Shades of Grulla

First, Happy Star Wars Day to all those who celebrate. (Can you believe I work with a bunch of nonbelievers who have not seen a single movie? Fine, watch your yucky zombie fungus nonsense...)

Another hard pass: even though he’s still available as of me write this, I’m skipping on the Shelby completely. I bought something that was (a) cheaper, and (b) something I wanted more, and I figured I was done with shopping for the week.

Since I only really wanted the Grulla Appaloosa, I’d be better off acquiring one later than ordering one and only having a 33 percent chance of getting him. All the wheeling and dealing that would have to follow if I didn’t would also be super-annoying.

Part of the reason I decided that the Grulla Appaloosa was my jam was the similarity of the color to a vintage color that’s a particular favorite here at my ranch: Slate Gray!

First seen, very briefly, on the #191 Bucking Bronco in 1966, this color has only occasionally reappeared over the years, most notably on the Classic Arabian Foal in the Blister Card Assortment in the 1970s, and on the Bell-Bottomed Shire in the 1985 Special Run Set of 4 that also included the Black, Red Bay and the notorious Neon Yellow Palomino.

While it’s true that undappled Gray horses do exist and are not all that uncommon, I’ve often wondered if this color was – like so many other colors Breyer attempted in the 1960s – possibly a misinterpretation of another color.

The obvious choice here being Grulla.

The only flaw in this theory is that, in its heyday, they never really used it like Grulla. Aside from the Bucking Bronco itself, it’s been used on molds representing breed and breed types where Grullas either don’t exist, or are highly unlikely: not just the Shire and Arabian Foal mentioned above, but also Thoroughbreds, like the After School Herd release #259 Andrew, on the Classic Silky Sullivan.

And none of the earlier releases in this color had even a hint of a dorsal stripe, leg barring or darkly-pointed legs. They considered it a different flavor of Gray, and goshdarnit, they were going to use it that way!

They did toy with the idea of true Grullas in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with released like the 1989 Quarter Horse Gelding Silver, the 1992 Classic Mustang Family Foal, and even the Bucking Bronco himself in 1988. But they didn’t get it “right”, in my opinion, until the release of the Quarter Horse Gelding Splash in 1998. 

And that paint job, not coincidentally, bears a lot of similarity to the original Slate Gray, though gussied up just a bit.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I consider vintage Gray Appaloosas (the Fighting Stallion, Family Arabians, the Hess Stock Horse Family, and so on) another animal altogether: I assumed they were meant to be Blue Roan Semi-Leopard Appaloosas. 

A Surprise in Every Box Lot

It’s cold, snowing, and the Seasonal Affective Disorder is hitting me hard right now, guys. Plus I got wrangled into making a Christmassy centerpiece for Friday, and that should be… entertaining. 

I wanted to do something Star-Warsy, but I limited myself to whatever I could find at Dollar Tree or in my craft closet and alas, no tiny AT-ATs or X-Wings to be found…

The cleaning of the dirty pony lot continues apace; I think the Black Bucking Bronco may also a Pearly, but the plastic itself is just strange overall; I don’t know if the model itself has a textured surface, or the paint is just more heavily applied than average or there is just really deeply embedded grunge. I think the last? 

The plastic almost feels like ABS/Styrene, but it’s not. It’s really perplexing me.

(I have no pictures of him yet because he’s still got a lot of rehab ahead of him – this boy is a mess! – and I am currently preoccupied with this silly centerpiece thingy anyway. The things I get myself into, I swear.)

Here I thought I had seen it all when it came to crazy plastic shenanigans of the 1970s, but in every mystery body box, there seems to be a surprise!

I haven’t owned a lot of Pearlies in my time; outside of the two potential candidates from the dirty pony box lot, I only own a Black Appaloosa Lying Down Foal currently. I haven’t had much luck finding nice examples locally, and the ones in the “retail” market either tend to sell quickly, or go for more than I’m comfortable with. 

