The Second IBM

When it comes to collectibles, rarest is such a loaded word: in a hobby where 25-30 Test Colors are distributed yearly, even being unique doesn’t guarantee value or even interest.

For an item to be truly valuable nowadays, there has to be more to it than mere rarity or uniqueness.

Prior to the early 1990s, Marney Walerius’s original Gray Appaloosa In-Between Mare qualified on both counts: it was not only (apparently) unique, but historically significant as Breyer’s first failed attempt at replacing the Old Mold Mare in their product lineup after the legal dispute with Hagen-Renaker.

Then a second piece – a Woodgrain, this time – showed up in California in the early 1990s, and turned the hobby on its head. What was once an unattainable oddity was now, hypothetically, available. It was no longer a thing that could be acquired and owned by one person sequentially, it could actually be something that could be collected by multiple hobbyists.

So ironically, by being less “rare”, the In-Between Mare probably became even more valuable!

I don’t have any idea about the exact number of In-Between Mares floating around the hobby, because of the simple fact that many hobbyists have a hard time distinguishing the Family Arabian Mare from the Old Mold/Proud Arabian Mare: a mold that bridges that gap could also be sitting in many collections completely unrecognized.

It is just not rare enough that I still have hopes of finding one on the secondary market, someday: a “new” one turns up on the market every four-five years or so, more often than some other items I can think of (#82 Donkey with Baskets, ahem.)

I had a momentarily breathless moment a few weeks ago when I spotted a Woodgrain FAM at a local flea market, from a far enough distance that I thought my moment had come, but she wasn’t so it didn’t.

I didn’t have the $1000 to hit the “Buy It Now” option on a Woodgrain IBM on eBay a few years back, and I certainly don’t have the money to buy the one up for auction now.

Not that I hadn’t given it some thought: the Woodgrain at auction is that “second” piece I mentioned/pictured above. I would love to have something with that kind of provenance and historical import, but alas, my bank account still says Not Today.

Overwhelming, Part Two: The Predicting

I was going to get all fancy with this post and pull out the big words and the big thoughts, but I seem to be coming down with something and all I want to do at this point is eat a bowl of ice cream and go to bed.

So here’s a few relatively unorganized predictions for BreyerFest next year. The usual caveats apply: these are just predictions. I have no special insights or actual intel into what’s actually happening next year, but as you may have seen (sometimes in real time!) I apparently do have some inkling of how they think at Breyer HQ. Which freaks me out as much as you guys, guys.

(Though I was genuinely shocked to discover that many hobbyists did not even have the Moody Andalusian on their radar for this year’s Surprise. That one seemed… pretty obvious?)

The “Celtic Fling” theme is broad enough to include most breeds originating in the vicinity of the British Isles, but for all practical purposes most people are going to interpret it as “Irish”. This is a darn shame but there’s nothing I can do to change public opinion, especially as a decidedly non-Gaelic person. I just hope that – as has been the case in some themes previous – that stereotypes are not necessarily given the nod when various prizes and awards are handed out.

Breeds that immediately come to mind: most of the ponies that occupy/originate in that part of the world, Gypsy Vanners/Drum Horses, Irish Warmbloods and Thoroughbreds.

Possible Special Run molds: Croi Damsha, Brishen/Gypsy Vanner. Rhian & Cadell, True North, Bristol, Cantering Welsh Pony, Bouncer, Fell Pony Emma, Newsworthy, the Show Jumping Warmblood, and just for kicks and giggles, the Bluegrass Bandit.

There is a slight possibility that there might be an Othello, but not as a Surprise. A Decorator, maybe….

Celebration Horse: The Croi or the Brishen are most likely, absent any other evidence.

Surprise Model: See Celebration Horse. I prefer the Brishen because it comes with multiple mane and tail options, and isn’t so popular that it’ll cause an epic hobby meltdown. I also think Bluegrass Bandit is a possibility because it’s come in Translucent before, and hasn’t had so many releases that all the color combos have been exhausted. And there is always one mold that makes us go really, now?

Decorator(s): There are lots of options here. Something Book of Kells-themed? Fairies? Kelpies? Or something stereotypically green, with shamrocks et al? (Experience has told me, alas, that when in doubt, the stereotype usually wins out.)

Something Gold Charm is also not out of the question – as a reference to Celtic/Fairy/Leprechaun (ugh) Gold. I could also see this as part of a Surprise-Surprise (see below).

