When Fellow Hobbyists Help One Another

When fellow hobbyists help one another, you see the hobby at its finest. Just the past couple of days have given me one of those "hobby at its finest" experiences thanks to the generosity of Ronda Mosley and Allison Paeris. Both had found large collections that were for sale (Ronda's had 2,000+ pieces in it!) and were kind enough to look for pieces for several people, including me.

Here are some better photos (although still from a phone) of the pieces they discovered and then got for me. Several are models that I have wanted for a while.

The photos do not do him justice, but this unicorn from 1984 is SNOWY white!

There is no yellowing of the glue or chunks out of the flocking, either, and he is very clean - no dirt at all on him. (I wonder if his previous owner stored him in a plastic bag to keep him clean?) Amazing for a 34 year old model with such a delicate surface.

Allison Pareis had a clearware piece in her own collection that I bought.

And, what I thought from the sales pictures were the original Breyer alabaster Mare and Foal, Sugar and Spice,

are actually the 1994 Toys "R" Us special run set, "Before the Wind."

Score! I am so happy to add these two to my collection!

 The foal has pretty pinking in her ears and on her nose and the mare has lovely shading and grey "eyeliner" around her eyes. (See previous picture.)

There there was a second surprise - I thought I had bought Laag, the 1996 Commemorative Edition of 10,000.

But this isn't Laag, it's even better! It is "Before the Wind," a Toys "R" Us special run (7,500) from 1997! Some of the models have charcoal tipped manes and tails; lucky me to get one of them!

Finally, another puzzler involves this Old Timer.

I did a little research, because his hatband is supposed to be painted red - his has not been painted. Is this the hat that he originally came with? Or did it somehow become switched with another model in the lady's collection?  Could it just be something that was missed during production? That does happen occasionally. I'll probably never know, but that's okay. I love the fun of having oddities or mysteries to think about and even talk to other collectors about.

I think that both Ronda and Allison may be going back to look again at those collections, so I may be adding a few more pieces to my collection if they do. Regardless, I will always remember their generosity in being willing to poke around and find things for their fellow hobbyists.