Blue-debaker

I’m almost completely caught up on my sleep, but the unpacking – especially from Kentucky – still remains undone. It’s going to be a long time before I finish going through all my mostly-probably-crummy photos too. And I have a project I need to finish ASAP…

I am also now thinking that my travel experience might be best expressed in a book form, rather than a bloggy one. It’s a trip – and a notion – that had been with me for most of my life, and I don’t think the experience can be summed up in a few extended blog posts. 

No worries, you’ll get some photos and deets here eventually, especially the Kentucky bits.

The first day back to work after a long vacation always kind of sucks, regardless of your feelings for the job, so I waited until I got home from it to open the most anticipated package on my doorstep: Studebaker. 

I was a little surprised she was actually still available when I got back to the hotel Friday night. While I wanted the variation like everyone else, I thought that after getting the Holographic Uffington a couple years back that another scarce variation was not in the cards for me, at least not for a good, long while:

No. Freaking. Way. 

How did this happen? Do I need to consider buying lottery tickets this week? Hit the casino? Troll eBay at 3 a.m.? 

Speaking of variations, I still might give the Araba another shot during the second chance sale: her conformation issues aside, her variant sports one of the prettiest production run paint jobs I have ever seen. Since my luck seems to be running very, very hot at the moment, it just might be worth taking the shot, credit card bills be damned.

All that being said, I am not terribly pleased by Reeves deciding to apply the term “Micro Run” to these variations. This is simply not acceptable, people: the general hobby consensus on that term is that it applies only to Special Runs of 100 pieces or fewer (give or take a few, particularly when it comes to some of the Exclusive Event pieces). 

Most of the Special Runs released in the late 1970s and the early 1980s were in the 200-piece range, and we never refer to them as Micro Runs. That’s partly because the term is a recent development – the first time I used it on the blog was back in 2014, I believe – and we really didn’t distinguish smaller runs from larger runs back then, regardless. Christmas Catalog SRs (produced in the thousands) and Model Horse Congress exclusives (produced in quantities of 200-300) were both “Special Runs”, plain and simple.

I think it might be useful to coin a new term for this new class of models, but nothing seems immediately obvious. Short Runs? Small Runs? SR Variants?

Taking the Win

Things are pretty quiet here, model-horse wise. I did a very, very preliminary show string for the show in April: the Collectibility section was pretty easy (as I hoped it would be!), but the Stablemates division I wanted to focus on this year? That’s going to be some tough sledding.

And it’ll be a couple of weeks before I can go through my stash and pull out some fresh contenders. My success with the Stablemates has been such a mixed bag lately I’m not even sure what I’m looking for at this point…

To go back to a point I made in my previous post about reading too much into things, I think a lot of hobbyists are reading way too much into those BreyerFest Special Run reveal videos posted on Instagram. They’re a little oddly lit and shot, and what we’re seeing in them is not any more representative of what they’ll actually look like in person than the publicity photos.

Seriously people, nothing has happened to the Brighty mold. It’s perfectly fine.

I don’t think we can accurately assess what the models will look like in person until we see some samples in person, and the first opportunity for that will probably be at BreyerWest, at the end of the month. 

I doubt my opinions or choices will change, though. My choices were based mostly on affection toward the mold, rather than the love of the color. Until we get better (less staged) pictures, all we can do is chillax, and maybe get some crafting done in the meantime. (No painting for me though. Stresses me out too much!)

Now for some actual model horse content:

Here’s a model I acquired last BreyerFest that I only recently unboxed: a Gloss Omega Fahim! I traded my Gloss Jake (the Chestnut Overo Wixom) for him; I’m sure the person on the other side of the trade thought they were getting the better of the deal. 

But (a) both of the models were technically the same price in the beginning, which was free and (b) if both ends of the trade are happy with what they get, so who’s to say one side profited more than the other?

There have been plenty of deals I’ve been a part of where I came out the “winner” financially, but my first and foremost goal when wheeling and dealing is to acquire things that I like and want. Selling is (usually) a secondary goal.

And this model is so gorgeous in person: the gloss really brings out the midnight blue highlights that are almost imperceptible in the Matte version. The Jake was nice – and one of the scarcer Glosses of that particular CCA Sale – but I scarcely glanced at him when I owned him. But the Omega Fahim I could stare at it all day. Feels like a win to me!

Cruising

First, thanks to everybody who’s helping me out here on the trip planning front. As the timestamps of my blog posts attest, I have a nonstandard work schedule, and I’m not normally awake or available during normal business hours. It tends to make interacting with the rest of the world a little challenging sometimes. 

I have a couple of projects that absolutely have to be done this week, but once that’s over and done with I can get back to planning and scheduling!

