Roany Roys

Chamonix for me? Of course not, silly. Silver Filigrees never take the easy way to this house! Eh, I should be selling more than buying anyway (speaking of, anyone need a Bowland?) As for the latest newest Web SRs - a Running Mare and Foal set in pinto - we'll get to them next time.

As expected, the photograph of the BreyerFest Roy is much better seen on paper than it is via an out of focus cell phone pic: shaded Bay, with lighter-colored feathering, dark gray hooves, a slightly sunbleached mane, tri-colored eyes, and light overspray-style roaning. I think hobbyists will be surprised in a good way - once they look at it for what it is, and not for what they wish it was.  

This is not the first time they’ve put a Roan paint job on Roy, but it is the first time that it could pass for a Roan without qualification.

The first attempt was the first non-Roy release: the #837 Belgian Brabant, introduced in 1991, the year after Roy was discontinued. He’s commonly described as a Dun; like most of the other models in the Catalogs and Manuals at the time, he had no official color description.

According to one internal Reeves document I have ca. 1992 (contemporaneous with his production) he was described as a Bay Roan. That’s how I thought of him back then, when I gave him any thought at all: another not-entirely-successful attempt at more realistic roaning.

A few years later, in 1996, they tried a slightly different style of Roan Roy, this one named Sebastian (#953). Slightly different is being a bit charitable; heck, calling him weird would not be out of bounds. How else would you describe a horse with a blue-gray mane, tail and body, and dark chestnut lower face and legs? As a Chimera, maybe?

Either they had some very interesting reference photos to go by, or there was some miscommunication somewhere - the same level of "the telephone game" that gave us a Buckshot Blue Roan Belgian back when.

(Hey, now there’s another vintage color revival I can get behind!)

Anyway, as for the people making yuck faces over Roy - young or old - just treat him the same way you treated the Glossy Black Goffert this year. There are tons of options to choose from. Sell them cheap-cheap, donate them to charity, hand them off to the passing tourists at the Park, chop ‘em up as bodies (it’s a Eustis sculpt - surely there’s something worth salvaging there), paint them orange and use them as high-concept jack o’ lanterns…

Or better yet - use them to upsell the hobby to others (like my National Model Horse Day idea)!

Roy’s ideally suited for the job. His thick limbs and pleasant demeanor make him an excellent first horse for kids. Lots of nonhobby folks (especially older guys!) love Draft Horses in general, out of fond memories of the family farm, beer hitches in local parades, or draft horse pulls at the fair. That it represents a rare breed (Ardennes) with a fascinating and ancient history would appeal to people interested in either history, or maintaining livestock diversity.

And it’s a BreyerFest Celebration Horse, so he’d make a good advertisement for the event, and the hobby itself.

See? Every model horse can have a value and purpose! Even Roy.