It's Friday, I'm a Judge! Mini Collectability #5

Another cycle of the Friday judging clinics begins - and it's the 100th post on the blog! I had so much fun with the Traditional decorators last month that I decided to look at mini decorators this month! 

As always, my personal judging history and credentials can be found on my About Me page. 

I mentioned in the Traditional decorator clinic, decorator classes can be a little hit or miss in shows. The default judging standard for them should be on collectability - and they are required to have documentation in that case. It can be frustrating to attend a show to find that the judge is not placing them on that criteria - especially if you've tailored your show string to accommodate collectability judging. 

Horse A: Chroma - Stablemates Club - 2020 - Unknown amount made

Horse B: Éire - BreyerFest Store Special - 2020 - 2,000 made

Horse C: Mystery Horse Surprise Series 2 - 2019-2020 - Chase piece - Unknown amount made

Think about your collectability criteria - who is hard to find? Which pieces are rarer than the others? When you have your placings in mind, my placings are under the jump. ↓ 

The Placings:

🥇1st: Horse C - Mystery Horse Surprise Chase

This might be a controversial move, but yes, I'm pinning the silver charm chase Alborozo first. Yes, he is a regular run. Yes, we don't know the amount made. There is a specific factor to take into consideration here though. There are two rarities of chase models - those who are easily available to collectors (blind bags found at Walmart and Tractor Supply) and those who are not (blind bags in the regular run lineup that are only available through Breyer and Breyer retailers directly). The chases from the blind bags found at Walmart and Tractor Supply are much easier to find compared to the the blind bags that only appear through Breyer and Breyer retailers. This is due to accessibility - there are far more Walmarts and Tractor Supplys compared to Breyer dealers. Collectors in some areas can easily hit up multiple locations to feel bags for the chase models. In comparison, Breyer retailers may get a single box of blind bags, and that is a collector's only chance to feel the bags in person - and that's if they have a retailer nearby. Ordering from Breyer is pure luck. It's much less likely for these models to end up in the hands of collectors. Not to mention, the mini Alborozo mold is very popular, as is the silver charm colorway. Due to his scarcity and demand, I've therefore placed the mini Alborozo first despite him being a regular run. 

🥈2nd: Horse B - Éire

In second, I have Éire. He's on a decently popular mold (the Irish Draught definitely has its fans), but his color and decal make him a little less desirable than others on the mold. Decorators can be polarizing - some are hits (think of just about anything blue), and sometimes Breyer takes swings that may not quite pay off. If we judged collectability solely on run number, it's likely judges would pin Éire first, as he's the only one with a known quantity - and there are some judges who subscribe to that line of thinking. I am not one of those judges. Éire is much easier and cheaper to find than the silver charm chase, and that makes him less collectible. 

🥉3rd: Horse A - Chroma

Chroma is the third place pin. Unlike Éire, we don't have concrete numbers given on him, though if I had to estimate I'd say it's probably either equal to Éire or slightly more. Chroma was from the year the Stablemates Club had Alborozo as the Gambler's Choice, so it's likely there were people holding multiple memberships that year in an attempt to get all four colors. That means that there were extra Chromas those collectors were looking to offload, and as a less-popular mold, the market was a little flooded. As of writing this, you can still easily find a Chroma for basically cost.  

How did you place this class? Did your placings align with mine? If not, why did you place the class the way you did?