Collection Busters

The Stablemates are packed for the show, and now I’m getting down to the nitty-gritty of the Collectibility. I didn’t realize I had chosen so many larger models, and now I need to make some hard decisions. (I do know who I have to cut, it’s just a matter of accepting it, and moving on.) 

The Best Customs Contest Traditional Prize Kansas made me wince a little:

On one hand, that means it’s pretty unlikely the Forever Saige mold is the BreyerFest Stagecoach Surprise, which is a huge relief for me. On the other, it’s a lovely Chestnut Appaloosa version of Forever Saige I’ll likely never get to own, because even if the mold isn’t that popular in the hobby in general, anything that limited is going to command a price beyond my comfort zone anyway.

(Has anyone actually bought any of those Gris Grises in the vicinity of $800, or is it just another aspirational thing on the part of sellers? I don’t need another, just curious.) 

Winning one is out of the question: prepping an entry for the Customs Contest is too late at this point, and I’ve already committed myself to finishing several other projects this year anyway. Most of which are on hold until I get both the show and my taxes out of the way. And some of the gardening too, while I’m at it. (Almost time to transplant the pepper plants to bigger pots!)

The Runners-Up Prize Stablemate Willamette is a little less tempting to me, only because the Darley Arabian mold has already come in Chestnut twice before, and a very shiny Palomino. This wouldn’t be a problem normally, but he’s only had six releases prior to this. But no Gray or a more standard Bay yet: weird how Reeves gets in color ruts like that.

(As everyone let’s out a deep sigh and mutters Django.)

And it is always a bit of a downer when they release the first nearly-impossible-to-acquire “collection buster” release on a new-ish mold. But at least it took them about five years to get around to it with the Darley Arabian, so it does not sting as much, I think. 

But again, it’s a moot issue for me, since most of my custom projects this year fall into the “stress-relief” category. And I’m totally fine with that – in fact, that’s one of the things I’m looking forward to as the weather warms up: a lazy weekend afternoon or two with just me and the Dremel and some otherwise unloved body box inhabitant, making a noisy mess of things in the garage.

Unboxing More, Chasing Less

The in-hand photos of the new Collector’s Club release Carter are beginning to trickle in online and, as we suspected, his color is merely a slight variation on the very attractive Rose Gray color that was one of the scarcer colors available on last year’s BreyerFest Surprise Andalusian.

He’s quite lovely, but as I am still opening up things from last year, I’ll have to give him a pass. Things like my beautiful Bisbee, who I only recently rescued from the backseat of my car:

Yeah, I know, Bad Andrea. In my defense, (a) the weather has been mild, (b) I usually park under a tree anyway, and (c) I don’t do a lot of off-roading in my spare time. As you can see, she survived the ordeal just fine.

Sometimes I do feel a little alone in my appreciation for the Forever Saige mold, and I am perfectly okay with that. Collecting less popular molds means a lot less stress tracking down the scarcer ones! And wasn’t the Saige in last year’s BreyerFest Auction the cheapest of the lot? That’s definitely food for thought.

Last year – and particularly, the last four months of the year – were a little crazier than I anticipated, and the unboxing of things was not a priority. So for the next month or so I’ll focus my attention on unboxing all the goodies that are already here, instead of chasing more.

Unless I luck into that Black Pinto Smarty Jones: him, I’ll make an exception for. I love Black Pintos and I have a pretty fine little Smarty Jones collection going – including the Daytona, the 2018 BreyerFest Dark Horse Surprises in Black and Palomino Splash, the Connoisseur, and the Halloween Horse – and he’ll fit right in.

I’d love to add a Polo Pony version of the mold to the family, but the two that I really like (the 2016 Early Bird Model Polomar and the 2012 Raffle Model Carlisle) are essentially unattainable, and it’s hard to find a 2015 Santiago that doesn’t look totally goofy.

And good gravy, how insane is it that Palomino Hamiltons are selling for more than the Pinto Smarty Jones on eBay right now? I mean, I get that math is not everyone’s strong suit, and rarity alone does not guarantee value, but that’s still… arithmetically questionable.

It’s only (checks calendar) February 2nd! I don’t know what the production cutoff date is for models designed to be one-year releases, but I’m pretty sure there’s no need to worry until, I dunno, at least May or June.

Sticking My Neck Out

OMG, is this what I think it is? The Giraffe-themed Forever Saige I deemed the obvious second release in the Wild Animal Series in a blog post about a year ago?

