Fandango and Stuff

The weather’s getting cold and the Seasonal Affective Disorder is starting to kick in, so it’s another random, hodge-podge kind of day.

With the end of the year approaching, we’re going to get hit with a ton of news about next year’s everything; I’m not overly concerned about BreyerFest, but I am kind of curious if there’s an Exclusive Event in the works, since that might affect my travel plans for next year. (Especially since BreyerWest is a no-go.)

Incidentally, it’s unlikely I’ll be traveling for pleasure from now until the end of the year, model horse related or otherwise. I mean, I essentially drove the circumference of Wyoming, I think I can relax. 

Speaking of that, I am contemplating dedicating the month of November to writing the very first draft of the travel memoir, NaNoWriMo style. If I can get some of the craft projects I’m working on to a better place, which is not entirely certain.

I saw the price that Sorceror’s Apprentice went for on eBay – yikes! Especially since they were going for about $400 not all that long ago. I wonder if the fact that this mold hasn’t been translated into plastic like Avalon (Paddock Pal) and Prince Charming (Stablemate) is having any bearing on the prices, or is it just another example of the secondary market being straight-up insane?

The two customs I gave a quick coat of primer to the other day are now looking less terrible, though I think I am at a point with both of them where may stop fiddling with them and just wrap them up and move onto the next ones. My inability to “let go” has probably been the biggest impediment to finishing, aside from my anxiety about painting.

I have no preference on the Virkie; I haven’t gotten a Splash on any of these Gambler’s Choice models, so maybe that one?  

I am a little annoyed with myself for not holding out that extra day on ordering my Thunderbird, though. I already “ordered” the Fandango, since the shipping was free:

Like the Paddock Pals thing, I am having a little bit of a hard time mentally reconciling the existence of a previous Fandango – a 2004 BreyerFest Live Show Prize Moody Andalusian in Matte Dun – with the new one. Then again, the likelihood of me ever acquiring the first Fandango is laughably small. 

Gwendolyn

I have a million and one things to do today so I’ll be ready to go when I get up tomorrow morning to drive the two or so hours to get to the live show. I’m not in terrible shape – certainly better than the last show I tanked at – but I’m freaking out a little bit because it’s just far enough away that there’s no turning back once I hit the road. 

Here’s one of the ones I’m leaving behind, incidentally. My Gwendolyn:

She was a 2005 BreyerFest Special Run, and a pretty limited one at that, even in those less-crowded times: they only made 550 pieces of her! I got super-duper lucky and managed to snag one of the last ones in my ticket time that year.

The other models I got that year included the Moody Andalusian Galahad – who was way more fabulous in person than his pictures suggested – and the Isabel & Chloe Unicorn set, which was also cuter than I imagined them to be. 

I wasn’t attracted to the Gwendolyn because of her piece count – the lowest of all the Special Runs offered that year – but because I thought she was the prettiest. When I saw what her piece count was, I did get a bit nervous. Hobbyists are hobbyists, you know...

I would have been fine with the Belgian Arthur – and I’ve even priced them occasionally, because his paint job is really well-shaded – but I’ve never had the gumption to pull the wallet out and actually pay up.

That was a bad year for Reeves in terms of piece counts: they miscalculated the demand for the plastic Specials in favor of the Porcelain Romantico. There were a lot of unhappy campers at the end of the lines that weekend.

The reason Gwendolyn got the cut from the showstring was because she’s just every so slightly yellowed, and the experience of my also very faintly yellowed Premier Club Marwari finishing second – in BREED!!! – to an Old Timer at the last show still stings. 

I mean, you could make an argument for the placement in terms of Collectibility, but Breed? Old Timer? Judges, man....

Just Take My Paycheck, Please

This week has been pretty traumatic: dentist appointment on Monday (all good!), family medical emergency on Tuesday (everyone is home, and fine), and the Collectors Club Appreciation Event on Wednesday (got my order in in under two minutes, then went to bed.)

The CCA Event was just as much a surprise to me as everyone else; I thought that they’d be skipping it at this point too, but they decided to go with glossing last year’s 70th Anniversary Models – including the Chase Piece Smarty Jones! – and they all look amazing. 

