The Latest in Hamiltons

If you are wondering if the time change helped with my sleep patterns, the answer is the same as me getting drawn for a Vail: that would be a No.

In lieu of stronger medications (there is a family history of sleepwalking: I am NOT mixing Ambien with that!) I’ll probably ramp up my quilting and sewing activities, in the hopes that the peace of mind that comes from completed projects will help.

I am more or less okay with the Vail: the past month has been a bit on the expensive side (a minor but necessary car repair, an unexpected dental bill, things on eBay I shouldn’t be buying but were unlikely to show up ever again) and there are a couple of things I need to save up for, including a space heater for the garage and a new phone. 

Consequently, the Swirls and Snowflakes Stablemates that have been rescheduled for Tuesday Monday are now completely out of the question for me.

Since I am so very, very close to finishing a one of those aforementioned projects (to a certain stage, anyway) I’ll just give you all a better shot of my Gloss Buckskin Pinto Stagecoach Surprise Hamilton:

Aside from being the first Gloss I’ve pulled from the actual ticket line since… 2012, egads – he also appears to be nigh-perfect. I’ve been looking for a good Hamilton to add to my showstring for a while, and I think he might be the guy, in spite of the fact that Buckskin Pintos generally aren’t my preference. He’s just so nice in person! (The shading on his other side is even better.)

He isn’t the rarest color of the bunch by far – that would have been the Decorator, followed by the Dapple Gray – but as I’ll likely be showing him more in Breed than Collectibility, the argument is irrelevant. 

The first Stagecoach Surprise I pulled was the Matte Dapple Gray; I remember looking at him and thinking he’s probably the “rare” one, because I almost always pull the rarest Matte. But I was not particularly enamored of the color on him. So I immediately traded him for a Matte Black Pinto, which I felt suited him much more, and who also turned out to be the most common Matte.

Even after the Dapple Gray’s relative “rarity” was confirmed a while later, I was untroubled by my decision. I’d rather have something I like that’s more common, than something I dislike that’s more rare. 

Within reason: at this point, my collection is almost a refuge for all the ugly, weird Test Colors and Oddities the rest of the hobby has deemed “undesirable”. And I just caught myself looking at some inexpensive NIB Mesteno sets the other day, and it wasn’t just the ones with Duchess in them; my recent experimentation with them has piqued a certain curiosity...

(I did buy something cool and rare yesterday, but it wasn’t a Mesteno.)

Things I Cannot Worry About

My Tuxedo arrived, and he’s the Bald-faced version:

I was slightly bummed to find out that the split on the variations was not (more or less) equal: according to the recently arrived Just About Horses, there’s only 100 Solid Blacks, compared to 450 each of the Star-faced and Bald-faced.

I was all for the multiple variations; I was not expecting the uneven splits. And I am always amazed how preferences change when rarity is involved! 

I’m actually more annoyed to discover that there were even more of the Volunteer SR Chevaliere made than advertised, especially with me still be completely Chevaliere-free. 

I mean, I ended up coming out ahead at BreyerFest anyway, and the rest of the year – aside from the Appaloosa Performance Horse fiasco – has been unusually abundant, so I think I’ll live. 

Kind of surprised about the Black Friday Sale being today. I’m a second shift person (NOT by choice, BTW, but that’s another story) so whatever was there that I could have wanted (maybe Slyder?) wasn’t going to happen regardless. 

For all those people who are ticked off they didn’t get a Zugspitze, just how many did they think they actually had left over to sell? Couldn’t have been more than a few dozen. The only effect of pre-announcing the sale would have been people flooding the web site and having it crash, which would have ticked off even more people. 

I have more mixed feelings about Vail. I haven’t had the best luck getting the rarer blue variations in general, outside of the Studebaker, and I’ve gotten a lot of good stuff lately (and I was bad again, last weekend) and I really do not need more stuff. And he is a bit tippy....

Sure, there’s a 1000 of them, but I didn’t get picked for Tahoe from the first list – or any of the subsequent, mythical – waitlists, either. I will have to abide by the the Universe’s decision on this, too. 

I don’t know exactly what’s up with the delay with the Christmas Blind Bag Stablemates, but they are also not high on my list of concerns. I told myself that the only things I may need to get for the remainder of the year are (a) the Christmas Day Special, if it’s something I collect (Emma?) and/or (b) the Winter Web Animal, depending on what the mold is. (Dog, Elk or Deer Family? Hella yeah!)

I do think they are very neat, and reminiscent of the glitter-encrusted ornaments that adorned Grandma Jankowiak’s ginormous Christmas Tree every year. Along with 30 year old actual metal tinsel she saved and reused every year, and German Stars made out of waxed paper.

Black Points

Since I’ve been buying a lot of less desirable Collector’s Club Appreciation Glossies recently (the mule Buckeye is on his way!) the currently crop of Glossies has been less of a temptation, especially since my favorite of the bunch – the Black Brishen Sjoerd – seems to be everyone else’s least-loved. 

Conversely, I am not too keen on the Peptoboomsmal: I tried my best to love him or even like the Dundee/Australian Stock Horse mold –the 2022 Flagship Special Romeo should have been a no-brainer for me, for a couple of reasons – but I am having a hard time warming up to him. 

The other two are also very nice, but they are more in the like, rather than love category: the Morgan is pretty, but also pretty huge, and the Totilas is a bit tippy.  

So I took a pass on the offer this time. Maybe I’ll be able to trade for a Glossy Sjoerd at BreyerFest: I just finished my sales list and it’s definitely an eclectic one. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find someone to trade something for it!

My mind is on a dozen different things today (someone or something literally bent some of my metal garden fenceposts to the ground, and I have no idea how) so I’ll wrap up a couple of talking points from the comments and move on to other topics next time. 

The color on the Vintage Custom Black Stallion was not extensively retouched; if anything, he’s actually a bit darker than I received him, since I had a hard time matching his highlights. Any perceived brightness can be attributed to a fresh application of varnish and outdoor lighting. Like Reeves, photography is not my strongest suit! 

