Decision Time

Feeling a little distracted the past few days; I just began planning the OTHER vacation this week in earnest, and the choices are a little overwhelming.

(Anyone know the best way to contact the Pryor Mountain Mustang Center? The tour is a definite “bucket list” to-do!)

And if anyone might be interested in tagging along, now’s definitely the time to speak up. Otherwise, I’ll be hoofing it alone, like I usually do. (Things to consider, if you’re considering: I’m a nonsmoker, a sound sleeper, and I’ll eat almost anything. The only nonnegotiable: I get to choose the music!)

That box of bodies arrived in… a jumble. They were bodies, and I was expecting nothing less, but the one I was going to keep for my personal customizing stash is the only one that’s broken. Only slightly, but enough.

This happens so often to me that I think it must be an immutable law of physics. I’ll still keep it, just because I’m an adventurous and experimental sort and the idea seems worth pursuing. After I finish a few dozen more old projects.

Which is not looking so great, with the current work situation and all. Last weekend’s quilt project is still not done! I have to work today, so this weekend is also not promising...

This year’s Best of BreyerFest Stablemate Set is awesome and the tiny glossy palomino Georg is my favorite, because the only model in that set that I have in its original size is the Opry: 

She is/was one of the best Volunteer Models ever, and there will be no discussion on this matter. I remember so many people being initially disappointed by her – a Vintage mold, in a Vintage color? – but once more people got to see her in person, they fell in love.

In my personal opinion, I think everything should (eventually) come in Gloss Honey Palomino. The matching Clydesdale Stallion and Foal would be a good beginning! (I suppose the original Vintage Club Dandy might do, but I also want something solid. With blue and yellow bobs and ribbons, naturally.)

I am also glad they managed to incorporate the Stablemate Driving Horse into the lineup here, because hello obvious! I love that chunky little mold for some reason; the 2018 One-Day Silver Charm release is probably one of my favorite BreyerFest Stablemates. 

Although I do have a small and cherished collection of Plushies of various sorts and manufactures, I don’t specifically collect BreyerFest Plushies. But with my love of harness racing and Standardbreds, this year’s version Sulky might be something I need:

I have a few days to decide before tickets go on sale. At this point I’m just going to get the one VIP ticket, because that’s all I really need; I’ll worry about what to do with other possible tickets only if/when they happen.  

Plushie Goodness

The box of goodies from Reeves has been sitting in my office, unopened, since Friday. But it’s the pile of plush goodies I found at a couple local Salvation Army Stores over the weekend that has me most tickled:

Technically I guess this counts as my first local find, since one of them is the #10112 War Admiral plush from the Seabiscuit movie merchandising back in 2004-2005?  But I only happened to find him after spotting a couple other horse-shaped objects on top of the giant plushie pile, and decided to go digging.

Whenever I’ve brought plushes to BreyerFest, they’ve always sold well. So I always consider it worth the effort.

Plushes are a relatively new Breyer thing. The first official plushes in 2001 were Christmas-themed items, but in 2002 they unleashed a veritable herd of merchandise, both as Seasonal and as Regular Run items.

The first BreyerFest Plush Special Run was the “Spanish Bucky” – complete with a fringed sombrero and red rose – in 2004. He was listed in the program that year in the “Mid-Year Product” section, though I don’t recall seeing him for sale anywhere other than BreyerFest. I do recall purchasing one in the NPOD year or two later, at a significantly discounted price.

It wouldn’t be until 2012 that the Plushes would become an official BreyerFest Thing.

And of course this year, Reeves went into partnership with Aurora to launch a whole new batch of plushes.

Although I do have a few – a Pony Gone Wild who was included in a Grab Bag ages ago, and the Wind Dancer Bali because I thought it was particularly cute – I don’t make it a point to collect them, because I already have enough stuff and the dog will confiscate them anyway.

(Before I went all-in on the model horses, I will admit to fantasizing about buying a Shetland Pony-sized horse plush that dangled from the ceiling of Circus World but alas, he was far too pricey for my $2 a week allowance back then!)

So most of these goodies (I’m still undecided on the François Pompon Polar Bear) will go in the sales stash.

Halloween Surprises

As I expected, Breyer was not on the list of finalists for the Toy Hall of Fame. I have some thoughts and feelings about this, but rather than have it turn into a rant about Care Bears, I’ll give myself a few more days for a more nuanced post.

In the meantime, we can talk about the Halloween stuff they released to Collector’s Club members today:

We’ve already knew about the Spooky Stablemates and the Samhain; however, the plush Boo (above) and the Classic* Mason Salem were new.

I’m trying to avoid even considering any Traditional-scale Halloween items right now – there is no space here at the moment – and Plushes are not an option as long as Vita roams the house.

The Stablemates were a no-brainer the moment I saw them at BreyerFest, of course. I love all three, but I do hope at least one of the two I’m getting is the Mini Ichabod Rivet, because you know how much I love glow-in-the-dark stuff.

