand – and nonwinners could take some consolation that a bigger percentage of the entrants were entering because they actually wanted the model itself.

Considering Reeves upped its game on the Vintage Club, that might not necessarily be an extra perk worth throwing into the pot.

(But if it’s the only way to get another affordable #36 Racehorse Special Run, I am all for it. That darn Charcoal one in last year’s Benefit Auction was the first thing that popped in my head when I saw Waban.)

Special Run Nonhorses are a niche market, at best – certain cattle molds always do well, and items that can be targeted for very specific non-hobby markets (like the Donkey and Elephant, naturally) can usually sustain a larger piece run.

But everything else is a gamble, sales-wise – hence my mild hesitation about the BreyerFest Saint Bernard. I don’t want to “blow” my ticket slot on a Bucky if there will be substantial leftovers, especially since I’m liking/loving so many of the other releases that will be harder to acquire in the secondary market.

Unless they make the quantity on Bucky sufficiently low that the question becomes moot.