Sweetest Thing

This cold is kicking me in the pants so hard it’s leaving shoeprints. I normally don’t miss a lot of work for illness - because I don’t get sick enough to merit it, usually - but I had to go home at lunch on Friday. We were already short-staffed, but I barely had enough energy to drive home, much less work another four hours.

Massive amounts of juice, soup and sleep have made me marginally functional today; I’ll see how I feel in the morning before deciding if a trip to the doctor is necessary. (Some credit is also due to the tender care of "Nurse" Vita, who barely left my side all weekend. Such a good girl, Vita!)

Understandably, I haven’t been online too much; I skimmed some of the Big Easy Bash stuff lightly, mostly out of professional interest. Anything more than that would not have been beneficial to my mental state anyway. (While I know on some level that I could have a free pass to the Sample Room any time I wanted to, probably, it’s 12 hours away and not something I can do on a whim. Sigh.)

It appears that the Gooitzen Celebration Models for BreyerFest WILL be Glossy. That’s a nice touch; there were a few years - 2001 through 2003 - where they sort of experimented with high semi-gloss finishes (Atlantis Bay V, RSV Inolvidable, Gladwin Lucky Gray Lady), but all of the others before and since have been Matte.

That still leaves us with the question of what they are going to do for Costume Prize models; I wouldn’t mind the Matte, but I know I’m outnumbered on that. (For now!) It’s not going to change my mind on whether or not I’m participating this year or not: I will, unequivocally. I am having some difficulty finding the components I need for my concept, however. (No hints, sorry. Some secrets have to stay that way.)

The only other bit of news that caught my eye was that there was a #36 Racehorse in the Special Run mix at the event - a Gloss Dapple Gray Pinto one? - and wonder of wonders, people were really digging him/her.

It could just be the combo of pretty paint job + limited quantities doing its job there, but it gives me hope that they might indeed pull off a Retro Release of one in the near future. The mold doesn’t have the panache of the Fury/Prancer or the classic "Old School" look of the Western Pony, so I had discounted the possibility before. The poor sweet thing barely has any personality at all, though I thought Reeves did an able job of giving it some with the 1997 Just About Horses Special Phantom.

If the Powers-That-Be are considering a Retro Release, may I recommend a Shaded Alabaster/Albino? Not only would it be a suitably Retro paint job that we haven't seen yet, linear muscle shading like the Old Molds and earlier Albino Five-Gaiters and Mustangs had would also compensate for the Racehorse mold’s lack of anatomical specificity. Lipliner would be a no-brainer, of course - a little smile to brighten the blankest of Breyer faces! 

Released in quantities sufficiently large that I can actually afford one would be nice, too. This latest Special - like the last (Gatsby’s Daisy, in 2000), is most definitely going to stay out of my price range.

Making a Splash

Can you see why I think this Sample of the Retro Release Western Pony is so awesome?

Actual Splash Spots, yes!

I knew Reeves had seriously considered, at one point, going with actual Splash Spots instead of the masked ones: the Sample/Test on the back of the Retro Release box has them. Every time I’d go to a new or more familiar toy store with an ample Breyer selection, I’d always check out the Western Ponies to see if they might have slipped a few in the mix just to mess with us.

(My pony is not That Pony, though.)

Funny thing is, I didn’t notice that this little one was what I was looking for all along until several days after I had gotten home from BreyerFest. There were a number of items I had bought in the Pit that I hadn’t yet opened: it wasn’t that I had so many, but that I thought I’d appreciate them more at a slightly later date. Plus, it's always nice to have a few unopened packages lying around the house for a quick "pick me up" whenever a day's gone south.

This decision was made not long after I did open that Very Special Mariah’s Boon that, as I have already detailed, pretty much sent me over the edge. As much as I love that guy, I didn’t want to take any more chances of being gobsmacked, again. Those of you from Michigan know it’s hard enough driving the length of Ohio with a Michigan license plate; there was no need to complicate the drive home with an even-more-freaked-out-than-average Post-BreyerFest state of mind.

I had a hunch it was, though, and I know better than to question my hunches. Even if it hadn’t turned out as well as I hoped, I also gambled on the recent uptick of interest in "Vintage" collecting taking care of the problem, in short order. I sold a larger than average number of quality Vintage releases and molds in Kentucky this year, and it wasn’t just me: some of my friends also noted the trend.

Among the pieces I sold this year were a number of Appaloosas of the Splash Spot type, and I had several random hobbyists profess their undying love of the old-fashioned sloppy/streaky/random Splash Spotting technique to me, too.

