Sunday, April 2, 2017

Going for the Gold

FYI: I don’t know any more about the Man o’ War Special Run than anyone else. Classic or Traditional? Plastic or Porcelain? New mold, or old? Lower piece count, or higher?

My guesses: Traditional, Plastic, piece count of at least 500 – though probably more, if the KHP is already “advertising” it. It may even be something open-ended (reorderable), if they intend on selling them through the rest of the Man o’ War Celebration.

I have about a dozen variations of the original #47, so I’d be perfectly fine with another gussied-up Reissue. Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me, just as long as I get one.

Speaking of Reissues, there’s the Diorama Prize to talk about….


I know I’m not the only one who took at look at Sona and thought “Hey, isn’t that Tesoro?”

The original, inexplicably popular (to me) #867 Tesoro was a garden variety Breyer palomino, right down to the four airbrushed stockings and gray hooves. In an era when an average release would get two years, Tesoro got four – from 1992 through 1995.

I like the El Pastor well enough that at one point I ended up with at least a half dozen variations of the original Red Bay release, and I have several others – a couple of the Blue Roans, Escondido, the Black Pinto Desperado, the rare Raitliff no-star Special Run among them.

But never the Tesoro, because he held no appeal to me – in fact, he felt like just another generic release in an era of Breyer History chocked full of them.

Clearly, I was in the minority.

Sona is not really a Reissue, literally or even technically: his markings are different, his mane and tail are pearly, and he’s dappled. And he’s likely to be even more different in person than the publicity picture shows: since his name means “gold”, I suspect that he will also be a bit more metallic in person.

I wish I could get more excited about him, but he’s a prize in the Diorama Contest.  I’ll give it my best shot and dutifully craft an entry I feel prize-worthy, but I’m not going to clear any shelf space in anticipation, either.

3 comments:

Trilkhai said...

Odd... The Tesoro models in my area (including mine) back in the day look quite different from the FAS-yellow pic ID Your Breyer has, more of a matte slightly-shaded gold with a subtly-shaded face — closer to the one someone has pinned here:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/222013456601746871/

I think that Tesoro sold really well in large part because the mold had been out of production long enough to seem brand-new to anyone who began collecting after the very early 80s — and because of its detailed wavy forelock & mane, which IMO are still among the nicest Breyer has produced.

Carrie said...

If you look at the sneak peek photo Breyer put up for Sona, it looks very metallic. So much so it reminded me of Make a Wish.

Anonymous said...

Can't you drop a bug in the ears of The Breyer Gods and let them know that the masses are clamorous for MORE INFORMATION!