No more Breyer news

The title should really be "No more Breyer news in hobby blogs please", but it could be too long. I prefer to keep blogpost titles short enough.

What is it about? Well, many hobby bloggers write mainly or only about Breyer release news and model reviews, and the clubs and events related to the brand. Some of us do not, and some, like Horsiemama blog's Lynn, have an explanation to why they don't write that stuff. I just read Lynn's post and about want to scream how thankful I am to her for not sliding in the same pulka as "everyone else" already. 

When you have no sleighs or carriages, you must improvise. My dolls did, and sometimes they really should not.

You ask, why am I thankful for that? Uh, because I am so fed up seeing the same news everywhere! And not only that... First, I am European. Nearly all of those news bloggers are American, and I feel that most hobbyists there live in a bubble: they forget that here are hobbyists outside USA as well and that they Americans have a damn privilege in their side. 

The second annoyance is about money. Yes. Money speaks. Americans are lucky because Breyers are sold mostly there and most collectors are there, but try to imagine being an European. I windowshop from American online thrift stores a lot, and always have to ponder that I should not only pay the prices of what to buy, but also pay shipping and customs (if the products have any financial value). Shipping can cost as much as one horse's price in a store or a lot more. These days you cannot ship anything from outside EU into EU without having to fight through customs. It is a fight even if you have nothing to pay in the end. Think about that. 

A rat lady nearly being run over by her son's horse.

I am Finnish, and Finland is said to be one of the most expensive countries if not in the world, then at least in Europe. I have never lived anywhere else so I cannot really compare, but having this bunch of countries with the same currency I can at least compare prices. Finland is pricey, especially after what has been going on in this country-neighborhood recently. 

Third, all the clubs. You Americans can play with special releases there, and some want to conga some molds or only collect special runs. Yea, nice, but not possible for an European if you aren't somehow super rich and/or ready to fight with all the shippings and customs (and paying massive prices for just pieces of plastic). Too bad that some of my favorite colorations seem to only appear in the special runs and limited editions and not in regular runs. Regulars have nothing wrong with them, and I am happy having what I have, but I could really like some specials too. Not because of them being specials, but because of some nice molds and yummy colors being combined just ideally for my tastes. 

I want all the splashed whites with bald faces and skull spots!

Fourth, let's face it, it is boring if everyone is telling the same news all the time. I only read those collecting news if there is some drama I know about, like the current storm about BreyerFest themes, and will enjoy that with mental popcorns. But otherwise, no, I don't care. Many blogs don't end up in my reading list only because they are unoriginal like that. 

Not sure if I scrutinized a lot of anatomy references for this or not, but I never finished it.

So, is it possible to write Breyer stuff interestingly? Yes. As I said, drama is delicious. And I do read the Horsiemama blog, so, guess why? Lynn writes about interesting hobby phenomenons and oddities which I couldn't even know about otherwise. The ability to stick eyes into ridiculous little details is what I find great in this hobby; if you aren't a sculptor or a tackmaker, then you can at least be a factory model expert with a lot of experience and history. When I windowshop, and if I am getting some models in good condition (alias not going to be customized), I usually try not to check from IYB what they are. Getting something possibly rare or unusual is awesome, and I could call myself lucky if such happens, although I'm not exactly chasing for rarities. Identifying the new collection members only when they have arrived makes it more exciting since at that point I already have them and can allow myself some feelings about them. 

Uhma, a fictional cat I drew for a real life childhood friend.

This post is kind of a continued part to what Kave wrote in our TLM blog in 2020. We share the feelings she mentioned and I just ranted about, and are not the only ones. Here in Europe are many who feel like Americans often forget there are hobbyists elsewhere as well. 

I could also play with fire and mention one thing, which again is something I share with other European hobbyists: Some Americans learn about how much harder modelhorsing can be for us Europeans, but then they decide to ignore it. Apparently some want to keep their bubble sealed and do not care about the fact that not all people are able to hobby in the same level as they in USA do. Like they don't want to be bothered with our problems and possibly help with the situation, and instead decide to leave us here like we didn't exist. At least having some empathy and understanding could be nice.

Brookside Pink Magnum.

I am lucky to have a personal "hobby dealer" who helps me get models and other stuff from USA. She is a really good friend of mine and also a fellow blogger. I found the hobby in 2009 and back then could never have imagined that more than a decade later I have a friend who has helped me in my hobby life this much. Like, look, I could not have Templado, Old Glory or the 70'th Anniversary Saddlebred models without her help. I owe my friend a lot - and some of that I will pay by painting her something. 

