Friday, April 7, 2023

Shelby

Apparently I was mistaken – Mignonette was Overall, not the Reserve in Mini! I’m so used to finishing second, I just naturally made the assumption…

As for what this forbodes for BreyerFest Live? Probably nothing. I’ve heard enough crazy stories about what happens there that I’m not going to take anything for granted, other than having a good time with my friends. I’ll take my best horses, document the heck out of everything, try not to miss any classes, and see what happens.

(Though if I do end up with a bunch of seconds and thirds, I’m not going to lie: that’s going to be super-duper aggravating.)

This year’s Spring Gambler’s Choice is something different: it’s not a Classic mold, and it’s something that’s already had a Gambler’s Choice released on it!

I like Shelby – especially the Grulla Appaloosa one – but do I love him enough to get one? I’m not so sure yet. I’m still in a Vintage kind of mood, and as much as I love the catlike dynamism of the Nokota Horse mold, he does take up a lot of space on the shelf.

The Nokota Horse mold is rather oddly shaped: he does not fit easily into a rectangular box like most Breyer models do. That’s why he’s had a larger-than-average number of Special Run releases in non-standard packaging: things like BreyerFest Special Runs, Mail-Order Specials, and Exclusive Event models. 

So his selection here makes some sort of sense. He is a moderately popular model, but his last realistic, non-Decorator release was the Exclusive Event Phantom Face in 2018; a more widely available release was the 2016 Flagship Store Special Toro in 2016. 

As for the April Fool’s joke Nokota, I wouldn’t necessarily rule out another appearance: the Decorator Khemosabis ended up as a Silent Auction lot at BreyerFest later that same year. And they’ve already made at least one other actual Roached Mane version of the mold (for last year’s BreyerFest Benefit Auction), so them testing the waters a little more with another auction piece does not seem implausible.

Like the Polo Pony version of the Smarty Jones mold, though, I’m not going to count on a more widely available version of him showing up anytime soon. 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

well he was a surprise horse so basically a gamblers choice run then too.

Anonymous said...

whoops sorry I can't seem to read past midnight. lol

PixelPerfectStables said...

I think this group is a replacement for the "Who Wore it Best" series, rather than for the Classic Gambler. I think it's still likely to see that one next month, or maybe early June. The classic gamblers have always sold well, so I doubt there's any reason to cancel that series. The WWIB on the other hand, I think turned out to be less popular.

Anonymous said...

"Who Wore It Best" just stunk... I don't think they even care who voted and for what, I think it was already decided anyway and that was just cheapshot advertising to engage people and interest them. Not falling for that crap again. Either make them or don't, no more fake voting.