Today I am sharing some of my photos of I Will Survive, the Breyerfest 2024 quagga exclusive! Be warned, this got a bit long, LOL! 🦓I tend to love the ‘outliers’ in any given toyline, such as the lone non-horse animal model they release every year, but this year was different. A quagga is such a severely cool animal! I knew I HAD to have this one! But it ended up turning into a whole mess. 🦓 Unfortunately for me, I Will Survive was only going to be offered as an in-person release at Breyerfest, so I knew I had to try something new: I had to find an in-person helper. I knew I would have to pay extra for one, so when I saw a lady advertising on the FB Breyer groups, I figured, she must be a pro! I messaged her, she asked for a $100 deposit (important verbiage here), with her price list listing the quagga as $190, and I knew my quagga was secured. Even if the horse was only $60 in person, I knew I had to pay for the cost of (half) of a ticket, travel and gas mileage, shipping costs, and repayment for her time. And while it was a big chunk of change for just one horse, I figured it was a worthwhile birthday expenditure for something as cool as a quagga, with my mom’s encouragement. 🦓 Imagine my surprise when my pickup person told me closer to Breyerfest that I needed to finish paying my bill - another $190. When she said ‘deposit,’ she explained that meant I was paying $100 to ‘hold my spot,’ meaning she wanted me to pay two hundred and ninety dollars for a sixty dollar horse!!!! If you’re gobsmacked, imagine how I felt, LOL! I told her that wouldn’t be happening, that her wording was extremely unclear (maybe even fraudulent, but I didn’t say that), and I’d be happy to take a refund and take my chances elsewhere. Funnily enough, she decided that she could waive the $100 fee for me ‘since it was unclear’ so I only had to pay the $190. She told me that the extra costs were for ‘cute box extras,’ and for the record, the ‘cute box extras’ I received were three stickers (two of them a free handout at the event) and the free wristband received with the ticket. I was extremely unimpressed with the whole mess, although I did receive the horse in a very timely manner and well packed. 🦓 Yesterday I was wondering why I didn’t post my horses when I took the photos back in 2024, and I think part of it is because this whole transaction left such a sour taste in my mouth. If the seller had asked for $290 at the start, I would have bolted - and I can’t help but wonder who else simply paid up, because they didn’t feel comfortable refusing such an outrageous ‘place holding fee.’ I joked with my friend that with all of the extra money she made, they’d probably be calling Breyerfest ‘Elenafest’ next year! 🤣 But despite all of the pointless heartache and stress, I Will Survive is a truly beautiful model, and I’m so glad to have her in my collection. Word to the wise, when your friend suggests using the same pickup person as she does because she likes and trusts them - LISTEN TO HER! LOL!! 🤣😵💫
MN Mutual aid