The only CCA horse I’m slightly meh on is the Andalusian, because he’s not significantly different from previous gray-based Andalusian releases, and if I want to add more Moody Andalusians to the family (I do!), it’s going to be either the Slime Green and Silver BreyerFest Surprise SR or the original Black, with lavender undertones. I wouldn’t turn down a Glorioso, either.

The offer is still up, which isn’t entirely surprising, since (a) a lot of people I know opted out this year due to buyer fatigue, and (b) a lot of merchandise was already sold out or out of stock on the web site. For me, I wanted all of the new individually-carded Stablemates but they have been in short supply all year. So I had to opt for an Obsidian instead, whose sparkling dark floofiness has been distracting me every time I spied one in a store somewhere. 

(Also in my order: Omega Fahim, the Palominos and Pintos Stablemates Set, and both pairs of socks. All things I actually wanted.)

Oh, and I don’t know how that happened, but I also managed to get drawn for Zugspitze. The price was a little… painful, but a lot of that is our own darn fault for turning so many of these Web Specials into cash grabs. Of course the price is going to go up.

I’ve done okay with the Winter Web Specials in general; the only one that still makes me wince slightly in pain at the sight of him is Benasque, and he has that effect on a lot of hobbyists. 

Anyway, so all that’s possibly left for the year are the Christmas Day Special and the Winter Decorator Animal.

As long as the Christmas Day Special isn’t the Fell Pony or something Vintage like the Jeanne Mellin Herrick Friesian or Misty’s Twilight, I might be fine without it? I hope? We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, I guess. (The current odds-on favorite is the Croi Damsha/Connemara, and I might be able to resist that.)

I’m a little more concerned about a potential Winter Decorator Animal, especially since my mind went to some interesting places last thinking of possible candidates. In addition to my perennial suggestions – the Silver Charm Elk, and a Wedgwood Blue Polled Hereford Bull – my exhaustion- and Benadryl-fueled brain also thought a Gold Charm Saint Bernard or a Rainbow Calico UniKitten would be pretty awesome.  

(You know you want it. Or want to see it!)

Edit: Fifteen minutes later... 

Collector’s Club Exclusive Micro Run named Bunyan. 

Oh Sweet Jumping Jesus on a Pogo Stick!

I will now go into the shower and have a good long cry.

Overwhelming, Part Two: The Predicting

I was going to get all fancy with this post and pull out the big words and the big thoughts, but I seem to be coming down with something and all I want to do at this point is eat a bowl of ice cream and go to bed.

So here’s a few relatively unorganized predictions for BreyerFest next year. The usual caveats apply: these are just predictions. I have no special insights or actual intel into what’s actually happening next year, but as you may have seen (sometimes in real time!) I apparently do have some inkling of how they think at Breyer HQ. Which freaks me out as much as you guys, guys.

(Though I was genuinely shocked to discover that many hobbyists did not even have the Moody Andalusian on their radar for this year’s Surprise. That one seemed… pretty obvious?)

The “Celtic Fling” theme is broad enough to include most breeds originating in the vicinity of the British Isles, but for all practical purposes most people are going to interpret it as “Irish”. This is a darn shame but there’s nothing I can do to change public opinion, especially as a decidedly non-Gaelic person. I just hope that – as has been the case in some themes previous – that stereotypes are not necessarily given the nod when various prizes and awards are handed out.

Breeds that immediately come to mind: most of the ponies that occupy/originate in that part of the world, Gypsy Vanners/Drum Horses, Irish Warmbloods and Thoroughbreds.

Possible Special Run molds: Croi Damsha, Brishen/Gypsy Vanner. Rhian & Cadell, True North, Bristol, Cantering Welsh Pony, Bouncer, Fell Pony Emma, Newsworthy, the Show Jumping Warmblood, and just for kicks and giggles, the Bluegrass Bandit.

There is a slight possibility that there might be an Othello, but not as a Surprise. A Decorator, maybe….

Celebration Horse: The Croi or the Brishen are most likely, absent any other evidence.

Surprise Model: See Celebration Horse. I prefer the Brishen because it comes with multiple mane and tail options, and isn’t so popular that it’ll cause an epic hobby meltdown. I also think Bluegrass Bandit is a possibility because it’s come in Translucent before, and hasn’t had so many releases that all the color combos have been exhausted. And there is always one mold that makes us go really, now?