Nonhorse: I’d be happy with almost anything except another Bull, except for the #365 Black Angus Bull in something different or daring because it’s time, dangnabit. I’d rather it be an Irish Donkey on the old Standing Donkey mold, but I am probably dreaming at this point. (Would make an excellent Pop-Up Store item. Just sayin’.)

Surprise-Surprises: Next year is another anniversary – Breyer’s 70th, as they count it – and I doubt they will let that fact go completely unrecognized. I am unsure they want to pull the same stunt they did this year with the bazillion Micro Run variations, but I wouldn’t rule out a Golden Charm-type Surprise of that nature, either.

But that’s also why I think it’s more likely they’ll honor the anniversary with a Vintage mold or two, either as a Tent or a Pop-Up Special Run. Right now my money is on the Cantering Welsh Pony, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see something like the Bell-bottomed Shire, Running Mare, or even the Jumping Horse. (Or, as I mentioned above, the Donkey.)

One-Day Stablemates: I have no idea, but names from myth and legend wouldn’t be unexpected – like Morrigan, Boudicca, Danu, Epona, etc. (Hmm. Maybe they can slip the G1 molds in here as their Vintage tribute? That would be fun, she says only slightly sarcastically…)

Random Thoughts: other things that might be worked into the theme include whiskey, golf, minstrels and bards, Saint Patrick, and my favorite (of course!) – something referencing the cult classic movie Highlander.

And for something completely offbeat: Special Run Wind Dancers. Because fairies. More likely: the Wind Dancer Plush, for the Pop-Up Store Plushie.

I could go on with some suggestions and improvements to the event itself, but as there has been a ton of news, new releases and whatnot in the past week, I’ll leave that on the table for another time.

(Yes, I saw THAT thing on eBay. I have thoughts, and feelings.)

Overwhelming, Part One

It took me a while to put my finger on it, but I finally found the source of my lingering dissatisfaction with BreyerFest this year: there were something in the neighborhood of fifty different Special Runs this year.

How you count them depends on whether you’d count the Stablemates Anniversary set as one item or ten, or whether you’d count the Plushie as an official Special Run or merely swag. Regardless, you still get at least halfway to one hundred.

First, the Store Specials: Rico, Hal, and Zipped in Black Magic. (3)

Then the Pop-Up Store items: Defiant (the Crystal), the RCMP Classic Horse, Sarge, the Anniversary Stablemates Set. (7)

The One-Day Stablemates: Toe Tapper, Andante, Arya, and Chiffon. (11)

The Tent Specials: Rocket, Pinto Variant Rocket, Loose Mane Diana, Braided Mane Diana, Splash Variant Diana, Pepper, Salt Variant Pepper, Bucky, Blue Variant Bucky, Natasha, Variant Liver Chestnut Natasha, Gloss Quill, Matte Quill, Amber Champagne Variant Quill, Banner, Blue Variant Banner, Matte Chestnut Pinto Surprise Andalusian, Matte Rose Grey Surprise Andalusian, Matte Dark Dapple Grey Surprise Andalusian, Matte Dappled Pearl Surprise Andalusian, Gloss Chestnut Pinto Surprise Andalusian, Gloss Rose Grey Surprise Andalusian, Gloss Dark Dapple Grey Surprise Andalusian, Gloss Dappled Pearl Surprise Andalusian, Lime and Silver Decorator Surprise Andalusian, Leopard Appaloosa Variant Surprise Andalusian. (37)

Prize/Raffle Models: Cap, Cavalcade, Leap of Faith, Top Hat and Tails, Victory, Triumph, Gloss Harley, Gloss California Chrome, Valour and Honour, North Star, Gloss Oliver. (48)

Volunteer Model: Man of the Hour. (49)

And finally, the Celebration Horse: Oliver. (50).

My first thought: thank goodness I am not a completist anymore!

My second thought: a large majority of these models I had no shot at attaining – I only had two Tent Tickets, and several of the contests I had no entry in (Live Show, Custom Contest, Diorama Contest). And about 40% of them were technically Micro Runs (that I’ll define here as anything less than 100 pieces) so purchasing them on the secondary is also not an option.