As for my opinion of the final disposition of the Test Color Appaloosa Performance Horse: I am assuming, unless proven otherwise, that the sale was taken private: there are always ways. The conversation about him that appeared shortly afterward may well have contributed to his disappearance. I think the fact that my other purchase – also a Test Color! – happened a few hours later, yet was not canceled actually strengthens this argument. 

A hobbyist who was genuinely concerned about the seller would have also seen the Classic and insisted that one be canceled as well. The fact that they let that one go suggests to me that it was someone who either had no idea it was a Test, or was a “high point” collector with little interest or concern for plain, Chicago-era Classics. (Or regard for what their fellow hobbyists think of them, too.)

Because an odd little Black Stallion with four stockings and gray hooves definitely doesn’t have the same allure as an early BreyerFest Auction Test Color that’s been “missing” for 30 years, or the same potential for a financial return on their investment. 

For the record, I am not a fan of “high point” collectors of any stripe: they tend to throw their money around rather carelessly, distorting the market in the process and make life difficult for collectors of more modest means.

Second Chances Sale

Something short again today. The best way to describe where I’m at is that I’m in the middle of a lot of things? And I’m finding that transitioning back to the night shift is a little harder than I anticipated? There was a dental appointment this week that also threw me off, as it usually does. 

In case you were wondering, I did redeem my Marzipan ticket at BreyerFest. When I saw the lovely Chocolate/Burnt/Bay variant, I thought I’d give it a shot, especially since he didn’t seem all that rare – and he wasn’t! It turned out that it was a simple 50/50 split, just like the Gloss/Matte variant tends to be. 

(Who was Ländler, but I’ll get to that in a moment.)

Of course, I still got the Palomino Marzipan instead. While he was a perfectly lovely specimen, I immediately turned around and sold him at the hotel at cost. Even in person, he didn’t do anything for me. Thankfully, he was gone by the end of the day: no harm, no foul.

(It’s interesting that the post-BreyerFest blog post about the Special Runs referred to Marzipan as “this years color split”, hinting that this will be a regular thing going forward.)

When the Second Chance Sale came up earlier this week, I decided to take a chance on the Ländler instead: unlike Marzipan, I still like him in his “less desirable” (Matte) variation. I’d still prefer the Gloss, only because getting the Gloss is still something of a rarity for me…

I also bought a Rapunzel, because I thought she was cute and I love Red Roans, and a Rotating Draft Surprise because as I suspected, he was the Cleveland Bay and I liked most of the colors he came in.

While I did manage to finagle myself one at BreyerFest, he turned out to be the one color out of the bunch that I did not like at all: Gloss Silver Bay. I don’t think any release that’s come in this color has held any appeal at all to me, from the Strapless Uncalled For to the 2017 Web Special Swaps Scotty. I’ll sell him off eventually, whenever my schedule allows.

Fortunately, I’m not so enamored of the mold that I’ll have to get all ten variations. I think the Buckskin Pinto is my favorite, and luckily he is not the rarest of the bunch. 

Firsts of the Year

Getting thing off to a rapid start for the New Year: I’ve already had my first BreyerFest nightmare! Basically we were all kind of running around the KHP and the CHIN bumping into each other, because we’ve all forgotten how to behave in public.

In other words, kind of like being inside a grocery store any time in the past six months. 

Some of the Montanas have arrived, and they’re looking – unsurprisingly – better than expected. I’ve decided I am not going to pursue one unless I get picked from the waitlist, which (if you know my history with waitlists) is a roundabout way of saying I won’t be getting one. 

There’s always the chance there will be leftovers for sale on a first-come, first-served basis at some point, but that doesn’t mean anything in today’s market. And that’s fine, especially since I’m trying to keep my model purchases to a minimum for the next several months, to get caught up on paperwork and stuff. (The office is more of a mess than usual, and I am not liking it. At all.)

He does kind of remind me of the famous Mesopotamian “Ram in a Thicket” sculptures excavated by Leonard Woolley in Ur in the early 20th century. (Technically it’s supposed to be a goat, not a ram, but that’s mere details.) 

If Montana’s basecoat had actually been a deep Lapis Lazuli blue instead of black, that might have changed him from a “Yeah, sure, I’d take one” to a “Hecking YES” because I am kind of obsessed with ancient Mesopotamia: I have a copy of Woolley’s book on my shelves, and one of my favorite works of art at the DIA is the Dragon of Marduk from the Ishtar Gate.

I’m sure there will be something I love more between now and then that might actually break my heart. You know, like another Exclusive Event or Micro Run I won’t get picked for. 

The first Special Run for BreyerFest was announced, a Dappled Rose Gray on the Totilas, and he seems a little familiar: 

Oh yeah, the 2016 Volunteer Special Run Carrick Caipirinha:

I can attest that this color is beautiful in person, but I am not quite as enamored of Ländler as everyone else is. Some of it is “Do I need another tipsy Totilas?” and some of it is “This theme simply doesn’t connect with me on a personal level”. 

More the latter than the former, I think: I can buy a better base for my existing Totilases, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’m sure there’ll be at least one or two models in the lineup that will be must-haves for me, I’m just not predisposed to loving things German-flavored things, aside from Gummi Bears and pretzels. The releases this year will have to work for my love.

We’ve only got about 20-25 more Special Runs to go, right? No worries. 

(And the first Store Special, literally while I was napping! More on Montanara next time.)

Final Thoughts on the Photo Show

I think I ended up with somewhere around 175 pictures uploaded for the show? I was getting kind of tired and cranky and the end of the process and every time I tried to take a count I got a different number, and then finally decided it didn’t matter because I hit my goal more or less and I needed to focus on putting out other fires.

(Like the Sampler. That I appear to be significantly rewriting again because I can’t help myself.)

A few final observations on the Virtual BreyerFest Open Show, at least until the judging begins/happens (I’ll probably wait until the end of judging before I look at any of the results, just to keep my anxiety and/or personal outrage levels to a minimum.)

First, I was not expecting it to be quite that competitive, especially since the prizes are basically one-tenth the value of actual In-Person BreyerFest Live. This is not necessarily a bad thing: back in the old days of Live Showing (for me, the 1980s), the best we could hope for was usually a trophy and a fancy rosette. The competition was still pretty tough, especially in this part of the country.

