Vault sale clusterf**k...

So, a couple of days ago it was announced that there would be a web special up for grabs on the Breyer site.  They didn't give any real specifics, just mentioned 'mother lode' and made references to gold so a lot of people speculated it was going to be a gold charm model, which is a regular model that had been given a paint job.  A lot of people hadn't even heard about the sale because nothing was put on the Facebook page and initially there was no email about it, but news about it spread like wildfire.  Even when an email was sent out about it, it only contained the barest of information.  Just the date and time and provided a link.  Well, I went to the website at the designated time, but due to the amount of people trying to get in, the page wouldn't load.

Finally, though, I was able to get through and find that it was a set of 3 gold charm Lady Phase models. 

At first I thought it was a great deal.  3 models for $175, but then I got to reading it and saw that you would only get one of the three and you couldn't even choose which one you would get.  They had 80 of the dun (middle) and 10 each of the other 2.  I only wanted the paint, but the other two have been growing on me, but not enough to pay $175 for just one of them.  Anyway, when I was able to get the page to load, there was still the option to buy one but I didn't.  When I went back a few minutes later I got this...

In the span of about 10 minutes, all 100 sold out, much to the anger of many Breyer fans who hadn't been able to even access the page due to the server not being able to handle the number of people trying to get in.  A lot of people were upset and rightfully so.  Some people'd had one in their cart only to have problems during check-out and the model disappearing from their shopping cart.  After many people had given up some started posting on Blab that they had been able to make a purchase AFTER it said they were no longer available, which upset people even more.  What a mess.  I collect this mold and would have been mad if I'd wanted the model, but since I didn't really want it I wasn't too upset.  I feel bad for the people who did want it, though, and couldn't get through or gave up.  Quite a few people have said they won't renew their Collector Club membership because of how Breyer runs these special sales.  I haven't decided if I will or not.

I keep meaning to post a picture of my new horse.  It's the Kalahkaari I've been wanting.  The sale went smoothly in spite of my flub with sending the entire money order instead of just the one portion.  Fortunately I had an honest seller.  I'm quite tickled with this guy.  He's a real stunner.  I just love paints!

Yesterday I went to Michaels during lunch and bought some ribbon to make some halters.  Now I just need to print out the tutorial and cross my fingers I can make a somewhat decent one.  I'll post my results here when I'm done.

Happy Thursday!

  

STOP IT, PETER STONE!!!!!!!!!!

You MUST stop making horses that I want!  Especially at a more affordable price.  Because even at an affordable price I can't buy them when I want them and then they may go unavailable and I'll be all disappointed and I don't like being disappointed when it comes to the plastic ponehs.  So what do I do?  Do I just not look at the Stone Ponys website?  That would probably be best, but just look at these beauties...

Chasing Pirates

Look at the shading and dapples on this guy!  And his face...look at that face!

Apparently I've become a sucker for faces where the Stone Horses are concerned...

Pippin

Don't you just love the pink on his nose?  Here's the rest of him...

I'm not sure how I feel about the overall body color, but it's not horrible.  hahahaha.  And then there's Rhapsody In Blue.  He's the most expensive of the group, but still isn't all that very expensive compared to what I paid for Kalahkaari and there's less of Rhapsody than him.

Rhapsody In Blue

Initially I thought I liked the ears on Magnetic North and the paint job on Ordinary Miracle, but now I'm not so sure.  The ears are starting to look a little weird to me.  Maybe on a different mold...?

Magnetic North

 Ordinary Miracle has some interesting spots and dapples plus mottling on his face.  I think I'd like him better if the spots covered his whole body instead of just the front half.  I'm not asking for much.  hahaha.  I do like the striping on his hooves, though.

Ordinary Miracle

So I need to either suck it up and buy one or two of them or just, somehow, stay away from the Stone website.  I'm running out of room to put these guys, though.  I'm still waiting for Sweet Emotion to arrive.  <sigh>.  I do have to say, though, that other than the name Pippin, these guys have better names than the 1 1/2 I have.  Well, Chasing Pirates isn't exactly a wonderful name either.  Pippin is better.  hahaha.

I'm here!!!