I was lucky enough to actually have models/choices left to me in the Tent Ticket lines when I went through – unlike some attendees on Friday, because (allegedly) somebody forgot to ship a pallet or two of Special Runs from the warehouse – and I had relatively few troubles attaining all of the Pop-Up Tent items I needed to get. And I of course got this beautiful boy for busting my butt for four days in the Kentucky July heat:

But yeah, after typing out that list of Special Runs, I can see why I felt the way I felt, and still do to a degree. It also reminds me that I need to do something to get back to happy – by getting back into customizing, or more live showing, or ditching the chase altogether and doing my own things.

The event itself – independent of my experiences – went about as well as I thought it could, outside of the usual technical and logistical issues. I was sort of surprised that, after last year’s big oops with leaving the Volunteer Special Churchills behind, that that wouldn’t be a problem again this year. (But this time, with Tent Specials!)

And the overselling of the event – both online, locally and through the usual media outlets – was also more intense than I expected. They predicted attendance at 30,000: I rolled my eyes at first, but after experiencing it? I believe it.

Normally a little bit of overselling isn’t that big a deal – as anyone who has been in the NPOD can attest, ticket redemption rates are never 100 percent – but when you throw in high-demand One-Day Stablemates (Andante, ahem) and rare variants in the Tent Specials, whatever cushion you have is going to disappear.

I also think that as BreyerFest approaches Disneyland-level size and complexity as an event, more effort needs to be put into making the event less taxing for everyone, newbies and pros alike.

I know Reeves does have signage, a flier at the Help Desk, includes all the relevant info in the program, ticket packet, blog posts et al, but as a volunteer I know all of that gets bypassed somehow by a significant number of attendees.

It’s not that the information is hard to find, but it is not clearly labeled or packaged as such in one convenient place. First timers especially are often overwhelmed, and hunting down all that necessary info is just another task added to a long list of other things to juggle.

While I’d still keep all signage and info – because even us pros need an occasional reminder – I think what’s really needed is either a simple bifold or trifold brochure included in the initial ticket packet (and also included as a PDF on the web site) that’s clearly labeled “A First-Timer’s Guide to BreyerFest” in big letters on the cover.

First and mostly importantly, it would have a picture of each ticket they receive in the packet and direct them exactly where and how they redeem each one.

I’d also include important stuff like: locations of all the bathrooms, air-conditioned areas, Lost and Found, ATMs, Breyer employee contact stations, and the most popular attractions – like Stablemate Painting and the Autograph areas.

I would also include some basic information: wear sunscreen, wear good walking shoes, drink lots of water, don’t try to do everything, ask volunteers for help, etc.

They already have something similar that they distribute at the Help Desk, but it’s very text-heavy and not user-friendly: most tired and overwhelmed people aren’t going to slog through several paragraphs of text to get the information they need. An illustrated brochure with one or two sentence explanations – preferably written at a fourth or fifth-graders level – gets right to the point.

(I say fourth or fifth grader level because you know that it’s the kids who are going to pour over it like a sacred text!)

What’s nice about that format is that once it’s been created, updating it yearly would be fairly simple: just drop in new pictures of the tickets, update the theme graphics, and tweak events as necessary (like the location of this year’s water station.) It wouldn’t even have to be in color!

Hmm. It’s getting late and this post is running longer than I am comfortable with, so I’ll take a break right here and finish up next time, mostly with my thoughts and predictions for next year.

Myth, Legend, and Celtic Flings

There’s been some speculation that – because of the variation promotion they ran this year – that there won’t be a BreyerFest Leftovers Sale. Because there weren’t any (or precious few) leftovers.

They might not be the leftovers you were hoping for, but there are always leftovers, people.

But I’m moving on from waiting for that sale to inevitably drop: I’ve got better things to do with my time and money. Like haunting my local Tractor Supply stores waiting for the Mystery Unicorn Stablemate bins to magically fill, swinging by my favorite local hobby shop to finally pick up that Bisbee I’ve been eyeing for a couple of months, or binge watching all the shows I had to bail on during the run-up to BreyerFest.

Or lurking around eBay for cheap Old Timers. Not just for ones to add to the herd since LaFitte reignited my interest: because I haven’t been sleeping well lately and my mind wanders, I now find myself with more creative ideas I may need to explore.

(As if I don’t have enough!)

Speaking of that, while it’s probably a bit too early to make any concrete plans and plots about next year’s BreyerFest, I’ve been giving a little more thought to next year’s “Celtic Fling” theme.

