A Shiny Object to Distract You

Another less substantial one today - nothing to do with Halloween, it’s just my work schedule messing with my non-work schedule, again. Because contrary to what some of yous may believe, what I do here isn’t work. Work pays the bills, blogging doesn’t.

(Not a complaint, just a mere statement of fact.)

Our weather, mercifully, has been not awful. Not good, but a mere shadow of a shadow that hit the East Coast this week.

The only troubling thing I experienced was watching a transformer explode about a mile down the dark and sleet-covered road I was travelling for work yesterday morning. It was already being repaired when I drove back via the same route about nine hours later.

A small programming note - and unrelated to my personal issues with the concept of time - the big "reveal" will be Sunday night, not Saturday. Nothing nefarious going on, really: it was always scheduled for Sunday. It wasn’t until a day or so ago that all parties involved realized that this Sunday was the fourth, not the third. (My excuse: the way my work schedule is, it’s just better/less stressful for me not to look more than two or three days ahead.)

Like everyone else, I got my Glossy Zenyatta Foal, too. Oh my goodness, he’s beautiful:

There’s some variation in the run - some lighter, some darker - and mine’s on the darker side. My certificate says he’s #259 out of 500, but according to the letter included in the box, they were sent out randomly, and not according to order number. As I talked about before - and more experienced hobbyists know - the numbering doesn’t really "mean" anything anyway, outside of the personal meaning any number has for anyone.

Speaking of that letter, Zenyatta’s people did a beautiful job of marketing and packaging the little fellow - not just a letter, packing slip and receipt, but a "Certificate of Authenticity" that doubles as a "Birth Certificate", and a lovely little Thank You/Business Card.

Ah, if only every super-special were so carefully packaged and tailored to hobbyists. We all love our little bits of paper, don’t we?

Even if I hadn’t gotten him this week, I would have known it from all the Foals popping up, well, everywhere. I know I shouldn’t be surprised by it, at all, but it still grates a little.

I’m old school when it comes to very limited or exclusive Special Runs, always will be, I think. My first thought whenever I stumble across one early enough to take advantage of it is: Do I Really Want One? My second thought is Does Anyone I Know Want One?

If the answer is No to both questions, I generally pass, unless it’s so super-cheap that it’s worth the effort to resell. That’s generally the case when I stumble across something at the flea market, though there have been plenty of instances where I’ve let even those good deals go, just because it wasn’t worth the hassle.

I’ll let someone else have the pleasure of a good deal - or the aggravation of trying to resell it.

A Novel Idea

I’m feeling a little bit better today. I figured out what I was doing wrong with a recipe I’ve been experimenting with (I wasn’t following it to the letter. Duh.) I found a few more auctions to fantasize about on eBay (for a week, until I inevitably lose them.) And I’m just about ready to wrap up (what wasn’t supposed to be such) a tedious sewing project.

I’ll probably spend most of the next day or two cleaning up some paperwork, prepping some stuff to sell, and working a bit more on that secret thing.

In fact, I’ve been wracking my brain trying to come up with a few more not-too-obvious clues for you all about it. Here’s what I was able to come up with:

• I can almost guarantee that it’s going to be something that a big chunk of the online model horse community will be talking about for some time to come. The chunk that’s obsessed with Breyer History, that is.
• Oh, and it happens to be something I’ve talked about here before, in passing. Not very helpful, especially since that’s nearly 500 posts you’d have to wade through.

In other tangential/self-referential news, I think I might have come up with a sufficiently motivational writing project for November. In light of the events of the past couple of months, this particular notion keeps floating to the surface of my mind: writing a hobby history of myself.

It’ll contain all the crazy stories that I couldn’t otherwise tell here - or the ones I haven’t quite told in full. It’s not necessarily a novel, per se, but some of the stuff I’ve experienced sounds almost fictional - some of you who have seen what I’ve done (and what’s been done to me) know what I’m talking about.

Some of what I want to write down is also potentially libelous, involving people who are no longer with us, either physically or in the hobby proper. So the notion that I could profit from this history in some way - either by self-publishing it, or tailoring it for the larger memoir/autobiographical market - isn’t something I’m even considering at this point. I just want to write it down for the record, so the stories themselves don’t get lost to the ages. Its purpose, more or less, is to basically become another volume to add to my archives.

I don’t necessarily think of myself as a "BNP" in the hobby, or someone who necessarily needs to write an autobiography. Actually, I think everyone at some point should write their own hobby biography - if, for nothing else, to explain to their friends and family why this thing we do means so much to us in the first place.

I just happen to have way more - and way crazier - stories than most. 50,000 words worth, at least.

Lumpy, Bumpy, Scratched and Dinged

Looks like the Lionhearts have shipped this week after all. Which is fine by me, since I lost big on an auction I was bidding on today anyway. I sliced my finger open yesterday while walking the Vita Monster, and I deserve a pony for my suffering, darn it!

(Finger got caught up in the leash just as the Fuzzy Little Ball of Rage happened to spot vermin running across someone’s yard. She's usually pretty good about not taking off like that on her walks; the cooler weather does put a bit of pep in her step, though.)

I didn’t win a Luna, either. I only entered for her once, so it wasn’t like I was heavily invested in winning. Would have been nice, but we have the "Winter"/Black Friday/Cyber Monday Web Special to look forward to in a few weeks, right? (Who shall wear the lovely Silver Filigree coat this year?)