She’s yet another shelf hog, but I’m a big fan of Shagya Arabians and of the Yasmin mold, so the BreyerFest Online-Only Traditional Special Run Studebaker is another must-have for me:

Many others online have pointed out her similarity to the BreyerFest 2019 Open Show Grand prize Victory. The major difference between them is pattern: Victory is an Overo and Studebaker is a Tobiano.

Well, that and the price. There’s no way I’m ever going to buy a Victory: even if I had that kind of money to spend, you guys know that’s just not how I roll. 

At the end of the day, all we’re really dealing with here are pieces of plastic in the shape of horses. Yeah, sure, I have a few… thousand of them, but believe it or not, they’re only an incidental part of my retirement planning. 

I’ve said this many times before: collectibles are not a wise investment. Heck, most investments aren’t wise investments, mostly because most people don’t take their time to do their research. 

If I have any financial goal with my horses, it’s to break even. Not taking into consideration all the time I’ve put into the research – most of which I’ve done for the sheer enjoyment of it anyway – I think I might come close to that. 

Which would put me ahead of the game, investment-wise. Most investments don’t make back their money, and I find it a little exasperating that collectors – not just in the model horse hobby, but in general – have that expectation. 

Antiques Roadshow is not reality: 98% of the stuff that gets dragged there is not worth all that much. Or is even all that interesting. (My pet peeve: Victorian Crazy Quilts. Ugh!)

(FWIW: I recently ran the numbers, and I’m in slightly better shape financially than I thought I was. And selling off large swaths of the collection wasn’t even a part of the retirement calculus. So don’t be Googling my house and making plans just yet.)

Phineas

Winter was harder on my garden than I anticipated: a lot of the perennials I so carefully cultivated from seed last year did not survive. After spending most of the day working on the main beds, it’s not quite as bad as I thought originally, but I was planning on having it be a pretty easy year. 

All I wanted to do was just yank up and separate a few overgrown things, grow a few veggies and annuals, and weed as necessary. While I do have several “new” perennials stratifying in pots on the porch, it’s going to be a long time before they make it into the garden.

But… horse stuff. I am probably a little more enthused about the current Stablemates Club release Phineas than most:

It’s interesting that they’ve decided to classify him as a Shagya Arabian. The original resin Prince Charming was generically labeled an Arabian. He’s not super typey or refined, so it’s in the right neighborhood, I guess. (He seems a little pony-ish to me, personally.)

I am not keen on the paint job, though: Reeves has made several attempts at doing Star Dapple Grays, often with not the best results. It’s a difficult color for most customizers to execute, so it’s not entirely a surprise that Reeves has struggled with it. 

Their more successful attempts at the color tend to be with smaller runs that they can lavish a little extra attention on. They only made 500 or so (probably less) of the Elegance Collection Dressage Set in 2008/2009, one of their earliest production runs in this color. The 2013 BreyerFest Raffle Model Blue Bird also turned out pretty nice, but the Polo Pony Smarty Jones Santiago? Not as much.

It was also released on the Stablemates Endurance Arabian for several years – 2011 through 2014 – and I was shocked that he lasted that long. You know my standards are not that high, but even I had a hard time getting past his stripes and polka dots.  

It’s the memory of that Arabian that is most likely cooling Phineas’s reception. It’s been several years since that attempt, however, so I’m more willing to give Reeves a chance to prove themselves. He does look good in the photograph, right? That has to count for something. 

The Price of Knowledge

Apparently I was for sale on eBay? 

(LOL) 

If I were to self-identify as a model horse, it’d be some type of heavy warmblood (Cleveland Bay?), the Shagya Arabian or maybe a Lipizzaner like Pluto. The rationale: I am not petite, and am of Belgian-Polish-Hungarian descent. Probably Dapple Gray too, since going gray early runs in the family…

But for $37, you’re only going to get about an hour and a half of uninterrupted in-person time from the real me. While my time is free at BreyerFest, it’s usually limited in quantity, and I often have no idea when it’s available. 

I probably should organize a meet-and-greet this year, if only to get an hour or so of time to sit for an hour in one place and just shoot the breeze. 

(Hmm.) 

Anyway, in a minor follow up to the previous post about the other eBay auction, I am aware of that many of the various Western Horse Knockoffs that exist have value, and that the Gold Foil Sticker boxes also do. I own plenty of both!

It’s just that with the recent influx of newer and less savvy collectors into the market, I’m a little concerned that some of the bidders incorrectly assumed that the items do in fact belong together, when that’s not the case. It’s been more than once that I’ve observed someone buy something on the assumption that it was a vintage Breyer Western Horse or Pony, and then discover that it was not. 

