Dog Shaped, Dog Themed, or Just a Dog?

Ah, my head’s all messed up today! I had to do a double shift on Saturday, go to a wedding shower on Sunday, and deal with Daylight Savings Time on top of all that. And then the devastating news about Duran Duran… 

Today is still Monday, right?

At least I know I am not alone. This week promises to mess with the heads of all of us. I am kind of nervous about a potential Breyer Hall of Fame announcement, and might actually be mad if they don’t get in this time…

I didn’t bother entering for Kalahari; aside from trying to avoid any extraneous hobby purchases until the end of the year, I prefer dog-shaped Breyers to dog-themed ones. 

Speaking of Breyer Dogs, I’ve seen both the White Boxer and the Test Color Benji on eBay, yes. I’d love either (or both!) but their listing prices are a little out of my comfort zone. 

It’s become rather obvious that the White Boxer is not quite as rare as we thought it was, so I harbor a faint bit of hope I’ll randomly find one somewhere. 

Oh, and I’ve also seen that BreyerFest Test Color Donkey on eBay too. While it meets all my necessary criteria – it is a verifiable, documented BreyerFest Auction piece from before 2000 – the price is way too high, and I already have a Test Color Donkey anyway. 

For the record, I’m willing to go as high as $1200 to $1500 for an early BreyerFest Auction Test, but cheaper is always better, and I am not concerned about it being live show quality or not. I’d also prefer a mold I don’t already have a Test Color in, but I’m not going to turn down a Traditional Man o’ War or Trakehner if the price was right. 

I might be picky, but I am not stupid. 

I have a pretty busy week ahead of me, so that’s all for today, folks. 

Lucky Dog

Of all the Micro Run Drawings I haven’t been pulled for (essentially, all of them) the two that hurt the most were the Polled Hereford Bull Marshall (of course) and the Basset Hound Dugan.

With all of the others – like the Collie Maurice, the Ram Rodney, and the Brighty Cornelius – it would have been lovely to have been drawn for them, but they were not quite the heartbreakers Dugan and Marshall were.

The Polled Hereford Bull has been a favorite mold of mine for years, and I have way more variations and oddballs of the Hound Dog mold – both its original #325 Brown Bloodhound release, and the very popular and long-running tri-color #326 Basset Hound that followed – than I care to count.

When it comes to Bull molds in general, hobbyists are not entirely rational when it comes to Special Runs. (Have you seen the prices the BreyerFest Hamish lately?) Things got real ugly real quick with Marshall, so unless I come into substantial bit of money or more luck than I usually am accustomed to, he’ll probably never end up here.

Dugan I was more optimistic about; while the initial prices were also way out of my league, I also knew that the market for Breyer Dog molds is smaller and less… crazy? While some releases are perennially popular and/or pricey (the White Boxer, the Woodgrain Poodle, the Blue Bucky) the rest of the Breyer Dog market is more modest in both price and demand. I figured that after the initial rush, the prices for Dugan would eventually drift back closer to my comfort zone.

I did find one “in the zone” at BreyerFest a couple years ago. Even though I take some starter money with me, one of my personal rules for BreyerFest shopping is that I try to avoid spending what I haven’t yet made in room sales. Alas, I hadn’t made quite enough money at that point to buy him. 

When I finally did, some other lucky dog had already snapped him up.

Since this seems to be my Year of Grails, it should come as no surprise that another one turned up last week. This time, I did not hesitate:

I cannot even imagine what is going to turn up next. In fact, I am almost afraid to.

September Shopping

I know I got lucky with the Fruitcake Fillies last year so I kinda-sorta had it coming, but I seriously do not have time to deal with twinsies right now:

The Salem is just as awesome as advertised, though: I don’t know what process they are using to achieve this, but he glows so intensely you could use him as a nightlight.

This is also my first in-hand experience with the Mason mold in person, and I have to say that… I really like him! I wasn’t overly impressed with the mold when he debuted as the 2018 Horse of the Year, but I think I was letting the original release’s sedate gray color get in the way. It’s amazing what a difference a nicely designed paint job makes!

(I think the same situation is going to occur with the new “Mighty Muscle” Draft Horse.)

Speaking of… since I happened to be in that part of town, I swung by one of my local toy stores on Friday, ostensibly to check out some of the Fall releases. I was impressed by the sparkly Cupcake (who, despite what some people say, does look like chocolate in person), found myself still on the fence about the “Black Opal” Desatado Lightning Ridge (a concept that would have definitely benefited from translucency), and unexpectedly fell in love with the Brick and Mortar Marwari release Khalid.

