Our hobby is reeling from the loss of Andrea Gurdon, aka the Breyer History Diva. She passed away on Saturday, February 17, 2024, shortly after receiving her cancer diagnosis. I have been struggling to get my thoughts together regarding Andrea’s passing. It seems impossible to have lost Andrea; it is unfair that the cancer had such a foothold that Andrea didn’t even have a fighting chance. I cannot find words.
Many of us never met Andrea in person (including me), but her incredible hobby expertise and presence through the decades made her an icon. I think I still have a couple of her sales lists from the 1980s, back from the days of SASEs. Her long running blog was chock full of so many interesting things about Breyer’s history (she knew more about Breyer’s history than they did) and models. Her musings were always a great read. Andrea was the person to ask questions to about models, especially those oddballs that would surface. She was willing to educate and share the information she knew. Her vast knowledge led her to write the Breyer Vintage Club COAs. The COAs were outstanding- I have sold a few of my VC models, but I always made a copy of the COAs to keep for myself; the original COAs went with the models. The VC COAs will never be the same, nor will our hobby. The void left by Andrea’s passing will never be filled. Rest in peace, Andrea. You were so special to us and we will miss you greatly.
*Photo is from the Breyer History Diva blog.
