I decided to split this from the the previous drama post to cut the length down. Moving on to the Vintage Club now...a thread was made on Model Horse Blab by a member warning other members that if they have more than two Vintage Club memberships, they needed to check their email as Breyer was informing VC members that they were canceling what they deemed to be excessive memberships. It seemed that Breyer was canceling memberships based on shipping addresses, and not by billing addresses. Some collectors were using their family members’ addresses (who are also collectors) for shipping to help prevent package theft; these VC members don’t live at the shipping address, nor is their billing information associated with the shipping address. People in that scenario called Breyer and explained the situation, but no dice. Breyer still canceled those memberships, as they are allowing “two memberships per family.” Undoubtedly some of the other memberships canceled by Breyer were for individuals with multiple memberships. Due to one model being the Gambler’s Choice, having multiple memberships increases the chance to get all of the colors offered, and/or the ability to trade for the colors needed to complete VC/mold congas.
Breyer made the decision to cancel ‘excessive memberships’ months AFTER people had signed up for the VC. I completely understand that Breyer can do whatever they want, blah blah blah, but the limitations on the number of memberships should have been stated during the signup period. Breyer could have also imposed their new rule starting with the 2022 VC, or increased the 2022 membership to a number greater than 500. I understand that people who were on the VC waitlist have now been contacted to join.
The sign up period for 2021 opened and closed in October; those who were already members had about a week to renew their memberships before any unbought memberships were opened up to members of the general Collector’s Club. The deadline to sign up was December 31st as long as there were VC memberships available. I renewed my membership during the member renewal period, and when the remaining memberships were opened up to CC members, it sold out in a flash, as it did the previous year. The only model shown for the 2021 lineup was Julius, done in the vintage red roan splatter pattern on the popular Georg mold. Essentially you were joining a club with *no* idea what you would be buying; some people balked at this, and rightfully so. Joining the VC isn’t chump change for many people, and they wanted to make a prudent decision before committing. The VC models are notoriously hard to sell, and many sell for below issue price, if at all.
It is important to note that the Vintage Club is capped at 500 memberships, whereas both the Premier and Stablemate Clubs have no limits placed on how many memberships exist. Also of note is that interest in the VC had waned in previous years to the point that Breyer had extended the membership sign-ups into January. I remember signing up for the VC on December 31 a couple of times. I did wonder if the VC was going to survive when Breyer extended the VC sign-ups into January due to them being unable to sell the 500 memberships. Many collectors weren’t interested in what they felt were stodgy, old fashioned molds. Breyer then tossed newer, popular molds sporting vintage colors into the lineup, which caused the mad scramble to join the VC. Glossy charcoal Shannondell, anyone?
I have only ever had one VC membership, so I am not personally affected by Breyer’s actions. However, I am not happy with Breyer’s handling of the VC membership-if the 500 slots are filled, why stir up a ruckus? Echoing my earlier statements, why not simply set a limit of two memberships at signup, and/or change the club parameters for 2022? A few short years ago Breyer had difficulty selling the VC memberships. VC loyalists bought memberships, and some certainly bought multiple memberships. There wasn’t a concern of how many memberships collectors had during those lean years...
*VC sold out page taken from Breyer’s website*
