Four Mares

I bought another box lot of bodies, mostly because I was feeling some weird anxiety over the slim pickings now residing in my body box. They were super-duper cheap too, so even with the very modest (mostly single digit) prices I tend to assign to them, I’ll still make a nice little profit at BreyerFest.

As long as I don’t take too many of them for my own personal use. (One, maybe two, tops! I swear!) 

I still have a ton of stuff (nearly a whole ‘nother bin) I couldn’t bring last year, so now all I’ll “need” to restock for BreyerFest are a few more goodies for my totally decimated Dollar Table. 

I do plan on trying to sell as much as I can before Kentucky (still not sure if the Wyoming excursion is going to be right before, or right after!) but I like having a little bit of something for everyone. 

I put in for the Weather Girl Flamingo but, as I expected, nothing came of it. I have lots of pretty Weather Girls already (my exceptionally nice BreyerFest Jasmine places at every show!), and it would have been nice to add her to the herd, but I’m not going to fret about it. 

Another beautiful girl who’s probably not coming home with me:

But this one is by choice: like a lot of BreyerFest models this year, Othello is another shelf hog. “Tilly” certainly won’t lack for suitors, and at least that clears the mold from Surprise contention. On the other hand, that also means that the Hamilton speculation will get even more out of hand...

Speaking of Saddlebreds, the Crystal is based on the Calliope:

I don’t collect the Crystals – I may have mentioned this before, but I was (literally!) born clumsy, so I try to avoid buying breakable things unless they’re cheap, or already broken. I don’t think I even own a single glass or crystal animal of any kind or brand. I do have a couple of very inexpensive bits of slag glass I have picked up in my travels, though I would hesitate to say that I actually collect it. 

And finally, there’s the latest Test Color, a Bay Pinto Misty:

Oh, you precious creature: the one I want the most, and have the least hope of acquiring. Collectively, vintage Test Color Misties aren’t exceedingly rare, though most of the ones I’ve seen have been solid-colored: Bay, Black, Alabaster, and (my personal favorite!) Dapple Gray. I think there are some Appaloosa-flavored ones out there, too. 

I’ll be working quite a bit of overtime over the next month or so, so if the Universe happens to be listening, I can totally afford it.

Two Small Drafters

I don’t buy any of the Crystals because I am preternaturally clumsy. I was briefly concerned I would have to break this rule when I saw the sneak preview of this year’s BreyerFest Crystal, and I suspected it might be the Fell Pony. (No pun intended. Really.)

Fortunately, it was not:

Defiant is based on the 1993 Evolution of the Horse Shire, who we last saw as a BreyerFest Special Run in 2009 “Party Time”.

I do like the mold, and if it should ever come in a plastic version – Traditional, Classic, Stablemate, whatever – I would definitely consider it, depending on the size they adapt it to.

Smaller would be better, for me anyway.

I haven’t opened up my Unicorn Zena, for instance, because she’s about three weeks long and pointy. Not a good combo in a house with limited shelving, a small dog with periodic fits of zoomies, and my status as person of inadequate coordination. I really am trying to avoid bringing more big, pointy things into the house.

That’s why I am more tempted, and more intrigued by this new Mid-Year Classic Brabant Mighty Muscle. We’ve definitely been underserved in the Classics department when it comes to Draft Horses, but I’d like to take a closer look in person before I commit to liking or loving him. He is not quite as dynamic as I thought he would be, though I do not know if that is a good thing, or a bad thing.

(I am on board with everyone else, though, in loving the new Classic Rearing Mustang American Dream, but more on why another time.)

But back to the Porcelain Shire/Defiant. I could have sworn that there was at least one Traditional-scale injection-molded Sample or Test of that mold floating around somewhere, but a cursory search of my files didn’t turn one up.

And I am not particularly motivated at the moment: my time is probably better spent tonight finishing my sales list or working on any of my BreyerFest stuff because of course I am already way behind on that stuff.

Another busy weekend awaits. alas!

Stablematized!

While I am a little annoyed I didn’t get picked for the Scottsdale Stampede Event, it’s pretty far down the list of things that upset me this week. It was a long shot that I’d be able to attend in the first place, and done largely to help out a friend anyway.

(Not that I wouldn’t be excited to go, but it did push me over the finish line to enter.)

Moving on, because I have to. (Though secretly hoping that people trying to “sell” their “plus one” slots for more than cost + fees get bit somehow. Because tacky.)

