Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Legionario's Dorsal Stripe

Apparently a Black AQHA Anniversary Horse was spotted on eBay today(?) (Long day at work, feeling kinda fuzzy still.) If that’s the case, then the timing is rather interesting: the Grullas started turning up at the beginning of September, and the Roans at the beginning of October.

I wonder if that means the “…and more” will be turning up at the beginning of December?

I knew I should have stopped at the toy store on the way home today, darn it. Gotta hand it to Reeves, for making me so excited about a mold that rarely elicited more than a shrug from me before. Now I’m actually pausing to look at Poco Buenos and Jet Decks on eBay!

Anyway, in slightly less exciting news, my latest vintage box lot turned out to be mostly bodies. The paint jobs were fine – just the usual yellowing and grime – but most of their mouths were sawed open.

Ugh. I never went that extreme with my model horse modifications as a kid, other than some unfortunate experimentation with nail polish remover. (One of these body-boxers is a keeper, and once I get her cleaned up enough to show you, you will see why.)

A few of the models in the lot were spared the hacksaw, including a sweet Legionario III – with a dorsal stripe! I’ve owned a lot of Legionarios, older and newer, and I think this is the first one I’ve ever had with a prominent dorsal.


The original Legionario release ran for over twelve years, from late 1978 (via mail order, primarily the Bentleys) through 1990, and an extended run gives you a lot of variations, from Nearly-Smoke to Virtually-White.

The earlier ones tend to be more shaded and airbrushy, with a pinkish tint to the hooves and muzzle; later ones were lighter, whiter and neater, with less pinking. The dorsal stripe is a relatively uncommon feature that probably came in very late in the model’s production run, per Young’s Breyer Molds & Models.

He still needs a bit of cleaning and whitening, along with the rest of his friends. Unlike most of the rest of them, he’ll be sticking around.

Here’s an interesting equation to ponder: Spanish Breed + Parade Horse + Carnivale theme = possible BreyerFest 2016 Special Run item? This mold would make an excellent Surprise model candidate, especially since most of his previous releases have been solid or some shade of gray, and rarely glossy.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank for the info on the Legionario mold and congratulations on your dorsal guy. This model is one I don't have much history on and don't
hear too much about--as far as early versions differing from late versions and etc. and since he's one of my favorites I was very glad to read all this.

In case he's the surprise horse this year at BF, I had better start saving now. I will need them all. :)

LostInAn80sFog said...

Circa 1979-80, I saw a factory gloss Legionario at a live show. He had a big yellow stain on his back so his owner showed him only in performance where a saddle would cover it. His owner seemed, at least to my novice eyes, to be a very experienced shower but I only remember seeing him the once. I've often wondered where he wound up.

LostInAn80sFog said...

I also recall purchasing a Legionario the one and only time I ever saw those boxes with the hard plastic display shells. Even though the packaging clearly showed a deep scrape in the plastic along his flank, he had the prettiest shading and pinking I'd ever seen. Even though I *knew* I should leave him in the packaging, I took him out because he was so pretty and my mother quietly disposed of the box. I'm quite sure I sold him via Mundas Auctions back when I dispersed most of my collection, and he's one of the few I sort of wish I had back. Mostly I hope he didn't get used as a body because of that plastic flaw.