Wailua, and Other Business

Today is going to be a bit disconnected, since I’m still recovering from a bit of who-knows-what from last week. (There have been a lot of unexpectedly extended naps over the past few days!)

First up is Wailua - Second release in the America the Beautiful Series, all designed by Sommer Prosser:

Ooh, a Gloss Legionario! It is true that Gloss Finishes are a rare feature on Legionario releases; other than Tests and Samples, the only ones I can think of are Decorators like the 1991 Gold Florentine Raffle piece, and the Silver Filigree Grane of Gotterdammerung.

My only (tiny) quibble with him is that it’s yet another flavor of Gray. It is in keeping with the theme of the series – his mane is like a waterfall, and the dapples like water bubbles – but darn it, it’s still left me pining for a nice Dark Dappled Bay or Pinto!

On the plus side, the appearance of a relatively low-quantity piece run does suggest that more Legionarios may be in our future. The last widely available Legionario release (excluding the Exclusive Event Excalibur in 2014) was 2009’s Spanish Flamenco Set.

If there’s a Legionario SR at BreyerFest – Surprise or not – I am all in. I’ve entered every day for Wailua, too, but I haven’t been picked for a Web SR since Astru, so I am not hopeful.

Second, another previously unknown In-Between Mare has appeared on eBay. Needless to say, I won’t be participating in that exercise of financial futility.

It appears to have surfaced in the Chicago area, which is in keeping with the history we think we know about it: that a small test batch was made, whatever was made was mostly destroyed/reground when they did not pass muster, with a handful of survivors circulating locally.

The slow drip-drip of IBMs into the marketplace is just more fuel for the fire that that understanding of its history is wrong, or incomplete. (I still favor the notion that whatever was made was not destroyed, but simply mixed into the earliest distributed batches of the “new” Family Arabian Mare.)

Third, there’s the news that this year’s NAN has been cancelled.

In this house, whenever things get real quiet, it usually means that Vita has been up to some serious no-good – stripping the guest bedroom bed, eating an umbrella, or picking your coat pocket for cough drops and candy wrappers.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was thinking the same thing about NAN and NAMHSA.

I can’t say that I necessarily saw it coming, but it is also not a surprise, given the lack of meaningful communication and what recent changes and announcements have been made (like the switch to a one-judge system, and keeping the event in Kentucky for multiple successive years).

I don’t know if I’ll attend the event that they have planned for the Thursday before BreyerFest, since Thursday is already the busiest day of that week for me. I might just to attend the Open Meeting, but like the last time there was a serious controversy, I think by then it will be too late, with opinions too calcified for any progress to be made.

Rambling, Roan

Off the top, since I know some of you are curious: yes, I know all about the Red Roan Pinto Five-Gaiter on eBay. In fact, the vendor contacted me earlier today, and I’ll update you about this extremely interesting story as my schedule permits. 

In slightly less exciting news, a few more BreyerFest releases were seen at NAN this weekend: included in this batch were a Crystal Nokota horse Belle Meade, and the red version of the Black Decorator Nocona with the boots and lassoes, named Corral.

I have to confess I am intrigued by the Crystal Nokota Horse, in spite of my clumsy self.

I take it from the excessively long discussion threads I’ve been seeing that there are some issues with the Premier Club release Carrick. I haven’t dived into that discussion because my Internet time was rather limited this week.

I will say that I like "plastic him" better than the "resin him": the resin prototype of him didn’t do all that much for me. I think I’m just not comfortable with that level of detail at that scale; it drifts a bit too much into Uncanny Valley territory for me.

Since we’re on the topic of new molds, there was also a Laredo at NAN, and he wasn’t as "horrible" as I thought he could be. The front leg is still odd, and the mane and tail are ropey and snakelike, but otherwise…he’s not bad. I’m not saying that I’ll be buying him, but after the initial griping, he’ll end up in the same category as Esprit and Ethereal - semi-realistic fantasy horses for the little girl (in reality, or at heart) set.

Of NAN, I don’t have much to say. It’s not my scene. I didn’t tune in to the video broadcast because - aside from my chronic lack of time - watching people look at other models just feels weird. The lack of an opening number and/or a half-time show were also factors. Unless someone decides to break into an impromptu dance routine because one of their entries Top Tenned, there just isn’t a whole lot of actual action going on.

(Which I think would be awesome, by the way. NAN Victory Dances! Someone please make this so.)

The next release in the Vintage Club series this year is - those two Shetlands in Florentine Pinto and Copenhagen Pinto that we discussed prior, named Denim and Diamonds. Which means that those among us who were viewing/participating in the discussion where they first came up on Blab already know what the fourth release will be, too. (I won’t spoil it for those among you who wish to be surprised, except to say: you may have seen it already, anyway.)

The clues this time really annoyed me, though. They were so vague that they actually DID apply to other molds. As someone on Blab pointed out, the Cantering Welsh Pony would have fit all of those clues, quite easily.

"It’s a girl!" Check. (No obvious boy parts on either.)

"Not a horse." Check. (Both ponies, not horses.)

"Chess." Also, check. (Both molds were signed by Chris Hess - C. Hess.)

Eh, not worth sweating over. This humidity, on the other hand…