I didn’t buy any of those three, though if I can carve out any time in the next several days to do it I just might go back for the Khalid. He was a release I hadn’t really given him much thought to prior to seeing him in person, and now that I have I realize that he’s the exact shade of Dun Sabino that I’ve been chasing for years.

I’ve tried painting one myself, and got others to try and paint one for me, but here Reeves goes and just nails it in a Production Run. I was not prepared for that.

It took me a couple of Tractor Supply Stores, but I did manage to secure a Stella that met my specifications yesterday. The same store had a drop-dead gorgeous and extremely Chalky Sampson too, but since things are kind of chaos here at the moment (and the Khalid is messing with my head) I decided to stick to my original plan. Though I did thrown in a few of the Series 2 Spirit Stablemates I hadn’t acquired yet, including the Chase Running Mustang Spirit. Because there’s always room for Stablemates!

And finally, here’s last week’s flea market acquisitions: while the weather was fine, I just wasn’t feeling up to the task today (busy, allergies, not sleeping well, etc.)

The larger Fox Terrier is actually hard plastic – I’m assuming Diamond P, but I don’t see a mold mark anywhere so don’t quote me on that. As I’ve pointed out before, in Breyer’s earliest days they briefly billed themselves as a “Horse and Dog” figurine manufacturer. And it makes sense: by 1958 they already had the Boxer, the Poodle, Rin Tin Tin and Lassie molds in their lineup – all before the Old Mold Arabians and the Clydesdale Stallion even debuted!

That parity would be short lived, with only four more Traditional Dog molds introduced in the following twenty years.

Would a Fox Terrier have been a part of the mix eventually, if the Dog molds had been just a bit more popular? (Or the horses, a little less so?) Sometimes I wonder.

Matte White Poodle

The spirit is willing, but the body is weak: my more comprehensive overview of BreyerFest will have to wait a couple more days, until my body stops generating spontaneous naps.

(I knew four straight days in 90+ heat and humidity sapped a lot out of me, but seriously, sleeping in my car at a Kroger parking lot for an hour was not on my agenda for today.)

I do want to cover this guy in some detail, though – one of my handful of hotel finds I persuaded myself I couldn’t live without:

Behold – a Matte variation of the #68 White Poodle! (No, really, he is. I just don’t have the time or energy right now to pull one of my multiple shiny ones from upstairs for comparison.)

Matte White Poodles are one of those things that I simply assumed existed because the Matte Black ones do, but until this previous weekend, I had never actually seen one in person!

Since I couldn’t find a BreyerFest Beethoven at the right price and condition, and the Benasque Blue variation of Bucky was the remotest of long shots, this guy showed up at the right time and at the right price. 

Ironically, both the Matte Black and Black with Blue Collar Poodle were high on my scouting list this year – with the Bucky in this year’s lineup, it seemed like a good time to focus on filling some holes in my Breyer Dog collection – but alas, neither one was to be found.

Which was not a huge surprise – both of those variations are pretty rare – but not as rare as the Matte White Poodle! Funny how that works.

The Matte Black and (now confirmed!) White Poodles are another rare but notable example of Breyer Matte variations being less common than their Glossy counterparts.

And their “rarity” makes sense, too, since the Black and White Poodles were discontinued ca. 1968, right around the time Breyer was transitioning to more realistic (Matte) colors and finishes.

Since everyone is so focused on Glossy = Good, Matte rarities tend to slip by relatively unnoticed. Well, usually: there are always exceptions, of course. (Matte Dark Dapple Gray Running Mare and Foal, anyone?) And me spilling the beans on them here means that eventually it will no longer be the case….

You know, I still don’t have a Woodgrain Poodle, either. I probably should work on that – while he’s one of the slightly scarcer Woodgrains (ca. 1960 through 1964), a lot of hobbyists aren’t into the Nonhorses, so that tends to moderate his prices a bit. In other words, that tends to push him into the affordable (to me) range.

Maybe once all the various stray bits of money promised to me finally make their way here, I’ll consider the splurge.

Bucky

LOL – of course it’s a Saint Bernard!

You know, if you had told me that the Saint Bernard would get a second BreyerFest Special Run release before the Boxer, the Collie or even the Kitten, I wouldn’t have believed you. (You, in turn, will have to believe that I honestly did not know that Bucky was the Saint Bernard.)

And yet, here we are. (The first dog mold was the “Small Poodle” – the “Surprise” raffle pieces in 1997, and Cotton Candy in 2009.)

I guess my only significant concern about Bucky is that he looks a lot like the previous BreyerFest SR, Beethoven. I would have preferred slightly more atypical markings –  something described by breeders as a “splash coat” or “full mantle extended”.

