Expectations and Reality

I wanted to present to you all a compelling and epic argument today – with receipts! – about how the model horse hobby is actually very elaborate and specific fanac, but now all I’m hoping for is that the laundry gets done before I leave for Chicago on Wednesday. 

I still plan on writing it someday, when I have time to do the research properly. 

Speaking of, only is this week is going to be rough on my sleep schedule, I’m going to miss out on the local book sale that I use to restock my sales list. I guess I’ll have to skim the stacks at the thrift stores just a wee bit harder.

With everything that’s going on in my lift at the moment, I’ve also made the executive decision to not actively pursue anything from Tractor Supply this year. With one caveat: there is a TSC right next door to the local Salvation Army, and I do shop there from time to time for things other than horse stuff. 

My Second Chance Sale boxes arrived and the contents, for the most part, were unremarkable. As I expected, the Landler was Matte, and the Cleveland Bay Surprise was too. At least I got a different one this time: the Dapple Gray Pinto! Still not my first choice (Buckskin Pinto), or the rare choice (Gray Appaloosa), but I do like him better than the Gloss Silver Bay. 

The model I was most pleased with – and unsurprisingly, the one I had the least expectations about – was Rapunzel:

She’s even cuter in person! I can foresee myself buying more of her in the future. 

A couple interesting things to note about her. One: while her mane changed, her tail did not. That’s unusual, because mane and tail swaps usually go hand-in-hand; I’m assuming if there is another tail option, they didn’t think it was appropriate for this release.

Second, she’s got White speckles in addition to her Chestnut ones. The first couple of white specks I noticed I assumed were flaws, but the closer I looked, the more I realized that they were intentional. This is something we generally only see with their Black and Bay Roans, but I guess this is now an option with the Chestnuts going forward, too. 

Another Inconsequential Thing

This is not the model I was talking about in my previous post; this was something I bought last week because the price was excellent and I (slightly) regretted not buying it when I was actually drawn for one, back in the good old days when getting drawn for Web Specials didn’t feel like a near-impossibility:

I had almost completely forgotten I had bought Goji until it arrived on my doorstep Friday night. (Yeah, it was THAT kind of week.)

Now that we have the new Fjord mold Astrid, and the new Stablemates Fjord Lyric, what little popularity the original “Henry” Fjord originally had has begun to dissipate. I totally missed out on the discussion as to why he was deemed less worthy to begin with, and at this point I’m not even sure I want to know why. 

The hobby has a way of making inconsequential things seem so important, when they’re not, really. (Says the person who has written over 1500 blog posts about… plastic horse history.)

In spite of his lack of star power, the mold still has a couple of unattainables: the 2010 WEG rerelease of Henry (only 18 made) and the 2015 BreyerFest Diorama Prize Truffle (28 made). 

The others are not so hard; I think all I am missing at this point is the 2014-2015 Regular Run release GVF Sjokolade? I’m not in any hurry. 

Time has a way of turning the tables when it comes to popularity, though: for years many hobbyists bemoaned the fact that the only Friesian available to most of us was the Jeanne Mellin Herrick mold. Now that we have several (indeed, it almost seems like too many!) Breyer Friesians to choose from, the old JMH Friesian has come back into its own, again. 

I’d eventually like to get more of the Berry Ponies series, though a few of them (the Bouncer Bilberry, and the Croi Bramble) are probably out of my reach. Maybe Strawberry, next? The Hackney Pony is another mold hobbyists don’t have an overly high regard for. 

Yeah, it’s a chonky, unrefined little thing, but I still love it for all sorts of reasons, including the fact that I might have had a very small hand in getting it produced in the first place.

Incidentally, I rather like the BreyerFest release of Astrid with the long mane, named Rapunzel:

The shape of the new mane is a little goofy, and distorts the true contours of her neck the same way Giselle’s mane does. But a cute, roany pony is hard for me to resist, and I’ll definite consider her when the time comes. (So many excellent SRs to choose from this year, so hard for me to decide!)