Glossy Chalky Buckskin

The first thought that came to mind when I saw in-hand pictures of Goldfinch was: holy cats, this is My Girl all over again.

The 2016 Vintage Club release My Girl, on the Cantering Welsh Pony, came in three colors: Gloss Bay, Gloss Palomino, and Gloss Alabaster. When I opened the shipping box and discovered that I had received the Alabaster – my third choice – I was slightly crestfallen. 

I think Gloss Palomino is a highly underrated vintage color, and who doesn’t love a lovely Gloss Honey Bay? But Gloss Alabaster can be hit or miss, depending on its shading, or lack thereof. And as far as shading goes, the initial pictures of the Alabaster My Girls showed a definite lack.

Then I opened up her actual box-box, and fell in love with Glossy Chalky Alabaster. 

I think I kind of love Glossy Chalky Buckskin, too.

If I don’t get picked from what’s going to be a very small waitlist – because people are definitely willing to put themselves in short-term debt if they know they can make an almost-immediate profit – I’ll just have to let it go. 

I have a little too much stuff anyway. 

That’s what I keep telling myself, but there I was at the toy store after I got my first COVID shot Saturday, trying to persuade myself that I really didn’t need Obsidian.

I did manage to walk out of the store horse-free. This time.

(In all seriousness, though, if I do start buying seriously again, I think I’ll start with the homely little Standing Stock Horse Foal. Not a lot of demand, not a lot of rarities, not a lot of Test Colors, Oddities or Whatever.) 

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.

Chasing Phantoms

I swear I didn’t plan this with them, guys: the only reason Riddle is up on the BreyerFest Blog is to tease us into buying more/any tickets before the Early Bird deadline in April.

I do think Reeves is slowly coming to the realization that they probably made a mistake in not releasing Riddle as a bigger run at BreyerFest, judging from the positive online reaction.

Their initial calculations were rational and understandable: it’s a Vintage mold, not terribly realistic by modern standards, and he has the (gasp!) molded-on halter. But I think he would have made a really swell Pop-Up Store Special: still on the scarce and hard-to-obtain side, but not as unattainable as a 3-piece Early Bird Special.

Ah well, best not to give it much more thought. The Exclusive Event in Scottsdale, however…

Boy howdy, I really like the Special Run for this. Looking over the abundance of #98 Quarter Horse Geldings and #87 Mustang variations I’ve added to the herd in the past few years, it’s pretty obvious I have a thing for Bald-faced Buckskins. In my opinion, it’s an underappreciated Vintage colorway, often overlooked in favor of the flashier, glossier, or less realistic ones.

So a modern interpretation of this color on the Nokota Horse mold? Sign me up!

Or maybe not.

The Event Models for these Exclusive Events are among the easiest and most affordable Special Runs to attain. I don’t have to go to get one – and logically, the most sensible course of action for me would be to buy a Phantom Face second hand.

But that’s not how I like to do things. After all these years I still don’t have a Dr. Peaches – the first BreyerFest model – not because I can’t find or afford one, but because I didn’t attend that first BreyerFest.

For me, models are placeholders of memories, but there are no memories to attach to a Dr. Peaches – or I should say, the same category of memories as all the other BreyerFest models I was personally there to pick up. My collection of BreyerFest “Celebration” Models would be complete, but he would still feel out of place to me.

Anyway, the fact that they’ve gone back to a pair-only lottery system for this Event is also not helpful. Do you all need a reminder that my luck in getting drawn for things I want is not so good?

Many, many things are in flux for me right now; while everything is going to plan, more or less, throwing another logistical or financial monkey wrench into the works will not be helpful.

Yet, it’s two months away until the drawing itself. Lots of things could happen in two months.

I’ll give myself a few more weeks to get other, more pressing things done (I finished a memory box today, woo-hoo!) and consider my options then.