Naturally, I need this like candy sprinkles on a sundae. Of course.

At this point, I think just need to set up a GoFundMe site for the new sewing machine, because Reeves is determined to get most of my disposable income for the rest of the year.

Incidentally, if any of the other concepts I mention in that post also come to pass, I am going to start requesting Artist’s Proofs, Samples or something….

(Though I changed my mind on the Oryx: the Marwari mold would suit that one just fine. And sit on my shelves better, too.)

Back to normal blogging in a day or two.

Busyness

It figures: I had a couple unexpected free hours to play with on Friday, so I swung by one of my local toy stores – and dang it, they had Bisbees!

Then early Saturday morning Reeves sent out an e-mail informing all of us that Bisbee was now available on their web site:

https://www.breyerhorses.com/collections/new/products/bisbee

Is someone or something trying to tell me something? Because I have now spent most of the weekend – the parts where I wasn’t working on all of my BreyerFest prep – trying not to think about her.

It’d be cheaper for me to go back to the store and get her there (their prices are great!), but most of my mental and financial resources are understandably tied up at the moment.

(I just remembered today that I need to get a new folding table, since the hotel remodeled the rooms and my old tables don’t fit anymore.)

The weekend was more productive than I expected: I finally finished the sales list (more or less), I got quite a bit done on the Sampler (though I did find myself lost in a deep research hole for a couple of hours) and worked on the costume a bit, too.

And since the weather was being uncooperative, I even managed to do a little “shopping” out in the storage shed and found a few more books, bodies, dolls and bits of whatnot I can add to my sales list.

It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to find the time to complete – or heck, even start – the diorama, and I am fine with that. One less thing to worry about – and some of the supplies I had delegated to the task can now go back into the sales stash!

I’ll have a bit more actual history for you guys next time, since I now have to spend the rest of my Sunday evening cleaning up the aftermath of my weekend of busyness….

Bisbee

It looks like I found my birthday present early this year:

A Forever Saige, in the same Turquoise paint job that the Scottsdale Stampede Centerpiece Foalzilla Peplum came in? With a name that actually makes sense? Yes, please!

Incidentally, I am still baffled by Peplum’s name. It just seems so random. Did somebody wear a turquoise-colored peplum to work one day? Was it pulled from a random name generator? Or did someone run across the word in a mail-order catalog and immediately think “That’s a great name for a model!”

These are all variations of things that I have done over the years, sometimes with similarly odd results. (I’ve been itching to name someone smaragd for years, for instance.)

Anyway, the fact that they invested some time and money in creating those elaborate copper veining die cuts meant that it was a matter not of if, but when we’d see this pattern return.

I wasn’t expecting it to be this soon.

Regardless, I’ll have to wait until the end of the month – when it’s actually being released – to pick one up. I just finished my taxes and… let’s just say I’ll have significantly less fun money until then.

I’ve seen some grumbling about it being an unfavored mold, but I know how this game is played: that doesn’t mean it’ll necessarily be easy to get. If there’s money to be made, hobbyists will buy it no matter how much they say they dislike it in public.

And if it is truly unloved, I’ll have the luxury of handpicking, like I did with Bandera. (Note to self: still need to pick up a Gloss Bandera when I finally get my inventory issues worked out.)

I’m still not going to fret too much about it either way, because lucky me actually has some local stores I can shop from when the time (and money) comes. None of that preorder nonsense for me!

That’s all for tonight, folks. My office isn’t going to clean itself.

A Plethora of Pintos

From all the previews that dropped over the past few days, you can tell the end of the year is approaching fast…

First, the third of the Premier Club’s three 2018 releases, Emerson:

I think he’s my favorite of the three Traditional releases for the year. He reminds me of those lean and leggy Thoroughbreds you’d see in illustrations and photographs from the late 19th or early 20th century. He’s also reminiscent of the Love Classic Man o’ War, and that’s not a bad look to emulate!

(I have been sticking fingers in my ears, covering my eyes and mumbling nonsense phrases over and over in a desperate attempt to pretend to unsee the Stablemates Dundee Lipizzaner they previewed in the Collector’s Club Tent at BreyerFest this year. You guys finally release a Stablemates Lipizzaner, and you have to make the first one nigh-unobtainable?

Life is easier if I just pretend it does not exist, until it does.)

