Sunday, January 8, 2012

Forgettable

I can’t believe I forgot about the Llanarth True Briton model in my discussion of potential BreyerFest Pony specials. Again! What is it about that mold that sinks it down my own personal memory hole?

(Yeah, I also forgot about the Cantering Welsh Pony and Newsworthy, but the forgetfulness doesn’t sting as much with them, somehow.)

Another pony that seems to inspire forgetfulness is the Galiceno Pony. Here she is in her original release of Bay:


It’s easy to see why she’s overlooked: like a lot of Breyer molds from the late 1970s, she’s a little on the bland and generic side (Stud Spider, anyone?) The mold itself is competently done, with a rather nicely sculpted head, but it’s definitely not one that inspires collector passion.

The mold has come in a small, but not displeasing assortment of colors over the years. In addition to the Bay, there have been two shades of Dun - a lighter shade as the 743 Criollo Pony, and a more metallic one for the BreyerFest 2004 Maracas Contest Prize - and a masked Black Leopard Appaloosa, as the portrait model for the POA Foundation Sire Black Hand. (Very well done, in my opinion.)

Then there was Freckle Doll, another one of Reeves’ more inexplicable pinto paint jobs:


I know I wasn’t the only one who opened the box, flipped her around, and then proceeded to yell out loud "That’s it - one big white splotch? Are you serious?"

I like to imagine that the Powers-That-Be must have forgotten that the mold already came in Bay, rubberstamped it for production, only realizing a day or two later the magnitude of the mistake. Which some brilliant quick thinker "solved" with a bit of acetone and a cotton ball.

I have absolutely nothing to back me up on this hypothesis, other than the wealth of other crazy-but-true stories I’ve heard that would make it seem not-implausible, at least.

The one advantage to the mold’s generic nature is that you can dress it up any way you want, and turn it into almost anything you need. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Galiceno could turn up as a BreyerFest special this year. I think she’d be rather fetching in some shade of gray, dappled or otherwise.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, there isn't a white spot on her other side? I've always assumed she had bookend spots - like so many of the older Breyer pintos.

Anonymous said...

When I used to photo show I showed mine as two different breeds, one from each side, LOL. I do like this little mold.

bubbasmom said...

I like that little pony, too. I have her in the original dark bay. I traded my Freckle Doll off, and always regretted it.

Helen said...

Another great post! I re-discovered this mold while browsing through the latest guidebook the other night.

For a mold that's been so rarely used by Breyer in the past, it would be somewhat mind-blowing if they decided to re-animate her as a Breyerfest British Invasion special! I wouldn't be entirely opposed to the idea either, as I think she's rather sweet.