I’ll still get him regardless – providing he isn’t too expensive, or too scarce – since I collect the Dog molds anyway, and I have a near-complete collection of Saint Bernards including variations, samples and so on.

What I would have really preferred is a Holiday/Christmas Special Run – Decorator, Glossy, whatever – but this way I have a reasonable shot of getting one, instead of having to resort to the secondary market.

There’s been some consternation that the German Shepherd/Rin Tin Tin mold was not used, but as I’ve explained before – in multiple venues – the mold is not usable.

The rumors you often hear about certain molds being unusable, destroyed or beyond repair? Most of them aren’t true – but in the case of the Rin Tin Tin, it probably is.

And even if it were economically feasible to repair it, I simply don’t think it’s likely that they would have used it for this BreyerFest. For an event – and a hobby – that has had issues with inclusivity, honoring one of the breeds most often used as a police dog could be seen as problematic.

All dogs, and all breeds of dogs, have issues. Some breeds honored as Breyer Companion animals – like Rottweilers and Dalmatians – also have serious health and temperament issues. (Though I love Rottweilers, personally. They’re just a bit too big for me to handle.)

Wire Fox Terriers are the winningest breed at Westminster (this year, too!) And it’s easy to see why: they are adorable, personable, outgoing, energetic, and legendarily empathetic. But would I recommend them to anybody who hasn’t had previous experience with terriers?

Good heavens, no! Vita is exhausting, territorial, bossy, single-minded and a thief: when things get quiet around here, we get worried. Her nickname is “Monster”, and she’s earned it.

As much as I want it, I doubt Breyer will ever officially have a Fox Terrier model, beyond the cartoony one available in the Pocket Box Dog assortment. (I don’t think Collecta has ever had one, either.) I’m okay with that.

Pondering Time

I haven’t spent much pondering time on the sneak preview of the BreyerFest Nonhorse Special Run, so I can’t credibly give you my thoughts on what it could be:

Though I am annoyed that, in spite of their blog text teasing us otherwise, the name of the .png file tells me it’s going to be yet another sprocking Marvel-themed character. (Not to be that kind of nerd, but has anyone at Reeves HQ actually been in a comic book store? It’s not that scary guys, I swear!)

What I’m hoping for is either something we haven’t seen before as a BreyerFest Special – like a Moose, or a Polled Hereford Bull (pretty please?) – or something offbeat, like a Kitten with a cape or a Jasper with wings.

...seriously, why haven’t we gotten a legitimate production run Flying Pig yet? If Breyer had the cojones to make a Pink Elephant in 1958, a Flying Pig ought to be a no-brainer. They have the Pig, they have the wings, they’ve already done Tests of the concept, it’s an item with crossover appeal, and it would also kinda-sorta fit with the theme...

(Incidentally, there was a Super Pig, but it was not a DC property.)

I also would not object to any of the Dog molds, since many would be on point with the theme, but they generally haven’t been the best sellers at BreyerFest. (Note to self: still need to buy myself a Beethoven.)

Considering that I’ve either loved or found something to like with all of the announced Special Runs so far (aside from the naming thing), going with something more safe and conventional would save me some money.

Sometimes I wish I could be one of those people who looks for reasons to rule out buying BreyerFest Special Runs, instead of looking for reasons to put them on the list. It would make things far less crowded in my office!

Brown Rin Tin Tin Variation

On the left is a standard issue #64 Rin Tin Tin from the 1950s or 1960s. On the right is the re-release #327 “German Shepherd” from the early 1970s.  But who’s the mostly-brown guy in the middle?

Heck if I know!

Normally I’d just chalk him up as a later variation of the original Rin Tin Tin, with looser, less defined markings. The #64 Rin Tin Tin ran for about ten years (from ca. 1956 through 1965), and variations are not unusual in production runs that long.

My fellow on the left is the most common variant – dark saddle and tail, white chest, face and tail tip – but I’ve seen him lighter and darker, with more shading and less, with pink tongues and red. I’ve even seen a Chalky one!

The thing is that this brown one was being sold as a part of a collection that was obviously from a collector active in the Chicago area during the Chicago era (pre-1985).

Whenever something a little unusual is found under those circumstances, it makes you wonder if there’s more than meets the eye. Test Color? Oddity? Employee Take-Home?

I know there’s at least one Matte Brown German Shepherd floating around; the 1972 and 1973 Collector’s Manuals show a photograph of a light brown one, and one was listed in Marney’s estate sale in 1992 (though the list doesn’t specify if it was Matte or Gloss).

In spite of the fact that Breyer was phasing out Gloss finishes by then, they still continued to experiment with them on Test Colors in the early 1970s.

So it’s possible that there’s something more than meets the eye with my newest Rin Tin Tin.

