Whenever I have a monetarily-better-than-average BreyerFest, I always fear the inevitable payback.
Win a Raffle Model? Epic Roommate meltdown that ends with me sleeping in a patio chair near the pool in the hotel. I am uninvited to that wedding and never see this person ever again.
Get picked to Volunteer the first time? In the month prior to BreyerFest, a half dozen different roommates leave me in the lurch for a full double suite, including one who informs me three days before I leave. Oh, and my first Volunteer shift is 9 a.m. Friday, so I have to watch people march past me into one of the best NPOD years ever.
(‘Twas the year of the German Stablemate Sets and the Interior Decorating Show Samples. ‘Nuff said.)
Win the Costume Contest the first time? Break a tooth so bad it needs a crown. (And me without dental insurance!)
Win the Costume Contest the second time? Break my foot. Insurance does cover most of it, but because I wasn’t able to work full-time for a month afterwards, I end up with a credit card debt from all my other expenses that takes me nearly five years to pay off. (It never got bigger, but it also never got smaller.)
This year: get a Glossy Surprise Model in a Warehouse Box in the NPOD, a Test Color Ginger in the “Body Box”, and that beautiful Carina Zeitgeist as the Volunteer Model. This year’s payback?
I bought two Warehouse Finds boxes off the website during BreyerFest, spending nearly $450 (cost + shipping + taxes) and this is literally all I’ll be keeping from it:
The most exciting thing in the boxes? The free magnet! And of course, the 2019 One-Day Stablemate just had to be Arya, the one Special Run that sent me into an apoplectic fit that year.
(I still don’t like it, but this is the third one I’ve ended up with so far – all against my will, I wish to have on record – so by accepting this one I hope the Universe will finally stop sending them to me.)
I also purchased a Torlinie, but he was thrown underneath one of the Warehouse Find boxes, and I am stunned he is still in one piece.
Or maybe not: even though the box was big enough to stuff an actual Shetland Pony in, it was about 70 percent packing material.
(He’s really cute in person, by the way! Would definitely recommend!)
All told, I will probably lose at least $150 on this deal, maybe more: none of the extra stuff is in particularly high demand, or even selling at retail. I already have plenty of better things to sell, and when I finally get the time, that is what I am devoting my limited resources to. (In other words, it is all probably BreyerFest sales fodder for next year. Bleh.)
While I more than made up for it with everything else I acquired over the weekend, this also happened to come at the end of a rough week for me and definitely did not help improve my mood. And it was pretty much why I spent a significant chunk of my Sunday in the garage getting some quality time in with unsold bodies and my Dremel drill.
(Suddenly I am possessed of the idea of turning a Western Prancing Horse into a replica of an antique Staffordshire Pottery Zebra. Because sure, what is one more unfinished custom project, hey...)
Next time, I think I’ll skip the online Grab Bags entirely and just order things that are a known quantity.
8 comments:
Man, what a bust. I am slightly jealous of the magnet though, I won't lie! Hopefully your days got better over the weekend & this week, if not stupendous, is at least tolerable.
🤗
The Western Prancer is a good pick-me-up! And I'd love to see pics of projects, I totally understand unfinished projects :^)
The Online grab bags seem to be mostly a disappointment (well, except for the Holographic Uffingtons, I mean.) I think most of us were hoping they were true Grab Bags: a random assortment of whatever theme they were titled. I ordered the SR bag, hoping maybe I'd find a Chanel - but seeing what everyone has posted, it is models from the last two Breyerfests, no older than that. Although I could be wrong: I'm still waiting after receiving Breyer's UPS ship notice "The delivery date will be provided as soon as possible." - Unchanged, of course, from 8 days ago. And I'm still very nervous about having paid $100 (plus shipping!) for the pig-in-a-poke that was the Online SR opportunity - I will be more than a little cranky if I paid for a sete of $60 Bears. I understand the shipping cost, and I even understand if they sold at the $85 Surprise price. I don't understand the additional premium on top of that especially with no ranking available and the gross price disparity. If the box ever shows up, that is.
My special run online random was a Franz with a very very bent rear leg fortunately a lot of patients and some hot water amended that. I skipped all other bags and basically got the crystal Pam and tue best of stablemates I got one of the new arabian with the blue diamonds as well but he had a rough paint job. While I really wanted a stein Franz was high on my lost and yes glad I didn't get gummy bears I simply have no where to collect the animals. Sorry about your rough week
Today I got a migraine at work, but then I came home and found out I was picked for Peregrine. So I guess today was a wash?
Wow! You were drawn for Peregrine?! Are you going to get him? I saw one is listed on ebay already. Are there that many people out there who just resell models like that, or do you think most people are actual collectors? Mainly I'm curious because of the scarcity of the Steins available for Breyerfest and then the sudden explosion of Steins on ebay. Made me wonder if anybody actually kept him! (If I'd ended up with one, I certainly would have kept him!)
Lydia, there were plenty of Steins for sale at the Clarion (the host hotel). Every room I walked into on Friday & Saturday evenings had at least 1 or 2 for sale. Some rooms had as many as 5 or 6. They were priced from $200 to as pricey as $400 & most did not sell. As I left the hotel Saturday night I saw lots of people pulling him off the shelves & packing him up.
I am a big collector, got picked for Peregrine. In between entering and being picked puppers decided a trip to the vet would be fun. So I did list him for sale.
Vet bill = $0.00!!! Part of their monthly Wellness program paid off!! My horse closed with my in mind reserve of what I assumed the bill would be not met. So YAY I get to keep him! And pupper is doing alright now!
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