Saturday, March 31, 2018

Buckskin Smoky Variation

The Web Special Calvin has reappeared on the Breyer web site, confirming my suspicion that he didn’t sell out. I didn’t think he’d reappear until BreyerFest, though, so there must be enough of them left to make it worthwhile to relist.

I’m tempted, but not that tempted: my financial focus has been on getting ready for the flea market season, opening (weather permitting) in a few short weeks. While I have no reason to believe it to be an expensive season this year, it never hurts to be prepared, just in case!

Since I’ve sort of been focused on Buckskins of late, here’s an interesting variation of a later Buckskin release I picked up a long while ago:


The standard version of the #997 Shenandoah – a Collector’s Edition piece from the first half of 1997 – has a bald face and pinked ears, and isn’t that different from the Bald-faced Buckskins of the 1960s and 1970s. Well, it is a little bit different: his points are blacker, and he has a sock, and there is more gray shading on his face.

But did you notice what makes this guy extra special? There is no bald face!

It would be easy to ascribe this to a case of excessive overspray, but it appears intentionally done here. It is possible that overspray did happen, but the painter made the decision to “fix” it with a little extra paint, rather than toss him into the cull bin.

Unlike the original #69 Smoky, this release is not known for its variations: I can’t recall seeing any others like him, when I’ve made the effort to look. Neither he nor his second-half-of-the-year partner release Remington are all that rare, it’s just not a mold that’s in much demand.

I’ve been mulling over selling him, mostly because he’s a shelf hog. But I do love my yellowy Breyer Buckskins, and the likelihood of me ever running across a Test Color or a Surf’s Up – the Florentine Exclusive Event Smoky, and one of the few Smokies that does command some serious cash – is pretty slim.

So for the time being, he’s staying.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I also have a solid-face Shenandoah and he is extra-special to me because I am the person who won the coloring contest! I found my guy on ebay a few years after issue, and lost the first auction. The seller, a dealer whose name I don't remember, contacted me and offered me a second one. She said (and this is just word of mouth, of course) that she had a case of 6 that were all solid-face. I bought that one, but never followed up onsearching out others, was younger and it never occured to me to do so. Mine is definitely OF, and came still attached to his box.

I have triplets of Shenandoah- bi-eye, regular-eye, and solid-face!

ANDREA said...

I might have bought him from the same seller! She had other variations of other models, but this one appealed to me for some reason!

Anonymous said...

Heck, I like him better than the bald face from my own design!

Anonymous said...

Have you noticed that Smoky's tail is very similar to the Endurance Arabian stablemate's tail?