Tuesday, September 19, 2023

The 1994 BreyerFest Benefit Auction

Well, I thought I had a fabulous weekend, but Monday made me pay for it. We’re talking sitcom-level, head-in-my-hands insanity, here. 

And to top it all off, I didn’t get selected for “Pronghorn” Yellowstone: I’m trying to understand how I managed to get not one, but two BreyerFest Variant Runs and a Live Show Prize model, but I still can’t get selected for Web Specials that are now up to (checks e-mail) 750 pieces?

Madness.

Since I’m in no mood to write today, here’s one of the posts I drafted over the weekend when life was not a snarling mass of chaos, and which I also thought I would not need to deploy until next weekend. So much for best laid plans! 

So here’s a few photos from the 1994 BreyerFest Auction, for your amusement and edification; they were a gift from a friend:





I remember being particularly enamored of both the Brindle Bay Proud Arabian Stallion and the Gloss Black Sham. 

I think the Dark Bay Indian Pony turned up on eBay a couple of years ago at an insanely low Buy It Now price, presumably because the seller probably thought it was the later Saddle Club Belle release. I didn’t save the pictures from that auction so I can’t confirm it, now that I kinda have a picture of the real deal…

I stuck around for some of the auctioneering, but I left part of the way through because I didn’t have the spare money to even buy the Lady Roxana. The only other thing I specifically remember from this auction is the fuss made by someone over the fact that they were auctioning off a Strawberry Roan Pluto that was almost identical to one sold the year before.  

Well, fuss wasn’t quite the word. This person was pissed. It was removed from the auction with the promise of it being destroyed, but I’m not sure that was a sufficiently satisfactory answer. 

Real Test Colors – ones made to test out things for actual production – are rarely unique. Most of the models that appeared at these early Benefit Auctions were actual Tests that were just hanging around the office at the time, and not stuff that was tailored to bidder preferences. 

It swung in the opposite direction for a while, but there seems to be more of a balance today, with some items clearly designed to generate bids, and others that were clearly more experimental. 

Anyway, I now need to take a deep breath and see what the rest of Tuesday has in store for me.

6 comments:

Corky said...

Ah yes, I remember the kerfuffle over that Pluto. I wasn't at the auction myself, but I heard from friends who were there that the model's legs were broken off right there, and that there were sobs from the audience.

Suzanne said...

That bay Western Horse...

Anonymous said...

I have the Classic Mustang Mare next to the Sham in the bottom pic (snagged from eBay eons ago). She was painted a weird roan over the pinto pattern. Let’s see if my link to the pic works: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AkQVeXd0qFc9etTph0msFLl9RTiNKVod/view?usp=drivesdk
Kelly Weimer

Anonymous said...

(You might have to cut and paste) -KW

Janie "Lysette" said...

My that was an auction to remember! I wished that the person with the Pluto had spoken up before the hammer fell. I was a kid with no way to afford even those early auction prices, but I could easily imagine the heartache of thinking you had just won a fantastic model only to have it taken away like that. I still dream of that rabicano Sham (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what they called him, but the picture makes him look more almost greyed out chestnut.) What a great group of models! I know one from this year turned up for cheap--I'd thought it was in a body lot, but can't quite recall the details. That has given me more nightmares than I care to admit as I so hope that many of my favorites from those early years are safe and loved.

Machines à Sous en ligne said...

Thanks for the effort you've made to make this blog so useful