To clarify, I didn’t get the Marshall; other models wandered into the room or into my line of sight, and took priority. Like this guy, down front: the “Matte” Walking Horned Hereford I’d been looking for, at last!
(Sorry for the weird lighting effects – still working out the kinks with the new camera. But the yellowing on the newer guy is genuine.)
I was very surprised to find him in the Black Horse Ranch Rehoming Sale room, late Friday night, I think? For a variety of reasons I wasn’t able to get into the room any earlier – aside from the scheduling conflicts, I am not a part of the Facebook scene, at all, and the first rounds were given over exclusively to the Facebook participants.
(Not something I’m a fan of, hobby-wise – the last thing on Earth the hobby needs is to wall itself off in gated communities on the Internet – but that’s a separate topic.)
But anyway, in spite of it all, I still managed to glean this treasure from the chaff. That’s sort of my thing, really: pulling that one thing out of a room or collection that nobody else notices.
The Matte Walking Horned Hereford is a genuine rarity, especially when you consider the entirety of the mold’s run before it. From ca. 1956 through the majority of the 1970s – twenty plus years – he came in Gloss, with only the very tail end of the run coming in Matte/Semi-Gloss.
Exactly how long, I’m not sure; the Nonhorse molds were slow but steady sellers, and actual production could well have ceased a few years prior to 1981.
He's another example of how Glossy isn't always all that. Though I doubt that Reeves will ever put the switcheroo on the BreyerFest Surprise Special Runs and make the Mattes variations the scarcer ones.
Matte Finishes seemed to be a thing for me this year, but I’ll elaborate on that later in the week.
3 comments:
I am so happy you were able to see the hidden in plain sight models that were in the BHR Suite! We were constantly opening boxes and putting out new "old" stock!! Karen Grimm was a Breyer distributor, as such, she had a standing order for new items. Many of the orders were some of the first off's to fill, so the chances of receiving variations was very high. Quite a few So Cal collectors made that monthly trip to BHR when she was in both Lakeview Terrace and Shadow Hills....we had to peruse the new Breyers!
I don't think FB Groups is so much of a "gated community" as such that when you have a wide variety of people you interact with....be it family near and far, friends from work/clubs/social circles and your hobby circles.....if you are constantly posting about model horses, why not separate into a group so you are not filling everyone's feed with posts that really don't interest them. My family does...is that a model horse thing? So being part of a group with the same interests, I don't need to be concerned if my focus is model horses, model horses, model horses! LOL. It's a niche, I've found that I can really get my "model horse" on when that is all I want to chat about!
Thank you for posting the picture of the matte bull! I'd been wanting to track one down since hearing about this variation, but upon reading your Blog (and running to my shelf to do some comparison) it would seem I own one already and didn't know it. LOL Love learning about the oddities and variations!
So, how would I find out about the BHR sales??? I've looked on eBay, and didn't find out anything on Facebook, either.
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