The Lying Down Foal was a BreyerFest purchase from many years ago, before they became a big thing. (Wandering the halls, buying cheap Chalkies and Pearlies. Ah, those were the days…)

I think it’s interesting that Breyer seems to have limited the Pearly plastic to either Classic-scaled molds or to Foals. I don’t know if it was an active, conscious decision on Breyer’s part back then, or simply a coincidence: maybe they just happened to be running those molds that week? 

If this Bronco is any indication, though, maybe there were some technical issues they were having with it that made it more practical to run on the smaller molds. I am a little fearful that that is the case: he has a leg bent at a terrifying angle I will only attempt to straighten on a day when I am not feeling either grumpy or flat-out exhausted. 

Hiding In Plain Sight

The schedule went all haywire on me again. It was supposed to be a nice, quiet week before the Easter break, but rumor has it that some work policy changes are forthcoming, hence all the last-minute changes.

All I can say is that I am so looking forward to my three-day weekend.

The newest Collector Club Web Special is up and it’s a "chalky blue roan overo" Esprit, named Poseidon. I actually like him, a lot: I love pretty much anything roan, and if any mold can pull off a semi-Decorator paint job, it’s Esprit. I won’t be brokenhearted if I don’t win him, but if I do, he probably won’t be going anywhere.

It’s interesting that the announcement e-mail specifically used the word "chalky" in his color description, as a selling point. They have before - the Clydesdale Magnus comes to mind - but with the current uptick in interest in vintage Chalkies, it did stand out to me.

Chalky prices have been crazy for a while now, but with the recent discussion on Blab about the Decorator overpaints, the market for some of them - the molds used for Decorators, specifically - has really gone through the roof.

(For those of you who are not familiar with them, they would be: the Five-Gaiter, the Running Mare, the Running Foal, the Fighting Stallion, and the Mustang.)

As more collectors hold their Chalkies up to a strong light (literally), more are being revealed. I’m now comfortable with saying that it appears that a significant chunk of the unsold warehouse stock of Decorators was probably "chalked" into other, better-selling colors.

Not all Chalky Gaiters, Running Mares and Foals et al should automatically be assumed to be overpainted Decorators: only the ones without the USA mark have that potential. And the solid colors (Golden Charm, Wedgewood Blue) will be harder to discern in the light than the dappled ones (Florentine, Copenhagen).

I have always wondered why the vintage Decorators were so gosh-darned-it rare, especially when other models from the 1960s with similarly short production runs aren’t quite as hard to find. A nice #191 Gray Bucking Bronco, for instance, can be tough, but not on the same level as almost any given Decorator.

I just assumed that the rarity was a consequence of just how badly the sales did tank. Not entirely: it now appears that Breyer made a concerted effort to make their first dismal foray into the home decorating market disappear, almost completely.

I do have a Chalky Five-Gaiter in my herd; alas, like most of my other Chalkies, he’s in storage somewhere. I haven’t run across him yet in my current culling, mostly due to (again) the time issues. He used to be quite a dependable little show horse for me back in my live showing days. It would be absolutely hysterical to me if he turned out to be a Decorator, too.

Whether he is - or is not - is not going to be found out this weekend. Too much other stuff to catch up on. Like my taxes - and my sleep.

Sitting It Out

Due to some glitch in the inventory company’s own inventory system, I find myself sitting at home for a couple of days this week, without work. During the busiest time of the year, when there’s literally work to be had all day and every day, and everyone (else) is complaining about the massive amounts of overtime they're putting in.

Normally I’d raise a stink because, hello, I don’t get paid to sit at home: no work, no pay. But I decided to turn this liability into an asset, and get some other work done in the meantime.

(Model horse related, mostly.)

The "Consolation" Special Run Bull Colton does appear to be being made specifically to cover the oversells on the Logans at the Vault Sale. I’m not sure if they’re going to make just enough to cover the oversell orders, or exactly the same amount as Logan, or what.

