Saturday, March 6, 2021

Wee Box

Apparently my Lafayette is coming next week? In spite of me ordering in several hours after it went to backorder status? And me being completely fine with it being on backorder?

Guys, honestly, I don’t know what’s going on either. All I do know is that Reeves knows there are problems. 

Whether this baffling situation – with live orders being put on backorder status, backorders moved up to live status, with no rhyme or reason – leads to a resolution, I also don’t know. 

I sure hope so: I had multiple issues with shipping from the warehouse last year, and I am usually one to let most things slide and work themselves out. Most of them were eventually resolved to my satisfaction (i.e. the Glossy Cheesecake) but not all (the sweatshirt that shall not be mentioned ever again). 

I am lucky – and grateful – that I can do most of my Breyer shopping locally, so I only have to deal with this nonsense with club- and web-exclusive merchandise. 

But let’s close on a happier note: here’s a picture of my Glossy Atticus with his wee box:

I like him more than I thought I would. I am so used to seeing the Traditional Clydesdale Stallion mold with his hair braided that any other hairstyle makes him look like an “old school” custom to me, back when we only had a handful of Draft molds to work with and we had to make do. 

(He does make a nice Jutland or Brabant, with a little work.)

I do love this style of box – it reminds me of those tiny Whitman’s Sampler boxes, the kind that come with 4 to 6 pieces of fancy chocolates. The graphic design is very bold and visually appealing, too, very much in the style I would have gone for if I had designed it. The only change I would have made to the design would be to make the corner silhouette reflect who’s in the box.

But also a big YAY for reusable boxes. We haven’t had that for Stablemates since… the 1975 Sears Wishbook Stablemates that will now set you back a car payment, and the silverplated 25th Anniversary Saddlebred, that will set you back a couple of house payments. 

3 comments:

L. Robinson said...

Knowing there are problems and taking steps to resolve those problems are two separate things. The various shipping issues have been going on ever since Breyer switched warehouses over a year ago and, since the problems continue, it’s obvious that very little, if anything, is being done to correct them. When Breyer decided to switch warehouses they probably took bids and obviously took the cheapest and everyone knows the old saying of “You get what you pay for”. Unfortunately in this case it’s the collectors and hobbyists that are truly paying the price.

ANDREA said...

Sometimes things are more complicated than they appear to be on the surface; contract law is complicated, and none of us knows what contractual issues may be at play here.

The pandemic is also a factor in this situation, as either a justification or an excuse. But I think this particular situation and set of circumstances clearly puts the ball in Reeves' court now. All we're waiting for now is their decision on how to play it.

Anonymous said...

I was told that they didn't realize their system was filling orders randomly until all available stock had been shipped out. Considering how many issues they've had with this warehouse, i consider that their own fault for not making sure their system is set up correctly. They said they have taken steps to correct this for the future, but right now I'll believe that when I see it. I ordered mine and my sister's models two or three minutes apart. She received hers today and mine is on back order.
Personally, I think it would have been smarter to sell their initial stock first, ship it out, then open Lafayette up for back orders, but that's just my common sense talking.