Most likely not, though; too many of us automatically assume that whenever we run across something we haven’t seen before, it must automatically be something rare, or unusual. Sometimes it’s just something we haven’t run across before – nothing more, nothing less.

He does make a nice trio with my other two though, doesn’t he?

Breyer and LIcensing

Alan Young passed away last week. For those of you not old old enough to remember, he played Wilbur Post on the TV show Mr. Ed.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/alan-young-dead-mister-ed-816846

Mr. Ed may have been responsible for my obsession with horses: in my pre-Kindergarten years, I lived for the early afternoon TV lineup on our local UHF Channel 50 that consisted of The Adventures of Superman, Mr. Ed, and Bill Kennedy’s At the Movies.

One of my childhood crusades was trying to get Breyer to make a Mr. Ed model. (And also, to a limited degree, Super-Horse. Which in light of the Supergirl TV show, might be an idea worth looking into again. But I digress…)

I learned later that there had been some motion on the notion, but a Mr. Ed model never came to fruition, obviously.

Sometimes a license is too expensive, or it’s too difficult to work with, or the marketing research tells you that there’s not enough of a market there to make a go of it.

Breyer has also not always had the best of luck when it comes to licenses, either. By the time they had finally committed to expanding their “Breyer Animal Creations” line in the 1950s, Hartland had already locked up most of the TV Western licenses.

Breyer did eventually manage to secure licenses for Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Circus Boy (Corky and Bimbo the Elephant) and Fury. Lassie, Rinty and Fury ran well into the 1960s, and they recouped any losses they might have incurred with the short-lived Circus Boy by releasing the Elephant as a separate item into the 1970s (and beyond).

But it wasn’t until the 1970s that Breyer attempted to secure more entertainment industry licenses.

And one of the first big licenses they went after?

Benji and Tiffany.

Yeah, that didn’t go so well, either.

It went so not-well that the leftovers Gift Sets haunted the Bentley Sales Discontinued Sales List for years afterward. It’s only the passage of time, and nostalgia, that’s eventually given those dogs some value.

The licensing situation has gotten somewhat better for them, but in light of that history, it’s understandable that Reeves is cautious.

Hobby Ambassador

The end of the flea market season went down rather quietly around here; my last “official” find was this rather dilapidated puppy:

Poor thing wears his expression honestly! Even though the Basset Hound is on the short list of molds that nobody customizes, ever, I have a general policy of leaving no cheap bodies behind.

While the Companion Animal canines are frequent visitors to the customizer’s table, most of the Traditional Dog molds are not. Every once in a great while I’ll see someone do something wild and crazy with a Boxer or a Poodle because they are so darn plentiful, but most “conditionally challenged” Dogs usually end up getting passed along to the nearest yard/garage/tag sale, or made into the crafty sort of something that you’d find on Etsy.

This is not a bad thing. Any vector it takes to get more people interested in the models is a good thing.

The Basset Hound mold, actually, is one of those molds that has always served as sort of a hobby ambassador anyway. His likeness to the Hush Puppies mascot – and occasional use as one – has made him a familiar and comforting figurine to many outside of our hobby who would normally not give Breyers or the hobby a second thought.

(“They made that, too?” Oh, the conversations I’ve had…)

Originally I was just going to let my new addition be a part of my “Body Box Gang” – an assortment of sorry-looking creatures I’ve rescued over the years – but in light of the recent events in Paris, I think I might actually move him to my “Peculiar Customs in Progress” table.

The Basset Hound is a French breed, after all; you might remember that I was mildly annoyed earlier this year that he was not included in the BreyerFest Vive Le France Special Run lineup, but that’s another thing I’m trying to let go.

Though with Reeves, one never knows. Nobody in the hobby was expecting a Wedgewood Blue Antelope for Christmas last year, either. (That Boxer was another story. Sort of.)

Regardless: I think Claude would look rather dashing with a saucy little beret, oui? I might have some time off next week, so maybe then...

Rin Tin Tin

Did you hear about the new book about Rin Tin Tin? It’s Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, by Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief. I was doing a little research on the book itself (to wit: was it worth putting on my holiday gift list?) when I ran across this text on the author’s website:

When I was very young, my grandfather kept a Rin Tin Tin figurine sitting on his desk. I wanted desperately to play with it, and even more desperately I wanted to have a German shepherd dog of my own, a dog just like the star of "The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin", which debuted on television in 1954. I knew nothing about Rin Tin Tin other than that he was the perfect dog, and that he was a character on television. When by chance I learned that Rin Tin Tin was a real dog, not just a television character—a real dog with a real life that was extraordinary—I was drawn into the story and eventually to the idea of writing this book.

http://susanorlean.com/books/rin-tin-tin.php

So I’m guessing that you’re thinking what I’m thinking - that’s the Breyer figurine she’s talking about! I guess the book is worth my time, though I will have to wait until Christmas or thereabouts before I get my hands on a copy. (No room in the budget for fun stuff until then!)