(I still have all those rosettes, FWIW.)

So the possibility that others were also doing it purely for the love of the game is kind of heartening. Then again, the lack of reading comprehension skills I’ve witnessed on Breyer’s social media outlets does make me wonder what the expectations are as far as prizes go…

(... and also leaves me wondering what the Kentucky Horse Park is going to do with all those angry BreyerFest fans who will be turning up on Friday anyway.)

My dreams are modest, and small: I am psyched at the possibility of getting a padded envelope of assorted flats!

Second, my photography skills did definitely improve over time, but I still don’t enjoy the process. I have no idea if the exercise will translate into better pictures here either, because most of the time I don’t have the patience for it. I was especially proud of how the picture for my Man of the Hour turned out, though:

It just… perfectly captures what he looks like, why I think he’s special, and why others should love him, too. That’s everything I could hope for in a photo show picture, basically.

I also liked how this sassy little brat’s photo turned out:

I don’t particularly have high hopes for either, but I’ll find out Friday, I guess.

Third, I think this show might be persuading me to take my customizing more seriously, more than the Customs Contest ever could. I know the entrants here are not necessarily representative of the competition in a more normal setting, but I think I could be competitive and successful here, so that’s something I’ll definitely take into consideration when this week’s drama is all over.

Which brings me to my final point. I know it’s something that’s an uncomfortable subject for many in the hobby, so I’ll just put it the most gentle and euphemistic way possible: the show also bolstered my opinion that the upper end of the model horse economy is, in a number of ways, probably unsustainable in the long term.

I am glad that I have the resources that I do to be able to even compete, but I can definitely see why others get discouraged, especially in Collectibility classes. It makes me an all the more enthusiastic proponent of live shows that completely negate the Collectibility factor altogether and just focus on breed assignment and research.

Anyone who has access to a library or the Internet, and some spare time, can do that. And that’s one of the things that drew me in and kept me in the hobby all these years: I’ll probably never be able to afford the upkeep of a real horse, but by golly, with a little hard work and mad research skills I should still be able to show the plastic versions!

(And I’d still get to do tons of research which is, you know, what I am all about.)

Overwhelming, Part One

It took me a while to put my finger on it, but I finally found the source of my lingering dissatisfaction with BreyerFest this year: there were something in the neighborhood of fifty different Special Runs this year.

How you count them depends on whether you’d count the Stablemates Anniversary set as one item or ten, or whether you’d count the Plushie as an official Special Run or merely swag. Regardless, you still get at least halfway to one hundred.

First, the Store Specials: Rico, Hal, and Zipped in Black Magic. (3)

Then the Pop-Up Store items: Defiant (the Crystal), the RCMP Classic Horse, Sarge, the Anniversary Stablemates Set. (7)

The One-Day Stablemates: Toe Tapper, Andante, Arya, and Chiffon. (11)

The Tent Specials: Rocket, Pinto Variant Rocket, Loose Mane Diana, Braided Mane Diana, Splash Variant Diana, Pepper, Salt Variant Pepper, Bucky, Blue Variant Bucky, Natasha, Variant Liver Chestnut Natasha, Gloss Quill, Matte Quill, Amber Champagne Variant Quill, Banner, Blue Variant Banner, Matte Chestnut Pinto Surprise Andalusian, Matte Rose Grey Surprise Andalusian, Matte Dark Dapple Grey Surprise Andalusian, Matte Dappled Pearl Surprise Andalusian, Gloss Chestnut Pinto Surprise Andalusian, Gloss Rose Grey Surprise Andalusian, Gloss Dark Dapple Grey Surprise Andalusian, Gloss Dappled Pearl Surprise Andalusian, Lime and Silver Decorator Surprise Andalusian, Leopard Appaloosa Variant Surprise Andalusian. (37)

Prize/Raffle Models: Cap, Cavalcade, Leap of Faith, Top Hat and Tails, Victory, Triumph, Gloss Harley, Gloss California Chrome, Valour and Honour, North Star, Gloss Oliver. (48)

Volunteer Model: Man of the Hour. (49)

And finally, the Celebration Horse: Oliver. (50).

My first thought: thank goodness I am not a completist anymore!

My second thought: a large majority of these models I had no shot at attaining – I only had two Tent Tickets, and several of the contests I had no entry in (Live Show, Custom Contest, Diorama Contest). And about 40% of them were technically Micro Runs (that I’ll define here as anything less than 100 pieces) so purchasing them on the secondary is also not an option.

I was lucky enough to actually have models/choices left to me in the Tent Ticket lines when I went through – unlike some attendees on Friday, because (allegedly) somebody forgot to ship a pallet or two of Special Runs from the warehouse – and I had relatively few troubles attaining all of the Pop-Up Tent items I needed to get. And I of course got this beautiful boy for busting my butt for four days in the Kentucky July heat:

But yeah, after typing out that list of Special Runs, I can see why I felt the way I felt, and still do to a degree. It also reminds me that I need to do something to get back to happy – by getting back into customizing, or more live showing, or ditching the chase altogether and doing my own things.

The event itself – independent of my experiences – went about as well as I thought it could, outside of the usual technical and logistical issues. I was sort of surprised that, after last year’s big oops with leaving the Volunteer Special Churchills behind, that that wouldn’t be a problem again this year. (But this time, with Tent Specials!)

And the overselling of the event – both online, locally and through the usual media outlets – was also more intense than I expected. They predicted attendance at 30,000: I rolled my eyes at first, but after experiencing it? I believe it.

Normally a little bit of overselling isn’t that big a deal – as anyone who has been in the NPOD can attest, ticket redemption rates are never 100 percent – but when you throw in high-demand One-Day Stablemates (Andante, ahem) and rare variants in the Tent Specials, whatever cushion you have is going to disappear.

I also think that as BreyerFest approaches Disneyland-level size and complexity as an event, more effort needs to be put into making the event less taxing for everyone, newbies and pros alike.

I know Reeves does have signage, a flier at the Help Desk, includes all the relevant info in the program, ticket packet, blog posts et al, but as a volunteer I know all of that gets bypassed somehow by a significant number of attendees.