All the Black Beauty Western Horses and Ponies that I’ve seen that came with their original boxes came in corrugated shippers. All variations of the original Western Black Beauties – with markings, and without – were discontinued by the end of the 1950s, while the White Border boxes didn’t debut until 1973. 

I can see why some hobbyists might assume that they reissued the model in that color in the 1970s, because a lot of models were reissued in the 1970s, or re-released as Special Runs. And Solid Black Special Runs were also a thing in the 1970s. 

But as far as I know, there were no Special Runs or re-releases of the Western Horse or Pony in the 1970s. There are some rare variations, including a Chalky of the Palomino Horse and Matte of the Palomino Pony, neither of which are too expensive. 

I’d be on board with a Solid, Matte Black Western Horse or Pony Special or Regular Run. Don’t think it will happen, though; while there is definitely a market for vintage molds – the expanded Vintage Club membership also sold out, and some of the Breyer Breeds releases seem to be selling well – a relatively plain black Western Horse or Pony might just be a little too plain for the current market’s taste.

(Make it Charcoal, however, and all bets are off!)

Starlight

It’s been one of those weeks, folks (possibly ending with snow, ugh), so my Vintage Club Claude will remain unopened until Saturday afternoon. I want – no, need – to live with the possibility that he might be the Matte for a couple days more.

(And in case you didn’t already get the news, they clarified on the web site that the correct piece count on the Matte Claudes is 30, not 25.)

Since we’re on the topic, it looks like they’re keeping their word this year on the Vintage Club reveals, more or less:

It’s a nice mix of molds, and the colors… well, you’ll have to wait and see. (You should know the drill by now. All I can say at this point is: You will like. I promise.)

Unless they decide to pull the rest of the color reveals if the club sells out early, as it did last year. This appears to be a distinct possibility, based on everyone’s reaction to Starlight.

And I totally get it: Starlight is probably my favorite VC release for next year (aside from the Stablemate Bonus). You know that the Shagya Arabian is already one of my favorite newer molds, and it appears that Reeves is finally figuring out the more subtle nuances of the vintage Gloss Gray Appaloosa – namely the different shades of gray, and true “splash spot” randomness – and what I found missing in their first interpretation of the color in the 2012 VC release Harlequin.

Aside from the vintage Dapple Grays – both the Glosses of the 1960s and the Mattes of the 1970s and beyond – Gloss Gray Appaloosa is perhaps one of the most variable of all vintage paint jobs.

Big spots, little spots, streaky spots, belly stripes, pale gray to nearly charcoal body color: it’ll be interesting to see if this variability is incorporated Starlight’s production run, intentionally or otherwise.

Shopping Lists

This was the first weekend in a while where the weather was nice enough – and no deadlines looming – that I was able to do some casual antiquing.

I found a few horse-adjacent things, and some quilting supplies, but ended up buying nothing in the end. So it was mostly an exercise in exercise.

That was fine; the past few years I haven’t been able to bring everything to BreyerFest that I’ve wanted to, so this is actually helpful: it is looking like everything that can come, will!

The only thing I wish I had more of is bodies. I haven’t bought any significant body lots since last August, and the only ones I’ve seen at all when I have gone roaming have been Mestenos.

While I think Mestenos, in general, have a lot of untapped potential in terms of customizing, they are still not quite burning it up in body box sales.

Since I am having a bit of a quiet interlude here, here’s a picture of one of my new favorites, the LV Integrity. She is my newest/latest office buddy:

Honestly, this mold doesn’t seem to have any bad sides! And that shade of Bay can go on anything, please and thank you.

This is why the Roxy/Diana release for BreyerFest this year is the one I am most eager to see in person. If she’s half as pretty as the Integrity, it’s going to be no contest who the most popular girl at BreyerFest is going to be…

But to circle back to the Shagya Arabian mold, after buying one – and literally losing it in the shuffle in Kentucky – the 2017 Kaalee is one of the few items I’ll actively be on the hunt for in Kentucky this year, especially since the Open Show Grand Prize model ain’t gonna happen.

The Forever Saige Bisbee is another; the last time I was able to make it to my local toy stores, none of them had them in yet, so I’ll use that (and the potential for NPOD handpicking?) as another reason to put her on my list.

Then there’s the Gloss Bandera I’ve been putting off, too. That should be an easy one, also with potential for handpicking.

Other than that, I’m not sure what I want to hunt for, other than the same magical five-dollar Body Box Test Colors everyone else looks for. (Hey, I’ve seen it happen!)

Performance Horse variations? More of the Classic Duchess? That #3125 Deer Family set that always just eludes me? A Morgenglanz Gris Gris?

(Yes, really. But somewhere around original asking price: I am not that crazy.)

I’ll know it when I see it. I always do.