You’d think it’d be logical for Reeves to re-release the Rin Tin Tin figurine, wouldn’t it? You have a well-reviewed biography by a noted author, who just mentions in passing that a Rin Tin Tin figurine partially inspired her to write the book in the first place?


Nice idea, but I’m not counting on it. For one, he’s a dog, not a horse. While Reeves has not been averse to re-releasing the older dog molds, they’re not big sellers. They’ve seemed particularly averse to re-releasing the Rin Tin Tin mold: we haven’t seen it since 1973, when they discontinued the #327 German Shepherd after a brief two-year-ish run. (Like the Proud Arabian Mare, he was prereleased in late 1971 to/for hobbyists.)

His absence is something of a mystery to me, since the German Shepherd has consistently been one of the most popular dog breeds in the United States, far outpacing both the Collie and the Saint Bernard in terms of registrations.

http://www.akc.org/reg/dogreg_stats.cfm

Yet both the Lassie/Collie and the Saint Bernard molds have seen a couple of re-releases in the not-too-distant past! Hmm. (Also puzzling: Wire Fox Terriers are only 97th on the list? Our little brat certainly doesn't act like it.)

Second: just because I think it’s such an obvious idea doesn’t mean Reeves does. I thought a Pancreatic Cancer benefit horse was a far better - and more appropriate - idea than a Breast Cancer benefit horse (hello, Patrick Swayze!) but the more conventional idea won out.

It could be that Reeves got caught a bit flat-footed about the book; I only found out about it a couple months ago myself. It’s not too late to time a re-release of the mold with the inevitable paperback release of the book sometime next year, though. Could be a nice addition to one of their various "horse and book" series, like the Breyer Horse Collection. (One of the lamest names for a series ever, BTW. Isn’t every series basically a "Breyer horse collection"?)

Good Dog, Bad Dog

This is what a Good Dog looks like:


Breyer French Poodle with Dog Coat, ca. 1957. The snap on the front of the coat is the same kind of snap used on the early snap saddles. Neat!

You can’t see it, but he has a handpainted red collar - you can actually see the brushstrokes. That’s a little strange, since most of the blue collared Poodles I’ve had have had stenciled collars, and evidence points to the blue collars predating the red collars. The paint’s definitely original, not retouched.

There are all sorts of possible theories as to why they resorted to handpainting the collars. The most likely is that there was a production bottleneck: they might have had a rush order, or outstanding orders, and only so many painting masks to go around. Some of the painters at the factory had to make do with brushes. Hey, they had to handpaint the tongues anyway, right?

(Oddly enough, the eyes and nose are masked - that was a different painting station, I guess!)

I had wanted a "Dog Coat" Poodle for years - basically, ever since I first discovered they existed at all. They’re not expensive when they do come up for sale, partly because a lot of collectors don’t know about them in the first place, but mostly because it’s one of those esoteric things only the really nerdy Breyer kids go for.

This is what a Bad Dog looks like:


The little princess broke my little toe today; she had stolen yet another one of my shoes, and in the process of cornering the thief, she got a little …rough. (And even if it isn’t technically broken, it’s still a lovely shade of purple and hurts like the dickens.)

I have to work a triple shift over the next day and a half, too. Hot, tired, sleep-deprived and in pain: awesome way to start the weekend!

She's lucky she's so darn cute, or I'd be strangling her Homer Simpson-style right now.

Avalanche!

Whatever I had over the weekend is still kicking the stuffing out of me. The only symptom I have at this point is exhaustion - I actually fell asleep while attempting a change of clothes today! That was entirely the dog’s fault: she was so excited at her first real experience with snow that I ended up taking a couple of nasty tumbles on our walk today. No injuries mercifully, just muddy, soggy clothes.

Speaking of the dog… we do crate her. Vita is almost constantly supervised: it’s literally the moment when our back is turned that the trouble tends to occur.

She doesn’t have any major behavioral issues other than the "wanting to eat everything" one. She’s great with other dogs, good with kids, doesn’t bark too much, is mostly potty-trained, has no problem with the vet, the groomer, inclement weather or the mail carrier.

Well, she likes to run too, but the leash usually puts a stop to her more antic antics.

Most of the problem is that she’s a Wire Fox Terrier. Anyone who had any experience at all with terriers knows they’re not into the "obedience" thing. We just have to figure out a way to convince her that chewing on her bones is way more fun than nibbling on hubcaps and underpants.