Hahaha.  I guess I never got around to blogging over the weekend.  My brain was too fried.  I'd forgotten how exhausting an overnight trip could be.  I haven't gone anywhere in 13 months and before that I was traveling 3-4 times a year, mostly overnights, so I'd gotten used to it.  And the funny thing of it is...I didn't even do all that much.  I arrived early Friday and went to a Harley-Davidson dealership and the H-D Cafe to get t-shirts for my brother (he has a 2007 soft tail) then to a scrapbooking store in hopes they had stuff exclusive to Las Vegas that other stores wouldn't (they did.  lots of stuff!).  Then I went and checked into my hotel.  I stayed at the MGM Grand.

I was on the 22nd floor, in this corner of the building, which is why I took a picture of this particular area.  It was a pretty nice hotel.  Big.  Luckily my room was near the elevator and I always use valet parking so I didn't have far to walk to get to my room.  My view wasn't the best...not like when I stayed at the Bellagio, or even Mandalay Bay...but it wasn't horrible.

If I looked to the extreme right I could see the Statue of Liberty at New York New York.

Anyway, after getting checked in I took my stuff to my room then went and met my friend at Rainforest Cafe.  I'd never eaten there before, we have one in Tempe, so it was a new experience for me.  It was...interesting.  Sensory overload is one way of putting it.  I don't know that I would've gone if I'd known it was going to be that noisy.  Oh well.  The food was good.  After lunch we went to my room and watched Storage Wars Texas as we tried to decide what to do.  My friend lives 2 1/2 hours from Las Vegas and her parents live on the outskirts of town so she's there often.  I hadn't been there in 3 years, but I didn't really feel like doing much.  I did, however, kind of want to see the pawn shop from the show Pawn Stars so I looked it up and despite the poor "reviews" on Yelp! we decided to go ahead and go.  The place is small and the owners weren't there, but it was kind of neat to be in there

They have a lot of cheesy show souvenirs, but there's also a lot of legitimate stuff.  After that we went back to my room and watched TV until about 9:30 then she went to her parents' house (she brought her dogs with her)

The next day we were originally going to go to Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat, but I decided the night before that I no longer wanted to do that and would rather go to Red Rock Canyon so that's what we did.  I've been through the area, but never took the 13 mile loop.  It was pretty cool.

Well, I'd better get to work.  I've been here for an hour and I've done very little.  Very very little.  Ooops!

Breyer Horses vs Peter Stone

Okay.  This isn't a post about which is better because both have their pluses and minuses.  Peter Stone's dad, Sam Stone, started Breyer Molding Company and in 1984 Reeve's International acquired Breyer, which was called Breyer Animal Creations by then.  Eventually, Peter Stone left Breyer and started his own model horse business in 1996, which is called The Peter Stone Company or Stone Horses.

Anyway, last night I was looking at a thread on Blab about Stone's Ideal Stock Horse (aka ISH) on my iPad mini and my brother happened to see a picture of a now-retired model of a leopard Appaloosa and commented that it was a neat-looking Breyer.  I told him it wasn't a Breyer, but rather a Peter Stone.  He'd never heard of that company so I had to explain to him who Peter Stone was and his relationship to Breyer and the differences between the two companies/models.  He knew I had Breyer, but I told him I also had a Stone so I went to get them to see if he could tell the difference...

Ravel & Speckled Jelly Bean

I put both on the table and told him he wasn't allowed to pick them up and he said he needed to in order to get a better exam of them and I said that both horses had company logos on them.  He asked where and when I told him he said he wouldn't look there, so I let him pick them up to examine them.  The area he seemed to scrutinize the most was the eyes...

and that was the first reason he gave for the grey one being the Stone Horse.  He said the eyes were more realistic-looking.  **edit** My brother has a couple of Breyer animals and that's how he knew the grey horse wasn't a Breyer.  He didn't automatically think Peter Stone had more realism.  The second reason was the paint job