Anyway, the more exciting news is that Reeves is apparently going whole hog with the Mini Me thing, with the Alborozo and the Magnolia resin getting the Brishen Stablematizing treatment in a Midyear Stablemates Mystery Assortment type thing.

I don’t know the details of the contracts that covered the creations of the original sculptures in the first place – and any possible limitations that may stem from them – so I couldn’t tell you who or what to expect next.

Two of the three “Stablematized” Traditional-scale models – the Brishen, and the Alborozo – had been released in a shrunken form previously as Crystals. This suggests that’s the place we might need to look for clues to future “new” Stablemates releases.

So will we be seeing the Nokota Horse, Silver, Traditional Moody Andalusian, Zippo Pine Bar, Esprit, Croi Damsha, Bobby Jo, or Cleveland Bay next? I’d be on board with most of those.

I know there are some people out there thinking this means the Traditional Alborozo might be making a return.

Ugh. Guys. Seriously. Stop it!

That ship has not only passed, it’s been torpedoed, sunk, and is now residing somewhere in the Marianas Trench. Be happy that you will now have a (possibly) unlimited supply of somewhat-less-expensive mini Alborozos to collect, customize, and fondle to your heart’s content.

Personally, I can’t get overly excited for the Stablemates Alborozo, or at least with the initial Unicorn releases. It looks like he’s going to be the chase piece in the set, just as the Django was for the current Mystery Horse Surprise Assortment, so the likelihood of me stumbling on one (either common or rare) is going to be very unlikely.

Incidentally, I still can’t believe the totally insane prices on that Copper Florentine Django. I spent significantly less for my Black G1 Quarter Horse Stallion Pancho – and more recently, both my Mint in Box Stablemates Stable Set and Mint in Box Wooden Stablemates Stable combined.

And here I thought focusing on Stablemates would totally be the affordable way to go this year. Nope!

Programming note: I am going to continue to be a bit scarce for the next week or so as I attempt to wrap up some personal and professional business. Don’t set the Internet on fire while I’m out.

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.

Clubbing, Pt. I

I will confess that the most exciting part of the JAH was finding out that there’s going to be a (somewhat) local Fun Day event! Yeah, there aren’t going to be any special models involved, but I just might go out and see it for the fun of it. I got a chance to help out, briefly, in the Craft and Activity Tent at BreyerFest this year, and the energy there was so amazing.

The other thing that I notice up front - wow, there were a lot of typos! You think they’d have put a little extra effort into the proofreading, it being the final issue and all.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand - the "5 New Programs" everyone is getting all hot and bothered about. Well, six, actually, if you count the Breyer Collectors Club, which I’m assuming is going to be an amplified version of the e-mail program they have now, coupled with exclusive subscriber-only content and offers available via the new web site. Sort of like an online version of JAH. Since no printing or physical mailing will be involved, I’m guessing the subscription fees will be nominal or even nonexistent.

The Vintage Collectors Club, and the Premier Collection are subscription-style clubs: sign up, pay up, and models and other stuff are shipped to you on a timely basis for a year. Either program will cost you around $500 a year to belong: $540 for the Vintages ($135 x 4 models) or $525 for the Premiers ($175 x 3 models). The former is for "vintage" mold enthusiasts, while the latter is tailored towards fanciers of more realistic newer molds.

The Vintage Collectors Club is limited to 500 subscribers, but the Premier Collection makes no mention of an upper limit. They’re also a little vague on whether or not pieces will be made available to non-subscribers at a higher price, or a later date. They use phrases like "Only members are guaranteed a reservation for all three pieces" and "Members also receive priority in shipping" in the copy.

The Breyer Blossoms thingie is described as a year-long "continuity program", which appears to be just like a subscription club, but with Classics-scale molds, no extra stuff, and with the ability to option out of the program after purchasing just four pieces. Items in the program can also be purchased separately (if you just want your birth month flower, I guess) at a higher price. I'm assuming they'll go with different themes every year: the Zodiac, Holidays, etc.

The Equestral Crystalworks are miniature crystal versions of Traditional molds, available exclusively through the new web site, starting in January. No subscription, prepayments or any of that required. (It’s a little unclear whether or not you have to sign up for the Breyer Collectors Club just to buy stuff on the web site.)

The Breeds of the World series are smaller-scale resins (in-between Classics and Little Bits/Paddock Pals) and will be available either via the web site or via retailers. In other words, they’re just Regular Run items that don’t require you signing up for anything at all.

I’ll comment more on the individual programs next time; I still haven’t had a chance to go through the magazine as thoroughly as I’d like. Company came over, there was some drama with the dog, carpets got cleaned …