It’s not that the information is hard to find, but it is not clearly labeled or packaged as such in one convenient place. First timers especially are often overwhelmed, and hunting down all that necessary info is just another task added to a long list of other things to juggle.

While I’d still keep all signage and info – because even us pros need an occasional reminder – I think what’s really needed is either a simple bifold or trifold brochure included in the initial ticket packet (and also included as a PDF on the web site) that’s clearly labeled “A First-Timer’s Guide to BreyerFest” in big letters on the cover.

First and mostly importantly, it would have a picture of each ticket they receive in the packet and direct them exactly where and how they redeem each one.

I’d also include important stuff like: locations of all the bathrooms, air-conditioned areas, Lost and Found, ATMs, Breyer employee contact stations, and the most popular attractions – like Stablemate Painting and the Autograph areas.

I would also include some basic information: wear sunscreen, wear good walking shoes, drink lots of water, don’t try to do everything, ask volunteers for help, etc.

They already have something similar that they distribute at the Help Desk, but it’s very text-heavy and not user-friendly: most tired and overwhelmed people aren’t going to slog through several paragraphs of text to get the information they need. An illustrated brochure with one or two sentence explanations – preferably written at a fourth or fifth-graders level – gets right to the point.

(I say fourth or fifth grader level because you know that it’s the kids who are going to pour over it like a sacred text!)

What’s nice about that format is that once it’s been created, updating it yearly would be fairly simple: just drop in new pictures of the tickets, update the theme graphics, and tweak events as necessary (like the location of this year’s water station.) It wouldn’t even have to be in color!

Hmm. It’s getting late and this post is running longer than I am comfortable with, so I’ll take a break right here and finish up next time, mostly with my thoughts and predictions for next year.

Alabaster Foundation Stallion

Although I did “win” a Rialto, I had to give him up for a multitude of reasons; seeing just how lovely he is from the in-hand pictures is making me wince even more than I usually do and I probably should just stop looking at those pictures, already.

(I’m hoping karma doesn’t bite me in the butt over that decision to pass, but I’m the kind of person who has to have contingency plans for my contingency plans, so… yeah, probably.)

I was tasked with dusting over the weekend (long story) and as I was finishing up very late last night, I paused to consider this pretty little SR from years past:

It’s the Special Run Alabaster Foundation Stallion, from 1985. About 700 pieces were made for the mail-order company Horses International in Arizona, though some were also sold elsewhere.

In terms of color, shading, quantities, distribution pattern et al, this model was typical of Special Runs sold in the 1980s. These were the kinds of Special Runs we got back then, and were happy to get them!

(Shakes fist at passing cloud.)

He pales in comparison to recent releases like Rialto – whose glossy, roany, elaborately masked paint job and hand-painted eyes would have blown our minds in 1985. Most customs didn’t have that level of detail back then!

Of course, the Rialto costs over a dozen times what the Alabaster Foundation Stallion cost – then, and now. (The original price for the Alabaster was $12.50, not including postage.)

That Foundation Stallion is not easy to find nowadays, but only because no one is looking for someone like him. I have known the feeling all too well, lately….

The Alabaster Foundation Stallion falls into that hole of undesirability a lot of Special Runs from the 1980s now do: a little too common to be considered rare, with a paint job considered too bland/boring to modern tastes, on an older mold that’s not all that popular at the moment.

He’s no Rialto, but I still love him.

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…

Partial Overpaint Special Runs

Man, I wanted Koh-i-Noor so bad, but the budget is definitely said nope:

Aside from the free postage, I do like that they added the extra incentive of variations: most will have 4 stockings, but some will have fewer, or none at all!

I’ve been wanting them to do the intentional variation thing for a while now. One of the weaknesses of shipping the bulk of painting to China is that it’s resulted in a almost boring consistency: with strict quotas to meet and Station Samples to match, significant variations like missing (or added) markings are even more of a rarity.

This is, of course, not the first time that Breyer has added some paint touch-ups to overstock and repurposed them as a Special Run. (Beyond Gloss, obviously.) One of the most famous – and one of my favorites! – was the “Golden Bay” Trakehner, made from leftover 1987 Just About Horses Special Run Chestnut Trakehners:

Approximately 467 pieces were made as a Special Run for Small World, who also received an even smaller run (97 pieces) of the 1985/6 JAH Special Run Dapple Gray Cantering Welsh Pony with gold ribbons painted over the original red that year.

A third Partial Overpaint Special Run occurred in 1989, when Black Horse Ranch had a 146-piece run of the 1988 JAH Special Running Stallion, with added black manes and tails.

The Cantering Welsh is almost impossible to find nowadays – there are less than 100 pieces, and it’s the Cantering Welsh Pony.

The BHR Running Stallion is moderately hard: although it’s relatively scarce by nature of its low piece run, prices haven’t been too outrageous when they do come on the market. While his paint job is quite lovely, especially for a late 1980s release, the similarity to the original #129 Bay probably suppresses his value a bit on the secondary market.

With the continuing popularity of the Vintage Club Decorator Gambler’s Choice Sailors, however, that may change. (I haven’t seen enough of the BHRs on the market recently to judge.)

But Koh-i-Noor? I don’t know. The Christmas release that he was leftover from was pretty popular on its own, but 750 pieces feels like a fairly large run compared to other Partial Overpaint SRs.

I see two different possible scenarios happening.

The first is that the stated fact that there are 750 pieces total of this run is going to skew the market. While it won’t necessarily affect the buying habits of most active-hobby hobbyists (who realize 750 is kind of, well, a lot), it will affect more casual collectors, who will see it as A Big Deal. Thus the prices will remain artificially elevated for a while.

(Remember the first JAH Special, the Saddlebred Weanling? Same situation. Prices are still a little too darn high for her, IMHO.)

The same kind of thinking significantly boosted sales of Reeves’s “Limited Edition” models of the 1980s and 1990s, well beyond that of the Regular Run models issued the same year. I remember getting into a super-awkward discussion years ago with a casual collector/dealer at the flea market who insisted that her mint-in-box #833 Dream Weaver was really, really rare because it was a “Limited Edition”!

