Thursday, February 25, 2021

Cleaning Up the Office

Something short again today, everybody: I have a ton of things to get done before the weekend is out, plus I have to squeeze some sleep in there somewhere as well. 

First, let’s get a little bit of housekeeping done. Let’s go down the list.

One: I have no idea when the Collector’s Club Exclusive Lafayette will drop, other than to agree with the general consensus of SOON. I am hoping that, in light of recent events and offers, that they’ll either make a ton of them, or offer them up as they did some of this year’s BreyerFest SRs: shipping out what they have, and allowing backorders for a certain number of hours or days.

At least, that’s how I’d be running things. If I were running things. Let everyone who wants a shiny black horsie have a shiny black horsie!

Two: It doesn’t look likely that I’ll be able to participate in the Online BreyerFest Swap Meet at all, and the BreyerFest Photo Show looks unlikely at this point, too. 

Since I am not traveling to Kentucky or staying at the hotel, I am not pressed for the money the room sales would bring. The Photo Show took a lot out of me last year, and if I have any extra time in May or June, I really want to spend it finishing the rehabilitation of my garden.

Three: The 15-Year Rule was brought up in the comments a couple of posts back, and while I’m in cleanup mode, I might as well re-explain. 

As you all know by now, Breyers are pretty plentiful here, even at the flea market. Over the years I noticed that it takes – on average – about 15 years for a model purchased by a nonhobbyist to end up in the secondary market.

The math makes sense, once you puzzle it out. Most kids go through a horse-crazy phase from around the ages of 8 to 14. Fifteen years later would be the ages of 23 to 29, around the time their parents are reclaiming the space in their house/attic/garage. The children are given the ultimatum: take your old toys with you, or we’re selling them at the yard sale. 

And that’s where most of them end up.

Four: Last week I made a trip to a local Salvation Army store to buy a ten-pound sack of vintage calico fabric – I found it earlier and the week and left it behind, until I decided I couldn’t – and made a quick perusal of the book department. This particular store gets a pretty good assortment, so it’s always worth a look. 

For some reason I picked out a book – Junior Miss, by Sally Benson – maybe thinking it was an old Scholastic Book Club hardcover, and I’m kind of fascinated by old Scholastics. And look what I found inside:

I’ve owned a number of Linda Leach-Hardy customs in my time, and I’ve even found a few at the local flea markets – which makes sense, because she was a local artist – but this is the first time I’ve found her signature in a book. 

Sure, there is a possibility it is another Linda Leach, but finding this after a recent discussion of vintage customs? 

So weird.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

THAT. IS. AWESOME!!!! :)

Thanks for explaining the 15 year rule. It does make perfect sense. I just wish I lived in an area where Breyers were purchased for children 15 years ago. Even though I'm within a day's drive of Chicago, I have hardly ever seen a Breyer for sale around here in southwest Minnesota. Go figure.

timaru star ii said...

it's not weird, it's wonderful. I collected her drawings. That's her handwriting.

Suzanne said...

Ah! Yeah, I was wondering about the 15-year rule. I was thinking people who collect do so for 15 years.

Junior Miss: there was a movie with that same title, the story goes that's the origin of Junior Mints, sort of a product tie-in back in the 20's! I was surprised to learn that I was almost a junior miss myself. My parents had so much trouble coming up with a name for me, I was almost named for my mom. Too bad, female juniors are rare. And I always have to spell out my name...

Anonymous said...

Lafayette dropped yesterday and they made him available to backorder once the initial quantity sold out.

Leslie R said...

That is so incredible you found this book! It was truly meant to be. Linda Leach IS model horse collector history!
-- ( L Rogers :)