Another shopping rant

I'm not sure what it is about this area, but shopping for Breyers seems to be pretty abysmal, if you want to buy in person and skip the online/mail order route now and then. I've been looking for some Breyers locally; actually, I'm desperate enough to buy almost anything if I saw it. :)

The local Orschelns apparently hasn't stocked up on toys for the holidays yet. They had almost zilch, just a few plushies and some of the paint-your-own Mini Whinnies sets. At least they stock some Schleich horses.

Target - also zilch. They have none of the SM sets (adult/foal) at the moment, and no empty peg for them either. A few SMs and random Classics, but not always, and a lot of the paint-your-own MW sets. They did have one of the new Classic sets last time, but I don't guess they'll every carry the Classic mare & foal sets that I'm wanting. They had a few of the SM accessory sets a few months ago, but nothing since then.

Not-so-local Orschelns #1 - had 2 of the truck/trailer/Stud Spider sets, and a couple of Trad foals, marked down to $9.99.

Not-so-local Orschelns #2 - better choices, and I hope they get some new stuff for the holidays. Last weekend, they had some Blue Suede Shoes and Mid-States Warriors, plus one Salpicado. Most of those were $25, I think. They also had a row of the truck sets.

Really-not-local Farm & Home, where I always stop on the way to the Renaissance Festival: Had quite a bit in stock, but the newest thing they had was Chevayo and and the ECLR Benefit horse (one each). They still have a couple of Nosferatus, and some other older stuff. I bought their Tonto's Scout, in spite of the split box, and the ECLR palomino. The other irritating thing was that most of their stock wasn't priced - nothing on the shelf, very few stickers on the boxes. Whether that's laziness or a misinterpretation of the MAAP mess, I don't know. They did have a dozen or so Classics, but all singles.

In short, I'd love to buy the Color Crazy sets, the Classic mare & foal sets, and a dozen others, but I'd also really love to be able to buy them in person. My usual online dealer is apparently low on stock, and while I'm looking for other options, I'm also tired of delayed gratification. Usually I don't mind it - heck, I'm waiting another month for my back-ordered JCPenney Joe/Bouncer set - but sometimes, I just want something now. To be able to walk into a store, look at a big display of Breyers, and pick the one that says "Buy me." To line three copies of a model up on the shelf and see which I like best (I did this with the Trad Hidalgo). To pay for the horse, take it home, and open it right away. To not have to wait for the UPS guy or the mail carrier to ring the doorbell.

You wouldn't think that's too much to ask, but apparently it is around here. Who would think that a town/city of 100,000 people, two colleges with animal/equestrian programs, and at least one horse-event expo center would have almost nothing in the way of Breyers? (We don't even have a tack store that I know of, and the last independent toy store closed two years ago. It's TRU or nothing now.)