Marketplace Score of the Year (probably)

 Back in college (30 years ago), there was a gift store at the mall that carried Windstone Editions, dragons and unicorns and other creatures cast from gypsum.  They're gorgeous, and at the time, out of my budget (still are, in general).  I've been admiring them online for years, and entering the company's raffle every month, but the internet prices, even for pre-owned ones, are high and the shipping is tricky since they're heavy and often fragile. 

Friday, while at Mom & Dad's for a visit, I happened to look at Marketplace for some reason.  The top ad was for a Windstone Unicorn, only 20 miles away, and only $40.  I sent a message, and picked it up the next day. It's a Mother Unicorn, seems to be the original "white" color from the 90s as far as I can tell.  Was purchased in Waikiki and traveled with the owner, who moved a few times and didn't want to risk moving it again.  She's safe in the curio cabinet already, I didn't want to chance that horn getting snagged on something.

First horse of 2021

 The first horse (okay, first in-hand, not first paid-for) is here.  Columbia's three Walmarts each seemed to only get 2 boxes of the Series 3 unicorns, and I never found the purple Warmblood, so I paid $25 for one on Facebook.  And he arrived early, too!  The silver on one hoof is a little sloppy, but that's an easy fix if I want to touch it up - it's not like he'll be a show horse anyway.

Now he needs an appropriately grapey name.

New Unicorns, and Fairfax

The local Breyer dealer got some of the new 2020 horses two weeks ago.  I meant to go last week and pick up a few, but we had weather.  So I was going to go Wednesday of this week, until I saw the forecast (more weather on Wednesday).  Instead, I went today.  Came home with Fairfax, the new Classic Morgan, and the 3 new Unicorn SM mystery foal sets.  I also want High Tide and the anniversary Saddlebred and Fighting Stallion, but didn't get those today.  Becky didn't get many High Tides, the one Saddlebred had iffy masking, and the Fighter, as it turns out, has overspray speckles around the pinto spots, which I don't care for, so I'll wait for a more subtle one. 

But.  Fairfax is a really nice mold, he reminds me of the UVM Yesteryear resin.  The ones I saw today had iffy paint work on the mane, but I bought the best of the three anyway.  Can't wait to see some of the customs that people do.  More affordable than another Yesteryear.  The new unicorns are good, and at least a few more molds have been 'corned - the cantering WB and Prancing Morgan.  The new foals are great - I like the cantering one the best.  The other one (prancing?) is nice too, but the front legs look too long in comparison to the hind legs. 

And I paid for both Klauses and Trailblazer, so hopefully they'll be here soon. 

Irises

Which I keep wanting to type as "Irish" - so I'll just have to name my bay Iris something with Irish in it.

I was going to try to swap my silver bay for the deco Iris, but after I looked at her for a few minutes, I sort of fell in love with her.  So. After some lurking and searching on eBay, MHSP, and a few Facebook groups, I managed to score this one at a tolerable-to-me price ($60 PPD).

And I LOVE this color. 

The SM Club Priscilla is also here, and other than being tippy as heck, is gorgeous.

 

It's been a lucky year for me with Stablemates.  Besides getting my two most-wanted Irises, I finally found the blue Alborozo unicorn at Tractor Supply (and then found two more), after months of searching every Cracker Barrel and farm store around, and ordering 9 blind bags from Breyer (last count - 7 Clydesdales, 2 Magnolias).  Tractor Supply also had 4 Spirit bags, and I found the chase Mustang in one of those.

 

Then, Breyer had a "buy one, get one free" sale on blind bags for Friendship Day, so I ordered a dozen of the series with the silver Alby.  I got one or two duplicates, guessed 11 out of 12 correctly when feeling the bags, and actually got a silver Alby!!  Found three of the rainbow Magnolia unicorns, and swapped one for a Sarge, and after buying 8 chestnut ASB mares, found a pair with the flaxen manes. Walmart also had two more pink Icelandics, and I grabbed a random Mini Whinnie which turned out to be the green dappled chase piece.

 

(I thought Sarge was blue.  Turns out he's green!)

 

And, icing on the cake, Breyer did another round of Stablemate Club grab bags.  I have no willpower, so I ordered a pair.  After seeing someone else get Coco and Wolfgang, the pair I got with the last grab bag, I figured I'd get a third set of those.  Nope, my luck was good, and I got Kohana and Fylkir!  And, it was the roan Appy Fylkir, the one I wanted most - he matches my roan Appy Scotty. 

Then there were the Spooky Surprises. Ordered four, managed to get all 3, and sold my duplicate mini Ichabod to someone who needed one.

However.  I'm now overrun with extra Stablemates, and need to do something with them all.  The Alby conga is almost complete - I don't have the Fairytale Club Alby, but I think I've got all the others.

My lucky day at Goodwill

After a decade or more of regular visits to the local Goodwill, and finding nothing but knock-off My Little Ponies at best (and one Marx horse, but that wasn't the local GW), I finally found Breyers yesterday!

Two, to be precise, and only one was a horse. 

But first, go chronologically. 

I started off at Orschelns Farm & Home, because it occurred to me that even though they usually only have Breyers during the winter holidays, they might be stocking the blind bag unicorns all year, like they do the Schleich and now CollectA animals (they seem to have dropped Schleich, sadly).   I was right, surprise surprise. A whole bin of the unicorns, and oddly enough, all sorted out - first 7 drafters, then a few Magnolias, then a dozen or so that were either Mag or the Arabian (I didn't get specific on those), and then 4 mini Alborozos.  I bought all 4 Albys, since I've already got 7 pink and green drafters. 

In the next bin were Spirit SM bags, so I felt those, hoping for the chase horse.  No luck, but I bought 2 - the brown reiner, and what I thought was the bay Appy Warmblood, since those would both camoflage the eyebrow issue.  And on the way out, I found a nice chestnut CollectA foal. 

Turned out that none of the Albys were blue, darn it, and I was way off on that Warmblood, because it was really a cremello Lusitano with obvious eyebrows. 

 

 

Then I went to Goodwill.  Found the clear glassware I needed, and then on the next aisle (not in the toy section even), I saw a dog's head sticking out.  Thought it might be worth buying for a Blab PIF, even if it was cheap plastic.  Got a little closer and realized it was a Breyer Boxer - which is a mold I don't have yet.   A little closer, and saw the original vinyl collar, and a bay Family Arabian Mare laying on the shelf behind him.

 Knock me over with a feather.  The Boxer was $3, with a few rubs here and there, and odd bumpy texture on both shoulders.  The FAM was only $2, in played-with condition, but I couldn't leave the old gal behind.  She'll probably clean up decent, especially at t hat price.  I think she's a vintage matte Sheba, but haven't looked really closely at her yet. 

Darley, Fruitcakes, and Unicorns

My last SM Club horse was delivered early, along with the ride-along Unicorn. 

 Darley's not bad, he just looks awkward with that front leg.  I think he'll look much better without a white face - it hides whatever detailing is there.  Mirado and Coco also had that problem. 

The Mystery Unicorn is #10 that I've ordered from Breyer, since I haven't made it to a local source.  With this one, I'm up to 7 Uni-clydes and 3 Magnolias, but at least I've got both colors on each mold.  Seven identical uni-clydes would have been too much. 

Poor Magnolia, though, got dropped less than 5 minutes after I opened her.  The horn didn't break, just half an ear.  Unfortunately, the horn would have been easier to find - I still can't find the ear.  Things bounce and slide on hardwood, and if it's under the dishwasher or fridge, it's essentially gone for good. At least it's the right ear, so I could still photo-show her if I wanted to.