Decorator(s): There are lots of options here. Something Book of Kells-themed? Fairies? Kelpies? Or something stereotypically green, with shamrocks et al? (Experience has told me, alas, that when in doubt, the stereotype usually wins out.)

Something Gold Charm is also not out of the question – as a reference to Celtic/Fairy/Leprechaun (ugh) Gold. I could also see this as part of a Surprise-Surprise (see below).

Nonhorse: I’d be happy with almost anything except another Bull, except for the #365 Black Angus Bull in something different or daring because it’s time, dangnabit. I’d rather it be an Irish Donkey on the old Standing Donkey mold, but I am probably dreaming at this point. (Would make an excellent Pop-Up Store item. Just sayin’.)

Surprise-Surprises: Next year is another anniversary – Breyer’s 70th, as they count it – and I doubt they will let that fact go completely unrecognized. I am unsure they want to pull the same stunt they did this year with the bazillion Micro Run variations, but I wouldn’t rule out a Golden Charm-type Surprise of that nature, either.

But that’s also why I think it’s more likely they’ll honor the anniversary with a Vintage mold or two, either as a Tent or a Pop-Up Special Run. Right now my money is on the Cantering Welsh Pony, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see something like the Bell-bottomed Shire, Running Mare, or even the Jumping Horse. (Or, as I mentioned above, the Donkey.)

One-Day Stablemates: I have no idea, but names from myth and legend wouldn’t be unexpected – like Morrigan, Boudicca, Danu, Epona, etc. (Hmm. Maybe they can slip the G1 molds in here as their Vintage tribute? That would be fun, she says only slightly sarcastically…)

Random Thoughts: other things that might be worked into the theme include whiskey, golf, minstrels and bards, Saint Patrick, and my favorite (of course!) – something referencing the cult classic movie Highlander.

And for something completely offbeat: Special Run Wind Dancers. Because fairies. More likely: the Wind Dancer Plush, for the Pop-Up Store Plushie.

I could go on with some suggestions and improvements to the event itself, but as there has been a ton of news, new releases and whatnot in the past week, I’ll leave that on the table for another time.

(Yes, I saw THAT thing on eBay. I have thoughts, and feelings.)

Unsurprisingly

The Hero’s Surprise numbers are out, and of course, OF COURSE, my favorite is again the rare one – not the Rare-Rare 30-piece Anniversary one, but the one that would be rare in any other given year:

Dark Dapple Grey: 1000 Matte, 200 Glossy
Chestnut Pinto: 850 Matte, 200 Glossy
Dappled Pearl: 650 Matte, 200 Glossy
Rose Grey: 520 Matte, 200 Glossy
Decorator: 400 Glossy
Pearly Black Leopard Appaloosa: 30 Matte

How do they manage to do that? How do I manage to do that?

I really do want to get that Lime Green one eventually. But since I’m still having a few, uh, inventory issues here, I’ll just wait it out and then maybe do some strategic trades and sales or something in the meantime to build up the war chest.

I don’t care which subvariation – the mostly silver or the mostly green – just whoever happens to be available at the right time and the right price.

I am also considering the same with the Saint Bernard Blue Bucky variation, who just had to appear when I thought maybe my Traditional Dog collection was within spitting distance of being complete!

Since my options were rather limited in my second go-round in the Special Run Line – I took a gamble on the number draw, and naturally lost – I went with a second Bucky (in addition to a Pepper), who was pretty much the same as the first.

Knew I should have gone for a Natasha instead! She was much nicer in person compared to her pictures (not unexpectedly), and to be honest I think of all the variations they came out with this year, she was straight-up the prettiest. I am such a sucker for a nicely executed liver chestnut…

I’d like to think that maybe I’d still have a shot at her with the Leftovers Sale, but I don’t know what the situation is going to be there – what’s going to be available, and when – so I am just taking the extremely reasonable assumption that it’s going to happen when I am not online to partake, anyway.

And if I am, just be happy when I inevitably open up the Bay Pinto.

BreyerFest 2019, Part One

I’m not yet done unpacking and my brain is still stuck in unfiltered mode (four days in the hot Kentucky sun shorts it out that way) so how’s this deal: something short and rambly today, and something longer and more focused on Thursday?

