I was too afraid to unbox Zafirah.. until now | Plus Johanns etc! 

Yay thank you so much! I hope to do one soon too! It's been a very interesting journey, this return to collecting! 😄

P.S. I would love to hear you talk more about model horse shows, especially from another returning hobbyist. Really anything about them at all, even just tips, history, anything you find interesting about them (I know it's not easy to just find and attend a live show lol). It's a part of the hobby that both fascinates and intimidates me

Aw xlaire, thank YOU so much for being here! I appreciate all your views and comments as I navigate this stuff. I'm PAF-gen and was out of the hobby for SO long; now I'm experiencing it again as I build my collection and it's.. uh.. interesting! So happy to share it and connect with fellow hobbyists. I'm really glad you like the BreyerWest one! I'm hoping to go back this coming February, but we'll see how (all sorts of) things look closer to that point. I'd love to try all of that again a second time with a little less naivety! 😄

Thanks so much for insight on a showing video too! I think I'll give making one a try! Showing IS fascinating and intimidating, and a lot of hard work.. but so fun. I'll see what I can put together!

@@CandaceToo jumping in to say I'm in the same boat with xlaire. I've been an avid breyer youtube watcher since '07 and it's been dry around here for content. Your channel is my favorite right now and the best content on here hobby wise. (I'm binging them all right now which is why I'm on an older video. lol) Keep up the incredible work! It's so refreshing to have new breyer youtube content and to be such high quality as yours is

@@GobLavignex I really, *really* appreciate that; thank you so much! I hope to keep bringing more content in "my" way, which feels a little quieter, maybe..? Delivered to viewers from a back-to-the-hobby-just-recently perspective while learning all this new stuff, but have been a lifelong fan.. and I'm so glad you've found me. :)

Thank you so much! Happy to have you here watching! 😊

It's so scary when the tiny boxes show up squished! You KNOW it's a tight fit in there and just hope so hard the model is okay! Pocket boxes work great for the SM club because they don't bump your shipping to the next (more expensive) level. I get SM bling bags or even just single SMs with PC and CC lottery models. Some of the Collect-A models would work too! Don't forget to use your club discount on the travel buddies! :D

Oh my goodness your comment has made me so happy.. one, because you mention the texture in the old sculpts. I LOVE it. It's almost like he used a brush to smooth really wet clay or something? I'm not sure exactly how it got there--if it was on the sculpt or in the mold-- but I love it in my deer and in my IPs, and YES, knowing that they smoothed out the mold for Vivaldi is such a shame. Chris' work and effort lived on in the molds he left us with, and "smoothing" it erases the hand-created spirit of it. I understand there will be flaws and not every model will be perfect, but there definitely is a quality to be expected when paying such high prices for some of these models (Kalahari seems to be very flawed, and he was quite pricey. And for such a large run number!). Some of those old molds have their own quirks, and that's to be expected. And left alone, IMO. The newer ones will always make someone unhappy for some reason or another (🙃).. so, it seems.. old molds = old processes = quirks, and I say that's fine. New molds = new technology + mass production centered around cost-savings and time-savings + increase in demand due to growth in the hobby = lots of flaws, which I say isn't fine. In most cases, it must be accepted I suppose. To an extent. But a high-cost collectible should meet some level of quality. The other reason your comment made me happy is sharing that you package an artist's prints and cards. I know EXACTLY what you mean about quality there too, as I used to sell quite a few prints and cards of my own work. Yep on the creases and slight crookedness and tiny specs; all to recycling; which is good to deliver quality, but sad to feel wasteful. I eventually saved this stuff in an "oops" bin and sold it locally at a discount (in-person so people knew they were getting flawed product without being surprised), or send them as freebies with orders, or offer up an "oops" sale online with a handful of things in a package deal. That was done only after I gave myself permission to not feel SO MUCH pressure to only ever deliver perfection, and it made me happy to not worry that my recycle bin might actually be going to the landfill. That had to be strategic of course, or people only wanted to buy the design at a cheap price vs pay full retail for a "good" print/card. It's funny sometimes how tippy the scales get with a price tag determining the level of quality. What the heck were we talking about? Model horses! I digress. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and for your compliment on my little blue Icelandic! I feel he needs a clever "ice" or winter name. I'll have to think on that!

