It's Friday, I'm a Judge! Traditional Collectability #6

Happy (official!!) first day of BreyerFest! As you might guess, this post was written and scheduled to post in advance, as I am a busy little bee this week. But, the blog show stops for no one, and we're in collectability land today. 

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

This week, we're looking at a class of Connoisseur models. Connoisseurs were exclusive models for subscribers of Breyer's Just About Horses magazine. Much like the web special lotteries of today, subscribers would send an entry form to Breyer for a chance to win a special run of 350 pieces each issue (just through snail mail instead of digitally!) So, how do we evaluate runs of identical provenance and run size? Well, let's take a look at our class and try it together. 

Horse A: Hope-N-Glory - 2002 Connoisseur Series - 350 made

Horse B: Reverse Polarity - 2005 Connoisseur Series - 350 made

Horse C: Jazz Fusion - 2007 Connoisseur Series - 350 made

What are you thinking about when determine what makes one of these more collectible than another? Are you thinking about desirability? Condition? Age? When you're ready, my placings can be found under the jump. ↓

The Placings:

🥇1st: Horse C - Jazz Fusion

I pinned Jazz Fusion first. The Cleveland Bay is a very popular mold, and the gloss causes the bay parts of his coat to really pop. His markings are very lovely and mapped, and the run overall is one of the more sought-after Connoisseur models. 

🥈2nd: Horse A - Hope-N-Glory

In second place, I pinned Hope-N-Glory. Like Jazz Fusion, she has fabulous mapping and outstanding shading. She's the oldest Connoisseur of the three in the class today, and is fairly sought out, but in my experience Jazz Fusion is the harder to find of the two, and when one pops up, he tends to command higher prices that Hope-N-Glory. 

🥉3rd: Horse B - Reverse Polarity

Reverse Polarity was my third place pin. Unlike the other two, Reverse Polarity is a solid color, and therefore has less opportunity for the mapping the others have. His reverse dappling is nice, but compared to the pintos it's less exciting. Flash is a mold that has it's fans, but Reverse Polarity is in the middle of the Connoisseur pack as far as desirability goes - he's no Shalimar or Joker's Wild, but he's equally no Auld Lang Syne. 

How did you pin this class? Why did you pin it that way? Remember, it's more important to me that you think critically about why and how you placed a class rather than matching my placings exactly!