He said the grey one looked more realistic.  I didn't get a picture of the third thing he found to decide which horse was which and that was the paint job quality.  There was a line of paint near the mane of Ravel that appeared to have been missed whereas SJB didn't have any such issues.  Oddly enough, all 3 reasons he gave for concluding SJB was the Stone are ones I've heard on Blab so I don't doubt that's why he figured it out, HOWEVER, when he was holding SJB up for a closer look, I can't know for sure if he saw the inscription on the inner leg of him that said something about him being a Stone.  I'd forgotten it was kind of carved into his leg as opposed to the stamp Reeves uses and is fairly large.  Since SJB is the only Stone I have at the moment and he's a 1 of 6, I don't know if all of the Stone models have the name carved into the thigh.  I was going to take a picture, but since my blog is rated G and SBJ is a stallion, I didn't want to put a photo like that up.  hahaha.

I will be off for the next few days.  I am going to Las Vegas to visit a friend on Friday and Saturday and Monday is Memorial Day.  I don't usually blog over the weekend, but I may post one from Las Vegas.  I will be taking a couple of horses with me because I'll be visiting Valley of Fire State Park and I want to try to get some cool photos.

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday!


**eta**  I wanted to post this update on Blab, but am concerned of getting a slap on the wrist from one of the mods because it might be viewed as saying something negative about a fellow hobbyist outside the proper forum for such things.  Even if I took out specific information and posted in generalalities, I didn't want to risk it so I'm putting it here because I don't think she's on Blab.  I haven't told anyone what her name is so I'm not too concerned, but she might recognize some of the details and figure it was her.

On Saturday, as I posted before, I sent a money order to buy a model from someone and sent an email letting her know it was on its way and asked that she let me know it had arrived.  I figured it would get there on Monday, Tuesday at the latest.  So today, when I hadn't heard anything yet, I decided to email her and ask if it had arrived.  She said not only had it arrived yesterday, but I *think* she also said she has already mailed the model.  Her reply wasn't real clear on that...it said "Yes I got it yesterday and I sent in out yesterday."  The part where she got the money order yesterday is clear, but I don't know if she's also saying she sent the model yesterday, too.  Which is fine.  I'm a bit...annoyed, I guess...that she didn't let me know the money order had arrived AND that she'd already mailed him.  There's not much I can do about it at this point, but I just think there could've been a little better communication on her part.  At any rate, I hope he arrives before I leave for Las Vegas, but if a money order took Saturday to Tuesday, my model probably won't show up until Saturday at the earliest.  I'm nervous.

Awesome model horse tack...

Happy Monday, Everyone!  Today is the first day of only a 3 day work week for me so I'm a bit more excited than I normally would be on a Monday.  hahaha.  Apparently some of our systems aren't working very well, though, so it might end up being an interesting day.

Okay.  So.  I can't make model horse tack.  At.  All.  I recently ordered some stuff to try to make some halters and I'll feature my success or failure here.  There's some people out there, however, who are really talented and every now and then I like to put their work here.  Today's featured artist comes from the Netherlands and has really incredible pieces.  Her name is Char and she was kind enough to give me permission to use her photos here.  Her website is http://charart.wordpress.com/

This first set, the bridle was made for a model horse show donation.  The detailing with the beads is really amazing.

The horse itself it pretty cool looking, too.  If I had a horse, I'd want a real bridle like this.  It's very sharp.  Here's a picture of more of the entire set, even though it's only the bridle that's part of the donation, I think the saddle is awesome, too.  And look at the two differently colored eyes...

But wait!  There's more!  Not only does she make super cool western tack, she can also make it for Endurance riding.  And in neat colors.  I'm not ordinarily much of a fan of the color purple, but who cannot love this?  It would look really snazzy on a black horse or a steely dappled gray

The individual details she put into it like the water bottle and what appear to be sponges is incredible.  And look at this harness set!

It just boggles the mind how talented she is!  I can't even begin to comprehend the amount of time of patience it takes to do something like this!