Now onto another calamitous event: the Alpine avalanche.

I was among the unfortunate multitudes who never managed to break through the Alpine phone lines. I never even made it as far as an answering machine: all I got was an hour and a half of busy signals. Another Silver Filigree out of my reach. Sigh.

I admire them for experimenting with other forms of distribution, but I wish Reeves would go back to Shopatron for these kinds of specials. I’d rather take the gamble of a canceled order than the agony of hitting redial over and over. It’d eliminate some of the human errors, too, such as the reports I’ve heard of some people managing to get in orders for multiples. (Does this company have no institutional memory AT ALL? Criminy!)

What’s really saddening is to see the level of acceptance within the hobby for what is essentially scalping behavior. No, "everyone in the hobby" does not do it: I don’t. I’ll turn around items I find at the flea market for a tidy profit, but when it comes to collector-direct items, I won’t do it. If I do buy something for someone, it usually goes to him or her at cost plus postage.

What I’m doing is bringing items that were out of the market and putting it back into it. Buying a model like Alpine and slapping it on eBay 15 minutes later is more akin to ransoming: you’re taking it out of the hands of someone who wants it more, and gambling that the monetary difference is worth the effort.

I sure could use the money, but I’m not sure I could live with myself if I did something like that.

More Discoveries from the Stacks

Here’s another nice little tidbit of information I gleaned from my research last week. You’ve seen this little stack ad before, right? (My apologies on the quality of the copy; it was the end of the day, and I was starting to run low of spare change to pop in the copier.)


I’ve written about it before, and even made a t-shirt out of it, I loved it so much. There’s nothing particularly noteworthy about the ad in and of itself: it’s the same ad that Breyer ran in both Toys and Novelties and Playthings through most of 1952. What’s important is the dating: the copy above came from the February 1953 issue of Toys and Novelties. In the March 1953 issue, a new version of the ad appeared in the same magazine:


The Boxer replaces the Money Manager!

This was around the same time the Boxer made his debut at Toy Fair; in fact, it was in the "Toy Fair" issue that included the full page, full color ad for the Boxer. There was at least one other version of this ad, with Breyer’s street address crammed into the lower right hand corner box, that started appearing in 1954. The library was getting ready to close by the time I cracked open that volume, and I didn’t have the time to get a copy of it.

Is there’s some historical significance to the street address? Well yeah, a little. We’ll get to that topic some other time.

This ad doesn’t offer much from a research standpoint: it doesn’t really add much to our knowledge of Breyer History. We’ve already established that the Boxer came out in early 1953. All it does, at most, is visually signify the end of Breyer’s Money Manager era.

One thing these stack ads do "do" for me is make me wish Reeves would do something with these neat old graphics. Don’t you think the Boxer ad would make an awesome iron-on patch, or dress up a tote bag real nice?

Most of Reeves’s current ad and graphic work is competent, but not particularly inspiring or evocative. (I really don’t like the bumper sticker/badge logo with the dropped R, but I’ve learned to live with it.) There are probably some legal hurdles that would prevent the reuse of some of that older material, but some of the powers-that-be at Reeves could at least try to incorporate some of the aesthetics of the older advertising into their newer material to spice things up a bit.

It might make good business sense, too: Breyers aren’t quite as iconic as Barbie or Tonka, but going a little retro on some of the ad campaigns might help boost their status a bit. And you can’t tell me that Breyer History isn’t any less interesting than Barbie’s or Tonka’s.

Going to the Dogs

She was especially naughty today, but here’s a picture of the little maniac anyway:


There’s no story behind the contender for World’s Ugliest Afghan on the couch. It’s just a huge, hideous conversation piece that came in an auction box lot several years ago. (How huge? We sometimes use it as a slipcover - for the couch!)

Work took me within a couple blocks of the main branch of the Detroit Public Library yesterday, so I took advantage of the proximity to do a little research. Six hours of hardcore page turning, and I barely made a dent in the stacks!

I found tons of stuff: most of it was confirmation of facts we had already intuited from other known sources, but it’s good to have dated materials to back up your conclusions. One of the first things I found was Lassie, featured here in the "New Toys on Parade" section of the January, 1956 issue of Toys and Novelties:


The fact that it’s the January issue, and not the March suggests that Breyer might have Lassie on the shelves by Christmas (March = Toy Fair.) Absent any concrete evidence of that, I’m completely fine with assigning a 1956 release date for the mold.

Another interesting piece of information comes out of an article in the August 1955 issue of the same magazine. In it, they list several licensors and their respective licensees. The entry for Lassie lists Breyer as one of that property’s licensees, but the entry for Rin Tin Tin does not.


