Just a general head’s up here, guys: I’m not in a mood to put up with anyone else’s nonsense for the next week or so. I’m not singling out anyone in particular – everyone in my orbit is being undelightful to be around, and I am going to be charitable and chalk it up to the season, both holiday and weather.
The darkest times of the year sometimes bring out the darkest parts of us all.
Go get yourselves some sun lamps, go for a walk, go fire up the Dremel drill and cut up a random body in your body box. Just do something besides getting yourselves riled up over something you read on the Internet.
(In case you’re interested, I’ll working on an old string pieced quilt top this weekend, whenever I’m not toiling away on a work project.)
I like Elsa. I think she’d make a lovely companion to my beloved BreyerFest Celtic Fling Special Run Angus Bull Hamish. I would still have preferred any other animal (especially since she was already used for another Holiday Animal Special Run in 2017, the Gold Charm Eldora and Sol), but Breyer Cattle collectors are nothing if not devout and loyal buyers:
I do not care that they’re making 1000 pieces of her. I am uninterested in her future resale value: that’s not how I roll. If Reeves thinks they can sell 1000 of her, that’s their business. If they discover that they’ve made a mistake, they’ll eat the loss, learn the lesson, and move on.
I didn’t think they’d sell nearly 500 pieces of that black and gold polka-dotted Bighorn Ram, but they did. I didn’t get picked, and I know I wasn’t the only one. (I’m good, guys: I have no burning desire for one. Bunyan, on the other hand…)
Elsa is prettier, and glossy, and on a Cattle mold, so I understand some of the mathematics behind the decision. I am not keen on the price, but I suspect that they did not have enough bodies lying around since the last time they used her in 2017, and firing up an infrequently used mold is not cheap. (And also not something you do for a few hundred pieces.)
If the increased production numbers manage to suppress the urges (or profit margins) of potential flippers, more power to them. It’s depressing enough to see so many people so willing to cough up such enormous sums of money for certain rarities (like the Ponies and Palm Trees Centerpiece Afgana, ugh.)
Even though I’m pretty good at securing rarities myself, I also have resources and a knowledge base that is not typical of most hobbyists.
I’d rather more people get what they want, rather than the same handful of collectors not only getting what they want, but dictating the market prices for the rest of us.
17 comments:
Amen! The resale market for Breyers is just ridiculous. And when you don't live in the US, it's downright depressing.
The high run numbers make the models a lot less desirable, especially for the money. The whole point of a COLLECTOR CLUB is to have something COLLECTIBLE, and if it's common, who needs it? Especially given the abysmal quality of late. You could spend a whole lot less collecting regular runs, bobble heads or cheapie knickknacks from the drugstore, and then you would actually know what you're getting. It's a nice cow, but not $150 (plus tax, plus ridiculous shipping and however else they decide to pad the bill) worth of nice at that run number.
No offense meant to anyone --but may I humbly express my own personal opinion and just say that I agree with Andrea about the size of the runs that Breyer is offering to every one! I don't believe for one moment that it akes any model less desirable to those who truly want it for themselves! I know that I'm overjoyed that Breyer is even listening to the constant never happy complainers and even offering us a chance to purchase one !
Again-no offense meant--but I happen to *really * like ELSA and for me, it's not the price point--but the timing that prevents me from entering for her! Not everyone "live shows" and therefore, the very minor blemishes aren't a big deal! I'd like to have one to match my "Hamish"--so I'll wait and see what the secondary market prices bring!
Finally--speaking of which, ummmm--gonna be REAL interesting to see what that silver filigree model is going to be revealed as (*PLEASE--NOT "HAMILTON"!!) and see if the complaints are the same about its price points!! Thanks for reading my long winded humble opinion!
I love seeing the reactions & comments of all the flippers who are absolutely losing it because Breyer up the run # w/o lowering the price so now they won’t be able to buy up half the run then sell it on eBay or Facebook or MH$P for 3-5x what they paid.
All of them specifically mention the BF bull from a couple of years ago which was also a run of 1,000 & cost $65. What they deliberately don’t mention is on the secondary market that bull generally sells for $120-$140 plus shipping. So the CC Elsa’s price isn’t that outlandish. Breyer has effectively killed the secondary market for Elsa so that people who actually want her for their collections can get her directly from Breyer.
Message to all the Flippers: You deliberately buy as many exclusive models as you can get your greedy, grubby little hands on & create a scarcity for models that are already hard to get just so you can exploit that scarcity for your own gain. YOU are the reason Breyer keeps upping their prices. Breyer sees what YOU price & sell these models for on the secondary market & now you want to cry & complain when Breyer decides to get in on the action. STFU. Flippers created this monster & now that it’s finally bit them in the butt they have the audacity to b*tch about it. Honestly, just STFU.
For the record a “Flipper” is someone who has no interest in models beyond their monetary value. They don’t want models for their own collection & many aren’t even hobbyists or don’t have collections. They’re only interested in SR’s, LE’s, exclusives & other HTF models since they have the highest resale value. They put ads on sites as soon as the model is announced.
I’m not talking about hobbyists who occasionally sell models to downsize or raise money for an unexpected bill or who want to redo their show string or finance a grail. We all do those things.