Good? Good.

I managed to snag my two primary wants from the SR line, Bucky and Rocket; I couldn’t get a Quill or a Diana because my place in line with my second ticket was teh awful, so I ended up with what was left: (another) Bucky and Pepper.

No fun variations to be had in my selection, which is what I expected: I haven’t gotten anything “awesome” in the Ticket SR line – Glossy or Rarity – since 2012, and I wasn’t expecting that to change. I am not one of those people.

(Yes, both the Pinto Rocket and Benasque Blue Bucky did make me whimper. Quite a lot, actually. Mostly in private.)

My prediction of the Surprise Andalusian was spot on, and the variation bonanza did not surprise me in the least – other than the scope of it. I do like how that managed to draw some of the focus off the Surprise Special a little bit.

I know it did for me.

I like the Moody Andalusian and have several, including that glorious BreyerFest Special of yore Galahad, but knowing that I had a shot at a possible variation with all of the other Specials made it easier for me to stick to my original choices, rather than attempt to get one of the Surprises I wanted.

Which were the Medicine Hat Pinto and – you guessed it! – the Translucent Lime Green Silver Filigree. The latter was not my idea, but to the currently unknown somebody at Breyer HQ who dreamed up that confection: you get me.

(And no, I had no idea they’d be going with that when I wrote the post about my love of the color lime green back in May. Another coincidence, people. Seriously.)

I have no info about the variations, though what I’ve been hearing is 30 different variations total, with 30 pieces being made of the rarest (like the Pinto Diana, another heartbreaker for me) and others being 50/50 splits.

I am hoping that they’ll publish all the details soon, if only to quell the rumors floating around.

I neither like nor dislike next year’s theme, which is “Celtic Fling”: this seems to put me in the minority. I have nothing against it (except the inevitable onslaught of leprechauns) and I will say that I already have some ideas for Costume Contest and Diorama Contest entries, depending on what the exact focus of these contests are. (Especially the Diorama: for as much heartache as that contest gives me, I do love the challenge of assembling my entry.)

I am also giving some serious consideration to both the Live Show and the Custom Contest, but right now I just want to spend my time recovering from this year.

(And quilting. Lots and lots of quilting.)

Malik and the Classic Andalusian Stallion

It’s nice to see everyone excited about a new Classics mold that not either a Love reissue, or a repurposed Nonplastics/Gallery piece:

A lot of the excitement over Malik is because OMG, it’s an affordable Original Finish Plastic Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Arabian! 

That’s totally fair.

But what got me excited was its obvious visual shout-back to another Breyer Classics milestone, the Andalusian Family Stallion:

Breyer had released individual Classics-scale horses as early as 1965 – starting with the Rearing Horse Rex – and used the molds leased from Hagen-Renaker in the early 1970s to launch the “Classics” line altogether.

But in late 1978, the Andalusian Family became Breyer’s first fully formed, internally-designed (Hess, of course) Classics family set.

More sets would shortly follow, including the No. 3040 Black Beauty Family and Friends Set and the No. 3035 USET Gift Set in 1980, and the No. 3030 The Black Stallion Returns Set in 1983.

The Andalusian Family was such a big deal for me, though, that I went out of my way to hand my aunt the Bentley Sales Company order forms – carefully annotated, naturally – with my Christmas list, so I could be the first kid in my social circle to have them, at least a month or two before they hit retail stores!

(Yes, that’s the very Stallion from the set that I received, above.)

It was also an important moment for me personally, as it was one of the earliest moments in my life that I realized I had access to the power and resources of a “fandom” – i.e. the model horse community – and I liked it!

Double Take

No, not that Double Take. This one:

When I caught my first glimpse of the new Collector’s Club Special Celeste, my first thought was “That’s kind of a bold move Reeves, going with a Misty’s Twilight mold.” 

Then I did a face palm and realized it was actually the newer Eberl Andalusian Mare, instead. But take a gander at the 1997 State Line Tack Special Run Kokopelli’s Gold, and you can (maybe?) kind of see why someone like me might have been a wee bit confused?