I’m a little bummed that Emerson will probably be a little off my financial radar. But likely not for long, because if past history is any guide, we’ll probably see him and all of the other 2018 releases in an assortment of Special Run or Regular Run releases in 2019.

(Put him in that gorgeous “Brass Hat” Bay, and ooh boy….)

The Out of the Blue is the first Collector’s Club Special Run for next year, a Black Roan Tobiano Pinto on the Bobby Jo mold:

While I’ve generally liked the open-ended, larger run Collector’s Club Specials, I haven’t loved them enough to order most of them. The only older one that I think I might cave in and get eventually is Moondance. I think the color and pattern are a good fit for the mold, and the Forever Saige mold is chronically misunderstood (and consequently undervalued, I believe).

I am seriously considering Out of the Blue. I like the mold, I love roany pintos in general, and the relative simplicity of the pattern – reminiscent of one of the original Weather Girl releases Partly Cloudy – is very appealing, and a nice change of pace from the more elaborate paint jobs we’ve been seeing throughout the year.

The third is the final Stablemates Club release for the year, Tabatha Pack’s Darley, I don’t know what to think about, to be honest:

The color is great: I am loving the Gulastra Plume, and I am not as bothered as others are over Reeves’s obsession with Pinto paint jobs this year. (I’m not thrilled by it, either, but that’s what sells. End of story.)

Usually I am all for crazy, awkward or unconventional poses, but I am not quite sure what the heck is going on with Darley. I’m assuming it’s one of those “Arabian” things?

I’ll probably love him once I see him in person. That’s how these things tend to work.

Worth the Wait

Whoa, yesterday just flew right past me! Like many of you at the moment, I’m pretty much in full panic mode. I’m not sure why; everything is going about as well as can be expected, the car is half-packed, and the various assorted costume bits are coming along just fine.

Habit, I guess? I’m always fearful that I will forget one thing…

Just a couple of Auction lots that can’t pass without comment.

Pearly + Liver Chestnut + Minimal Pinto = this paint job is my everything! A modern reinterpretation of Matte Charcoal, and I’m loving it!

The Gloss Dark Palomino on this Five-Gaiter is pretty sexy too:

Either one of those colors would look good on almost anything. Motor vehicles, Christmas ornaments, household appliances….

I don’t know if the Gaiter will go for particularly big money, though: Five-Gaiters (except for Decorators) are a tough sell right now. Even fairly decent Woodgrains and #53 Gloss Palominos can be had for well under $50.

I’ve been around long enough to see the fortunes rise and fall on most models. Remember when the #465 Khemosabi was all the rage on eBay? When the original release of the AQHA Ideal Quarter Horse, new in box, could guarantee you at least a $150 payout? When a JAH Saddlebred Weanling could set you back $400?

That’s why I try to follow my own tastes and hew closely to my budget. And wait: I literally cannot afford to be impatient.

A good reminder for those of you who might get enraptured by whatever Reeves throws at us next week: unless it’s something you know really is a once-in-a-lifetime chance (like my Gold Charm Man o’ War was) it’s worth it to wait.

Something new and exciting will turn up in a few weeks, or a few months, and suddenly what’s hot will be not. And if you still love it and want it and need it, it’ll be there for you at a better price.

Usually. Not always, but usually.

(This is what I keep telling myself whenever another Stablemate rarity shows up on the open market. Someday you shall be mine, Emperor’s Gold Bar! And it won’t cost me an actual gold bar to acquire you!)

One more comment before I go back to torturing myself with the hot glue gun.

I don’t know where this tidbit of information came from – I am assuming it’s a misinterpretation or misreading of the entry for it in Nancy Young’s Breyer Molds & Models – but there are way more than three Woodgrain Elephants in the world.

Woodgrain Elephants are still pretty rare – not quite as rare, say, as the Woodgrain Polled Hereford Bull or Buffalo, or the Elephant with Howdah, but definitely not something you see everyday.

But it does concern me that that bit of bad information may have had an effect on the outcome of the auction on eBay. (I missed it previously, because I’ve been avoiding eBay the past month or so, because it’s such a huge time suck.)

Well-informed collectors are less likely to overspend.

Funky Dappling: A Love Story

By the way, that hunch I had didn’t quite play out – there were no softly dappled Hwins at the store I went to last Wednesday night. Then I made the mistake of going to the Tractor Supply down the road, and guess what I found?

Not one, but two Chalky Hwins!

