Finding the Reasons Why

Another box of horses at the flea market, yay!

There are a couple of salvageable pieces in there (one of the Chestnut Merrylegs is drop-dead gorgeous) and one is being pulled for a possible project idea I have, but the rest are headed for the Body Box section of my sales list.

One reason I love finding boxes full of horses isn’t just because of the group discounts or the sheer thrill of discovery, but the story in the lot itself.

Every model may be a memory, but a collection tells a story.

Two identical Merrylegs (the one from the Slumber Party Gift Set) and two complete 2010 WEG Three-Horse Sets? This was the collection of two young siblings, not one. But did they actually go to the World Equestrian Games, or did a relative bring them back from a trip?

That they ended up at the flea market, selling for not much more than a song, could mean so many different things. Perhaps like most horse-crazy girls, they grew out of it, or thought they did. Maybe they finally got “real” horses of their own, and had no time (or money!) for imitations? Or… boys?

Those are the most common explanations. I was too excited to find a Box of Cheap Horses to stick around and find out the real reason why. It was a blustery day and I hadn’t slept well the night before, so once struck the proverbial pay dirt, I took the horses and ran.

The WEG Classics are a bit on the scarce side, so I feel bad about tossing the majority of them into the Body Box; while they’re not terrible, the demand for most of the more modern Classics molds – even scarce releases – is not high enough to merit an effort to restore on my part. One of the Gray Best-in-Show Thoroughbreds looks like he might clean up, though:

He’s very appealing in this color, and I do not have an example of this mold in the herd just yet; I missed out on the American Pharoahs on the short-tailed version when they were clearance out at Tuesday Morning last year.

This fellow might do. I’ll have to think about it. (It’s the pink hooves. They slay me.)

Here’s one thing I don’t have to think much about: some of these bodies are going up on MHSP by the end of the week. Since it’s still a couple of months until Kentucky, and the flea market season has just gotten underway, it’s probably best that I thin the box out a bit before it gets any further out of hand.

Calvin

Nope Reeves, can’t make me…

I just can’t do it right now, guys. The budget says no to Calvin!

Actually, it’s more like my budget is laughing and then pointing out to me that if I really want one, I should just wait a few months when everyone who was hoping for the “Metallic Interference Blue” one tries to sell off the Bays and Chestnuts they got instead.

In the case of the previous Gambler’s Choice Classic Scotty, all three colors were more or less equally desirable: that was sort of the whole point of offering him as a Gambler’s Choice, since voting didn’t produce a clear winner.

However, the BIS Quarter Horse is not a Love Classic, and the only color that’s generating any real passion is the Blue one. (Am I the only one thinking that Metallic Interference Blue is going to be the next Silver Filigree?)

Don’t get me wrong: I’d love a Blue Calvin, too. I’ve done my share of futile blind bag groping at Tractor Supply, searching for the G4 Endurance Arabian. (When I’ve actually found any Blind Bags to grope. Sigh.)

But I really do need to focus on other things, budget-wise, and there are still a couple of recently purchased packages sitting here in the office that I haven’t gotten to opening yet, anyway. Including a grail, yeesh!

Incidentally, I am absolutely fine with the use of the Best in Show Quarter Horse; the original release’s scary bald face threw me for a loop, but the #931 Dark Bay Roan finally won me over.

Of the three “Best in Show” Classics – the Quarter Horse, the Arabian, and the Thoroughbred – it’s the Quarter Horse that’s had the most releases so far. Save for the original release and the Bay Roan, almost all of them have been Special Runs.

Only the 2010 Tractor Supply “Famous Sire” Series pieces are particularly difficult to find, though. I kind of regret not picking up the Appaloosa Prince Plaudit set when I had the chance. I’ve had some luck finding TSC Specials at the flea markets around here, so I won’t give up hope just yet.

The Classic American Pharoah

Feeling a little down today; I won’t go into the details, but basically I am broke until Tuesday or possibly Wednesday next week because of something someone else failed to do.

So much for picking up those odds and ends I planned on buying to get started on my BreyerFest prep. (One of the New Year’s Resolutions: get all my prep done early. Preferably before I leave for Kentucky.)

One good thing that will come out of this aggravation is that it’s giving me plenty of motivation to start selling online again. The only thing that’s kept me from being even angrier over this entire affair is that I still had a bit of financial wiggle room provided to me by my year-end sales. Might as well build that war chest up again.

Whew. Got that out of my system. Back to discussing some of the new releases.

Although I’m not a part of the American Pharoah bandwagon, I did buy a couple of Stablemate versions of him during the last website promotion, because I love Stablemates. Once I have access to money again, I might buy the Classic Pharoah, too:

http://www.breyerhorses.com/american-pharoah-classics

While I’m not a huge fan of the Best in Show Thoroughbred mold – he strikes me as a little plain and generic-looking – I actually really like him in this release. It reminds me a lot of another plain, generic-looking Breyer release that was also a “portrait” of a Triple Crown Winner:

The #36 Racehorse, which was based on the Grand Wood Carving sculpture of Whirlaway.