And that’s why I ended up buying the Salem, too. At first I thought that he was cute and well-executed – a Decorator Pinto pattern with cat silhouettes and paw prints and purple interference! – but not necessarily a must-have.

Then I saw that it was glow-in-the-dark, too, and I was well, so much for setting aside some funds for a new sewing machine this week….

I do want to object to how this program was marketed, though. It was on Instagram, on Twitter, on Facebook… everywhere except the one place I actually check on a (somewhat) daily basis: my e-mail.

I am glad that these items were basically open stock items and of a sufficiently large enough quantity that they were still available when I actually had the opportunity to peruse the Internet – eight hours later.

Please do not let this be a trend: people do not need any more encouragement to stare at their phones as it is. I’ve never been more lonely than when I’ve found myself sitting at a table eating lunch with friends or coworkers, and every single one of them is staring into their phones like the rest of the world (or me!) does not exist.

Not all of us are attached to our cellphones 24/7 – in fact, I barely use it at all, and usually only for emergencies. And yes, I am also appalled that “Smartphones” made the Hall of Fame shortlist. But more about that next time…

(*Look, I still call “Paddock Pals” Little Bits. But at least it kinda-sorta makes sense. Renaming the Classics Series the Freedom Series just borders on the random and nonsensical.) 

Catching Up Is Hard To Do

I was on the road and dealing with some work-related issues most of the week (and a dentist appointment, blerg) so I missed most of the hubbub about the Rialto:

Being on the Totilas mold, there was some concern he was a follow-up “consolation prize” Special Run to the Koh-i-Noor, but it turned out he was just another piece in the America the Beautiful Series.

I like him a lot, and if I happen to be drawn for one I’ll be more than happy to add him to the herd. I won’t be heartbroken if I’m not though, because after watching some of the behaviors that went on with the distribution of Koh-i-Noor, I’m fine with just walking away from the mold for a little while.

Much as I had to do with the Esprit mold.

It’s interesting that the distribution of the Koh-i-Noor variations seems to be relatively even – the three sock version seems to be a little less common than the two, four, and no sock versions, but not excessively so.

I don’t quite understand what everybody’s fascination with the no-sock version is, but as I’m not really in the market for one, it’s more of an academic question for me. Was it the assumption that he’d be the “rare” one driving it, or the fact that it represented the opposite end of the scale from the four-stocking one: All vs. Nothing?

The first item in the BreyerFest Garland Pop-Up Shops has popped up, and I have to give kudos to the photographer:

His hair is so metal! Love it. I have a few Breyer Plushes, and I wouldn’t mind a few more, but Vita assumes all plushes that enter the house are her property… and let’s just say she destroys what she loves.

It’s worth noting that this is the second item – after Newmarket – to feature jockey silks as the main decorative element. So my initial assumption wasn’t entirely wrong.

Since I’ve decided to forego the customizing this year to catch up on the sewing projects, and purchasing them secondhand is not going to happen, I have (almost) no opinion of the Best Customs Contest prizes. It is nice to see another Bobby Jo in a non-chestnut-based color scheme, though!

The entry period for the Scottsdale Stampede Event is coming up, and I am still undecided about entering; I am hoping to have a definitive answer by the end of next week.

Also and obviously, I did not “win” the Test Color Black Stallion. I keep telling myself that it’s for the best: if I ever do, I’d probably keel over from the shock. Not because of the winning, but because of the bill…

Another Odds-and-Ends Kind of Day

I’m so tired today that I feel partially melted. At least we don’t have to deal with massive amounts of snow here. Just the cold, and exhaustion.

Just a few odds and ends before I hit the sack.

That Breyer posted about the 5K Run on their BreyerFest Blog the day after I posted about it here was a coincidence, I swear. That’s not a wink-wink, nudge-nudge kind of denial, either.

Second: I was poking around the usual sales sites and found a couple of unpolished “Let’s Go Riding” Secretariats that were obviously not Samples, so I can confirm that they do exist. Determining whether the polishing occurred during production or before is still difficult.

It’s possible that they had a small stash of older Secretariat bodies lying around that they needed to use up anyway. It’s a not-uncommon practice: the Black Family Arabian Special Runs from the 1970s, the Chalky Dapple Gray Hanoverian from the 1980s, and the Warehouse Reissues were all made from previously molded/warehoused items.

For what it’s worth (small sample size over a short period of time), the unpolished ones do seem to be less common than the polished.

And finally, even when I’m not looking for anything, I find things:

A large Rain Plushie in the Stuffed Animal Bin of one of my regular haunts, on the way home from work today. She was just sitting on top of the heap like she was waiting for me. Plushes were on sale today, too, so I had no excuse not to take her home.

I don’t have a lot of plushies – Breyer or otherwise – because Vita considers all plushies her personal property. In fact, she personally inspects every shopping bag that enters the house in hopes of adding new victims to her toy heap.

Not today, sweetie. This one’s hiding in the closet until I determine a less gruesome fate for her.