Normally I’d just buy the one and leave the other for someone else to discover, but as you can see, they are completely different. It was getting late and I have to get up unbelievably early for work, so I bought the both of them in hopes of making the decision later on.

The weekend has come and gone, and I’m still not sure which one I want to keep. Do I go with the darker one with the nicely executed polka-dot dapples, or the lighter and more Matte-finished one with the seriously askew dappling?

You’d think it would be a relatively easy decision, but it’s not. Well, not for me!

Unlike the rest of the hobby, I do not have a reflexive dislike of the newer, hand-airbrushed dappling technique. The ratio of good to bad to meh isn’t really all that different from the random resist dappling technique that was the norm prior.

You had beautiful ones. Terrible ones. Weird ones. You had lacy dapples, cornflake dapples, dapples in the mane and tail. Some were beautiful, some were awful, and some were just weird. But most of them were simply unmemorable.

A few years ago when they had some leftover Aintrees – the Dappled Rose Gray Cigar – in the Ninja Pit at BreyerFest, I almost purchased one that had to have been one of the worst hand-dappling jobs ever.

It was so bad it almost touched the philosophical definition of sublime. I am terrible at doing dapples and not all that handy with an airbrush, and even I could have done a better job. In the dark. Wearing oven mitts. It almost looked like a piece that was done to show the painters what not to do.

Terrible, yet still memorable: every now and again I’ll walk past the Aintree I did buy in the NPOD that year – a gorgeous Sample with subtle dappling and handpainted gray hooves – and lament that I didn’t rescue his terrifying yet strangely compelling brother.

Hence, my hesitation at leaving the second Hwin behind. She’s not quite as terrible as that Aintree was, but the combination of being a scarce Chalky variation with bad dappling is giving me serious pause.

I don’t think I can afford to keep both, though. I planned on listing a bunch of stuff in various places over the next few weeks, so I’ll see if it’s possible to make room for them both.

Lovesick

I was doing so good this weekend: there wasn’t much at the flea market, I decided to pass on the darker Hwin and the Halloween Horse Goblin and its adorably cartoony germ-monsters (though that one was tough!), and so far no Chalky Hwins appear to have shown up at any of the local TSCs I’ve visited, yet. (More on that a little later).

But it was a long, rough day at work today, so on the way home I caved and bought that softly and lightly dappled Hwin at the local Family Farm and Home. I love how sassy she looks here: she’s obviously not giving lovesick Java the time of day!

Her other side is a little more dappled, but definitely less-so than the average Hwin. Just a couple of teeny touch ups and I’d definitely put her on my live show string, if I had one. (I am still thinking about that possibility, yes.)

It’s still too early to tell how scarce this variation – or the Chalkies – will be. Judging from the number of ones I’ve looked at so far, I’m thinking/hoping fairly scarce?

I would have bought her regardless, but it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Incidentally, Family Farm and Home is a Michigan-based farm store chain that tends to carry a pretty decent selection of Breyers for the holidays – more than the average TSC. Remember when the first run of the Zenyatta release sold out at the Reeves warehouse just before the holidays, and everyone was scrambling to find her?

The then-local FFH in Richmond – not far out of my way, but not a direction I usually go to shop – had at least four cases of them sitting on the floor, still leftover after Christmas.

Then a few years back, the store up in Almont had at least a couple dozen S Justadreams on the shelf. I remember looking at them thinking to myself “Is this another Zenyatta situation? Should I buy one just in case?”

(Yes it was, and no I didn’t. D’oh!)

Anyway, that’s why I’m moderately excited about having one of these stores in town now: while they don’t tend to get exclusive Special Runs, their buyer obviously knows what they are doing! I’ll be checking out other FFHs for more as time and travel permits, mostly to determine if this Hwin is an aberration, or an indication of something else going on there, again.

All the Chalky Hwins that I have heard of or seen so far have been found at Tractor Supply stores, and there’s some talk that this is perhaps related to Chalky/Nonchalky situation that occurred with the 2015 Tractor Supply Special Run Jesse.

I think…maybe there’s a correlation? It could just be coincidental one: I am assuming that Tractor Supply’s purchases/factory shipments occur at the same time every year, and maybe it happens to be the same time the factory in China “chalks up” slightly flawed bodies to repurpose from production runs earlier in the year.

So, in other words, the Chalky Hwins might be a de facto Special Run for TSC, in the same way the Black 75th Anniversary AQHA Horses became a de facto Tuesday Morning SR. One of circumstance, not intent.

