The Second Hobby Get Together of the Weekend

What a weekend! Friday spent with Susan Bensema Young (and her hubby, George), Saturday spent at Allison Pareis's home in Muncie with three other hobbyists for a collectors' get together... I am still in hobby heaven!

Allison (holding her wonderful Action Stan), Robin, Ronda, and Jan. Ronda and Jan hail from Ohio while Robin, Allison, and I live in Indiana.

We sat around the table and swapped stories about collecting, showing, and creating. 

And not only did we meet Allison's famous Action Stan doll, we met Stan himself! He even changed shirts so that we could see the uncanny resemblance. Stan is a super nice guy, and he surprised us by doing a run to a local cafe and treating us to the coffee or hot chocolate of our choice. (Allison made us a delicious vegetarian chili for lunch, too! We were replete, that's for sure!)

Allison has lovely models and she opened her cabinets and tubs so that we could have a look. We also did a lot of horse tradin'. In a remarkable set of circumstances, both Ronda and Allison found huge collections up for sale with very good prices just a few days before our get together. This started a flurry of messages among the five of us, with pictures of what was available being sent, prices discussed, and then sales made. 

The collection that Ronda discovered had 2,000+ pieces, most of which were for sale. The collection's owner even designated a "Ronda shelf" where Ronda could place the models she was getting for us all. 

Robin and Ronda doing some show and tell while Allison (in the background) pulls some tubs out of a closet that were chock full of pieces to show us.

The credit for the following model photos goes to Ronda. These are examples of how our transactions developed over Facebook Messenger. It worked very well.

For me, Ronda picked up a 1994 JC Penneys special run Spirit of the East set of Running Mare and Foal.

I was looking at Laag and the Pacer that came in the sulky set (see photo) but I ended up buying something that I am super excited about - Before the Wind, a 1997 Toys "R" Us special run! (No photo yet; it's still packed.)

 I was lucky enough to purchase this snowy white flocked unicorn, a 1984 JC Penneys special run, in near pristine condition,

and an Old Timer that was produced 1988 - 1990.

Allison also sold me a clearware stablemate, Navya, that was a 2017 BreyerFest special run. (I don't have  a photo of that one, yet, either.)

It was so nice to have two hobbyists, Allison and Ronda, help other hobbyists find special horses. Thanks to their generosity and selflessness, all of us have some lovely new models. Thanks, ladies! (As we joked, peanut butter makes for a great meal!)

Allison also had a craft planned for the day - making miniature Breyer boxes!

Using Desktop Stables' wonderful (and free) printables, she had everything ready to go.

 She also had some Mini Whinnies to put into our boxes!

 Action Stan sure enjoyed his new model!

 Allison puts on the Muncie Swap Meet several times a year, and her home get together was every bit as well organized as well as just plain FUN. I am hoping she does it again. The day may have been rainy, but playing ponies with nice ladies while gabbing about all aspects of our hobby was simply the best.

What a weekend it has been!