That's _really_ interesting.. I wonder what's going on with plastic of that timeframe that it turns so yellow as it ages? Hopefully Breyer has switched by now! I read somewhere that depending on how the models are stored they could yellow much faster. But how is that? In their plastic bag? IDK! There was no answer! Thanks for letting me know about sun time for Inc. I'll start his sunbathing first thing tomorrow!

Wonderful to hear! Thanks so much! I'll begin his spa window-treatment sunbath ASAP. Our windows are old so they oughtta lather him with plenty of good UVs. Haha. (So strange that some models turn yellow so easy. I mean; 2004 isn't *that* old. Why would the plastic "age" so rapidly? Weird.)

I'm sorry you had such a similar experience with Zafirah. I agree: PC models are supposed to feel special. _Especially_ when it's your first year in the club and you work so hard to pay for your new horse! I'd say: give her time. You may come around to her. Maybe you could even pack her away for a while; I left mine boxed for months until I was finally ready to give her a look.. perhaps her time away will help you too. I imagine she'll saturate her class in shows these next few months, so maybe if she skips a couple with you for a while that'll help too; then yours could come back around once people have refreshed their strings. I also plan on ordering mine a pretty halter. (I'll have to save for that also!) Arabesque Miniatures makes beautiful ones for Arabians. I think having something special like that in colors I choose will soften my feelings even more. And finally: I must be in the online groups too much. I go there to share excitement and get peeks at upcoming releases collectors have sniffed out, but there are far more complainers and negative energy, and I plan to step back from all that and circulate in my own collector's world more often. I don't want others' negativity to dampen my personal experiences anymore, especially since I plan to join the PC for 2023! I'm sending you cheer!

@@CandaceToo Ooh! Maybe putting her away for a bit would reignite the excitement! I also plan to get mine a fancy little halter! Arabesque Miniatures is one of my FAVORITES! I agree with stepping back from the internet groups. Over the last month or two, I have significantly stepped back, and it really has made a difference! Keep making awesome videos! I love watching them!

@@nicshorses Thank you so much! I really appreciate it! Cheers to a peaceful and positive 2023 (with less group time and models we adore)! ♥

I JUST discovered this too! My Kalahari had "partial" on his order when I found a tiny box on my porch with a single blind bag inside.. it was meant to be a travel buddy! Ugh! Now Kalahari will ship all alone. Fingers crossed for his safety. I'm sure they think they're doing the right thing this way, but WHAT A MESS!

The charge is for shipping AND handling. Don’t forget that on top of the actual shipping cost and materials they have labor to pay to package it.

I hear you. I had models poke out during shipping and models arrive in squashed boxes and realized adding the little blind bag for 1.99 or 3.99 minus the club discount was like shipping insurance, and I was ok to pay it if it meant my model arrived safe. I'm in a spot where I can give the bags to my kids though. "Mom gets a new horse and so do I!" (I will admit: I don't like accumulating all of this 'stuff' and will save the pollution/landfill/production pitfalls for another discussion). I might save some pocket boxes for trick-or-treaters or party favors for kids' birthdays, but for some people: they don't want the blind bags and would have no use for them. I get that, too. It's unfortunate that club models ship in the flimsy blue-and-whites unless you buy more product. It's also unfortunate that shipping rates are based on order total versus weight or size of models, but I guess I'm not sure how Breyer would work around that. I appreciate free shipping on regular runs! I can get a giant (heavy) box of three or four Trads shipped free?! And yet.. I have to pay $20 to ship ONE Premiere Club or lottery CC model who would otherwise ship in a thin blue-and-white unless I drop in a blind bag. Sigh. I guess I've just accepted that if I want the fancy models I'll have to pay what they ask to ship it to me, and my RR purchases shipping free sort of offsets it a little. They probably have all sorts of financial figures (material costs, labor, contract fees with CCG, warehouse rental, etc, who even knows) wrapped into their shipping rates/free shipping offer that would make my head spin. Again: sigh. :) Thanks so much about the Icelandic! He was one CM I just couldn't pass up. I'll for sure add him as a shelf-friend for Bunyan and share how similar they are! The artist did a great job. That's amazing you were able to find three Connoisseurs in the store during BF! I'd love a chance to go to BF and find some treats in the store like that. Maybe one day! And how fun you got 10 straight from Breyer, too. I have nostalgia for postcard mailings and paper correspondence pre-internet days. What a feeling it must've been to hear back that you could order one!

Hi Jay! So far, I am planning on it! We'll have to see how work and financial things pan out closer to February, but I really want to go!

Thank you! I'll try that for sure!