While I’d love to find one, I’m not going to go out of my way to find it. One Hwin is enough for now!

Infinite Variations in Infinite Combinations

The Breyer Fairy is just flat-out messing with me now.

While I was out running a few errands yesterday, I decided to make a quick stop at the new farm store in town – yes our little town has not one, but two farm stores that carry Breyers, don’t hate me – and guess what they had?

The other variation of the Hwin I’ve been looking for: a pale and very lightly dappled one. Of course!

So I’m just not going to get out of this week without buying something, is that it? (I have not bought either/any. Yet.)

I was planning on stopping by a couple toy stores in the next week (Markus hunting!), but now I’m afraid I’ll find a Chalky Hwin in one, and a Hwin with no dapples at all in the other…

But here’s a tale of me resisting temptation and showing some restraint when it comes to variations and such: so far I’ve only bought one of the Man o’ War re-releases!

They had a big pile of them in the NPOD at BreyerFest for me to choose from. Qualitatively, they were pretty much the same – I saw no glaring factory flaws or overspray. Most were more on the Matte side, but some were Semi-Gloss, too.

Circumstances made it impossible to judge relative rarity: it was at BreyerFest, shortly after the release had been released, and late enough in the day on Saturday that the sample I was working with was undoubtedly skewed. What if a big chunk of the Semi-Gloss ones were already sorted out and sold?

The safest bet would have been to buy both. But after briefly consulting with a few of my compadres in the NPOD, I went with the Semi-Gloss. It didn’t matter if he was the scarcer variation or not, he was the one that caught my eye (like that extra dark and Chestnutty Bandera!) so in my buy pile he went.

The release has been popular enough that if time and space opens up, I can get a few more.

But right now I am afeard that the space I’m trying to make in the house will now be occupied by Hwin variations.

Well, That’s Inconvenient

I guess it’s a good thing that there hasn’t been much at the flea market recently? Other than some adorable maneki-neko banks I found on a dollar table last week:

I’ve always wanted one – I even attempted to sculpt one in my Pottery class in high school – and now I have an instant collection!

And judging from the Java, they do work! 

(Incidentally, if I ever manage to snag some distressed Breyer Kittens for customizing someday, a Maneki-neko custom is high on the list. Along with the Silver Filigree, a Pink Panther, a Chartreux, a Glow-in-the-Dark Halloween Kitty…)

The problem now becomes: do I sell him, or sell someone else? The extra money would come in handy, but I haven’t been winning a lot of Web Specials lately, and rumored existence of “black panthers” are a local urban legend that I am very fond of. 

The plan for now is to sell someone else in his stead. I was already doing some herd culling anyway, so it’s just a matter of adding an extra one or two to the sales list, whenever work finally lets up for a moment and lets me do it.

In other news, I spotted the Tractor Supply Specials today, too. I wasn’t as impressed with the Lakota Black Beauty as I thought I would be – they were well-executed, but they not metallic or shimmery enough for my tastes. Silly me was hoping for something more along the lines of the BreyerFest Smart n Shiney or El Pastor Prize Model Sona. 

I found the Jacy Geronimo much more appealing in person: he had flea bites! If I happen to see an especially pretty one in my travels, or on clearance (not likely, here!) I will definitely consider it.

They also had the Mystery Surprise Stablemate Blind Bags, the same assortment as Cracker Barrel, apparently (save for the TSC-standard VIN numbers on their bellies, I assume). After a couple minutes of groping I was able to determine that none of them were the Metallic Blue Arabian, so that saved me a trip back to my car to get my wallet... 

One model I did almost pull my wallet out for was a Hwin. I’ve been doing a lot of shopping on this release; I want one that’s either exceptionally light or dark, or distinctive in some way. This one was: she was very dark, and her dapples were so insanely unrealistic – perfectly round, and covering every inch of her body – that it bordered on Decorator territory. 

I’ll be in that part of town again on Saturday, and if she’s still there, I don’t think my willpower will hold. 

Moondance and Hwin

I like the new Collectors’ Club Special Run Moondance, a lot. But if I’m getting another Forever Saige this year, it’s going to be the Regular Run Hwin instead.

Looking back at my most recent permanent acquisitions, there are very few spotted horses in the mix. The last ones were the Vintage Club Stablemate Riptide and the Chesapeake Stablemate Cecil, and both of those were “Gift with Purchase” kinds of items. The last intentionally purchased ones were the BreyerFest Bozeman and the Classic Duchess. I guess I’m just on a solid color kick right now!