On Reeves’s inventory issues and the Vault Sale, I will speak no further. Not because I have nothing more to say, but because of diminishing returns. There’s no point in making an argument once everyone’s made up their minds.

The other big news this week is that all the BreyerFest 2013 stuff has hit the Breyer web site in a big way. A bunch of different Specials were announced, including a Desatado in Dun, a pretty chestnut pinto Haflinger, and another pinto Nokota Horse (as the Early Bird Special).

One of the Raffle models is the Traditional Totilas in a Star Dapple Gray, which makes about as much sense to the "Denim & Diamonds" theme as the Early Bird Special Stretched Morgan did to last year’s "British Invasion". The paint job looks a little weird, but it's also a not-good photograph of a test piece, so I'm not fretting over it.

There’s going to be another SR "satellite" store, too: one of the Specials available in it will be a Bucking Bronco in a quasi-buckskin color with kerchief-style decals on it. It’s very similar to the Home Decorating Show Paisley Rearing Horses that broke my heart a couple months back. I love the Bucking Bronco mold, so heck yeah, it's on my must-buy list.

The two Store Specials were also announced: a Black Tobiano Pinto Bluegrass Bandit named Lady C, and a pinto Brighty named Tennessee Titan. Titan is similar, but not identical to the still-incredibly-desirable 2005 Fest Special Run Oliver. Judging from the reaction I’ve been seeing to the Brighty, I’m guessing we’re in for another very quick sellout. (Keeping mine, if I get a hold of one.)

They also announced the themes and rules to the contests, and honestly, I just can’t get all that worked up about either one of them right now. I am utterly indifferent to the charms of most country music. I’m more Motown than Hoedown: I like some of the old-timey stuff, bluegrass, yodeling cowboys and stuff like that, but most modern stuff makes my eyes glaze over.

If I can come up with something, I’ll do it, but I just can’t get as emotionally involved as I did last year, where I ended up flaming out rather painfully. (When other people win with your same ideas - not once, but twice in the same year - yeah, you do tend to take it rather personally.)

Making Up Stories in My Head Again

Here I thought I was doing extra awesome on the novel today - nearly 2000 words, only a couple hundred short of where I "need" to be - and then I realized I forgot something.

The blog, again. Silly me.

So, here’s a picture of another recent indulgence:

A pretty nice Palomino Western Prancing Horse, with sticker. I’d been on the lookout for years for just the "right" one to add to the herd. I was pretty sure he wasn’t it, either, but the price was, and there was something to him, I dunno, that told me it was necessary to buy him anyway.

Once I opened the box, it only took a few minutes to figure out why: he had the USA mold mark.

With the small Blue Ribbon Sticker, too.

According to my research, this shouldn’t happen: small stickers should only appear on models manufactured from ca. 1966 to ca. 1968, and the larger stickers - the ones with the names - should only appear on models manufactured from ca. 1969 through ca. 1970.

The USA mark was added to many (though not all) Breyer molds sometime around 1970, so any model with a USA mark would have a large Blue Ribbon Sticker, if at all.

For the most part, the chronology appears to be holding up. In the occasions when I it has not, it was either a matter of transposition - a sticker had been transplanted from another model - or it was one of those models or finishes where there’s still a lot of fuzziness about the dates. The Family Arabian Foals, for instance, were apparently re-released in Gloss in the later 1960s.

(Why exactly, we’re not sure. ‘Nother story, anyway.)

Looking at the lists I’ve compiled, I did notice some oddities. Some stickers that should, theoretically, be showing up weren’t.

Take the Bucking Bronco: has anyone actually seen a Bucking Bronco with a large version of the Blue Ribbon Sticker? Both the Black and the Bay were manufactured during the necessary time period. The Rearing Stallion, who is more or less the same scale as the Bucking Bronco, came with both versions of the sticker.