FWIW, Breyer knows what kind of model they have with Hamilton, so I think it's unlikely he'll be the Silver Filigree, unless they also up the run count into the thousands.
Or any Gambler's Choice/Surprise model, for that matter. I do expect him to be a BreyerFest SR in the very near future, though.
AMEN to shafting the flippers. I am SO TIRED of losing out on a SR and then seeing it listed for 2-3x cost within hours of release.
I entered for Elsa for a friend. Should we be lucky enough to all win, I'd probably look to trade her for one of those aforementioned SRs I didn't win but still need...
I love her ears! I'm not into non-horse Breyers, but the Cow, Brahma Bull & Bison have tempted me from time to time.
Ha...yeah, I almost bought a Sable Island...sort of regretting it, since she looks great in solid bay. (The Croi Damsha and the Hartland Mustang would look smashing together!) Took a peek on Ebay a couple weeks ago, and there were only NIB Sables, selling at double the original price. The matte ones, not the glossies! I was hoping for one that had been taken out of the box, found to be less than perfect, to be sold to me to be part of my imperfect herd.
I feel a little sorry for Breyer, not correcting their prices sooner...you're supposed to raise the price when people have money to burn, not when they start tightening their belts.
I hope I get drawn for an Elsa! I got Hamish second hand this year. First time I've ever paid triple digits for a model, but even grocery shopping is a triple digit hobby now. Ha! Now I'm just kicking myself for letting several Uffingtons slip by this summer because I wanted to snag him for under $95 shipped. Stupid me. I've been selling a few of my Breyers on ebay recently so I can hopefully start getting some of the "higher end" horses and some from the 00'-20' years that I was out of the hobby or couldn't afford as a kiddo collector. I still regret not asking for the 2001 Carousel horse music box that my mom and I found at Tuesday Morning that Christmas. (They had one, as well as a Running Stallion "Zena's Argo" and Midnight Tango. It's amazing what details your childhood mind stores permanently.) I think it was even priced less than $30...Sigh.
But I must say, I really love the fact that I can get excited about these things with y'all. :)
I'm tired of calling them flippers.
To me they are scalpers.
As I've said before, it would also be nice if Breyer would limit people to ONE collector account. There are people with three and four accounts, probably more. I'm not interested in Elsa, but if I was, I'd be pretty disgusted thinking that I was competing against people with multiple accounts to get something relatively rare.
And c'mon, flippers, 1,000 pieces is still pretty rare. I'm currently trying to downsize a bit, and have the "Freedom" bloody-shoulder PAS on my sales list; he was "limited to 10,000"!
Personally, I’m glad they’ve been increasing the run numbers. If a collector wants a model, they should be able to get it. It shouldn’t be just the people with deep pockets throwing their weight around and getting whatever the hell they want while leaving everyone else out.
I am thrilled at the higher run numbers. With as many collectors as there are 1,000 is still a relatively small run. I did win Elsa and couldn't be more thrilled. I have not won any birds or wildlife series items so this is a biggie for me (Still feeling the sting of Bunyan with the rest of ya'!). I pay to be in the Collector Club and it would be nice to reap the benefits a bit more often.
I'm hoping they have some left over for a 2nd chance draw. Neither Larry or I were picked and we want her! -E
I have no problem with the "higher" run numbers. I think everyone that wants something should have good odds of getting it. For me, it was the $150 price tag that discouraged me from putting in for her. For $150, it better be something I'm absolutely in love with. And while she is lovely, I don't love her $150 worth. So....if I don't want it for my personal collection, I don't even put in for it. It seems like most people don't think that way though. They are like, I "won" this model and I really don't want it, so here I am re-selling it. Geesh, why even put in for it then?
That’s just an excuse a lot of flippers/scalpers use to “justify” selling an exclusive model for 3x the cost. There’s also a lot of major car repairs, unexpected vet bills & trips to the doctor right around the time a CC lottery model is released. I’m not saying those expenses don’t happen but more often than not those are just excuses or outright lies. Some hobbyists are more willing to pay inflated secondary prices if they think the $ is going toward vets to help a sick animal or doctors for an injured child & flippers/scalpers know it & exploit it, just as they exploit almost all aspects of the hobby.
1000 is still extremely collectible, considering a regular run is 10,000 or more. So far as flippers, well, I also see the market for plastic models as pure capitalism: if there weren't buyers, the flippers would have nothing to flip. Which is not to say I don't resent people with multiple accounts buying ONLY to sell... BUT while I did not get pulled at all for Club models in 2021, I was pulled for both Kalahari AND Elsa this fall (which has made it a pretty expensive season for me.)
And really, is it better to be a black hole collector, whose models are not released until death, or to sell them *at market value*? I say this having bought at least one model at a "flipper" price but also having had the generous luck of another collector buying me this year's SR at her own cost.
(And I think the number of sellers who apparently use their model collection as a bank, when they need emergency funds, says something, but I'm not sure what. Budget, people, budget!)
Sigh. I really did want her--like, for my collection--but didn't get picked. There are 17 listed on eBay right now :-( .
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