Some models look better in solid colors anyway, and I think the Forever Saige is one of them. I’m not the only one; quite a few hobbyist hearts seemed to turn when they saw her as last year’s BreyerFest Special Namib in that beautiful Dark Bay-Brown.

The real Hwin, as I suspect most of you know, is named after one of the talking horses in C.S. Lewis’s The Horse and His Boy.

I have mixed feelings about that installment in the Narnia series. I loved the Narnia books in general, and I was really excited to find out that there was one with talking horses in it.

Reading it did motivate me enough to start writing my first novel – about a talking horse – back when most of my friends were writing Star Wars fanfic. (My early exposure/obsession with Mr. Ed didn’t hurt, either.)

But that was because it turned out to be my least favorite book in the series. I don’t know if it was because it hadn’t aged well, or if it had to do with the apprehensions I had about equine literature even then. I felt compelled to write the talking horse fantasy novel I really wanted to read.

Around the same time, though, I also discovered the hobby, and after a while it mitigated my need to write horse fiction. Why write talking horse fantasies when I could essentially “live” them in miniature form?

I still continued to write fiction, but horses were only incidental to the plot, if they appeared at all. Even my fiction-writing attempts today are relatively horse-free. The hobby still fills that niche for  me.

Gloss Namib

My draws for the ticket line at BreyerFest the past few years have been bad – I can’t recall the last time I was even in the front half of the line – so I did not expect to get, and did not get, the Funky Brown Pegasus.

That did sell out easily because it was – as I said – a low piece run and a Pegasus.

I haven’t been having much luck in the Gloss department, either, but I did manage to at least get a Gloss Namib, who was the designated 50/50 Gloss-Matte Split model this year:

She looked beautiful both ways, and I would have been content with the Matte, but it was nice to get one “surprise” Gloss this year, even if I had a 50-50 chance all along, technically.

It’s interesting that this marks the third year in a row at BreyerFest that we’ve had a Gloss Dark Bay Special Run: in 2014 it was one of the Glossy Surprise SR Nokota Horses, and in 2015 it was the Ashquar Ganache.

Is it a coincidence, or a consequence of the feedback from buyers? I’m definitely not complaining – third time was the charm for me, yay! – but I think it’s worth noting.

While she didn’t sell out while the ticket time were running, she did sell out when the leftovers went on sale Sunday afternoon. So while she might not have been everyone’s first choice, she was apparently a lot of people’s second.

Reeves did a fairly good job this year managing the inventory this year; after everyone with tickets had their share, and then the leftovers, only three items had any significant leftovers to spare: the bull Zebu, Furano, and the Mamacita y Chico set.

The Nonhorse molds have been hit or miss the past few years, so leftovers on Zebu weren’t too shocking. But the Make a Wish mold (Furano) is really hot right now, and Mare and Foal sets have tended to sell well at BreyerFest in general. I thought for sure those two would be the sellouts, with the Namib and Bozeman being the ones with leftovers.

Again, worth noting: if history is any guide, it’s the items that don’t immediately sell out that become hot ticket items down the road (see also: most of the stuff that ends up at Tuesday Morning).

It’s unlikely I’ll bite if and when the leftovers go on sale online. I’m trying to lay off the retail purchases for the time being. I tend to remain stuck in “shopping mode” for a couple of months after BreyerFest, and that sometimes gets me in trouble.

(Though if the past few days are any indication, going the “nonretail” route isn’t going to be much more help!)

It helps that I’m currently a bit cool on those molds right now, too, though it might just be a matter of the right color and finish at the right time that correct that.

Seen and Unseen

I’ve spent most of my extended weekend off working on my taxes; it’s always a surprise to me just how many horses I buy and sell every year. Good thing I find so much of my stuff locally, and cheap. (Less than a month to go until flea market season starts, yes!)

Anyway, let’s get back to a topic I’ve been meaning to get to all week: BreyerWest. It seemed to go pretty much as I expected. I did think Reeves would throw in at least one little surprise – the intro of another BreyerFest SR, or maybe even a raffle or token SR of some sort – but they kept it fairly modest, with warehouse leftovers as various gifts and prizes, and a preview of most (but not all) of the up-to-then-announced Special Runs.

