Taking Stock

Now that we're getting into the last month of year, I thought it was a good time to stop and take stock of what I've done with my collection this year.  Despite my oft-declared intention to downsize, I think I ended up adding more horses to my collection than I subtracted.  Mind you, I didn't bother to keep track of all the horses I sold or traded away in 2019, but considering the fact that, if you factor in a few horses that I've ordered but have not come in yet, I've added (gulp) 71 new horses to the collection in 2019, I kind of think that the buyer is beating the seller hands down.

I was actually surprised when I added them all up -- I didn't realize what I'd been up to all year.  Now, I do have a few excuses to make myself feel a little better.  Out of the 71 new faces, 16 were acquired through trades, or as part of a gift exchange, which is really just another method of trading.

Of the 55 remaining horses, 14 were Traditional scale or larger, 8 were around Classic scale, 28 were between Little Bit and Stablemate scale, and 5 were Micro scale.  That means that at least I'm conserving space a bit by buying small.

Breyer Traditional purchased in 2019

In terms of variety, from the 71 total I acquired 56 Breyers or Breyers by CollectA, 5 assorted clinkies, 4 Hartlands, 3 Stone Horses, 2 Schleich, and one resin.

Looking at that, the first question I ask myself is: why so many Breyers?  There's at least two good answers to that question.  One involves the fact that I was a member of two of the Collector Clubs this year -- the Premier Club and the Stablemate Club.  Those two alone account for 11 new horses, four of them Traditional size.

The other answer is simpler still -- I buy so many Breyers because it's easy to buy them.  Hartlands are relatively rare, Stone Horses are relatively expensive, clinkies are fragile and many sellers are reluctant to ship them, Schleich are cute but a little shy on realism, and resins have never really appealed to me.

Stone DAH Chip purchased in 2019

Before you could buy Breyers online they were a little bit harder to get.  You had to find a dealer you could trust, and all the collectors out there had their own ideas about who was the best dealer -- whether it was because of the personal service they offered, or their generally low prices, or loyalty discounts, or willingness to ship internationally.  With so many options out there, it was easiest just to choose one dealer and stick with them.  For me it was Bentley Sales Company -- the first dealer I was introduced to.  I tried a few others based on friends' recommendations, but my best experience was always with the Bentleys, so I cast my lot with them.

All that changed once Breyer became an online retailer.  There are plenty of good online retailers out there, but if you want a model horse as soon as it's become available, or something available only as a Breyer web special, you have to stop at the Breyer shop.  And because their shipping charges are based on the cost of the models you purchase as opposed to the weight of the box used to ship them in, the only way to make the postage work in your favour is to order to the max of the particular increment into which the one model you really want falls.  This means buying something like $20 worth, $50 worth, $100 worth, or $150 worth of models and so on in $50 increments until you buy over $400 worth of models, after which you've reached max postage.

The largest amount I've ordered so far has been in the $200 increment, which happened when a Premier Club model came out at the same time as a couple of other things that I wanted went on sale.

Breyer Blind Bag Stablemate purchased in 2019

I'm not proud of that, but it makes my point -- buying Breyers is just too easy.

So now, as I take stock, I have to ask myself two more questions.  One is: am I done yet?  With a couple of other Breyer "deals" expected to drop this month -- specifically, the Collectors Appreciation Day when you might get a regular run matte model glossed for free if you buy $125 worth of product, and the Christmas surprise model, which is normally a seasonally-themed decorator offered to collectors on Christmas morning -- will I be able to resist buying horses for the remainder of the year?

Right now, when my resistance is strong, I think I can go without ordering any more Breyers this year.  But who can say what will happen when the time comes?

The second serious question I have to ask myself is: what am I going to do next year?  I've pretty much already decided to rejoin the Stablemate Club, so that's 6 new Breyers plus whatever I have to buy to make the most of their postage.  Then, if I go for the deluxe Collector Club membership, that's a 7th Breyer.  On the plus side, they're all Stablemates.  But still, that's 7 new Breyer horses committed to before the year even starts.

Breyer Stablemate Club Horse purchased in 2019

One good thing about Breyers is that, just as they are easy to buy, they are also pretty easy to sell.  So having a collection that's largely composed of Breyers is not necessarily a bad thing.  I think it's pretty safe to say that they are the most popular model horse brand in North America, at least.

But to return to the question: will I buy so many Breyers in 2020, or will I try to cut down?  Knowing that this is going to be a big year for Breyer, since they're already hyping the 70th Anniversary angle, I have my doubts that I'm going to be able to put up much of a fight.

All I can say is that I hope that I don't get so sucked in by the marketing that I end up buying more than I'm happy with at the end of the year.

I like all the horses I purchased in 2019, but I don't like the fact that I purchased so many of them.  So I know it's a bit early, but after taking stock I'm prepared to make a New Year's resolution.  I resolve to buy fewer model horses in 2020.

Check in with me this time next year and I'll tell you how I did.