My Collection Focuses and Goals!

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 Hi everyone!


It's a rainy Saturday, so definitely good weather to stay in and write a blog post! 

I don't think I've gotten into too much detail about my overall collection goals and tactics in this blog yet, so that sounded like a good topic to explore today. 

Some of last year's BreyerFest haul!

While I do not exclusively collect OFP Breyer, it is my main focus. So, most of the brainstorming and planning I go through surrounds Breyer specifically. I always say that I wish I had more space and money to branch out further into the artisan side of the hobby while maintaining the level of involvement with Breyer, but let's be real, if I had more space and money, I'd probably just buy more expensive Breyers! 😂

Artisan additions to my herd are few and far between these days! Marezilla was too good of an opportunity to pass up, and Earthquake was won in a raffle at a local show - both last year.

My current yearly goals for Breyer collecting include:

  • Keeping up with any new RR that I enjoy
  • Keeping up (or mostly keeping up) with easier to find new SR (such as non-lottery CC specials, TSC, more common BreyerFest releases)
  • Adding older models to specific congas or to work towards specific targets
  • Adding older models that aren't specifically part of congas or fulfill specific targets, as long as they are on my wish list/there is something intriguing about them, if the opportunity cost is worthwhile. This accounts for flea market finds or what happens to be available at local swap meets (or for this year, at BreyerFest room shopping)
Specific long term targets I've had in progress include:

  • Completing my G2 congas minus any mega rarities ("obtainable complete")
  • Acquiring the rest of the TR RR from 2000-2012 that I missed out on when I was younger 
  • Adding as many obtainable models as I can for favorite CL & TR scale congas 
A lot of these goals account for "catch up", both in terms of when I was younger and relied on my family to buy most of my collection for me, and also for the 50 years of Breyer's existence before I was a collector. My targets will eventually shift around, for example once I'm done with the Modern TR RR portion, I might focus on runs from the 90's that may also be fairly easy/inexpensive to obtain, before going backwards to the true vintage (50's-70's) and more of the non-conga mold modern SR. (Yes, I mostly ignore the 80's, it's my least favorite decade despite it producing my beloved flockies. I have a small amount on my wishlist from the 80's, and it's mostly conga molds and harder to find runs like the Black Point Dapple Gray Proud Arabians.) 

I have added some of those outside my current main goals here and there despite them not yet being my top priorities, mostly when the opportunity cost is favorable. I like having a variety of additions throughout the year, it's a balance of keeping up with the new and slowly chipping away at the older wish list. 



The above 3 photos showcase most of the 2022 additions - there's a big variety here and it includes purchases, trades, gifts, and raffle wins!

Outside of a couple of exceptions within the last few years, I'm not a high dollar spender at the per-model level. I'm a bargain hunter by nature, but I will absolutely pay a fair price for something if I can't find a really great deal. I do like to avoid way over-spending, so I often end up being pretty picky about what I bring home from the flea market, swap meets, etc. I also am limited space-wise, so I also need to be discerning in that regard even though I can afford to buy a bit more than I could when I was in college & grad school. One of my goals for getting a lot of the more older affordable stuff "out of the way" is to transition to a point where most of my immediate buying is on new pieces, and the rest of what I buy usually needs a short period of saving up to afford. 

Some of those "save up to afford" may include G2 SM rarities, if I decide I want to pursue those eventually. There is such a large gulf in SM pricing that it's hard to justify while I still have a bunch of easier to find ones to get. The vast majority of SM can be had for $100 or less, and outside of some SR like the Exclusive Event models (runs of 200) or the older Riegseckers drafters, there really aren't a lot of options between the $100-$999 range. Most of the ultra rare stuff, from what I assume, is all $1000+. Which is fair of course because this pretty much captures runs of 50 or fewer, and there are not a ton of those throughout Breyer's history, in comparison to the overall number of runs that have been produced. 

For the G2's, there's maybe a dozen or so that I even put into this category, including the swirly trivia prizes, German SR set, the Breyer Rep gifts (gold Clydesdale & wedgewood TB), the chase gold scrambling foal, and the unpainted solid color "painting session" SM from some of the exclusive events. The freestanding BFest porcelains (WB & ASB) I'd say are quasi-ultra rare, I don't think I've seen either listed at over 1k but they're also rare to find intact as a lot of them were broken upon purchase at BFest back in the day so many were likely returned for refunds, plus some have certainly broken since. They can be repaired in some circumstances, but not all breaks are repairable. 

I do really enjoy certain colors and finishes, so those types of "congas" are also of interest to me in both the short and long term:

  • Silver Filigree
  • Woodgrain
  • Charcoal
  • Vintage Chalky
  • Vintage Pearly
A lot of those are of course, semi-affordable to quite out of my price range, but I add what I can when I'm able to!

A recent group photo of the silvers together!



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