I can offer no special insights why - other than having a lower piece count compared to other recent Classics specials, and all of us underestimating the power of Halloween.
Back to the Black Morgan Parade. Here’s my Chalky one:
I can’t recall any other details of my first encounter with him, or who he came with. Not that he was all that mundane, but finding Chalkies - good quality ones, too - was not as big a deal back then. It was more "Hey!" than "OMG!!@!1!" kind of find.
Other than his condition - exceptional, for a Chalky - he didn’t stand out enough to imprint a special memory. But just because he didn’t bowl me over when I found him doesn’t mean I didn’t love or appreciate him any less: the fact that I’ve owned him for over two decades now should be testament to my affection.
Chalkies used to be considered sort of an odd thing to collect. Prices reflected that: more often than not, they weren’t any more expensive than non-Chalkies. In fact, their delicate nature and associated paint flaws - runs, drips, hoof puddling, softened/filled in details - were seen as detriments, in some hobbyists’ eyes.
Two of my first three Traditional models - the Man o’ War and the Smoke Western Prancing Horse - were Chalkies. I thought they were beautiful: they were the models that made me fall in love with model horses. While I didn’t necessarily seek more Chalkies out at first - once I knew what they were - I bought the ones I did find.
And after so many years of doing that, I ended up with a pretty decent-sized collection. The last time I took an official tally, it was somewhere around 30 pieces.
Then they became popular, and I stopped seeking them out on eBay and at BreyerFest, because they stopped being affordable on my budget. Most of the ones I pick up now are local finds.
Even so, I still manage to add to the collection on a regular basis; you may recall the fabulously nice Palomino Family Foal I found earlier this year. And there was that cool Black Bear Mama from a couple years back.
The Morgan is sort of in the middle of the scale in terms of rarity - not as common as the Appaloosa Performance Horse or Yellow Mount, but considerably more common than the Misty or Bucking Bronco. He also comes in an "unpainted" version where the gray of his plastic is allowed to show through the unpainted areas of his star and stockings, giving him an unusual (and not unappealing) two-tone effect.
I’ve found a couple of other standard basecoat Chalky Morgans over the years but my first, thankfully, was my best.
2 comments:
I too have collected chalkies for atleast 25 years. Although my chalky black classic QH foal & a few other chalkies were purchased new in '74/'75. Back then not many people knew about them or cared. I agree-not so now! Yes, we are thankful for the ones we do have in our collections as some are definitely out of my budget as well!
I fell in love with chalkies early too, and collected them back when others didn't. I don't recall whether I sought them out from other hobbyists - probably did - but I know every one that crossed my path stayed, regardless of condition. I was pleasantly surprised when I dipped back in the hobby and learned that collecting them had become a thing, and that so many more had been identified than I ever knew about.
My gateway horse was the ASB weanling, one that happened to have spectacular plummy-red coloring to boot. I played with her and searched for a while to learn the word "rub." Doesn't matter, she's still here with me.
Oddly enough, the chalky APH was one of those that eluded me for quite a while. My NIB APH was regular and it was a while until I learned they came in chalky.
So Misty is rare in chalky? Hmm. Sounds like another tough decision to make that I hadn't planned on.
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