Four More Pins

 

This post will be about showing off 3 new pins in my collection and one older one I haven't covered before.  Only one is a Mink -- but you have to agree, she takes the cake!  Her spirit soars.  The more I look, the more I like this pin.

The first pin is a catch off eBay, which gave me camera adventures.  I use the word to refer to 'difficulties I'd rather not've had but which taught me something.'  This is the Very Important Persons Limited Edition of 1000 pin for 2021.  For the record I paid $36 for it.

The first shot is typical.  He's out of focus.  The lighting is bad.  Reflections are running amok.  I zoom in, use the closest macro the camera is capable of, and try lighting from the side with a flashlight.  I'm trying to show that those teeny spots actually have color in them.  The pin is only two inches long.  (I just measured it. Claims on eBay that it's 2.25" "in height" are completely wrong.  It's 1.25" high.)

Here at last you can see that most of the larger spots really do have color inside, and that they match the spectrum across the body.  But the smaller spots are solid black.

Super close, things get out of focus.  I am disappointed that there's no color in the eye.  What looks like an expanse of white with island spots rising out of it is a definitive effect for soft enamel pins, as opposed to hard.  To the touch, I swear, it feels smooth and hard all over.

Finally, a nice portrait.  Having this pin is yet another example of 'the only way I'll ever get to own this horse.'  Nonetheless I think NaMoPaiMo has something to say about this...

My next pin to show off is Jorannazazi from Minkiewicz Studios.  Here is where my camera makes her nicer than she is, and I liked her before!  I think I'll leave those reds as they are!  The surface is smooth.  This bay Pegasus is a hard enamel pin.

I find this pin just as astonishing as Mink's others.  The detail is amazing.  So what if it looks dull from a distance!  So what if her eyes are mere black lines...  There is so much power here.  (That is the Black Malik's rump to the right, Breyer's "Arabian.")  In all my browsing on other enamel pin sites and groups, only acrylic pins even approach these in level of detail; and there is still nothing like Jorannazazi.

A confession:  the belly color is not shaded or graduating as this photo shows, but all one color instead.  My flashlight gave her this modulation.  Typically the only way to achieve shading in a hard enamel pin is with screen printing.  Some of Mink's pins are screen printed, such as the Manchado Cave Pony and Baxter.

My last two pins to show off are a red Unicorn and a very intriguing Draft Pegasus.  The Unicorn is, I think, rather common; I've seen other versions on eBay.  I was attracted by the color (red again!) and the surface finish -- those gloss domes just feel so smooth.  The conformation wasn't too bad.  The Drafter had come in earlier, another eBay find, and I really know very little about him/it/her at all.

I do know how hard it was to photograph.  Let's examine those fabulous rainbow wings:

This is a little guy, just one inch long.  The moment I saw it I felt it belonged in my collection, since it hit every requirement and had a hint of mystery besides.  Why are the mane and tail different colors? 

Why, with the rest of the horse so well done, is that off foreleg so poorly formed?  Was there an accident, or are they all that way?  I've not yet seen another of this pin.

And why oh why couldn't I shoot the bright metallic gleams and glints of the red color?!  My eyes have no trouble seeing them!  They were definitely there...  The shot below gives another, and better, view of the red Unicorn.  I've seen other designs of red Unicorn pins out there, as well as some deer pins which are calling to me.

 In Other News...

As of the 11th of December (2 years, 9 months since pandemic began), my Christmas letters are written AND printed.  This is a minor record:  never so early before.  We are planning to be on the road (FL) nearly all of January.  I will be balancing work on the next book with Christmas and the inevitability of trip life.  If the message hasn't gotten across before: Thank you for reading, Thank you for being there, thank you for your patience!  I would be, my family of 2 would be, nowhere without you.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!