(As far as I know, there’s no familial relationship between the Stones of Stone Associates, and the Stones of Breyer.)

But we’re pretty sure that Rin Tin Tin came out by 1956, too. It had been assumed from the 1955 copyight date on the original Rin Tin Tin box that he may have even predated the Lassie. The earliest mention I’ve been able to find of Rinty, though, is in a full-page ad for Breyer’s manufacturer representative, Krenzien, Krenzien & Dunlap, in the March 1956 issue of Toys & Novelties (i.e. their "Toy Fair" issue.) So, what’s up with that?

It could have been a simple omission, or perhaps an issue with the license came up. The date on the box could be referring to the show itself. (Complicating that assumption is the fact that the show premiered in late 1954, not 1955.) Or, I’m just missing some data, somewhere.

It might be a little while before I get back to the DPL and find out for sure - time and money are the issue here, not safety. I have plenty of fresh material to process in the meantime, and you’ll get to see a good portion of it over the next few weeks.

Little, Big

Just admiring my "Small Poodle" Cotton Candy today. The one box/bin they had of ‘em sold out quickly in Pit this year - not a surprise, since they had them marked down to $15, from the original $40:


I had been wanting a Small Poodle for a while, but the chances of picking up one of the earlier releases - either a preproduction/test piece, or one of the Raffle pieces from several BreyerFests back - was slim to none. I didn’t get Cotton Candy last year, because I was a little too focused on nabbing a few of the Surprise Quarter Horse Geldings. Considering how many were left over, it was a no-brainer that she’d be showing up in the Pit this year.

There’s not really much to know about the Small Poodle; nobody, including Reeves, even knew she existed until the 1990s, when a collector found a couple of pieces (one blue, one pink) in the possession of a former sales representative. Reeves had the mold all along; they just didn’t bother to notice the two Poodle molds they had were for two completely different items.

In their defense, not many people had probably bothered to look at the Poodle molds in a very, very long time. The Big Poodle - the doorstop-heavy, Rosenthal-based piece - had been out of production since the early 1970s. He was discontinued right at the beginning of the Chalky/Oil Crisis era, partly because of his weight: all those deep curls consumed a lot of plastic. Why waste good plastic on a couple of low-turnover Dogs, when you could make a half dozen (better selling) Foals from the same amount of material?

When the Small Poodle was made is unknown; we can’t be any more specific than sometime between 1953 (the Boxer) and 1957 (the Big Poodle.) I’m guessing a little earlier in that range - 1954 or 1955 - rather than later, just based on the style of the sculpting. The narrow muzzle and dainty feet are very reminiscent of the Lassie mold that we know was sculpted in early to mid-1955.

Why the Small Poodle mold didn't catch on with the buyers at Toy Fair is unknown. Breakage from the tail might have been a concern: models were packed lightly and if not loosely in their shipping boxes back then. Another possibility is that the lack of a merchandising tie-in: Lassie and Rin Tin Tin were well-known, established media properties, and the Poodle was just … a Poodle. Nice, but nothing special.

I think that was the biggest problem with the Small Poodle mold: she was nothing special. I wouldn’t call her boring, but perhaps a little too quiet and well-behaved - for a Poodle. (Oh yes, I’ve been owned by a few in my time.) The "Spaghetti Poodles" that were a hot decorative item of the time - and the market Breyer was evidently targeting with this item - were also anything but. They were encrusted with rhinestones, feathers, eyeglasses, glitter, fake fur, playing musical instruments, or dressed up in crazy little outfits.


(Not a Poodle, but you get the idea. Don't ask me why I own this thing. I just do.)

While the Large Poodle never received anything dressier than a felt dog coat (for the Poodle Sewing Kit release in the 1957 Sears Wishbook) he was bigger, louder and more energetic mold than our dainty little miss here. He stayed in production longer than Rin Tin Tin and Lassie, too, though that might just be because of lapsed licensing agreements, rather than sales figures.

The Small Poodle, on the other hand, disappeared for forty years. There has to be at least a few other early pieces floating around out there, though. You just don’t run a mold for only two pieces. There’s what, at least 6 to 12 In Between Mares out there, right? There should be at least that many vintage Small Poodles somewhere.

I think - I hope - it’s only a matter of time until another one shows up.

Working Class Poodles

I had the chance but nope, didn’t do it. Didn’t click on the Shopatron link and order a leftover Smokin Hot Chic. She’s pretty and all, but I just blew a wad on jewelry-making supplies (the latest craft obsession), and there’s no room for her anyway. More horses need to go out of the house, not come in.