And so too, the Western Prancing Horse. Five of the six early Western Prancing Horses (all but the Black Pinto) were manufactured throughout the entire "Blue Ribbon" era, ca. 1966-ca.1970. But I have yet to see any Western Prancing Horses with the large version of the Blue Ribbon Stickers.

It’s possible it’s a sampling error; stickers are fragile, and I certainly haven’t seen every Breyer model in the world, though it feels like it sometimes. But I've been compiling this data for years now. I may now have to concede that the sticker timeline might be slightly more complicated than I thought it was. Some models that could have made the transition to larger stickers may not have.

Why that was we’ll never know for sure, but there are a couple of plausible theories. Some of these molds might have been lower or slower sellers, for whom another sticker order might have been a waste of time and money. With the Western Prancer, it might have been a space issue: it would have been something of a challenge to fit the words "Western Prancing Horse" legibly on a sticker less than an inch in diameter.

It’s possible that this guy is just another case of transposition, and my brain is just concocting fabulous scenarios to make him more interesting to me. But it still hasn’t changed the fact that I haven’t seen a Western Prancing Horse with a large Blue Ribbon Sticker. Anyone out there who can prove me wrong?

(And if you can, is he for sale?)

The Chalky Nobody Heard About

Feeling a little bit better, now that I’ve gotten a little more sleep under my eyes. (On the other hand, I had to break some horrible news to a friend today. Nothing anyone here needs to know about, though.)

Still in the process of unpacking; I just realized about an hour ago that I somehow ended up with two Bay Esprit "Steppin’ Outs"; seeing as I only "need" one, I’ll probably have the other either up for sale or trade by the end of the week. I’d love to trade it for an Appaloosa Stoneleigh Surprise, but seeing as how it’s the "rarest" one of the set (per Breyer’s Facebook page) it’s probably not likely.

Eh, maybe I can throw in my sample/no VIN CH Sprinkles in to sweeten the pot. (S/he is actually quite nice, but I already have a good number of "no VINs" already, and I haven’t grown attached to him/her just yet, the way I have to the others.)

Anyway, as I’m still unpacking and subject to a rather disagreeable work schedule, this is going to be short and quick. My first "big" find at BreyerFest this year:

A Chalky Black Bucking Bronco! (Yeah, I know, I got all artsy-fartsy on the photo. He does look good at this angle, though, don’t he?) I had never seen one before - and judging from the reaction I got from everyone I showed him to, nobody else has, either. The fact that I found him at all - in this white-hot Chalky market - is absolutely astounding. (And so was the price!)

He’s pretty darn close to mint, for a Chalky. He’s a "White Plastic" Chalky, too, which means that there have to be more than just a handful out there. They might have just run the one batch of that plastic, but I’m not sure quite how many Bucking Broncos a drum of Tenite translates into. (A hundred? Maybe two?)

I knew he was theoretically possible - he was in production during the classic "Chalky Era" - but even moi, the ginormous Bucking Bronco fangirl, had discounted the possibility after all these years.

If I had not found anything else at the hotel, I would have considered my shopping run a success, but we’ll get to my other big find next time.

No Retail

Don’t you hate it when you go to a yard sale or estate sale, and you can see the spaces where the model horses used to be? You go to enough of them, you just know, y'know?

There was an estate sale just down the road from my house, and I had to work that morning, so I couldn’t go until several hours after the sale had begun. All I found by then were a few odds and ends that hinted at the existence of better things: a few stray (common, nonhorse) H-R minis in a jewelry tray, a partially assembled Traditional-scale Stagecoach in the basement, a Perillo Indian Nativity set on a bookshelf.

Bit of a bummer, yep. Maybe I'll get lucky and some of those "missing" horses will show up at the flea market tomorrow.

Oh, in case you were interested, the dental work went fine: very little pain or discomfort, except to my checkbook. I wore my Beatrice hat, and the dentist honored his agreement to knock a chunk off of his fee. (Yes, he is awesome.)