It’s probably already too late to make any substantial changes of plan for next year – guests, Special Runs, contests et al – but I am going to make one weird request of Reeves: easy on the Leprechauns, please?

Seriously. I’ve been a huge fan of myths, legends and fairytales forever: my favorite books in elementary school were D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths and Book of Norse Myths, and Andrew Lang’s Fairy Books (Brown was my favorite!)

But I never did warm up to the notion of Leprechauns. I don’t know if it’s because I was never a fan of sugary cereals, or the cheesy-bad horror movies, or perhaps a lingering mild resentment that the Irish got a nationally-celebrated holiday while the best holiday my family’s ethnic background could muster was Pączki Day.

If there’s one thing I am dreading about BreyerFest next year is the likelihood that I am going to have to deal with leprechaun-related stuff at the expense of more interesting Celtic things, like Kelpies, Pookas, Celtic Gold Hoards, The Book of Kells, Boudica, the Tuatha De Danann…

Though I am pretty sure they aren’t going to bypass Epona, at least. Any horse-crazy girl worthy of the adjective knows about the fertility goddess who is also the protector of horses, ponies, donkeys and mules.

Up next: a few final thoughts about BreyerFest, including some of my predictions for next year.

The Western Horse’s Cousin

Another quiet and mostly offline weekend here, working on quilts; I finished one, and prepped a couple of others. I wasn’t so optimistic about it pre-BreyerFest, but now I think I just might make my goal of completing 20 quilts this year!

Also worth noting: the passing of fantasy writer Barry Hughart. Due to a dispute with his publisher, his output was limited to only three novels, but it is well worth the effort to seek them out. There is nothing specifically horsey about them, but I know a large chunk of hobbyists are SF/Fantasy aficionados and might appreciate the recommendation.

My only find worth mentioning this week was a Western Horse knockoff. I was momentarily excited when I entered the Salvation Army a couple days ago and saw his legs sticking out of one of the toy bins; with my other craft projects moving along at a decent pace, perhaps now is the time to stash away a body box quality Western Horse for that Christmas-themed custom that’s been on my to-do list forever?

Alas no, not yet.

That’s fine; I still had some fun cleaning him up. He was one of those models who obviously spent a lot of time in storage under less-than-ideal conditions. He wasn’t sticky, but he was definitely not pleasant to the touch. (He might not look all that great now, but you should have seen what I started with!)

And he still has his original reins and saddle after all these years, so I suppose that counts for something. That doesn’t even happen with actual Breyer Western Horses as much as we’d like.

Lots of hobbyists collect knockoffs, but other than the notorious “Diamond P” ones, I don’t actively seek them out. When I do find them, keeping them is a matter of deciding whether they are (a) historically significant in some way, or (b) are so hysterically incompetent that they make me smile. 

(You know the ones!)

Although I do consider this particular knockoff historically significant, I already have him – and one just like him, in black – so he’ll be heading to the sales list shortly.

The early history of the Western Horse and his cousins is convoluted and interesting, and I like having them around to remind me that there’s still so much to sort out about early model horse history.

Brishen and Friends

And the winners are – a Buttermilk Buckskin Brishen Sampson, a Buckskin Blanket Appaloosa Smarty Jones Hakan and (not pictured on the web site as of my posting) a Black Pinto Bluegrass Bandit Stella.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/breyer

Again, the standard disclaimer applies: nope, I really did not know ahead of time. 

(Incidentally, I went back and looked at the Stablemates bin tag UPCs: it’s the 6217 Mystery Unicorns Assortment – the one with the Navy Blue Alborozo. Adjust your expectations accordingly. Or not!)

I’ll have to see them in person, of course, before I make my final decisions – there are a few other models I’m considering adding to the herd in the meantime, besides – though the Bluegrass Bandit intrigues me the most. I know some hobbyists aren’t too fond of the mold, but I am hoping that translates into making it the easiest of the three to find/choose from.

While I like the color on the Brishen – it is very reminiscent of the color on the 2017 Bollywood Surprise Harley, who was very well-received generally and I liked very much also – I am a little bit disappointed that they went with the “standard” version of the mold.

