By the time this posts, I should be in Kentucky!!!
In honor of BreyerFest, and in honor of what may the last year of room sales at the CHIN and might be the last year of room sales ever (sob), today’s post will be about the regular runs that I bought at the CHIN last year.
This is #1359 Tommy Turvey’s Pokerjoe, a regular run from 2008-2010. I love the Adios mold, though I don’t have many of them, and I’ve always loved Pokerjoe’s red bay color and minimal tobiano pattern. He’s been on my want list for quite a long time, but I never managed to pick one up until last year, when my friend Sara had him for sale in her room for a mere $20. Sold!
Next up on the 2025 room sales acquisitions was this lovely chestnut Marabella, #1409 Let’s Go Riding English, a regular run from 2010-2013. Like Pokerjoe, I was in love with her color and shading and she was on my want list for a long time; I just never managed to acquire one. She was also only $20.
FINALLY.
I can’t tell you how many #410 Shams I’ve looked at over the years at the CHIN, trying to find one without a wheat ear. A common misconception in the hobby is that the Shams with the wheat ear on the chest are harder to find than the ones without a wheat ear. Fourteen years of shopping at the CHIN and dozens and dozens of Shams later, I’m here to tell you - the wheat ear is the common variation, and non-wheat-ears are really tough to find. Nancy Young speculated that the wheat ear marking wasn’t removed until sometime in 1988, the last year of production of #410, because some of the #411 fleabit gray Shams (introduced in 1988) also have the wheat-ear marking. (I have both versions.) I think that’s pretty solid reasoning, and explains why #410s without the wheat ear are so hard to find.
My search finally came to an end last year during my Thursday night CHIN shopping. He was reasonably priced at $25. Hooray! He happily joined his (cough cough ten) wheat ear #410 Sham brothers on the shelf.
I’m heading into this year’s room sales without any expectations, other than to hit all the open rooms at least once throughout the week. There have been years where I’ve skipped entire wings or floors; not this year. Not if it’s truly the last time I’ll ever be able to do it, and I think it might be. I can’t imagine another hotel will allow the level of shenanigans that the CHIN has put up with over the years. Since this might be it, I’ve allowed myself a significantly larger budget than usual and I’m planning to make the most of it.
Happy BreyerFest!
I can’t tell you how many #410 Shams I’ve looked at over the years at the CHIN, trying to find one without a wheat ear. A common misconception in the hobby is that the Shams with the wheat ear on the chest are harder to find than the ones without a wheat ear. Fourteen years of shopping at the CHIN and dozens and dozens of Shams later, I’m here to tell you - the wheat ear is the common variation, and non-wheat-ears are really tough to find. Nancy Young speculated that the wheat ear marking wasn’t removed until sometime in 1988, the last year of production of #410, because some of the #411 fleabit gray Shams (introduced in 1988) also have the wheat-ear marking. (I have both versions.) I think that’s pretty solid reasoning, and explains why #410s without the wheat ear are so hard to find.
My search finally came to an end last year during my Thursday night CHIN shopping. He was reasonably priced at $25. Hooray! He happily joined his (cough cough ten) wheat ear #410 Sham brothers on the shelf.
I’m heading into this year’s room sales without any expectations, other than to hit all the open rooms at least once throughout the week. There have been years where I’ve skipped entire wings or floors; not this year. Not if it’s truly the last time I’ll ever be able to do it, and I think it might be. I can’t imagine another hotel will allow the level of shenanigans that the CHIN has put up with over the years. Since this might be it, I’ve allowed myself a significantly larger budget than usual and I’m planning to make the most of it.
Happy BreyerFest!
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