So, on Saturday I went and got some lottery tickets for my mom and I for the super big Powerball.  I won $4.00...so exciting.  Two people in Arizona won $1million each, but a 26 year old woman in Florida won the whole shebang.  AAAAA!  Oh well.  One of these days I'll win more than $7.  hahaha.  Anyway, I also stopped at the post office to get the money order for Kalahkaari.  The clerk lady showed me what I needed to do such as what to remove and what to leave on.  Apparently some people remove part of the money order that isn't supposed to be removed.  So, I go to my car and fill it out and put it in the envelope and drop it off in the drive-up box.  As I'm driving to Circle K for the lottery tickets a thought hit me.  Where was my portion of the money order?  Oh no!  I had FORGOTTEN to REMOVE it!  Oh crap!  Well, it's too late now.  I just hope it doesn't end up being a rather expensive lesson.  Keep your fingers crossed she'll get the money order and send the model on like.  I'm quite nervous, but I'm trying to be positive about it.

Well, that will have to be it for now.  I'll share more of Char's stuff at a later date because she has some photos with fun angles that I'd like to share, but work is calling.

Have a great day!

Have I lost my mind?

That is, of course, a rhetorical question.  I don't want a bunch of people leaving comments saying "yes, you are" hahahaha.  I just bought a bunch of stuff on Rio Rondo to make model horse halters.  Yes.  I think I must be insane.  Hahahaha.  I've always wanted to make my own and after a blabber posted a tutorial on her blog, it doesn't look so hard

The lead rope might be a little more difficult but I'm sure it can be figured out.  It would be easier (smarter) to just buy the Breyer ones, but I only like the teal colored one and despise pink so if I can make my own then I can customize the colors more to my tastes.  Plus, in the long run, making them myself would be cheaper, I'm sure.  I hope.  Hahaha

Today the Powerball lottery has reached $600,000,000 and has the potential to be even higher before the drawing.  Usually my mom and I just get one set of numbers each but mom wants more than one set today.  So, after I finish my laundry I need to go to Circle K for lotto tickets and also swing by the post office to get a money order for the model I want.  I'm going to bite the bullet and buy a Kalahkaari.

There seem to be more people looking for him than are on the market and it's not likely I'm going to find one for much less.  He's in good shape, too.  I was going to buy one a few days ago but there seemed to be more and more flaws the more we corresponded.  I've never paid this much for a model and from someone I don't know so I'm a bit nervous.  If she'd agreed to Pay Pal I'd have more of a recourse if something happened, but she wants a money order.  I hope my nervousness is unfounded.

Happy Saturday!

Just Because It's Friday...

I decided I "deserved" another Stone Pony.  Unfortunately, the one I wanted most...She Loves Me (see "well phooey" post...She Loves Me is the first horse pictured) sold out and is no longer available on the website.  Sweet Emotion, however, which was a close second, was so that's what I did.  I bought Sweet Emotion.  There were still a couple of more that interested me, but I really like the color on him.  He has a dorsal stripe on his back.  Like my other Stone, Speckled Jelly Bean, Sweet Emotion will have to get a more manly name.

It's a good thing I don't think I deserve a new horse every Friday because I'd be perpetually broke, but I'm excited to have this guy join my herd.  Hopefully he'll arrive quickly.

Happy Friday!!!!!!!

New Horsie!

I have two Breyer dealers located not too terribly far from where I work.  Both are accessible during my lunch break, but one moreso than the other, but the further one away is the one I prefer to give my business to.  They've been around since at least the early 1980s and it's owned by a husband and wife and they try to get all the current models and accessories.  Yesterday I decided to go to the closer store because I was in search of the 3 pack of nylon halters

and I could've sworn I'd seen them at KidStop before.  I only really like the aqua-colored one in the middle, but I wanted them to see the size of the jump rings to decide if I want to try making my own halters.  So, I go to the shop and walk to where the Breyers were and even though I was looking for something specific I still have to see what models they had.  They don't always have the most current ones, which is a good thing sometimes if I missed out on one from a previous year or something.  Well, I looked at one shelf and then down and nearly squealed with delight when I saw...

Marwari!  I have been after this guy since I saw the pictures of the 2013 back in November, I think it was.  The Doll House had gotten a shipment in when he was first released in January, but has been unable to get any in since then and while I was on the list of calls when it arrived, there were more people wanting him than they had models so I missed out.  He's been available online, but I've read there's been problems with the mold so I wanted to make sure I could inspect mine first.  They only had one and fortunately he was in good shape so I snatched it up then went on to look for the halters.  Alas, they had none but I did end up getting 2 of the Stablemate Mystery Foal sets.  Mostly for one of the adults of each set. 