No sample of the new Mangalarga Marchador mold was present, painted or unpainted, which I chalk up to the fact that the mold is brand new and is likely still being tweaked a bit for production.

This shouldn’t be considered an unusual or troubling development; think about all the instances of “stand-ins” for new molds that occurred in holiday mail-order catalogs, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. Thinking about it a bit more, the timelines aren't even all that different.

I’m not sure why the Dag Dia or the Hermosa/Corazon set weren’t there either, though. While most of us are quick to assume that technical issues may have been to blame, it could have just as easily been Oops, forgot that box.

The only true “surprise” of the event for me was that, upon seeing her sample, a number of hobbyists walked away with a much more favorable opinion of Namid.

A lot of criticism has been made of the Forever Saige’s neck, which has been described as “giraffe-like”. I didn’t recall getting that impression when I first read the article about her on the Breyer web site, so I went back and took a second look at the photos. Here:

http://www.breyerhorses.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=7832

Her neck doesn’t seem out of proportion in the original sculpt in gray primer. The proportions do seem a little odd in the Premier Club release, but I think that’s a consequence of the extended Appaloosa blanket. With Namid’s solid paint job, that consequence disappears.

Theoretically, every model horse should look equally good regardless of the “clothes” it wears, but any customizer can tell you that’s simply not so. Some models look better in some colors or patterns than others, and sometimes just the right markings or color can hide any number of conformational sins.

Think about all the times you’ve reconsidered a mold once the right color, finish, pattern or markings are applied. The San Domingo mold, for instance, looks better to me in a Pinto or Appaloosa pattern, while I tend to prefer solid colors for models with strong silhouettes, like Salinero.

All I hope for is that this reconsideration doesn’t translate into a “Sorry, no Namid for you” moment in July.

Naughty Pictures

Had a productive couple of “days off”: finished prepping an old sewing project, made fudge, cleaned up and transferred some stuff off my old computer’s hard drive, and unboxed some horses:

I remember when I was a kid and I’d pick up horse magazines – Western Horseman was my big fave – and I’d giggle at the stud horse photos gloriously detailing their handsome backsides: basically they were a ten-year-old horse-crazy girl’s idea of naughty pictures. So I guess you could say that this is my homage to the “dirty pictures” of my wanton youth….

Featuring the Zodiac Cancer/Lobster Butt and a couple of AQHA Horses – the Blue Roan Warehouse Find/Reissue, and the 75th Anniversary Palomino, whom I am really loving right now. Not enough to go forth and complete the collection, but enough to make me wish that the Glossy Black one really was a thing.

Okay, maybe not, but we’ll get to the reasons why in a moment. In the meantime, Reeves released pics of the African Representative, Namid:

Ah, that luscious solid Dark Bay again! When I Googled images of the Namib Desert Horses, I saw a lot of solid Dark Bays, which makes sense since they are the descendants of cavalry mounts.

It appears that I am in the minority in finding her appealing, though; while I was away doing not-Internet things, we apparently entered that awkward part of the year where all the cool kids decide to dislike everything and casually brag about how little they’ll actually spend at BreyerFest, or if they’ll even buy a ticket at all.

As my recent experiences with Reeves issuing exactly the kinds of Special Runs that I dream for – like Marshall, and now Dugan – well, that does not always work out as planned, either. I’d rather be content in finding worth and beauty in the things that are accessible to me, than fret over beautiful things made to my specifications that I cannot have.

That’s one of the points of art connoisseurship – to reconsider something you would not normally have considered before. So instead of first looking for things to dislike about any given release, my first instinct is to try to find things I like about it, or at least find interesting.

I know sometimes the dismissiveness comes from a defensive place: it’s easier to collect when you’re able to eliminate the majority of new items out of hand. And I don’t love everything, myself: Flockies weird me out, I’m still having a hard time loving Desatado, and I really don’t understand the fascination so many have for the Exclusive Event Othello “Puttin’ on the Ritz”. (He’s green, and not in a good way!)

But still, I wish we could all be a little less catty, and a little bit more like the ten-year-old horse-crazy kids we once were. The ones who thought even the homeliest of horses were still kind of awesome.

For instance, I never expected to like my new AQHA Horses – the Roan, the Palomino, and the Warehouse Find Blue Roan – as much as I do now, but I do. That’s why I’d rather not make an offhand wish for a Glossy Black one, only to have it show up somewhere beyond my reach.