Yes, even I conflate one model with another. Maybe moreso than the average hobbyist, since I have a bigger-than-average reference file: my brain goes straight to old stuff, instead of the new.

Maybe conflating Misty’s Twilight and the Andalusian Mare is also another reason why I’ve been having a hard time mustering more affection for the newer mold? If anything, I slightly prefer the Misty’s Twilight, and the historical shout out to Currier and Ives prints.

(If I had had the time – and more motivation – to do it, my Diorama Contest entry for BreyerFest this year would have been a recreation of a Currier and Ives harness racing print, preferably one of the legendary Maud S.

In addition to the customizing involved, I would have also had to do a fair bit of tackmaking, sulky-making, and some crazy engineering to suspend the whole shebang inside a shadow box with a vintage-looking picture frame.

So yeah, obviously that wasn’t going to happen.)

Since I’m still enjoying a horse-buying semi-hiatus, whether I really liked Celeste or not was sort of irrelevant anyway. I’ll save my cash for whatever other end-of-year holiday silliness they have planned.

To be honest, all I am asking for is to actually have the opportunity to see the Special Run Holiday Animal – whatever it is! – before it’s sold out.  Since we already got the Special Run Elk Inari at BreyerFest this year I am probably safe even if I do miss it (again). Just having the chance means more to me than the actual buying.

Unless it’s the Deer Family. All bets are off on that.

FYI everybody: while I’m still “out” for the duration, I’m hoping to have more of a hobby and online presence again, soon. While I am nowhere near done with my literal and metaphorical housecleaning, I may be in a more manageable place in the near future.

The Expected, and The Unexpected

I’ve been trying to not pay too much attention to the Auction models – I haven’t won the lottery, yet, for that to even be a consideration – but ooh, I really like the Cremello Tobiano Newsworthy:

We’ve had Cremellos (BreyerFest Surprise Lonesome Glory) and Perlinos (Desatado Orion), but I can’t recall if we’ve had a production run Double Dilute Pinto or Appaloosa yet.

I think I need that to be a thing, now!

Some of the more recent Auction pieces have been previews of coming attractions, so I’ll cross my fingers and hope to see a similar paint job on something easily available and somewhat affordable…

(Also trying to pretend I didn’t see the Gloss Silver Bay Fell Pony Emma, but at least that one wasn’t as delightfully unexpected as the Pinto.)

Oddly enough, I’m slightly less enthused about the new Premier Club release Duende. Don’t get me wrong: the sculpt by Mindy Berg is beautiful, and I am all for more standing models. Some of my favorite molds – the Traditional Man o’ War and Trakehner come to mind – are standers.

But my first reaction was something I never thought would cross my mind:

Oh Jeez, Is that ANOTHER “Spanish” horse?

I love Andalusians. I was thrilled to pieces when the Legionario and the Classic Andalusian Family came out in late 1978 – so much so that I made my Aunt Arlene order them from the Bentley Sales Company for Christmas that year. (Yes, they are still here).

We have a lot of Breyer Spanish molds now. Sure, okay, we didn’t have a standing one. And I would be all over a Lipizzan doing a capriole.

But still, they are fairly well-represented across the various lines and scales. And yet we still wait for a new Traditional Shetland Pony, another Draft Foal, an updated Man o’ War, a new TWH Stallion, a true Akhal-Teke, a typey Morgan…

I know: gripe, gripe, gripe. Andalusians and their relations are flashy, beautiful, and popular, that’s why they keep doing them.

And if they put a paint job on it as beautiful as the Newsworthy, I will buy them, too.

Back to the BreyerFest prep, I guess.

Gray and Silver Linings

Ah, so many new lovelies being thrown our way this week!

The Silver Filigree this year is Bobbi Jo, which was a bit of a surprise for me; I was expecting someone fluffier, like the Icelandic:

Reeves keeps up with its tradition of stylistic inconsistency with Avalanche who, unlike the past few “lacey dappled” Holiday Silver Filigrees, is more of the “plated and polka-dotted” variety, best represented by the 2003 BreyerFest Raffle Proud Arabian Stallion Saturday Night Fever (and Foal Born to Run):

http://www.identifyyourbreyer.com/images/SatPAS1.jpg

I still have a feeling we’re going to see the Icelandic in some form this season, though. As a Christmas surprise, maybe? The Holly and Ivy went over fairly well last year, so I am fully expecting something popping sometime around the actual Christmas holiday.