The second (and more likely) is that – like other similar offers that had random rare variations – the rarities will almost all end up being resold very quickly and at some ridiculous prices, then the bulk of the “ordinary” four-stockinged ones will end up on the secondary market pretty quickly also, and at a minimal mark-up.

I have other things to worry about right now, so whether I get a Koh-i-Noor sooner – or later – is not a looming concern.

Winter Wonderland and His Hooves

Last week at work, after having to listen to the local radio station that plays Christmas music all day play “Winter Wonderland” for the umpteenth time, I turned to a coworker and said “If they play this song one more time, I swear, someone’s gonna get hurt…”

It’s not that I dislike that song, particularly, but sound repetition drives me crazy.

So what shows up on the Internet this week? Pictures of next year’s Holiday Horse, named (naturally) Winter Wonderland:

The past few Holiday Horses haven’t done much for me. Though I liked the partial Chalky Mulberry Esprit in the Bayberry and Roses set in 2014, the decorations/“costume” it came with screamed “We got such a deal on ribbon this year”. This year’s Woodland Splendor, on the Lonesome Glory, was more my Mother’s style of holiday decorating, not mine.

(Feathers. Always with the feathers…)

But you know what? I love Winter Wonderland. A Pearlescent Palomino Totilas covered in white fake fur and owls? It sounds as absurd as the Holiday Horses that preceded him, but this one somehow works for me. I want to rein in my horse spending a bit more next year, but Winter Wonderland still makes it on my want list.

I especially like the gray hooves, which are a nice Vintage touch. Gray hooves used to be the standard hoof color for Palomino paint jobs, pre-Reeves (ca. 1984/5). There were some exceptions – most notably the Fighting Stallion, Five-Gaiter, and earlier examples of the Rearing Stallion – but if any model was issued in a generic Palomino paint job in the 1970s or 1980s, gray hooves were the norm.

Gray hooves on Palominos were never completely phased out, and they still turn up on releases with solid-colored legs. But tan or pink-hued hooves are now more likely to be seen on legs with socks or stockings.

So that’s why that little touch on Winter Wonderland stood out so much to me.

One thing I’ve found aggravating about some of the more recent Vintage-styled releases is that while they get the general concepts correct, the littlest details often go wrong.

Hoof color has been one of those littlest details. For instance, for some strange reason Reeves can’t grok the idea that Gloss Honey Bays usually came with Black hooves, not Gray ones. The Vintage Club Honey Bay Cantering Welsh Pony, for instance:

http://www.identifyyourbreyer.com/images/712169bay1.jpg

Yeah, yeah, I know that several Matte Bays from the 1960s and 1970s came with Gray hooves, like the Grazing Mare and Foal and the Stretched Morgan. But Glosses were almost always Black, darn it!

But they do seem to grasp the overall picture of Vintage Palomino paint jobs, and Winter Wonderland is more evidence of that. (Yes, I am still hoping for a Vintage Club SR in Neon Yellow Matte Palomino.)

Fall Shopping

Feeling like a bit of a grumpus today; I discovered very late yesterday that I’ll probably be needing some expensive dental work ASAP. So today has been an unhappy game of “Which Test Colors gotta go?”

Among other things. (Sorry Four Stars, I guess you can’t stay after all.)

Buying new stuff or fun stuff is out of the picture for the foreseeable future, outside of obligated purchases (car payments, subscriptions). The flea market might even be a no-go zone at this point; I won’t know the extent of the work I'll need until early next week.

I never put in for the latest Big Cat Special, the tiger-striped Padma, on the Ruffian mold; not that I didn’t like her, but prior to the now urgent dental problem, I had planned on paying off the credit card by the end of the year, too.

The budget is also the reason I’m taking a pass on the Collectors’ Club Fabien – a Dapple Gray on the Totilas – and not out of any concern over the dappling or issues with the base. Funny how the first batch sold out so quickly, regardless of the griping. (I promise you this: though I may be critical new dappling techniques, I will never use the word “crapples” here, except to mock it.)

Jesse and whatever new colors the AQHA horse appear at my local Tractor Supply stores are also out of the question. Here’s hoping there’s a reasonably priced and accessible (BreyerFest? Regular Run?) Wyatt release next year. Like a lot of other hobbyists, I suspect that Jesse will be in short supply right after the holidays, as customizers snatch up the discounted leftovers.

While I probably will sign up for the Stablemates Club, I have mixed feelings about it. Anything greeted with that kind of near-manic enthusiasm within the model horse community tends to crash and burn with equal force.

The likely culprit there will be price: of the models maybe, but of the postage definitely. In fact, I can already hear the distant rumblings of it, especially in the overseas community, already hard-hit by the arbitrarily high shipping costs the web site tags onto orders heading abroad.

But I’m also a little concerned how some hobbyists appear to be interpreting the Stablemates Club not as another club like the Premier or Vintage, but as an alternative to the Collector’s Club. I don’t know if that’s wishful thinking, or – like when the clubs first debuted – a profound lack of understanding of how subscription clubs work.

Decisions on the others are still a ways down the road for me. The 2016 Vintage Club offerings do look fun: a Man o’ War and Western Prancing Horse, at last! I’d rather have the colors switched – a Dapple Gray MOW and a blanket Appaloosa WPH, but whatever.

Spot Check

Reeves really shouldn’t have sent all those special offer e-mails this week, getting my hopes up and stuff. Though I am tempted to buy the Totilas with the strange and awkward base, just because so many people are making fun of it.

That usually translates into highly desirable oddball item in a few years. There’s always the slight possibility that what we see might not be what we get, too.

I’ve been good so far and I haven’t used the Western Horseman Discount code yet, so I shall consider it.

The week was not completely model-free. I found two inexpensive bodies and a Goebel Wachtmeister cat at the local Salvation Army, and this beauty on eBay:

Not the glossy, black and white speckled thing I was hoping for, but an almost no-spot Appaloosa Western Prancing Horse? That's nothing to sneeze at!

He’s definitely all Original Finish: I see no tampering or spot removal. He just … doesn’t have that many spots. Sometimes you'll see a model with significantly more spots or freckles on one side compared to the other, but his other side is almost as spotless as this one.