Templado, one of my old "hobby grails". My bad photos don't do him justice... And this is said by someone who has been studying studio photography recently.

Painting plans for the future, in case I ever end up with two Nokota bodies.

Speaking of owing someone something, it could usually mean paying shipping costs and such back with, well, money. I do that. But I also feel the hobby has become full of greedy idiots in recent years, and people hoard pricey limited editions and special runs only to resell them to others and with a lot higher prices than what their original costs were. Many also get those for customizing ONLY because it "lets them ask a higher price" when the custom gets sold. Blergh! I run against that trend by doing things for free! And seriously... I can say this as a professional artist, but if you want to sell a custom with higher price, just put more effort to it and kapow, you should be able to sell it with bigger price no matter was the victim a RR or SR! Leave the specials OFs for us who really genuinely want them. Blah. (Finnish language does not have an equivalent for "please", so my command is... well, a command, not a suggestion.) 

So, it seems like this post mutated from a random comment post into an actual rant about cultural differences between continents. And I want to end this post by saying I do not mean ALL Americans are like I said, not ALL Europeans struggle, not ALL American collectors have it easy nor are they unaware of the rest of the world, and I didn't mention any bad apples by name. I never mention bad apples by name. Hope this writing made at least some people think.

Table portraits 1.

Here comes the second bunch in the photo bunch/table portrait series... I wish I could just call all of these "table portraits", but how could I when they aren't always taken on a table? Yea. I will split some bigger photo piles into a couple posts. 

So this bunch was taken somewhere in the late October 2019.  I of course can no longer remember what I was trying to achieve with this situation, but at least I had a gorgeous Breyer horse on the table and he had an overly complex bridle on his head. I wanted to photograph it just because. 

I kind of think a Valegro model doesn't deserve any negativity, but then again, no horse does. I happen to be a pessimist and I know way too much about the rotten eggs which are going on in the equestrian world, and that is what I often draw and miniaturize. And the Valegro mold simply has a fitting expression for scenes which include weird tack or poor riding. Enough said? 

The bridle seen in these photos is a mess which I have decided to name "fightmore", because to me it looks like something an impatient, abusive and selfish rider could want to put on their horse, instead of taking their time and effort to get along with the horse and to become a better rider... And in fact, unfortunately, we have seen photo evidence of these bridles existing, and often the rider has wanted to take a shortcut... I definitely call it a fightmore, but some call it hackabit. Maybe there are even more names for this monstrosity?

Though, in theory it is possible for a fightmore to be humane. It's just a normal bridle with a bit, a hackamore, and two pairs of reins. It can't do harm just sitting on the horse and nobody yanking from the reins, could it? I am sure, in theory it is technically possible that a good rider knows how to use one gently.

Well, even a properly adjusted noseband can cause harm. So can any bit. And so can any hackamore. I think this is a dilemma which can't be solved with just decisions like "this tool is yes" and "this tool is nope". I do not have a real horse life and I lack the experience to really know how to comment on these things, but I try to use my common sense and empathy. Horses can smell your feelings, and I'm sure they also smell if a rider doesn't care about their wellbeing. Pfff. 

I sometimes feel like I don't know what I should think or how should I explain it when I publish these horror bridles. Why do I make them? I couldn't like to cram that much stuff on any animal just to give it some exercise. (A harness, a reflective vest, a collar and a LED collar seemed too much at some point when we had our dog... I can't even imagine how some horse people can cope with all the strap adjusting every time they exercise their horses, since especially trotters often have very complex tack.) 

I also don't think it looks good if a horse is totally covered in tack... But for some reason I like to draw and miniaturize exactly that. Maybe it's the detailing which the model horse hobby is so crazy about? It must be that. I also simply like to design the complex mechanisms of hackamore shanks and related, and then try to make them in miniature. It must be that! Some people in this world make scary horror bits which, I have understood, are just pure art and not meant for actual use. And what else is the model horse crafting about than art? In the hobby we see a lot of tack which nobody uses with real horses.

What a rant. But that is what my rotten egg stories and drawings and - seemingly - mini crafts often are about. Plus, I want to say, I think it is important for people to add some explanation to why their photos or crafts look like what they look like. To add a backstory for it. The saying "let the viewer interpret it how they want" does not apply to my works, because I often want to say something specific with these. I do NOT want to take the risk that someone could severely misinterpret especially these rotten egg works. 

The second bunch will also be about a fightmore!