While the issue of mold popularity with the Silver Filigrees is a moot one – I can think of very few molds that wouldn’t sell out, if released in Silver Filigree – the Bobbi Jo mold has become insanely popular over the past year. My single token entry for Avalanche will probably have even less of a chance of hitting its mark than it normally does. But I’m fine with that.

Then there was the Crystal and Crispin, the Holiday Mare and Foal set on the Grazing Mare and Foal:

http://www.breyerhorses.com/crystal-and-crispin?__wwbt=978.819.27.2.1#readmore

So I guess “Holiday Mare and Foal Sets” are really are an official thing now, on top of all the other Holiday/Fall/End of the Year Specials?

If I have any money to spare for one of these sets by the end of the year, it’s still likely to go to last year’s Thoroughbred Mare and Suckling Foal “Eve and Claus” first. Nothing against the Grazing Mare and Foal, I just have a personal preference for Roans over Grays. Usually.

And finally the Brick and Mortar SR Glorioso shipped to stores this week, too:

I saw some in one of my local stores on Wednesday, and for the first time in a while, an off-the-shelf model knocked my socks off! Though to be honest, I had a pretty rough time at work that day and anything with four legs and a tail was a welcome sight…

But seriously, Glorioso is easily my favorite of all the Fall releases so far. The initial photos – Reeves’ and other hobbyists’ – didn’t did anything for me one way or another, and while I do like the Andalusian mold, it’s not an must-have for me. (Other than the lavender-tinted variation of the original release. Someday, someday.)

Until I saw him in person: the Grulla color is well-executed – shimmery and silvery without being too metallic – and it looks great on him. I would have bought one then and there if I could, but other obligations are awaiting my next paycheck.

Blue Chips

It’s going to be a bit rambly today; dealing with more paperwork. I’m also trying to get a head start on my taxes this year because hokey smokes, I had no idea I sold so much stuff last year!

First, let me congratulate Vita’s distant cousin for winning Westminster yesterday.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/story/_/id/10441487/wire-fox-terrier-wins-best-show-westminster

"Her personality is she loves to kiss people and she connects with everybody," Rangel said.

That’s Vita, too.

As far as whether I’d recommend this breed to anyone, it depends. Aside from being adorable and incredibly personable, she’s also high-energy, bossy and a demanding little attention hog who likes taking long walks in blizzards. Like a cat, she only cuddles when she wants to cuddle, and sleeps where she darn well pleases. Which we all like (except for the blizzard part) but we can completely understand why some would not.

Anyway, back to horses.

When I opened up the e-mail for the Vintage Club Mr. Chips earlier this week, my first reaction was "Should I go ‘Ouch’ or ‘Moo’?"(My second reaction was "Time to start selling more stuff!")

Boy, Reeves has been throwing a lot of stuff at us awfully early this year.

My fondness toward the original Pony of the Americas release is well-known, so I will probably be getting him in spite of his slightly higher than expected price tag. I have a feeling that he may follow the same trajectory of another Web Special - the Rose Gray Smarty Jones release Riley - and become more popular and desirable after the fact.

I think a few too many people in the hobby gamble that way, though, and the problem with gambling is that most people lose, in the end. (Confession: I did eventually sell my Glossy Riley for a slight profit last year. My shelf space is limited, and it came down to either him or my Daytona, and I liked Daytona’s matte chocolatey Bay a little better.)

I could well be wrong with my assumption, and I’m okay with that. I’ll be buying him because I like him, not because I’m betting on any potential financial rewards down the road. That’s just the butter to my bread, if it happens.

It’s been said before, multiple times, because it’s true: you can’t go wrong buying what you like.

I have no opinion on the BreyerFest Special Run Andalusian Jubilee, in Gloss Silver Bay. I can say that I wasn’t all that impressed with the initial photos of Special Run Andalusian Galahad in 2005 either, but now he’s one of my office desktop horses.

Shifting Priority

I was distracted yesterday by a non-model-horsey project out in the garage that took longer than anticipated, so I decided not to rush myself on the blogging. I have most of next week off, so I figured there would be plenty of time to play catch up.