The vast majority of Appaloosa Western Prancing Horses are way more spotted than this, with some edging into fleabitten or roan territory. Pieces with bigger and fewer spots are less common, but pieces with almost no spots are rarest of all.

I haven’t seen any yet with no spots that weren’t tampered with in some way, though.

This means I now have FIVE Appaloosa Western Prancing Horses. I’m not sure if this means I have either reached or exceeded my quota yet. My original intent was to upgrade my Buckskin; I have one who is adequate, but better is better. The latest prospect shot out of my price range (darn sticker, again), so this fellah became my consolation prize.

In case you were wondering, he does have those two "spots" in his unspeakable area.

I'll be cutting it short today to work on this year’s Christmas Beading Project. A life-sized Hyacinth:

http://korizza.net/2011/03/blog-post_4127.html

FYI: No, I can’t read Russian. I’m following the pictures, and winging the rest. Not because I’m being hardcore, but because all the best online beaded flower patterns are in Russian. So far, so good; three buds down, 21 more to go…

A Man of Irony

My schedule has not been pleasant the past few days; my efforts to remedy it only made it worse, apparently. Sigh. Sometimes winning isn’t even on the table.

I’ll just have to slog through it. I came THISCLOSE to nabbing one of those already-discounted Walmart Special Runs today, because it was definitely a "needs a pony" day, until I remembered I had a still-unopened box from Reeves sitting in the office. That I will open the first thing in the morning, because tired now.

Here’s what might be one of the last NPOD items from this year’s BreyerFest that I will feature here. (I still have a couple other non-NPOD things I want to talk about, but I haven’t had the time to do the necessary background work on ‘em. Don’t worry, they’re worth it.)

Once you see who it is, longtime readers will understand my hesitation in talking about this particular horse:

Yeah, I got a Sample Traditional Totilas. Really. One of the actual, (and somewhat) verifiable early run pieces. Oh, the irony. I even named him "Man of Irony". (I can’t believe that a lot of hobbyists don’t even name their models, by the way. Didn’t realize that naming all my horses was so old school!)

I haven’t had much experience with the Production pieces yet to know if there are any significant differences/deviations on display here, other than the usual lack of VIN Numbers/marks. I can’t imagine that there would be, considering that the paint job is nearly solid black. He’s not quite as inky-black as a vintage 1970s paint job like Midnight Sun or the Black Foundation Stallion, but it’s close enough.

Though to be honest, he doesn’t really need all that shading and stuff to look awesome: we saw that in the resin prototype last year, and the translation to plastic hasn’t dimmed his luster any, in my eyes.

The reality is that most actual real horses don’t have all that much of what we would consider "shading". It’s more of a hobby contrivance/aesthetic choice that’s a consequence of the source material: instead of painting a model to replicate actual physical reality, most of the time we’re trying to replicate the reality we see in photographs.

It’s a contrivance that’s become almost a show ring necessity, though. Unless you provide copious documentation, solidly colored horses with minimal shading - no matter how expertly done - don’t generally get the same attention or placings that an identical but much more dramatically shaded model will. 

I have models with insane amounts of shading that I love. I have models with no shading at all that I love also. It all depends on the quality of the model, the appropriateness of the paint job, and the memories attached to it. 

The pegged foreleg on my Totilas is bent inward slightly (a fixturing issue?) so he’s going to need a little corrective shoeing when I can squeeze some time out of something.

Not this week, that's for sure. 

Designated Pinata

(This is essentially a repurposing of my response to the discussion about me on Blab, for the benefit of those not wishing to venture there for whatever sundry reasons. It has been tweaked in the interim, though the substance has not. And for those of you who are thinking about "reporting" this to Blab to score some brownie points, too late: I’ve already discussed it with one of the moderators there.)

First of all, let’s squash this bug right in the beginning: I delete nothing on my blog, except the occasional spam. Regardless of what you may or may not believe, I spend a great deal of time fretting over the words I write, and I don’t - and won’t - delete anything I post. I stand by every word.

Second, the job I have comes with an extremely irregular schedule. I don’t always respond in a timely manner, because I am frequently away from home, sometimes during the most peculiar hours. About the only time in my schedule that is normal is that I have Sunday mornings off, and I spent most of this one asleep because I didn’t get home until about 2 a.m. of it. And then I had to work that night, which left me with a couple of hours in between to take care of all the other business I had to do that day.

I didn’t respond in a timely manner because I didn’t have time to craft a proper response. And also, I doubt it would have made much of a difference anyway. Nothing the hobby likes better than whacking a pinata around. And I am today’s designated pinata.

Third, I had hoped I had made it very clear from the tone and wording of the post in question that I had been sick the past several days, and one of the consequences of me being sick is that the "politeness" filter slips off. I even inferred that in the title of the post itself (the "salty" part.)

The more hostile commentary seems to be focusing on what people think I am saying, rather than what I am actually saying. I made no comment on the practice of customizing, any customizers in particular, the inherent quality of the customizing involved, etc.

The actual gist of my post: I express an opinion that as an OF Breyer person I prefer my models to stay that way, and that as an OF Breyer person it will always discomfort me when someone takes a brand spanking new model out of the box and start customizing it right away, without first enjoying it as it is.

Good grief, what a horrible, immature monster I am. The next thing you know, I’ll be randomly kicking puppies.

(Well, I did actually step on Vita’s toes accidentally the other day, come to think of it. My feet are huge, and she’s a hyperactive, wiggly thing. All was forgiven once I gave her a piece of banana, though.)

And nothing about the customizer personally. I don’t know her or her work, other than that she’s in Australia. It’s nothing personal: I don’t know her work because I’m not in the market for customs. (Except maybe Pamela Hutton’s work, and that ain’t happening on my budget!)

It may come as a surprise to some of you, in fact, that I actually own a small number of customs. A few of my own, and a few vintage pieces (Judy Renee Pope and Linda Leach-Hardy). I am not immune to the charms of a well-done custom. I have a body box of nightmares that I regularly dip into when the need arises. (Experimentation and stress-relief, mostly.)