Another Swing ... and a Miss

While the rational argument would be to wait until they get to the wait list, I also know I’m not the kind of person who gets picked from wait lists, so I’m just going to get on with my life and declare myself Dugan-less.

It hurts a little more than I thought it would, but some of that may also be work-related.

In other news, the Silver Saddlebred went for what I would consider an irrationally high amount – north of $3000, which is more than what I typically spend on models in the course of a year (or two, sometimes three or four…)

Oddly, I’m more optimistic that I’ll someday find one of those Saddlebreds in the wild, as opposed to a Dugan. The Saddlebreds were distributed in such a way that they may genuinely show up in a garage sale, estate sale, or flea market someday. It may not be in the best condition if and when it gets found, but the possibility is there. And I’m not all that picky about condition.

Items that are distributed internally – within the hobby – tend to stay in the hobby. They may come up for sale more often, and are in better condition, but unless someone is desperate or just wants them gone, NOW, the markup tends to be significant enough to essentially render it unavailable to someone like me.

Sure, weird stuff happens – I certainly wasn’t expecting to find a Shannon and Excalibur at a local sale less than a half hour from my house, for instance – but I think I used up a couple year’s worth of model horse mojo on that find alone.

On an unrelated note, we’ve finally gotten another BreyerFest SR hint, which appears to be a Black or Dark Bay Forever Saige. The Blog blurb makes it obvious that she’s supposed to be a Namib Desert Horse, and not a Vlaamperd:

Our next Special Run pays tribute to Africa where herds of majestic feral horses run free through the desert.

Not what I thought they’d go with – Egypt is in Africa, and therefore (I thought) a fair justification to include a Weather Girl in the lineup – but it’s an interesting and creative choice.

I kinda like the Forever Saige’s slightly bratty attitude anyway, and I don’t share the currently fashionable disdain for black paint jobs, so she might be getting put on my buy list. Especially if her markings/detailing are interesting, and I can’t locate an at- or near-cost Premier Club Forever Saige.

Well, off to do something creative with my frustration for the next couple of days.

Looking Forward

Successful weekend: partially snowed in, in possession of a nicely-funded Paypal account, on a payday weekend, with multiple “special offer” e-mails streaming in from Reeves – and I didn’t buy anything!

That level of resolve probably won’t last the week, since I just spotted an inexpensive upgrade on eBay earlier today. It’s one of THOSE kind of things: if I don’t bid on it, I know I’ll be thinking about it – and regretting it – for months.

Another model I’m considering, but shouldn’t: the Premier Club Forever Saige. The previous two releases for 2015 were also beautiful – we’re all eager to see an Hermosa and Corazon Special Run at next year’s BreyerFest, right? – but there’s just something about Saige’s face that I find very endearing.

I guess because it reminds me a bit of Vita’s face in her rebellious-but-playful moments. Her hair is a bit weird and there are some angles that make her look ungraceful, but these are problems both Vita and I can totally relate to.

She is also very reminiscent of the original Traditional Mustang: the elevated head and neck, the relative position of her legs, a wild mane and thick, somewhat short tail. I can’t recall if I’ve covered the topic here before, but I have some interesting theories about the sculptural antecedents of the original Mustang. Another topic, for another time.

Judging from the number of them for sale online, I think I can hold out until BreyerFest to pick up a Forever Saige from the inevitable stash of leftovers that will be found in the NPOD.

Because I’ve been good about my budget, I haven’t gotten a copy of the new 2016 Breyer Calendar yet either, but it apparently contains some sneak peeks of other new horses coming our way next year – including a lovely Black Weather Girl, a portrait of Rhapsody in Black:

http://arabiansltd.com/egyptian-arabian-mares/black-arabians-mare-rhapsody-in-black

I had completely forgotten that next year would mark the end of the Weather Girl mold’s five-year exile to the “vault”. I was expecting her to return in a more conventional Bay, Chestnut or Gray, but another Black is good, too!

If you’re not a fan of Black, no worries: I would not be surprised to see Weather Girl multiple times in multiple releases next year: as a Web Special, a Flagship/Store Special, or maybe even a little something at BreyerFest.

Though I still want to see her in the original Breyer Old Mold/Family Arabian Colors: Gloss Alabaster, Gloss Honey Bay, Gray Appaloosa and Woodgrain.

I should stop pushing so hard for that idea; when I do get my wish for a favorite mold or mold/color combo, it often results in releases that remain out of my reach. Not always, but enough.