The Race Horse was never officially advertised or identified as Whirlaway in any Breyer promotional materials; in early (pre-1960) Dealer Catalogs he was called “Derby Winner” (and described as “One of the winningest horses of all time” per his ca. 1953/4 Dealer Catalog page/sheet) and also on the rarely-found hangtag.

The Traditional Man o’ War, who replaced the #36 Racehorse in the Breyer line in 1967, was initially sold/advertised as the Race Horse, with the name “Man o’ War” in italics or parentheses. Shortly afterwards he became “Famous Thoroughbred Man o’ War” and eventually just Man o’ War.

But never as “Derby Winner”, of course, because that was one race Man o’ War never ran.

You know, now that they’re releasing a Traditional Man o’ War in the Vintage Club line this year, Reeves might want to consider doing a small, similar release on his predecessor.

Preferably with that little saddle blanket like the Classic American Pharoah. Because seriously, how cute is that thing?

Christmas Classic

Decided to take the Eve off from blogging. The Hyacinth took a little bit more effort than I expected, but turned out pretty nice. I’m definitely doing something simpler next time, though. Crocuses sound good.

Santa came with a new and easily adjustable quilt frame (yay!), some fancy chocolates and some cash. No models under the tree this year - bought for or by me - unless you count this guy I picked up on sale a few weeks back, when I needed a quick horse fix:

I have changed my mind and decided that I like the "Best in Show" Quarter Horse better than the Thoroughbred. His head still weirds me out a little - spooky eyewhites, gah! - but he has more personality and "presence" than the Thoroughbred, who now feels a little generic in comparison. The Bay Roan paint job doesn’t hurt, either!  

I was a bit bummed out by the Breyer Christmas Present, which turned out to be a "20 percent off (almost) everything on the web site" Sale. This was not surprising, but they’re gonna have to cough up some actual Christmas Decorator type things one of these years. The Red and Green kind, not just Silver Filigree. It doesn’t have to be free or cheap. Heck, I’d settle for some Breyer-branded swag, like a bandana, scarf or potholder.

I’d never lose my scarf at work ever again. ("Did someone lose a scarf…oh, never mind. It's Andrea's.")

I’ve already decided on my New Year’s Resolution for next year, aside from the usual nonsense (lose weight-exercise more-read more good books-etc.): finish all my old craft projects before I begin anything new, including quilt projects dating back from the previous millennium. I made outstanding progress back in November with the quilts, and I’d like to keep the momentum going.

Especially now that I have a quilt frame I can actually use that doesn’t also take up half a room.

That's all for today. Tomorrow’s my last day off before I have to go back to work, and I really want to get that quilt frame up and functional. I have to sew up all the Christmas toys Vita has already destroyed, too. "Ballistic nylon"? Yeah, right!

Back to the Future

As you can see, I spent more time tinkering with Blogger code than with writing this weekend. I am still not entirely happy with it, so the design will continue to change and evolve over the next few months. It'll do for now, though. (In the meantime, I need to brush up on my coding skills - I think I almost broke the Internet at some point yesterday!)

The post regularly scheduled for today will likely be posted tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on my schedule; it also needs a little more work, but nothing involving the hacking of source code. I also plan on following up with a further commentary and notes about the discussion of the Palomino PAM in the next post or two after that - I just have to decide which road to take with it.

Speaking of Breyer Urban Legends, I hope I wasn't the only one who yelled "Christmas Decorator!" at the sight of the pearly green smoke Huck Bey on Facebook the other day. That's another topic I'll have to get around to eventually, as I'm one of the handful of people who are responsible for the existence of that particular legend.

While I was running my errands on Saturday I stopped at the local Tractor Supply to check out the newest releases. The new touchability box on the Palomino Buckshot was interesting (more on that another time) but I spent most of my time puzzling over the new, curious "Best in Show" line.

They're being advertised as "Gorgeous, upscale ... fine quality show horses." Garishly bright silver horseshoes, the glassy bug eyes, the poofy hairdos - yeah, I remember having custom show horses like that - back in 1985!

In all honesty, they're really not that bad. (Hey, I loved my vintage customs! Still do!) These models are clearly not designed for me. I'm cool with that.

The paint jobs are really quite nice - on par with or slightly better than your average regular runs. The Arabian and the Quarter Horse didn't do a lot for me as sculptures, but that just might have been the paint jobs they selected getting in the way. The bay on the Arabian makes him look a little nondescript, and the white face and blue eyes on the QH? Freaky!

The Thoroughbred on the other hand, is rather handsome - I wouldn't mind buying him if they manage to get the mane and tail in scale and under control. Or if they do a later rerelease with a sculpted mane and tail. I could see that happening - with the disappearance of the H-R Thoroughbreds from the Classic line, there's definitely a gap to be filled there, perhaps with more modern legends in their stead.