I don’t know if there is any one factor contributing to this newfound interest in Vintage stuff, and old-fashioned techniques in general (Vintage Club, Retro Releases, or - dare I say it - moi?) but I’m glad, regardless.

Perhaps the next time Reeves considers another release in a similar vein, they’ll go all the way next time. We’re totally okay with the streaks and randomness, really.

When, Not If

My standard work procedures involve me pecking away at several small projects simultaneously, based on my levels of time, interest and energy, with the goal of finishing them all within a relatively narrow time frame. (That’s similar to how work works, too - we run multiple work flows with the intent of finishing them up around the same time.)

It doesn’t always work out, but it works out well enough most of the time that there’s little reason to change it.

Most of the time. Every once and a while I get into a fit and I just have to see a project through from start to finish, RIGHT NOW.

Anyway, that’s my excuse for not opening up my Commander, even though I got him late Thursday afternoon. If I opened him, I’d have to deal with him, and until a few hours ago, I couldn’t. I have to work tonight (a new account, too, I think) so I’ll probably have to put off his unveiling until tomorrow morning, when my mind has room to roam.

One minor distraction I did allow myself was the one-question Vintage Club survey asking members about our preferences: Do you want Vintage colors on Vintage molds, or Vintage colors on Newer molds?

Y’all should know by now what I picked. There was also room to comment, but I didn’t: trust me, Reeves already knows. 

I am not philosophically opposed to Vintage colors on Newer molds, I’d just rather see them released in a different context or program - either as a extra release, like Gus, or as a part of some other program. (A "Retro" Club?)

The molds they selected to show us as examples were quite interesting, especially the Vintage/Vintage pieces:

 For balance, here were the Vintage/New pieces:

No promises were made about the models depicted in the survey - they were being used merely as examples of the kinds of items they were discussing.

Judging from the reactions I’ve seen to the Charcoal Adios, though, I think it’s just a matter of when, not if, on that pretty boy. (Next year’s "Exclusive", maybe, if he ain’t the next release?)

I liked the Gloss Honey Bay Pinto Yellow Mount more than I thought, too. When I initially saw him in that group shot they sent out last year (the one with the Morgan now known as "Halo") I thought "Nice, nothing spectacular". He looked like a glossed regular run Yellow Mount with added black points. (Something they've done in the past, by the way - anyone remember the BHR Bay Running Stallion, made out of leftover 1988 JAH Special Run? And the Small World Trakehner?)

No, he’s an actual Honey Bay, complete with four stockings and black hooves, just like an honest-to-goodness vintage Honey Bay.

And just to let you know, I’d buy either of the Nokotas in a heartbeat, especially the one in the Splash Spot Black Leopard. I like the mold, but I’d dig that color on anything. (As long as they actually do the Splash Spots as Splash Spots, of course.)

After a Night of Writing, Furiously

So there, ta-dah!

Actually, I’m not that excited about it; basically the story got a little too big to handle too quickly, and like the last time, I ended up dispensing with a lot of plot offstage, this time in some flashbacks and an extended epilogue. And the original beginning I had planned became the end. For now.

I thought it started well, and it’s certainly salvageable. Just…yeah, it's over and done with. I can move on to other projects for a month or two, without the word count guilt.

In celebration, I ate a bunch of curly fries and opened up a couple packages, including my fancy new Prancer:

Nifty! I do find the black reins are a little distracting, the mock overspray a bit silly and overdone, and most Fury/Prancers didn’t come with painted eyewhites (only some of the Black Beauties did).

But unlike the upcoming Retro Release on the Western Pony, this one kinda-sorta looks like something that could have been made back then. Sort of like what a Connoisseur would have looked like if the program existed fifty years ago.

(A Connoisseur Racehorse does make me giggle. I’d probably buy it, too.)

Looking at the snap saddle makes me wish (again) Reeves would institute a spare parts program as a perk of the Collector’s Club or Vintage Club. I think a lot of people would appreciate being able to get replacement hats for their Old Timers, and replacement saddles for their Western Horses/Ponies/Prancers. (And the hats would make excellent keychains. Just saying!)

That’s all you’re getting today: my brain is still totally fried from yesterday’s massive write-a-thon.

I think I’ll go make cookies; I’m thinking something in the shortbread family, but I have a gluten-free chocolate walnut meringue-type thingie that I’ve been itching to try. (Not because I have to, but because I want to. They sound absolutely decadent. I could use a little decadence right now.)