Since I’ll be going full-bore crazy over the next week and a half making sure the Swap Meet goes off as planned (more on that tomorrow) my posts this week and next will be short and sweet - and hopefully, a little more frequent; I know I’ve been slacking!

My mind’s been on puppies lately. We had to replace our furnace last week, so our near-future puppy plans a little in doubt; the money just might not be there. The thought of not having a bouncing baby terrier tearing up the house apparently disturbed me so much that I found myself wandering the aisles of the local PetsMart on Friday, engaging in a little "pet" therapy.

I have most of the Traditional Breyer Dogs - not all, but most. Of all of them, I think I have the most of the Large Poodle - not sure why, I just do. It might be one of those regional things - they seem to show up in the markets here more frequently than the other more "common" Breyer canines, like the Boxer the Bassett Hound.

There’s also a multitude of subtle variations on the earliest Poodles - the Black and the White - that have fueled my previously unrecognized obsession. My favorites are the "Blue Collar" Poodles, especially my Black one:


We’re not entirely sure when the Large Poodle debuted; we know it was in production by 1957, since it’s seen in an ad for both the Black and the White in the June 1957 issue of Western Horseman, and in the 1957 Sears Wishbook (the infamous "French Poodle Sewing Kits.") I suspect that 1957 was the introduction date, but I don’t have any additional data to back it up my suspicion.

We’re pretty sure that the "Blue Collar" variations are the earliest, though. All of the reference photos of the Poodle prior to 1963 are in black and white, so all the evidence comes from the Poodles themselves. All Blue Collar Poodles I’ve seen lack the mold stamp - put on the mold ca. 1960 - and my MIB White Poodle with the Illustrated Shipper box (allegedly from the collection of an early Sales Rep) has a handpainted Blue Collar.

They are also relatively scarce, compared to the Red- and Pink-collared ones. The White Poodle is far easier to come by than the Black in the Blue Collar variation; I’ve had at least a half dozen Blue Collar Whites pass through my hands, but only one Blue Collar Black. Oh, I’ve tried: my Blue Collar Black is in much rough shape than he appears, and I’ve been trying to upgrade him for years. No luck: either I’m a little too late, or a little too short on the cash whenever a better one appears. Lucky for me he’s molded of solid black acetate, so his scuffs are not too noticeable.

So, why the disparity in the numbers? There are two possible theories. One, it could have been by design: maybe the Black Poodles were originally intended to come with Red Collars all along, and the Blues were a very brief anomaly. I prefer the second theory: I think the Black Poodle debuted slightly later than the White Poodle - maybe just by a few months, even - and by that time, they were already starting to phase out the blue paint in favor of the red, likely as a cost-cutting measure. (One less step in the painting process: just use the tongue paint as the collar paint!) Hence, the relative scarcity of the Blue Collar Blacks.

Brandy, Instead of Whine

Let’s see, the online discussions have moved on from griping about the Western Elegance set, to griping about the BreyerFest Specials. I guess "having a more positive attitude" wasn’t on anybody’s New Year’s Resolutions list.

Interesting that they’ve chosen the Saint Bernard as one of the Tent models; we haven’t seen much of that mold like, ever. We’ve only seen him twice before - in his original release #328 from 1972 through 1980, and as #321 Brandy in 1995-96, alongside a number of other Traditional Breyer Dog molds.

I have the original version; picked him up ages ago, at a toy store that carried discontinued merchandise exclusively. (Man, I loved that store - imagine a toy store where the only new stock was old stock - and every week was a surprise! Sadly, it has long since ceased to be.)

I never got around to getting the newer Saint Bernard, mostly because his paint job was so unappealing: what was up with that greasy-looking yellow-brown color, anyway? And aside from the color, it didn’t look all that different from the original release. If I wanted another Saint Bernard, I’d go looking for that neat cast iron knockoff, instead.

I did eventually add another (plastic) Saint Bernard to my collection:


I think he’s a preproduction piece for Brandy: the colors are right, and he’s hand-airbrushed. (The regular run piece is masked.) I can’t know for sure what he is, because he was one of those models that came to me via the mysterious eBay seller "newtoymens."

Remember him? He of the cartloads of mysterious models, some of which seemed to be test colors, culls and oddities? I got outbid on the "flashier" stuff, but I did manage to get this guy, among others.

I wasn’t able to get any more information out of him than anyone else was. Most hobbyists thought he was a Breyer insider, but if he was, he wasn’t a recent one: none of the models - the regular run pieces we could date, anyhow - dated past 2000. It’s more likely he was a middleman of some sort - either a jobber, or a guy who knew jobbers and sold their "merchandise" for them.

I have a couple other interesting "newtoymens" pieces I should probably put in this month’s blog post rotation…