Lucky Dog

Of all the Micro Run Drawings I haven’t been pulled for (essentially, all of them) the two that hurt the most were the Polled Hereford Bull Marshall (of course) and the Basset Hound Dugan.

With all of the others – like the Collie Maurice, the Ram Rodney, and the Brighty Cornelius – it would have been lovely to have been drawn for them, but they were not quite the heartbreakers Dugan and Marshall were.

The Polled Hereford Bull has been a favorite mold of mine for years, and I have way more variations and oddballs of the Hound Dog mold – both its original #325 Brown Bloodhound release, and the very popular and long-running tri-color #326 Basset Hound that followed – than I care to count.

When it comes to Bull molds in general, hobbyists are not entirely rational when it comes to Special Runs. (Have you seen the prices the BreyerFest Hamish lately?) Things got real ugly real quick with Marshall, so unless I come into substantial bit of money or more luck than I usually am accustomed to, he’ll probably never end up here.

Dugan I was more optimistic about; while the initial prices were also way out of my league, I also knew that the market for Breyer Dog molds is smaller and less… crazy? While some releases are perennially popular and/or pricey (the White Boxer, the Woodgrain Poodle, the Blue Bucky) the rest of the Breyer Dog market is more modest in both price and demand. I figured that after the initial rush, the prices for Dugan would eventually drift back closer to my comfort zone.

I did find one “in the zone” at BreyerFest a couple years ago. Even though I take some starter money with me, one of my personal rules for BreyerFest shopping is that I try to avoid spending what I haven’t yet made in room sales. Alas, I hadn’t made quite enough money at that point to buy him. 

When I finally did, some other lucky dog had already snapped him up.

Since this seems to be my Year of Grails, it should come as no surprise that another one turned up last week. This time, I did not hesitate:

I cannot even imagine what is going to turn up next. In fact, I am almost afraid to.