I still have one more appointment to go, so once I wrap up some old business, I’ll start listing more goodies on MHSP soon. I’m seriously contemplating selling another one of my NPOD finds - a Sunshine Celebration "Daytona" - but I’ll wait a week or so and see how everything else shakes out, monetarily. (I hesitate, because I strongly suspect that the Daytona was a photography sample, too. You know my feelings about that.)

I’m in the middle of one of my periodic china cabinet purges; my space for chinas is strictly limited, and I’ve been finding way too much "finger candy" lately. Plus, some redecorating/dogproofing had become necessary. None of those pieces will be for sale until next year, unless you want to swing by the house for a shopping trip. (You can also come over just to shoot the breeze. Give me a couple days’ notice, and I’ll even bake a cake!)

Here’s a closer look at the Bucking Bronco I found last weekend; it’s the #730 Bucking Bronco in "Rose Dun," though he looks more like a Blue Roan to me:


He’s not particularly rare, but he is a nicer-than-average example. He tends to get overlooked because of his similarity to two earlier releases: the #191 Smoke Gray, and the Bentley Sales Steel Gray SR in 1988. In spite of their relative rarity, neither one of them is in high demand, either. Being Classic-scale, and not terribly performance-friendly, does that to a mold.

Although I’m a big fan of the Bucking Bronco, I hadn’t picked up this one - or any of the more recent releases. It’s not due to a lack of enthusiasm, it’s primarily a consequence of my "no retail" buying policy: I very rarely buy models off the shelf, at full retail. It’s gotta be something I know is either very hard to come by, or is so captivating somehow that it has to come home with me right then and there.

Plus, I’ve found that if I’m patient enough, most of the regular run models I want will eventually come to me via the flea market, in a trade, in a group lot, or at BreyerFest.

Every time I do break the rule and make an off-the-shelf splurge, I inevitably find one for half the price - or better! - a few months or a few years later. Not every time, but often enough.

A Few Flakes

One of the items I picked up this past Sunday was a passable Black Bucking Bronco. He was nothing special - a later piece with some paint skips and flaws. He was cheap, he needed rescuing, and I harbor a strong fondness for the mold, simple as that. (So strong a fondness that once upon a time, when the prospect was presented to me, I asked for a test color Wedgewood Blue Bucking Bronco. I didn’t get it, though: it’s another one of My Long Stories.)

As I was cleaning him up, some of his paint flaked off. Since he was already in not-collectible shape, it wasn’t a big deal. Some black paint jobs from the 1970s have a tendency to do that; I tend to chalk it up as either the consequence of poor prepping and cleaning, or the heavy-handed application of the paint, both common occurrences back then. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of a bad batch of paint, too.

He is genuinely OF - fake black paint jobs used to be as common as fake gloss jobs are now, but there was nothing here to indicate anything amiss. No weirdness going on over or under the paint. Just bad paint, period.

I’ve seen enough model horses in my time that I hesitate to dismiss anything except the most obvious of fakes, as fakes, especially if the only evidence I have is a low resolution JPEG on the Internet. I’ve seen genuine OF models with flaked paint, handpainted details, acetone touchups, bad trim jobs, smudges, drips and fingerprints - all the usual giveaways of fakeness. My SR Solid Black Mustang has a gigantic drip, and I bought him straight off the Bentley Sales Discontinued List!


(He was one of the last ones they had, so I couldn’t get a replacement. I prefer to think of it as a beauty mark.)

Then there’s this little beauty on eBay. Warning: I’d put down any drink you have in hand before clicking on the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ultra-Rare-Breyer-Never-Seen-Before-Factory-Error-/250691052996?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a5e59e5c4

I’d so bid on him if I wasn’t totally broke, or knew others would be totally gunning for him. The story that he came from the factory that way? In light of what I’ve seen, totally possible. (And in the likely event it isn't true - look at him, man! His paint finish is near mint!)