I haven’t read through all the comments [there], which I am going to assume are going to be various iterations of what a nasty, mean, no good, jealous, callous, petty, stupid, ignorant, talentless, clueless piece of [insert bad word here] I am.

To be fair, I have been all these things in my life, at one point or another. I am no saint, and make no claims to be. I am also balding, overweight, and partially toothless. If that makes you feel any better and/or justifies your opinion of me, feel free to craft fresh new invectives from it. I am not beyond caring, but I am almost completely out of tears.

I was watching the Totilas thread - in the section designated for discussion of OF models, mind you! - because I was anticipating seeing the mold, too. What I wasn’t expecting was the timing. I came into the thread as an OF person wanting to get a first look at a new mold, only to get reminded - in a virtual eyeblink - that there’s a significant portion of the hobby that only sees OF Breyers as raw material.

That you see them as raw material for your art is fine. Really, I am completely fine with it. I am an artist, too, I understand sacrifices need to be made to achieve your vision. Go toss an Alborozo in a woodchipper, or take a blowtorch to a Woodgrain. It’s your property, do whatever the heck you want to do with it.

Show me the woodchipper/blowtorch pictures on the Internet, though - especially if it’s something nice, new and pretty - I will still wince at the thought.

The value, rarity, or lack thereof of the model in question is irrelevant. Doesn’t matter if it’s a Traditional Totilas or a Chris Hess Secretariat. Doesn’t matter who the artist is, either.

I am an OF person. Whenever I see a new model being customized, in any context, I am always going to think "but he was just fine the way he was!" 

I’m just a slightly nauseous whinypants sitting in a basement in Michigan wishing she had a pretty OF Totilas sitting on the shelf right now. I have no power to compel you - or anyone, really - to do my bidding. I have no flying monkeys at my beck and call. Heck, I can't even get the dog to listen to me most of the time.

(Yes, we knew that about Fox Terriers when we got her. That's one of the reasons why we got her in the first place.)

I choose my words very carefully here. Annoyed and offended are two different words with different meanings. I was annoyed by the situation, not offended. About the situation I find myself in, and the commentary surrounding it, I will leave you to surmise which one applies.

My schedule will continue to be irregular throughout the rest of the week, and I have a pressing project that absolutely must be attended to over the next few days. So feel free to continue whacking me with the baton.

Just don’t expect any candy to fall out. That’s long gone. (It was mostly Blackjack Taffy and Smarties, anyway.)

This will be the last I speak of this issue in public; the topic on Blab has also been essentially shut down ("hamsterdamed"). If anyone wishes to speak with me in private about this, I will do so as my time allows.

A Bit Salty

Still feeling a bit groggy today, which is a huge improvement over yesterday. You wouldn’t have wanted to be within twenty feet of me then: no coughing, sneezing or other symptoms of infection were visible, but I apparently had my extra-scary "you really don’t want to be near me" face on.

Which I didn’t mind, in retrospect. There are some days when it's probably best that I do quarantine myself, intentionally or no.

Totilas is officially in Australia now (because Australia is closer to China that the US, obviously), and of course, the first photos I get to see of him on Blab involve him getting customized.

I know it’s not kosher to say this - and maybe it’s still the sick talking - but that sort of thing will never stop annoying me.

Mom’s hobby/creative outlet is gourmet cooking; we almost never went out to eat when we were kids because she was always creating something just as fancy or elaborate at home. One of the unspoken rules of fancy cooking we did pick up - mostly because the chef was right at the table with us - is that sprinkling salt or grating some cheese on something you’ve never tasted before is considered something of a insult to the cook.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? You have to take a bite or two of it first before you decide if it needs to be "fixed". Doing that preemptively means you don’t trust the cook.

(She’s a fabulous cook, by the way. As I like to tell people, "she cooks just like your Polish grandma." Heck, even Grandpa preferred her cooking to Grandma’s.)

Anyway, that’s the feeling I get whenever I see a new mold getting hacked up almost immediately out of the box. Couldn’t ya just have waited a few days, even, before you got the hacksaw and primer out? Taken the time to take a bite or two first? Or at least not shown us those pictures right away?

I know they’re going to do it, I just wish it wasn’t always the first thing I saw. I want a little time to enjoy him in all his original raiment.

On a more cheerful and vaguely Totilas-related note, I took Vita on a walk yesterday after work and spotted a bluebird in an apple tree. It came as a pleasing surprise, since (a) they’re not that common here to begin with, and (b) it had just stopped snowing (3+ inches) only about an hour before. I tend to read a bit too much into coincidences, but couldn’t help thinking that a bluebird near my house could be a portent of a Blue Bird in my house.

(FWIW Vita, being the honey badger of a dog that she is, didn't lift her face out of the snowbank it was buried in.)

On His Way

How is it Thursday already? Stupid cold is just messing with me now. It’s not super-serious - just enough of a bug to make me tired, cranky and a little hoarse. It's nothing a little soup and sleep can’t fix. On the plus side, everyone at work has been giving me tons of personal space, except for a new person who may not understand the concept. (But will, soon enough!)

It appears that the Traditional Totilases will be stateside soon - here’s a video of Stephanie Macejko at a British trade fair earlier this week with a sample in hand:

http://www.horsejunkiesunited.com/?p=52309

I don’t know what the holdup was; I get the impression there might have been some sort of legal hangup somewhere, but since I have been feeling a bit addle-pated this week, it might just be the soup talking. (Campbell’s Chicken Won Ton today. Hey now, don’t judge: I needed comfort food.)

This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened. It was, in fact, a fairly common occurrence in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Take this example from the 1980 Dealer Catalog:

We didn’t actually start seeing the Classics USET Gift Set until the Fall of that year. The molds were so not ready that Spring that they had to use stand-ins for them for the 1980 Christmas/Holiday Catalog photo shoot: a Chestnut Kelso for Keen, a Bay Swaps for Jet Run, and a Dapple Gray Ruffian for Might Tango. This is what gave rise to the "Dapple Gray Classics Ruffian Special Run" rumors that ran rampant through the 1980s.

(From the 1980 Sears Wishbook. Montgomery Wards had the complete set with the Ruffian, but my copy of that is even worse than this one.)

