More New Old Photos

Friday already?

Still up to my eyeballs in old business, of both the hobby and nonhobby sort. So more new old pictures today. First up, another vintage Test Color:

A Resist Dapple Gray Midnight Sun! I believe this might have been another one of those early 1970s "Micro" Runs that may have been repurposed Test Colors. Like the better-known Traditional Man o’ War in Dapple Gray, the Red Chestnut Midnight Sun, and the Cantering Welsh Pony in Dapple Gray.

By the way, those early Cantering Welshies predated the 1985 Just About Horses Special Run by several years, and don’t look anything like them. The one I saw in person looked more like the Midnight Sun, above, except a little darker.

The second photo is part of a small set of pictures of one wall of Marney’s collection - what appears to be her Arabian Shelf:

Yep, those are Test Colors on the far right side there. I suspect that some of the Glosses on the shelf are Test Colors, too, and not merely Old Molds. There are some Proud Arabian Mares in the Test Color Album that appear to be attempts at recreating Old Mold colors and finishes. Some of them in that album might be the same models seen in this photo, but for a variety of reasons (size, quality, angle of photos) it’s difficult to confirm. The Chestnut Proud Arabian Stallion might be this guy, though:

I know there was some controversy a few years ago about the authenticity of a Gloss Proud Arabian Mare - with the Breyer mold mark - that made its way to eBay. I was less skeptical than most about it, but I didn’t have the money then to verify my hunch.

The plastic bags on the Customs (aka "Repaint/Remakes") were a not-uncommon practice back then. It was done partly to cut down on the dusting and protect the paint job, but primarily to keep the mohair manes and tails clean.

Hairing was de rigueur in the 1970s and 1980s: even Foals and Stablemates got the mohair treatment! Keeping them neat and dust-free, though, was a pain in the behind. Periodically replacing the hair wasn’t an option either, since good mohair was expensive and hard-to-find.

Getting the hairdo to look just right was an art all its own, too. During that brief window of time when I did custom work, hairing was the one aspect of it I was actually really good at.

That being said, I was kind of glad to see the trend fade away a bit, at least in this part of the model horse world. Hairing jobs, no matter how carefully tended, don’t age well.