Sorry for the crappy photos.  I used my Kodak C182 camera but with one of my cats right behind the boxes I didn't want to hurt his eyes by using the flash.  I'm not usually a fan of sets with foals, but there's no way to get the paint  or the dapple grey without getting the whole set.  No biggy.  The foals are pretty cute!  Back to the Marwari, though.  Of course I had to take some photos, but the kitties weren't being very cooperative with me and kind of photobombed

Now that I have the palomino Marwari I really need to get me the 2012 Collector Club Kalahkaari

I had the opportunity to buy one a couple of months ago, but decided I didn't want to because he's kind of expensive.  Now I realize I have to suck it up and pay the going price if I want him and I really do because they seem to be becoming less available on the secondary market.

Time to get to work!

"You've Been Outbid"

Probably the three worst words a person can see when bidding on something on ebay.  Either on Friday or Saturday I came across some auctions for models at only $5.99 each that were in good shape and nobody had bid on them yet.  They only had about a day and half left of the auction so I went ahead and bid on them.  But I only bid the minimum amount.  I know I probably should have bid higher and considered upping my bid a couple of times, but then I started doing some research (should've done that first) and realized that what I thought were 3 Lady Phase models was actually one 1 Lady Phase (the original), 1 on the Stud Spider mold and 1 on the Ideal Quarter Horse mold.  They were all very nice models and since Lady Phase and Stud Spider are my favorite two, I wasn't too terribly disappointed that I'd goofed.  They were only $6 each so what's the problem?  I also wouldn't have been too terribly upset if I'd gotten outbid...or so I though.  I checked on the auctions this morning before work and have been outbid on 2 of the 3.  There was still time left to bid again, but I decided not to.  If I end up winning the 3rd, great.  It's the one on the Stud Spider mold.  If not, I'm fine with that, too. 

On MHB there's a thread that's been going on to show your best model horse photo and there's been some good ones.  One by blabber "la cazadora"

and one by blabber "lora"

I love the realism shown in both, especially the second one.  Well, last week I was able to contribute finally, and I hope to again in the near future after my trip.  But as you can see, mine pales in comparison.  It's not even in the same league!  hahaha

Oh well.  A couple of people said they liked it because of the lighting.  Hopefully I can come up with something better in Las Vegas next weekend.  I'm going to drive out to Valley of Fire State Park.  I just need to decide which horses to take with me.  Probably only 2 and I think my Mesteno has to be one of them.  He'd be perfect.  Then, probably a paint.  We'll see.

Anyway, yesterday was Mother's Day.  I took my mom to breakfast then my brother made us a nice dinner.  He gave her a nice gift basket full of things he'd put together and I felt kind of bad that I didn't get her anything, but if you ask her what she wants she'd say nothing and you can only give someone so many wolf t-shirts.  Hahaha.  While at breakfast, though, there was a couple at a table near ours and they spent almost the entire time on their cell phones.  It was kind of sad actually.  Especially since it was an adult couple, probably in the 30s or 40s.  Younger people I can almost understand.  They walk around carrying their phones their hands because they can't miss a single phone call or text.  I think they want people to think they're more important than they really are, but that's just my opinion.  Personally, I don't think anyone (except maybe a doctor) is so important that they need to constantly be on their phone or have it constantly out and available.  And they certainly don't need to bring it into the bathroom with them while they carry on a conversation, but that's neither here nor there.  I've declared two times that are digital free: when I'm having breakfast with mom (either at home or a restaurant) and dinner.  I have made an occasional exception during breakfast out when I want to take a picture to send a friend in Utah, but that's rare.  I don't answer texts and my phone stays in my pocket.  At dinner, my phone and my iPad are on the counter until dinner is finished and the dishes are put away (unless someone else is doing the dishes that night).  But that's just me and I know many people don't do that unless it's a parent setting the rules for their children.  And that's fine.  I'm not criticizing anyone for what they do, just saying what I do.  hahaha.

Well, I'd better get some work done today. 

An Afternoon To Remember...