Speaking of, I will definitely be taking a break from the NaNoWriMo thing this year. It’s not for a lack of ideas or inspiration; it’s more a matter of changing priorities. While cleaning out my craft supply stash for the garage sale a few weeks back, I was mildly horrified by the number of unfinished projects I found, and how emotionally attached I was to them still.

So I’ve decided to spend November finishing as many of those things as I can, instead of starting another novel that will just become another project in my already considerable queue.

I suppose most - or at least, many - of you have heard about or seen the pair of Connoisseur Swirling Sky samples that turned up on eBay this past week - in China. One finished, one unfinished.

I have no doubt that they are "authentic" - in the sense that they were factory-made, and not faux-finished. I’m rather surprised, actually, that it took this long for listings from China to show up on eBay, considering that production has been going on there, more or less, for over a decade now.

I briefly considered bidding/buying, but two things held me back.

First, of course, was the price: another Swirling Sky Sample surfaced in the Sales Tent/Pit this year, and was resold on eBay for a price less than the Chinese seller’s initial listing prices. In spite of all the drama surrounding the "Friday Morning Festivities", the resell prices on most of the Samples and Oddities found within are not outrageous.

There are always a few real gems in the mix, yes, but the value of most is in the eye of the beholder. The Swirling Sky Andalusian is not one of the higher-demand Connoisseurs, also: I found him to be an interesting concept that didn’t completely work. I wouldn’t have tossed him out of the keep box if I had found him, but his absence doesn’t sting as much as the Sample Clydesdale Mare Palisades.

(I’ve been halfheartedly shopping around for the Picture Perfect Black Pinto Clydesdale Mare as a suitable substitute, but dang, I didn’t realize she was so popular, too!)

The second point of hesitation was that it was directly from China.

We all engage in rationalizing behaviors when it comes to pretty ponies of questionable provenance. I bought a number of pieces from the eBay vendor "newtoymens", for instance, and there have been times when I have been guilty of the sin of omission whilst negotiating at the flea market. Then there’s the issue of me being privy to information that many of you are not, and whether that rises to the level of "insider trading", though I like to think that I’ve given almost as much as I’ve gotten, on the blog anyway.

Everyone has different comfort zones, and they don’t necessarily overlap: what I’m comfortable with you might not be, and vice versa. Buying something directly from China, I’ve discovered, is out of my comfort zone. (More precisely, the answers to the questions such items raise.)

Which is fine for me, because I need to sell more, not buy more. Anything that keeps me from clicking the "Buy It Now" button.

Just Gotta Laugh Sometimes

(Before we begin the festivities here, it has been brought to my attention that the Youth Show prizes are going to be Glossy after all, thus rendering all the commentary about the switch to Semigloss moot. I can only hope that Reeves has been eavesdropping on the various forum discussions about the matter.)

Several days of epic awfulness was capped with me losing my car keys - inside my car. No, no joke. I drove from one job location to another, parked and waited for the supervisor to show up, took the keys out of the ignition, set them down to gather up all my other stuff, and when I got ready to get out of the car, I couldn’t find them.

I had not even opened the door at that point.

Coworkers completed two (two!) epic searches where we essentially tossed the car, but nope, no keys anywhere. Fortunately, I had an emergency key in my wallet, so I was able to get home without having to make a really embarrassing phone call.

But it still made me wonder who or what I could have ticked off in the past week. I’m not one to believe in gypsy curses, but you can make a rough guess at the kind of Google searches I was running last night.

On the plus side, I did get some nice things in the mail today, including a very entertaining batch of old hobby ephemera, a lovely time capsule of my own "golden age" of the hobby, roughly 30 or so years ago. Back when "pix" like this were state-of-the-art for photo showing purposes:

Soup Can Racing!

Still Life with Dead Cow!

Extraterrestrial Performance!

Nope. Not Going There.

And for the history portion of our program today, the kind of epic Culls/Tests/Oddities that we fought epic battles over:

Three Margarita Lunch Day at Breyer Plant!