Reeves put up the "official" sneak peeks of some of the 2013 releases yesterday, too, confirming my suspicions about the Vintage Western Pony. Sigh. I’m sure she’ll be quite pretty in person, but the only thing "vintage" about this release is the fact that it’s a Western Pony. She looks more like a glossed 1990s release, almost a "Mini Me" of the Western Horse Royal Te.

http://www.breyerhorses.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=2921

If they wanted "Vintage Appaloosa" they could have gone with the Western Prancing Horse Black Splash Spot Leopard, the Performance Horse Roan Semi-Leopard, or even a Glossy Gray Whatever a la the Fighting Stallion or Traditional Mustang (provided they get away from the polka dots that plagued the Harlequins, of course.)

It just feels like Reeves is conceding to the "Glossy = Vintage!" people. Fooey.

You think I’m being a whiner? The online commentary about the Northern Dancer release makes me look like an amateur: you’d think that Reeves just committed a marketing disaster on the same level of "New Coke".

I really do not understand the antagonism in some circles of the hobby over the John Henry mold. Other than the lumpiness - which has been largely remedied - the only great sin I see with the mold is the uninspiring paint jobs he’s come in: Bay, Bay, more Bay, Bay Pinto, Bay Roan. Bleh. (The ELCR releases on Red Dun and Gray did break the pattern a bit, but the point holds: the dude's got a rather limited wardrobe.)

To be fair, some of those Bays are pretty nice. I’m still trying to track down - for a reasonable price - an early "Brindle" Bay John Henry. All the ones I find are either beat to heck, or out of my price range. It didn’t help that he was also a rather unexpectedly popular mold among the younger set at BreyerFest this year. Don’t know why that was, it just was.

(Though nobody saw fit to make an offer on my rather nice Cincinnati. Their loss!)

As with most new Thoroughbred releases, we’re being bombarded with the usual arguments about how This Very Important Race Horse needs - no, DEMANDS! - an entirely new mold of his/her/its own. Anything less is a travesty of justice, yadda yadda blah blah. 

Look, I’m not arguing that a few more nice Thoroughbred molds wouldn’t be appreciated, but we go through this discussion Every. Darn. Time. If Reeves had to create a new mold for every latest and greatest legend in the racing world, they’d be doing nothing but Thoroughbred molds.

I don’t know about you, but I'd rather they get hopping on a new Draft Foal, a more correct Akhal-Teke, and a few more Ponies of the British Sort, first.

On a positive note, I do like the Sergeant Reckless on the Galiceno. That mold deserves more releases, and the chestnut paint job  - what can be seen of it - looks appealing. Might have to make some room on the shelves for that one.

And the sparkly, translucent Stablemates are so full of win, it hurts. Now that’s the kind of "girly" stuff even this self-confessed tomboy can squeal about.

More Whining, and a Test Color

The fact that it is October has finally caught up to me. As some of you may know, October is historically not a good month for me mood wise. The top secret project I’m working on helped carry me through most of the month, but the doldrums finally arrived.

Gotta push myself through it, as always. (A head’s up: there’s going to be some moodiness ahead.)

I’ve been skimming through the Passage to the Pacific stuff, but my heart isn’t all that into it. There are lots of reasons why, and it being October is only one of them.

I’ve expressed this sentiment before, but it bears repeating: a hobby (any activity worth pursuing, really) grows from the bottom up, not the top down.

I’ve always thought - and continue to believe - that the hobby is best served when everyone feels like they can participate, regardless of their income or experience levels.

You can vary your level of participation at an event like BreyerFest, for instance, in ways you cannot at the Exclusive Events. BreyerFest is in a fixed location, with dates planned well in advance, with lower Special Run prices, and requires little advanced planning required for a casual attendee.

These Exclusive Events? Nuh-uh.

If you went to the event and had a good time, good for you. Just be mindful that most of the hobby will never, ever have the time or resources to attend even one of those events. It’s not going to happen for me unless (a) it’s within a reasonable driving distance of my house, or (b) Reeves pays for it.

Which both seem extremely unlikely, at this point. (Though I might add that a tour of my house and my collection might be an attraction for some. Heck, if any of you are in the neighborhood, drop me a line and I’ll do it anyway. Just give me an hour or so to clean up the place.)

And as a reward for putting up with more of my whining, here’s another picture from Marney’s photo album:

Ooh, pretty! I'd definitely take him over the Peacock Fighter any day. More proof, too, that a statement like "don’t trust Black Test Colors" must always come with caveats.

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.

Can’t Help Myself

So the new Web Special, Luna, glows in the dark? I am intrigued, but since my money is going to be tied up doing other things, I won’t be entering for her. Much.

(Only once. Because the possibility of entering a contest and winning on just one entry appeals to me.)

The concept seems a bit muddled, though, somewhere in the foggy middle ground between "Halloween" and "Fall". That does sort of bother me, a little bit, my fondness for glowy things aside.

Because I just can’t help myself, here are a few more extremely vague clues about the business that's been keeping me up the past couple of nights (and more to come).

• Things were seen that I had not seen before. (Take a moment to think about the things I have, and the things I’ve seen.)
• Conversely, things were seen that almost everyone has seen before. ("Everyone" being defined as the kind of people who frequent this joint.)  
• Although I may "profit" from this venture in the long run, I will not be making any money off of it.
• All shall be revealed the night of November 3rd.

Back to work!

Mystery Date

I just got back from my little road trip. ‘Twas just as awesome as I had hoped.

I can’t tell y’all anything about it just yet. It’s a busy week in the hobby anyway, with the California thing, the Web Special thing, and the Lionheart thing, so I’m sure you’ll find plenty enough to keep yourselves entertained in the meantime.

However, in the spirit of Breyer’s sneak peaks, I’ll give you a teeny-tiny taste of what’s to come:

Hee.