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Daunted by documentation? Confused about classes? Learn how to show Collectibility and make documentation right here!
What Is Collectibility Class?
Most people start out showing their model horses in Breed class. This division treats your model horse as a real horse. The judge looks at which horses on the table best display ‘realism’. Who looks like they would be able to live if they suddenly became real? Who has bone and muscle structure in the correct places? Legs positioned according to how the animal would bare weight? Colors that are genetically possible in the breed?
Collectibility classes judge your model on it’s qualities as a collectible piece. How rare is it? How desirable is it? How old and well cared for is it? What classes are offered at a show is up to the show holder who writes the class list. This means you will need to examine your class list to decide which horses to bring. There is no set classlist that all show holders use. Each show holder gets to create their own.
How To Choose Whom To Show
If you are just starting out and only have current release horses in your show string, you can still show Collectibility. Many shows have a class for Regular Run horses, and some have Modern Regular Run, or break the runs up by decade and you can show your current models there.
If you have models that are very old, they are usually the best to show in Collectibility, but don’t limit yourself to only age when selecting your Collectibility models. Take your collection and look each one up here: Identify Your Breyer. I will show you how to do that in a little bit.
Look at your class list and as you learn about each of your models, look at which class it would go in. Look for limited run models, models you could only buy at an event, or through a magazine or catalog, models made in a certain color for a very short time, etc. Make notes of which models you have that aren’t a Regular Run. Regular run means anyone can buy the model out of the Breyer catalog. Any model you have to go to a certain store to get is a Special Run. If you can ONLY buy it from the Breyer Website that is a Web Special Run. If you could only buy the model at a certain show or event then it is a Special Run. All the horses you can buy only at BreyerFest, for example, are Special Runs.
What Is A Double Judged Show?
The term “double judged” can actually mean two things. A host can hire two judges for each division and have any class judged twice. In this case, you would take your QH horse models up for QH class and two different judges would place the class. You could win two first place ribbons for QH Breed, one under each judge. The second meaning is when Breed and Collectibility are judge concurrently. This is what I will talk about today.
Show holders can choose to set their show up however they like. They can have Breed Division, Collectibility Division, Custom Division, and Workmanship Division, all running on different tables at the same time. Or they might choose to run them concurrently and have Breed and Custom be double judged. This means you bring your QH up for QH Breed class and it also gets judge as QH Collectibility class. The host might have hired one judge who judges both Breed and Collectibility for each class or there might be two judges, one for Breed and one for Collectibility. In Custom, your QH could be double judged for Breed and Workmanship.
There are pros and cons to both ways of organizing the classes. If you have a Collectiblity Division, you might bring out horses that are old and in good condition but no longer show well in Breed classes. You would choose to bring your most anatomically correct horses for Breed and your Oldies for Collectiblity. If the show is double judged, you have a lot more opportunities to earn NAN cards (Learn about that here) because every single breed class will also hand out Collectibility cards. BUT, instead of bringing a set of Collectiblity horses and a set of Breed horses, you get to bring one set. You will have to choose which horses get those spots. You might have to leave a great Breed horse at home to make room for a great Collectibility horse.
If you get to take a horse up for two classes, and you miss the first class, you can still make that horse’s second class. If the classes run concurrent, you only have one chance to get your horse in it’s class and if you miss the class that horse is just done for the day. It goes both ways though, if you only have to take the horse up once, you can then pack it up and open more space on your table for the rest of the show.
What exactly is “Documentation”?
The big difference as a class in showing Collectibility is that you are required to present documentation with your model when you put it in the ring. You might be used to making breed documentation for showing in Breed class, but documentation for Collectibility is a little different and this can be overwhelming at first.
It doesn’t have to be hard! Did your model come with anything? If it came with a halter or doll or wreath of roses or a hang tag on it’s neck, you want to put that on the table with the horse. Some special run models come with a COA which stands for Certificate Of Authenticity. Not all special run models come with that, but if it does, keep it to show with it.
The documentation you create needs to include this basic information: Brand, Model number, Mold name, Year it was released/produced, how it could be purchased, how many were made. You can also include the scale the horse is, the sculptor who originally sculpted the model, the artist who designed the paint work, and a description of the color on the model, but these are not required. If you have any other facts about the model include them also. DO NOT include information about pricing. This includes the original sale price and current value. The monetary value of a model is not taken into consideration and the judge will ask you to cover the price if you include it in your documentation.
There is no set rule about making documentation. Some people cut the UPC label off the packaging and include that with their model on the table. Some people use the COA that might come with a model and use only that for documentation. You can hand-write the required information on a piece of paper. You can laminate a printed document you created. There is no set size or layout that is considered standard. Generally nothing larger than an 8.5 x 11 piece of printer paper, but beyond that, you get to design something that works for you.
A Documentation Walk-Through
I am now going to walk you through how I personally make my documentation. This walk-through will show you how to document a Regular Run horse, Special Run horse, and a Stablemate.
I use Word to create my documentation. I do mine in 12 pt Times New Roman font. I list the info like this:
G (if this is a Stablemate, put the Generation) “” (name the production company gave the model)
Make/Item Number: (ie, Breyer #105)
Mold: (ie, Clydesdale Mare)
Color: (ie, dapple grey)
Year Produced: (ie, 2000-2003)
Other Info: (List anything that came with the model, where you had to go to get it if it was a Special Run, the number of models in the run if it’s known, and anything else special about it.)
Before I fill this in, I copy and paste it several times to fill the page. Next, I go to IdentifyYourBreyer.com and find all the info to fill in for each model.
The last part of the creation step is to create a ‘text box’ and put it next to the model information.
Then, insert a photo of the model into the box. You can copy and paste the photo from IdentifyYourBreyer because this is for an educational use, or you can take your own photo of your model.
Double click the text box once you have your photo a size you like and select Line Color and then choose No Color and the line around the photo will disappear.
This font and size fits neatly on a 3 x 5 index card. If you have your display of the page at 100%, you can hold a card up and check that it will fit.
After I have made up the text and photos for all the cards I need to make, I print them out in color. I cut them out around the text and photo and glue each strip onto a 3 x 5 index card. After it dries completely, I can laminate it!
This is the laminator I have. You can buy it here on Amazon: Scotch Thermal Laminator. It comes with a few laminating pouches, and you can buy packs of just pouches.
This is what the pouches look like. I with 5 cards in each when I laminate. I do three down like shown, then two more sideways at the top. After they are laminated and cooled, I cut them out and they are done!
When you have all your neat and tidy cards made, they will fit nicely into a recipe or card box. This box was originally for organizing greeting cards. It holds all of my documentation cards and all my Breed and color reference cards. You can buy one on Amazon here: greeting card box.
You can do your documentation however works best for you. What do you do? Let me know in the comments!
