Since I’ve been buying a lot of less desirable Collector’s Club Appreciation Glossies recently (the mule Buckeye is on his way!) the currently crop of Glossies has been less of a temptation, especially since my favorite of the bunch – the Black Brishen Sjoerd – seems to be everyone else’s least-loved.
Conversely, I am not too keen on the Peptoboomsmal: I tried my best to love him or even like the Dundee/Australian Stock Horse mold –the 2022 Flagship Special Romeo should have been a no-brainer for me, for a couple of reasons – but I am having a hard time warming up to him.
The other two are also very nice, but they are more in the like, rather than love category: the Morgan is pretty, but also pretty huge, and the Totilas is a bit tippy.
So I took a pass on the offer this time. Maybe I’ll be able to trade for a Glossy Sjoerd at BreyerFest: I just finished my sales list and it’s definitely an eclectic one. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find someone to trade something for it!
My mind is on a dozen different things today (someone or something literally bent some of my metal garden fenceposts to the ground, and I have no idea how) so I’ll wrap up a couple of talking points from the comments and move on to other topics next time.
The color on the Vintage Custom Black Stallion was not extensively retouched; if anything, he’s actually a bit darker than I received him, since I had a hard time matching his highlights. Any perceived brightness can be attributed to a fresh application of varnish and outdoor lighting. Like Reeves, photography is not my strongest suit!
As for my opinion of the final disposition of the Test Color Appaloosa Performance Horse: I am assuming, unless proven otherwise, that the sale was taken private: there are always ways. The conversation about him that appeared shortly afterward may well have contributed to his disappearance. I think the fact that my other purchase – also a Test Color! – happened a few hours later, yet was not canceled actually strengthens this argument.
A hobbyist who was genuinely concerned about the seller would have also seen the Classic and insisted that one be canceled as well. The fact that they let that one go suggests to me that it was someone who either had no idea it was a Test, or was a “high point” collector with little interest or concern for plain, Chicago-era Classics. (Or regard for what their fellow hobbyists think of them, too.)
Because an odd little Black Stallion with four stockings and gray hooves definitely doesn’t have the same allure as an early BreyerFest Auction Test Color that’s been “missing” for 30 years, or the same potential for a financial return on their investment.
For the record, I am not a fan of “high point” collectors of any stripe: they tend to throw their money around rather carelessly, distorting the market in the process and make life difficult for collectors of more modest means.
6 comments:
As a new collector, how do you find these rare/unique models on Ebay? Is it just experience / luck to catch the right thing at the right time? I feel like most of the stuff I see on Ebay is wildly overpriced - I've heard that the site steals a large portion of the cut though nowadays.
Rarities show up all the time: it's just a matter of doing your research and paying attention.
Because the hobby has largely moved to (ugh) Facebook, I've found that it's far more likely that you'll find something rare on eBay than elsewhere, because active hobbyists are actively avoiding it. A lot of Facebook-centric hobbyists either know exactly what they have or overvalue it, and bargains aren't as common.
They've been saying that about eBay literally since the day it started. Internet-wise, it's a "mature" marketplace compared to others. But it has a reach beyond the hobby, and sometimes you can find things there you will find nowhere else.
If it's the seller I think it is, they also had another horse that might have been a test color - I think they had it listed as Splash, but unless Splash had four white feet with high stockings, a really light color, and a ton of pink on his nose... that wasn't Splash unless that was a weird variation. Either way, it sounds like the seller might not know much about models (the seller is also a dick for not honoring deals). Maybe they're trying to disperse a collection? I know this happened when one of my great aunts passed. She had quite the collection of Breyers (things like chalkies and pearlies) and her models were either given away to kids or donated to the local Salvation Army. Sadly, I was out of the country at the time, so I couldn't save most of the collection.
eBay has a lot of interesting things on it! I've found several models (aka half of my Ethereal collection) labeled as a generic "mustang" and thus sold for far under what you might get for it on Facebook (up to and including my Conquistador. I think he was part of an estate?).
I always wonder what happens to Breyerfest auction models once they leave to their new homes. How many of them wind up at the local Salvation Army once the owners die?
Not all collectors that have high value horse pay crazy prices.
Some of us dicker, haggle, trade and find deals. People might assume I have deep pockets, they are wrong. Just in the right place at the right time.
I only have 1 I've paid a stupid amount for me on.
Collectors may find things in the wild (antique stores, flea markets, Goodwill and the like) that are rare or expensive and they score a good deal. Personally, when I take stuff to Goodwill or wherever, I might wonder, is X item worth something? And then I think, I don’t care, and if someone else wants to put the time and effort into dealing with it, good for them.
As far as people “throwing their money around carelessly”, I don’t know really know what that means. An item is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. There are always going to be people with more resources; I don’t understand why that makes them obligated to behave a certain way.
It’s troubling to me how this hobby talks about specific transactions (vs finding something in the wild). On the one hand, a buyer might hope that the seller has no idea what they have and hope the seller doesn’t figure it out, which to me is unfair, (especially if the seller is another hobbyist, who may be less experienced and knowledgeable). And the on the other hand, people should only spend a “reasonable” amount of money to keep things fair? In general, I wish this hobby was a little better at educating newcomers, and then perhaps some of the extreme situations could be avoided?
The FB group I'm in seems to have several very knowledgeable members, and then lots of newcomers, and some older collectors rediscovering their herds. I've posted links to your blog several times, hope that's okay!
What I enjoy about the group is there are quite a few members who also enjoy "imperfect" horses. (The ones I can't stand are photos of 12 slightly different charcoal Running Stallions...I'm reminded of King Haggard). What I love the most is, members will post pictures of themselves with their horses from decades past- Christmas mornings, birthdays, or just kids on the lawn with their tiny horses.
FB is only as intrusive as you allow it to be. I don't have the app, and I try to avoid the icky chain-mail type stuff people like to post. I think weeks may go by between visiting the site. But it's a hoot to share tiny horse pics with folks who understand their appeal.
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