It wasn’t the runs, drips and errors seen on some of the models involved in the (still ongoing) Gloss Nokota business that made them dubious in my eyes. I’ve seen those kinds of flaws on genuine OF models, and it’s not the "tell" everyone thinks it is. I’ve gotten a lot of good models by taking long second looks.

A greater indicator of fakeness is the behavior of the seller involved. If it looks like, walks like, and smells like a con job, it’s a con job. After all that’s happened, the minor involved in that deal still has Internet access and is still attempting to wheel and deal. Whether the models involved are real or were somehow legitimately obtained is irrelevant.

The fact that some hobbyists are still debating whether or not she’s even worth dealing with is the strangest, saddest part. Is the prospect of a Gloss that no one else has or has even heard of so tempting that some hobbyists are willing to throw common sense out the window?

If any good comes out of all of this, it’ll be to cool off the overheated Gloss market, and maybe - just maybe - have Reeves reconsider the whole Glossy Prize Model idea in the first place. While it’s mostly hobbyists to blame in this whole mess, Reeves really ought to be stepping up to the plate - to make their Glosses a little less easy to fake, at the very least. (A decal, signature or numbering?)

Knock-Offs

I finally found that photo I was looking for. Behold, one of the strangest Breyer knock-offs you'll ever see: a Bucking Bronco mechanical bank!


It's from a 2005 mail-order catalog from Betty's Attic. I love how they didn't even bother to change his name! I was quite tempted to buy this little marvel of modern engineering, as I've always been a big fan of the Bucking Bronco mold, but I managed to resist the urge. If I ever should come across one at a flea market for a not-indecent price, however, I won't hesitate.

I do have a few knock-offs in my collection – they've been something I've kept a small interest in for a number of years now, though I only have a handful of them in the herd due to space issues. My most recent acquisition was this remarkably faithful adaptation of the Elephant:


He's from a company known colloquially in the hobby as “Diamond P.” On their inside hind legs, where the Breyer copyright horseshow would normally be, there's a small, four-pointed diamond shape with a capital letter “P” in it, along with a three digit number and the phrase “Made in Hong Kong.” Here's a shot from the inside hind leg of a Running Mare copy to illustrate:


The actual name of the manufacturer, or the “brand” name the Diamond P models were marketed under is unknown to me: it's another one of those numerous topics I haven't followed up on yet. The extent of my research so far has been to keep a small list of known models and a photo reference file, mostly of pieces that have passed through my hands on their way to someone else.

(FYI: I'm keeping the Elephant.)


Some Diamond P models, like the Elephant, are really good copies; their copy of the standing Donkey is also very good, as well as their version of the Rearing Hartland Mustang. Others, such as the Running Mare in my possession, are just a little off in size, color, and the overall details:


From the selection of models found so far, I'm presuming this particular brand was in its heyday in the late 1960s to early 1970s. There have been other knock-off manufacturers both before and since, some quite notorious. (“Antique” Chinese Big Ben Bronzes, anyone?)

The irony is that Breyer itself started as a company that produced knock-offs - slightly classier and better quality, but still knock-offs. Most of their molds from the 1950s were direct, or near direct copies from other sources:

Western Horse and Pony (Hartland, among others)
Boxer (Boehm)
Poodle (Rosenthal)
Old Mold Stallion, Mare and Foal (Hagen-Renaker)
Racehorse (Grand Wood Carving)
Brahma Bull (Boehm)
Walking Polled Hereford Bull (Boehm)

Most, but not all: the Lassie mold is definitely an original Breyer design, and the Small Poodle, the Rin Tin Tin, Fury, and the Rigid Riders were probably originals. (We have a dated letter and sketch for the Lassie, but nothing for any of the others, yet. Those darn fragmentary records from the 1950s!)

After the Hagen-Renaker lawsuit, Breyer did cool it a bit with the direct knock-offs, for the most part (the jury is still out on the Bassett Hound, and the Adios's story is … complicated.) And those that were knocked-off were modified just enough to keep the lawyers at bay.