Lest you are harboring any unkind thoughts, the person who sent this stuff to me is probably looking at all this and laughing right along with you. These photos (except for the Classic Andalusian Mare) aren’t any different, really, than photographs I or anyone else took back then. In fact, as I was doing a quick search through them this afternoon, I kept remarking "Yep, took one just like that, and that, and that…" 

This is photographic evidence of what the hobby looked like. And you know what? Looks like we had a pretty darn good time, in spite of our lack of technical or artistic sophistication.

(Speaking of: for dignity’s sake, I decided to forego all pictures where actual people were shown, because Mullets.)

(You’re welcome.)

Crystal Clarity

I decided to treat my three days off as actual days off. Didn’t get a whole lot done, other than bake some cookies, but I feel a whole lot better. That counts for something, right?

(White Chocolate Macadamia, with coconut and lime. New recipe, and a total keeper.)

Just to clarify my Facebook stance: I am not anti-Facebook. I am non-Facebook. Anyone who has met me in person knows that I am far from antisocial. I just prefer in-person social interaction: it’s harder for people to be fake to you to your actual face. Having a huge bodycount of friends who barely interact with me in a meaningful way? That's what I have model horses for.

And also: I’m not a big fan of the Facebook business model. Privatizing a huge chunk of the Internet, and monetizing people’s personal information on it? No, thanks.

I am far from a Luddite. I was e-mailing people (at work) in the late 1980s, my first computer was a Mac IIsi, and (like so many people) lost a big chunk of myself in the Internet startup boom/bust in the early Aughts.

I only just barely have a cell phone (for emergencies) but that’s mostly because I’ve been phone-phobic most of my life. If I didn’t do a lot of traveling by myself, I might not even have it at all.

Nonconformist? Well, obviously. Anyone who tells me I have to like or do something is going to get some serious pushback.

This probably explains, in part, my indifference to the latest "Equestral Crystalworks" releases Reeves snuck onto their web site recently: miniaturized versions of the Andalusian, the Silver, and Brishen have been added to the line. There’s an extravagantly long thread on Blab where everyone is falling over themselves with how beautiful and awesome they are. If you wish to avoid such effusions, you can go direct to the source:

http://www.breyerhorses.com/equestral_crystalworks

Am I the only one out in model horse land who’s just not into these things? I am clumsy and break stuff with disturbing ease. I walk into walls, trip over my own feet, and have fallen out of trees, off of bikes, and down several stairwells. If I were any clumsier, I’d qualify for one of those handicap parking stickers.

That I, as yet, have not broken any bones is a miracle and wonder to all, including me.

Miniaturized Breyers, made out of glass? No freaking way, man. My H-Rs make me nervous enough, and most of them are locked up in china cabinets.

Yeah, I’ve had my share of plastic-Breyer-related injuries over the years, but this is someone who once injured herself while reading. If it's in the house, tripping and falling is an eventuality. The fewer (potentially) sharp things, the better.

When Hobbies Collide

I totally forgot that I had to pick up and reassemble my Art Deco vanity set today. We had to take it in to our furniture guy to get it cleaned and reglued. Not refinished - good heavens, no. It has a beautiful, slightly worn patina, and I have a suspicion that it might actually be worth something. I doubt it’s actually a Donald Deskey piece, but whoever did design it was definitely familiar with his style.

I love it, regardless. I got it as a birthday present about 25 years ago, right when I was just getting into Art Deco. I still fantasize about owning a genuine Art Deco bungalow, with topiaries in the yard sculpted into strict geometric shapes and a mantle showcasing my Modernistic Bucks and Does.

Funny how my seemingly unconnected hobbies and interest tend to collide with one another like that. You wouldn’t think that you’d be able to link Breyer models with the Art Deco movement, but yes, you can.

It’s fairly well known that Breyer didn’t design the Modernistic Buck and Doe; they were originally designed for Nosco Plastics in Erie, Pennsylvania by a man named Don Manning. We’re not entirely sure how Breyer ended up with the molds, yet, but I did find another tantalizing lead during my last research trip.

But we’re not going to talk about the Buck and Doe today. Nope, I’m just going to show you another example of my hobbies colliding. Notice anything familiar with last Sunday’s Prince Valiant? (Click to enlarge.)


Did Andalusians even exist as a breed during King Arthur’s time? Hmm.

A lot of comic illustrators have issues with the equine form, but thankfully Gary Gianni’s not one of them.