Bacon and ... Golden Corn?

These fellows arrived a day early:

More or less what I expected on both.

Even though I would have preferred the Green one – or the black Brighty, ‘natch – the color on my Gold Othello is very similar to the Perlino Duns I keep missing out on, so there’s that. The shading is softer and more natural looking than the Blues or the Greens (which, duh, makes sense!)

I won’t be pursuing trades or outright purchases of the others, though. Aside from not being able to afford it, I’m kind of in the middle of my end-of-the-year cleaning and purging phase: my mind is more on what I want to sell, rather than buy.

(I was pretty proud of myself, being able to walk out of the Tractor Supply Breyer-free on Wednesday! I’ll regret it later, more than likely…)

Plus space: Othello’s a big dude, and I’ve already been told the fireplace mantel is off-limits!

I do feel kinda sad about some of the Othellos that will now be resold, for the sole sin of not being a Solid Black Brighty. Gotta hand it to Reeves for turning the hobby’s general disdain for Solid Black paintjobs on its ear: first the BreyerFest Dark Horse Surprise, and now the Coal Brighty!

I would have bought the Santa Surprise regardless, and pretty much did.

The Brighty was a nice gesture, but ultimately unnecessary: selling out would have just happened slightly later in the day. I know some people have suggested that a Glossy Black Othello Unicorn would have been even better or more appropriate, but I personally think if that had been the case, it would have ended in tears and bloodshed.

Hawthorn is… interesting. The woodgraining is a little more subtle than I expected, but not out of the range for a vintage Woodgrain; I have a Shetland Pony with similarly low contrast graining.

I was also kind of hoping he’d have a dark drip mark on his underside, as the vintage ones do. Since they’re using a somewhat different technique now compared to what they used back then, and that drip was a consequence of the original technique, that was perhaps asking a bit much.

Some less seasoned hobbyists who might not yet have experienced vintage Woodgrains firsthand might have perceived it as a flaw too, and make a fuss accordingly.

One last little factoid before I call it a night: the last production Woodgrain – the #931 Fighting Stallion – ended production in 1973, and the Jasper mold was introduced in 1974. Since they would have been testing colors on him in 1973, vintage Woodgrain Jaspers are theoretically possible, but unlikely.