The Brishen mold has two different versions of the mane (up and down), two different versions of the tail (up and swished), and even two different versions of the legs (feathered and unfeathered). Of the 11 previous Special Runs or Regular Runs of this mold (excluding gloss variants or Tests), six of them have been the same combo as the original Premier Club Brishen release: the “up” mane, the “up” tail, and the “feathered” legs.

I get it, the “fluffy” version the most popular variation of the mold, but of the eight different possible mold combos, four remain completely unexplored, and two – the Dag Dia version, and the Novelisto D version – have only been used once.

I have a sneaking suspicion we’ll be seeing more of this mold again soon, possibly/probably as a Special Run for next year’s “Celtic Fling”-themed BreyerFest. Reeves certainly hasn’t been timid about using different mane and tail combos before, either with Surprise models, or with 50/50 Splits like this year’s Roxy release Diana.

At this point I am on the fence about whether or not they’ll use the Brishen mold as the Surprise model, though; while the mold is still just a bit too popular for that sort of thing, but he’s still had a relatively limited number of releases and all those mold options to explore.

And speaking of that, since Sampson will undoubtedly be popular – with some hobbyists exploiting the pre-order option on the TSC web site to essentially put a chunk of the initial store stock on hold – those of us initially left out in the cold may need to take a deep breath and either wait for second shipments to arrive, or get some sort of confirmation on production numbers before paying a premium. 

Tractor Supply Time

Another good day at the flea market: a #327 German Shepherd, some vintage Classic bodies, and a Tractor Supply Nevada Joe Sterling from 2002 – who isn’t minty-mint, but he has nice shading and was a relatively low number (74/5500), so I couldn’t pass him by.

Low numbers on hand-numbered Special Runs don’t really mean anything, per se; metal molds don’t deteriorate over time like ceramic molds do, and they don’t keep track of them that way regardless. (The 74th piece numbered is not necessarily the 74th piece out of the mold, or the 74th painted.)

A low number is just a nice little plus, like a cherry on your sundae. 

I already have a mint, low-number Nevada Joe Sterling (97/5500) that I bought locally; I can’t recall if any of the other Smokies were of similarly low numbers, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that was the case. It’s been my experience that most models bought locally tend to stay local, though this has been gradually changing over time, with the Internet et al.

I was at my local TSC yesterday, incidentally, and they were just setting out the stocking stuffer bins, which (I’ve found) go up a few weeks before the rest of their holiday merchandise. I was able to sneak a peek at some of the shelf labels for potential Stablemates, and found them: the Paint and Play Unicorn Assortment, the Surprise Paint Kits, and the Mystery Unicorn Blind Bags.

But which Unicorn Blind Bags? The Walmart ones with the Black and Gold Florentine Magnolia, or the standard Regular Run assortment with the Navy Blue Alborozo?

This is important because of what happened last year, with an unusually high number of Copper Florentine Chase Piece Djangos turning up in the TSC assortment.

I’m fine with either – the local hordes cleaned out most of my local stores of both Unicorn assortments. (Though I did have a chance at a Magnolia, walking away from a full and unopened box in a rare moment of clarity.)

The speculation about the Traditional pieces is focusing on more recent molds – from the past 15 years, that is – with my cohort coming to the conclusion that the Smarty Jones and the Brishen are two of the most likely candidates; with Flash, the Marwari, and the Andalusian also being in the running, though slightly less likely.

Personally, I’m also keen on the Giselle, Bluegrass Bandit, and Bouncer – but that’s not intuition or deduction talking, that’s me just liking those molds and wanting to see them in new and attainable colors. (Especially Bouncer: he is about due for a new release!)

Iris

Let’s talk about Iris:

This name is quite appropriate for this particular Gambler’s Choice because the Iris flower comes in a multitude of colors, and is itself named for the Greek goddess of the rainbow.

Though someone got pretty heavy handed with the Photoshop filters, because the irises in this photo look nothing like the irises that populate my garden:

“Iris” is also the name of a Goo Goo Dolls song, written for the 1998 film City of Angels, which was a loose remake of Wim Wenders’ film Wings of Desire.

(City of Angels was better than it deserved to be – especially for a film audacious enough to redo a masterpiece.)

Iris is the name of The Flash’s sensible and level-headed wife, too. (And holy cats, how did I only find out today that Kevin Conroy is playing Batman in the gigantic DC Crisis on Infinite Earth TV Event thingie? Mind. Blown.)