All that could change with further research, naturally.

Nokota Horse and Multiple Posability

All this fuss over a model nobody wanted in the first place. I would have loved one, since he's a favorite mold of mine, but I was apparently on the wrong side of the table in the tent this year.

I am referring to the “B” word. Burbank. The subject of a thread threatening to eat Blab.

Frankly, I'm a little surprised at the sheer amount of outrage: I thought it was common knowledge that it is not wise to depend on Reeves for the most reliable information. This kind of conflicting language and information has been a problem with Reeves for years. It has always been wiser to rely on their actions, not their words. And their actions have always defaulted to selling leftovers, not regrinding them. Always.

I'm not going to get into the controversy over it here. You probably can guess what my opinion is: I just haven't bothered to post it on Blab yet because I'm still finding myself a little asocial. And I doubt it would sway hobbyists one way or another, anyway.

Let's talk about one of the Nokota Horse's more interesting features instead, one he shares with only a handful of other Breyer molds: multiple posability!

“Multiple Posability?” Huh? Just a fancy term I coined for unjointed, unarticulated models that can be posed in more than one position (usually just two.) The Nokota Horse can either rest on three feet, or his hind legs and tail, for that extra added oomph. The other models that share this trait include:

• Robin Hood Rider
• Traditional Rearing Mustang
• Bucking Bronco

Many nonhobbyist eBay sellers seem to think that the Fighting Stallion and Rearing Stallion have multiple posability: one wonders what they think the footpads and flat-bottomed tails were for. I sometimes try to rationalize - optimistically, I know - that maybe it's just easier for them to photograph it that way.

Here's a pic of the Robin Hood Rider from a mid-1950s sales flier:


I've always thought it took some clever and creative thinking to design a rider figurine that also works as a standing figurine, without the benefits of joints.

A few years later, in the ca. 1961 insert sheets, we had Breyer touting the Mustang's posing options:


Note the fact that his front hoof is intact. In spite of their apparent awareness of his multiple options, they seem to have abandoned the notion of multiple posability with the Mustang early on: the front hoof of most early Mustangs still had their hooves trimmed, including my beautiful and extremely early Buckskin Mustang with eyewhites.


(The quilt frame is taking up the spot where I normally take photos, so a dinky, unused avatar will have to suffice here. And yes, this guy so totally needs a post dedicated to him someday.)

The third older mold that received this multiple posability option was the Bucking Bronco. In the earliest Dealer's Catalogs in which he is featured, it is noted in his description that he “(Stands in two positions)” (parentheses theirs, not mine.) I'd include a pic of my copy, but my copy is less than ideal.

Neat, eh? It's a feature I hope they can manage to incorporate this kind of posability into more molds in the future. Because those articulated, bionic Pony Gals things give me nightmares.

When a Chalky isn’t a Chalky

Why the Gray Bucking Bronco was so abruptly canceled at the end of 1966 I have no idea. Did he really sell that poorly, or was there a problem with the paint job? Even though he was technically discontinued, he appears to have been available for at least another year through some mail order dealers. And when those didn’t sell, the remainders were probably repainted and sold - as Black Bucking Broncos.

These former-grays are not chalkies: the new paint job was simply sprayed on top of the old. There was no white basecoat involved. For lack of a better term, I call them paint-overs. And the Bucking Bronco was not the only model to get this particular painting treatment, either.

While the chalky technique was known and used before the Bucking Bronco’s release, it was a spotty and relatively rare occurrence - Breyer was probably salvaging pieces from the cull bins to finish orders and avoid reloading the mold back in the molding machine (a costly and time-consuming effort.)

One of the creative ways Breyer tried to limit culls was through planning. They’d try to release a mold in several different colors simultaneously, with at least one very "light" color and one very "dark" color. The light colors would get painted first, and if you messed up any of those, some of them could be painted over and "salvaged" with the darker paint job.