Okay, if you've seen this on Blab or FB then you might be getting tired of it, but I can't help it.  What I experienced yesterday was truly wonderful and I can't stop talking about it.  hahahaha.

So yesterday, I had the day off so I went in search of places to take pictures of a couple of horses.  Model horses, that is.  I already knew the lakes at Papago Park weren't going to work so I went driving around the park for desert-y places and came across the backside of the Desert Lives exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo.  It was well-populated...

I'm really kicking myself for not having my bigger camera (I considered bringing it but didn't think I'd *need* it) with the zoom lens, especially with what I encountered later, but all I had was my little Kodak C182.  Mental note...whenever I have a day off and I'm wondering around the city, bring the big camera.  I was pleasantly surprised, though, by the quality I was able to get with the Kodak.  The closer-up photo has not been cropped at all...that the reach I was able to get.

After taking those photos I continued on my search for a place to take pictures.  Everything around the park, however, is brown and kind of dead, but I did find a spot...Diamondot Buccaneer was willing to model for me.

Nothing too stellar, especially compared to some of the ones I've seen on Blab, but...

Next I decided to try Saguaro Lake and headed north, but then decided the Verde River might be good...and closer.  Problem was, I couldn't figure out how to get closer to the river.  I went to the Ft McDowell Indian Reservation and found the river, but getting to the river's edge itself was difficult.  I spotted a sign for some kind of cowboy adventures place so I did a u-turn and went back, but as soon as I turned down that road I encountered 2 signs:  No trespassing and River access closed.  :(  No fair.  As I sat there, trying to figure out what to do I spotted objects moving across the road about 200 or so feet ahead of me.  My first thought was cattle, but then I quickly realized it was the wild horses that live in the area.  Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera ready and I had big trucks coming up behind me and while they had no problem going around me, I didn't want to block the road and I didn't want to get into trouble for trespassing.  Off to the right I noticed another dirt road.  Not as good as the one I was already on, but outside the area with the 'no trespassing' sign so I figured I'd be safe.  I headed off on that road and eventually came to a spot where they were passing by again.  The first three stopped and looked at me for a few moments then trotted off.  They are definitely not used to humans.  There were probably 6 adults plus a weanling and a foal that was maybe 3 months old.  They didn't stick around long for me to take pictures and this is where I really wish I'd had the zoom lens, but I was able to get a few before they crossed in front of me and out of sight.  I tried to catch up again, but I encountered a dry wash that was pretty deep and the road was already pretty dicey I decided not to go any further.  I sat on one side of the wash and waited for them to pass by again, but they must have turned "upward" and went north.  Oh well.  I need to get my mom's Jeep, which has 4 wheel drive and go looking again.  Or go stake out a spot on that road that's out of the way of the trucks and wait.  hahaha.  There's water near there so they probably visit often.  Anyway, here's the less-than-stellar pictures.  I'm glad to see that they seem to be in good shape and are getting enough to eat.  I'm guessing, though, that people on the reservation maybe put food out for them, which is nice.

weanling?

Interesting color

Pregnant mare :-)

Well, phooey!

This morning I had the sudden urge to buy a pony.  Not a real one, of course, but a plastic one.  Just a very strong urge.  So I went to the Stone Pony website in hopes of adding a 2nd one to my herd, but every single one I wanted was sold out.  Every.  Single.  One.  I think I remember reading on MHB that they did that because there's a thing going on that Stone is doing and all the horses will be there for sale.  I hope so because there were some neat looking ones and for a somewhat affordable price.

My favorites:

There's not a huge difference between them, I know.  The top one is a darker color and the bottom one has a different tail.  He also has a dorsal stripe.  I just LOVE their faces.  And this one is really starting to grow on me

My main concern is that because they're already a limited quantity item, they'll sell out of all 3 of them since they're the ones I want the most.  Well, there's others, but there's no way I'm going to pay the price they're asking for

Aren't their colors just YUMMY, though?

Oh well.  It's just as well I can't buy any of them right now.  I'm going to Vegas in 3 weeks and need money for that.  I still need to decide what hotel I'm staying at, although it looks like it'll be MGM.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!