I’ll be happy with whatever shows up at my door – she looks great in all four colors – but my favorite of the four is definitely the Cremello Appaloosa. It reminds me so much of the 2017 BreyerFest Auction piece Newsworthy, in Cremello Tobiano Pinto, one of my all-time favorites:

From my (very) cursory overview of the Model Horse Internet, it appears I am in the minority with that opinion, and I am totally fine with that. Double-dilute Pintos and Appaloosas are one of those weird hobby biases that carry over from the real-horse world (along with Pintaloosas) that I just don’t get.

Which you would think would work to my advantage financially, but it doesn’t always translate into cheaper prices on the secondary.

That’s Entertainment

It’s amazing how much you can get done when your allergies leave you largely housebound.

(I did make an exception for the flea market this morning: my sales list has been a mere shadow of its former self since BreyerFest, and the pickings have been pretty good there lately.)

I even started a custom, but I’ll talk about that later: I started with a Family Arabian Mare missing three legs and an ear and covered in brown enamel spray paint. It’s going to be a while before I have something worth showing.

Here’s one bit of older news I’ve been meaning to cover for a few weeks, about Breyer’s upcoming horse-themed TV show and other projects:

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/breyer-horse-toy-imagine-tv-series-1203262655/

This link provides a little bit more info beyond the press release:

http://kidscreen.com/2019/07/18/breyer-saddles-up-with-imagine-for-its-first-series/

It’s also mentioned in passing in a New York Times article about Imagine Entertainment from a few days ago:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/01/business/media/imagine-entertainment-brian-grazer-ron-howard.html 

The news initially dropped during BreyerFest week – which makes sense, since it’s referenced in the press release – and it did not surprise me in the least. In fact, I made the assumption that a TV show would happen sooner rather than later when they added Rick Rekedal (formerly of DreamWorks Animation) to the team in late 2017.

I thought they’d go with an animated show first (for obvious reasons!) And also because, as some of you may know, I am not a fan of most fictional live-action equine-themed entertainment: it tends to be formulaic and overly sentimental. Though this quote from the Kidscreen article gives me some hope it won’t be the Hallmark Horses Channel:

For example, while humans will play an obviously important role in the upcoming show, horses will be at the foreground, with an emphasis placed on their own social relationships, trials and challenges, and an element of magic will also help bring the animals to life, she adds. This insight comes straight from Breyer, who found that, among fans, the animals’ interactions and dramas are just as interesting as that of their owners and riders.

Though this part of the original press release is what made me go Wait, wait, what?

Along with the series, Imagine Kids and Family and Breyer are working on several other development prospects including a documentary about the history of Breyer.

(Looks at my giant wall of historical materials.)

That sounds... interesting.

My Own My Own Money Manager

I sometimes joke – only slightly – that I’m allergic to the month of August.

Judging from the way I’ve felt for the past three or four days, it looks like it’s going to be an especially rough August this year. Time to stock up on the Benadryl…

Anyway, now seems a good time to show you a picture of this, a birthday present from good friends Larry and Ellen:

It’s a Flag Red version of the infamous My Own Money Manager – aka Breyer’s first, modestly successful attempt at breaking into the children’s toy market, in its pre-equine days.

Our best guess now – based on the documentation we have, an examination of existing pieces, and a confab* with fellow Early Breyer History Nerds – is that the Money Manager predates the Cigarette Host.

The Money Managers merely have a “Pat. Pending” mold mark, while the Cigarette Host has a more detailed one; I still haven’t located the Patent yet, though that’s mostly because it’s been relegated to my “TBD” file, along with “find the original Hagen-Renaker lawsuit paperwork”, “finish your Playthings Magazine research”, and “locate any actual company wholesale price lists from 1959-1962”.

Based on a short article featured in a 1952 issue of Playthings, it is mentioned that the Money Manager had been on the market for “three years”, which would mean a debut date of 1949; the Cigarette Host first appears a year later, in the 1950 Sears Wishbook – right next to the Money Manager.

So even before they got started with the horses, Breyer was already repurposing molds!

All I need now is a “Forest Green” version of the Money Manager, and the alleged 6-Drawer version (that still remains unfound) to complete the most obscure Breyer Collector’s Class entry ever.

(*It has been pointed out to me by a couple of different people now that I might have to start arranging meetups at BreyerFest like the YouTubers and Instagrammers do. I will have to give it some thought.)