I don’t know what the problem was with the USET Gift Set, either - whether it was legal, technical, or chronological. I think it was (mostly) chronological: Chris Hess was really cranking out the molds back then. In addition to Jet Run, Might Tango and Keen, other new molds that premiered in 1980 included the Hanoverian, Morganglanz, the 4-piece Classic Black Beauty Family, and (possibly) the Sea Star.

(I’ve speculated before - based on the dating on the original box, and some odd mold marks - that the release Sea Star might have been delayed for up to a year.)

Here’s the little seen clip art of the USET Set, probably drawn up when the catalogs and other ephemera were being assembled in late 1979. Little seen because, well, obviously:

Sitting It Out

Due to some glitch in the inventory company’s own inventory system, I find myself sitting at home for a couple of days this week, without work. During the busiest time of the year, when there’s literally work to be had all day and every day, and everyone (else) is complaining about the massive amounts of overtime they're putting in.

Normally I’d raise a stink because, hello, I don’t get paid to sit at home: no work, no pay. But I decided to turn this liability into an asset, and get some other work done in the meantime.

(Model horse related, mostly.)

The "Consolation" Special Run Bull Colton does appear to be being made specifically to cover the oversells on the Logans at the Vault Sale. I’m not sure if they’re going to make just enough to cover the oversell orders, or exactly the same amount as Logan, or what.

On Reeves’s inventory issues and the Vault Sale, I will speak no further. Not because I have nothing more to say, but because of diminishing returns. There’s no point in making an argument once everyone’s made up their minds.

The other big news this week is that all the BreyerFest 2013 stuff has hit the Breyer web site in a big way. A bunch of different Specials were announced, including a Desatado in Dun, a pretty chestnut pinto Haflinger, and another pinto Nokota Horse (as the Early Bird Special).

One of the Raffle models is the Traditional Totilas in a Star Dapple Gray, which makes about as much sense to the "Denim & Diamonds" theme as the Early Bird Special Stretched Morgan did to last year’s "British Invasion". The paint job looks a little weird, but it's also a not-good photograph of a test piece, so I'm not fretting over it.

There’s going to be another SR "satellite" store, too: one of the Specials available in it will be a Bucking Bronco in a quasi-buckskin color with kerchief-style decals on it. It’s very similar to the Home Decorating Show Paisley Rearing Horses that broke my heart a couple months back. I love the Bucking Bronco mold, so heck yeah, it's on my must-buy list.

The two Store Specials were also announced: a Black Tobiano Pinto Bluegrass Bandit named Lady C, and a pinto Brighty named Tennessee Titan. Titan is similar, but not identical to the still-incredibly-desirable 2005 Fest Special Run Oliver. Judging from the reaction I’ve been seeing to the Brighty, I’m guessing we’re in for another very quick sellout. (Keeping mine, if I get a hold of one.)

They also announced the themes and rules to the contests, and honestly, I just can’t get all that worked up about either one of them right now. I am utterly indifferent to the charms of most country music. I’m more Motown than Hoedown: I like some of the old-timey stuff, bluegrass, yodeling cowboys and stuff like that, but most modern stuff makes my eyes glaze over.

If I can come up with something, I’ll do it, but I just can’t get as emotionally involved as I did last year, where I ended up flaming out rather painfully. (When other people win with your same ideas - not once, but twice in the same year - yeah, you do tend to take it rather personally.)

Patching Together

That big project I’m working on is melting my brain, I swear.  I thought I’d take a little breather from it and catch up a bit on my sewing, until I realized what was up next in my quilting queue:

Points, curves AND insets? I might as well be painting a Reverse Dappled Palomino Roan Pintaloosa, sheesh.

(FYI: it’s a variation of a Depression Era pattern called "Imperial Fan". I found a pile of pieces and some templates at the bottom of a box of scraps, and in a not-rare-enough moment of insanity, I thought it’d be a fun reconstruction project. Yeah. No.)

Lots of news to catch up on. Let’s roll.

The talk is now that the Walmart Special Runs that have been turning up in some stores might be some sort of test, or just a regional release. All I know for sure is that very few people have been able to find them, and they’re not in my neck of the woods either.

There are two OTHER Classics Special Run sets turning up at some Mid-States stores that appear to be a continuation of the old Walmart Mesteno/ Mustang series. They’ve been shipping old Walmart overstock of their Mestenos to the "farm store circuit" for a few years now, so I’m guessing that means that's where the series will now carry on; these newest releases have the new Breyer logo, so it’s definitely not older overstock. Unless it is a test/regional thing, too. 

There are no Mid-States nearby, but I do have a local/regional farm store chain nearby that does get a very nice selection of Breyers in around the holidays, so this will be added incentive to stop in the next time I drive by. You know, just in case there are some enhancements to the selection.

(All I REALLY want is that "unreleased" set with the light gray Bronco and the white Wolf. Like everyone else)

The Traditional Totilas mold is being delayed until the beginning of the year. It appears to be more of a legal/technical issue, than one of production. It’s only a few more weeks of waiting, anyway.

The Lionheart Esprits are also delayed, but no explanation (or hints of) have been offered. It’s annoying, but my budget’s doing its end of the year tightening, so I’m okay with that, too.

Pictures of some of the 2013 releases are now floating about, including a new Classic mold, a new release on the Smart Chic Olena, a Vintage release on the Western Pony, and some glittery (!) Stablemates.

(Yay, glittery Stablemates!)

I’m going to wait until there are better pictures of the 2013 releases before I do any detailed commentary on them. I’m happy to see that the Vintage release of the Gloss Bay Pinto Fury this year did well enough to merit continuing the series, but the color they appear to have chosen for the Western Pony - Flaxen Chestnut Appaloosa, with detailed out hooves, mane and tail - strikes me as a little more Modern than Vintage.

I hope the splash spots are a little on the sloppy side, like the old splash spots were.

I’ve been periodically skimming the discussion on the Passage to the Pacific. Once I got a gander at some of the pictures of the SRs - including a Black Tobiano Pinto Galiceno, and another PAM, for crying out loud - I checked myself out of that discussion. The freakouts on MH$P are going to be bad enough to witness.