Some Final Fun Foal Thoughts

So it looks like that many of the last round of babies in the Fun Foals program - the all-black Grazing Foal, Scratching Foal, and Running Foal - were probably just repainted leftovers from the less popular Mom and Dad match-ups. That’s not a surprise: the Wixom/Mustang combo was by far the most popular of the four, especially after the earliest orders started arriving. A little black paint, and voila! A little something extra special for those last minute shoppers.

I wouldn’t be surprised if these little ones were painted stateside, too; it wouldn’t make sense to send them back to China for such a simple repaint job. It’ll be interesting to see if any of these leftovers - original recipe, or crispy - end up in the Pit this year. The slight possibility of a Black Scratcher or two being in attendance just might be reason enough to justify breaking in my shiny white platform boots.

(BTW, those boots are definitely coming with me this year. I’ve been trying for the past couple of days to brainstorm a most excellent Hollywood Costume idea incorporating them, without success. You know, I was never that motivated to dress up for candy for Halloween! And anyone who knows me knows I love my chocolate.)

Breyer’s done this before (the repainting of foals, not just the humiliation of hobbyists via silly dress-up contests.) Many of the Black foals available in the 4000 Classics Arabian and 4001 Classics Quarter Horse Blister Pack Assortments in the 1970s were repainted culls. The one way you can tell? A bit of bay or chestnut paint will show through the airbrushed transitional areas on the head or legs.

Someone on Blab a few weeks back suggested that this program - selling Classics Foals individually, sans a parental unit - be reinstituted. I’m all for that, for a number of reasons.

First, it already has a history as a successful program: the original Classics Foal Assortments lasted about ten years. Second, the Adults are already available individually: why not the Foals as well, to make our own custom family sets? Third, you can’t go wrong with adding another low-priced (and presumably, high-volume) piece to the line.

And finally, the cuteness factor: hello, these new Classics Foals are absolutely adorable. I’m slightly obsessed by the newest member of the herd, that little cutie pie first seen in the 62006 Pinto Horse and Foal set. (Is there an "official" name for this foal, yet? Or one we’ve all sort of agreed on?) I’d buy multiples of that one, for sure.

The only drawback I can see is the cost - of the packaging. There might not be enough profit in packaging and marketing individual Foals. Reeves has been selling Foal 2-Packs for a while now, at pretty much the same price point as one Adult. Customers may expect - or demand - that the prices on the individual Foals be exactly half that price. Twice the packaging, for the same amount of money? Yeah, that might not work.