This paint over technique was used primarily in the era just before - and during - the official "true chalky" era of the early to mid-1970s. It was just one of several salvage techniques in Breyer’s arsenal. They did whatever could to get the job done - and keep costs down.

Didn’t you always wonder why there were so many Black Classic Arabian and Quarter Horse Foals? A lot of those popular blister-card releases were paint-overs. Dapple Gray Proud Arabians with darker than average manes and tails may have started out life as Alabasters. That may be the case with some Gloss Dapple Gray Running Mares and Foal, too: every once and a while I spot one with an exceptionally dark mane and tail, and wonder...

I don’t believe the technique was completely abandoned after the Chalky Era, either. I have some reason to believe that the late 1970s Special Run releases of the Family Arabians and Semi-Rearing Mustang in solid black were paint-overs of flawed production models or warehouse overstock.

The Bucking Bronco never received the USA mold mark, so it can be difficult to distinguish a potential early black-that-used-to-be-gray Bronco from a later always-black one. There are a few physical clues.

Even though the original gray body color is similar to the oversprayed portions of the black overpaint, it is not identical. The gray paint has a distinct bluish cast that can be distinguished from watered down or oversprayed black, and it can sometimes been seen in the transitional areas around the edges of the stockings and bald face.

Since the difference was noticeable, the painters would slightly overpaint these edges, shortening the length of the socks and shrinking the extent of the bald face. So while it’s usually the case that older models have higher socks and more extensive bald faces, in the case of the Black Bucking Bronco, it’s exactly the opposite.

And there’s absolutely no way to distinguish between one that was painted over for flaws, versus one that was painted over because it didn’t sell. I’m good, but not that good.

(Today's Facebook error: the Grazing Mare and Foal were introduced in 1965, not 1961. The pricelists, Reeves, check the pricelists!)

Oh no, not again!

My favorite Douglas Adams quote, ever.

That was one of the nicer things I yelled at my computer the other day when Reeves posted more bad data on Facebook - this time about the Gray Bucking Bronco. This time there just is no excuse or rationalization for this: it was plain old lazy research. He was introduced in 1966, NOT 1961.


I’m not sure when this particular nugget of information got started, since the 1966 date is pretty well documented. We have official pricelists from 1963 onward: the Bronco doesn’t appear on them until 1966, in both black and gray. End of story.

At least with the PAM, they could make an argument based on a lack of data: that is, an absence of information means a 1956 cannot be disproved. It’s a technical and weak kind of argument, but not an invalid one. But in this case, I know Reeves does have the data - and they didn’t bother to double-check it.

As with the PAM, this misrepresentation of the data may be having a profound effect on the way the model is perceived in the model horse community. If it was introduced in 1961, that would mean that the Gray Bucking Bronco would be a relatively common mold for that time period - 6 years of production is a pretty substantial run, even back then.

But it’s not: he was made for only one year. Although we can’t make very good estimates of production quantities for any regular run Breyer models before the mid-1980s, I think a one year production run should qualify him for at least the status of "scarce." Especially since a portion of them were probably painted over and became Black Bucking Broncos. (I hate being a tease, but there’s really no room to explain that little nugget today, gals! Maybe on Wednesday.)

This is why researchers need to rely on primary sources, not secondary ones. And do their own research, rather than automatically rely on the assumptions and conclusions of others. Because these assumptions very often turn out to be wrong, or at the very least misinterpreted. What we think we "know" is often very different from what is actually known. And that can create all sorts of problems.

I’ll give them credit for getting most of the data on the Basset Hound correct (interesting that they chose to make a post about him the same week I do! Hmm?) I could quibble about the Chris Hess attribution, but that’s a matter of ongoing research and a long way from being settled. I’ll give ‘em a pass - this time!

Am I making hash out of could just be a typo? Yep. That’s what I’m here for. Heck, that’s what makes me tick. Just because something’s a typo doesn’t mean it won’t have fewer consequences than something that was deliberately typed.