Pearly Jet Run

Though it’s not directly model horse related, this is the kind of story that always gives collectors of all stripes a little bit of hope:

https://www.samuseum.org/press/press-release/texas-collector-finds-roman-bust-missing-from-germany-since-world-war-ii-at-local-goodwill-store/

I have a few objects in my possession that might have a dubious ownership history – like my hand-colored photograph of Midnight Sun from Harlinsdale Farm – and I wouldn’t hesitate to give it back to the rightful owners, if asked. 

I’d be a little bummed, but I’d understand. Just being a part of the provenance of something like that is compensation enough. 

It was kind of a stressful week for me, and I deserved a pony. I went to the store expecting to buy an Adamek or an Anthem, and I bought this fellow instead:

I had seen this exceptionally glowing example of the #960 “Pearly Grey” Trakehner on the Jet Run mold several months ago at this same store, and he definitely gave me pause. I had other priorities back then and walked away from him, assuming that someone surely would have also noticed his awesomeness. He really stood out in comparison to everything else sitting on the shelf, even his fellow Trakehners!

The store is sufficiently out of my way that going back for him was not going to be a temptation. It has nothing to do with the price of gas, and everything to do with the fact that I am not a big fan of driving. (If you’ve ever lived or traveled in Michigan, you’d understand: roads, ugh.)

Yet there he was. It’s really not that hard to see why: it’s an older Classic mold in a somewhat unrealistic color and not really showable as anything. And a lot of hobbyists have and almost reflexive dislike for anything with even a hint of pearliness. 

But I found him kind of captivating, and took his presence at the store as a hint. I abandoned my initial plans and took him and a Morganquest Native Sun home, too. 

Initially I hadn’t been impressed by the Native Suns I’ve seen on the Internet, but the two I saw in person were much nicer than I imagined. He was a much warmer Chocolate color, akin to ice cream topping, and not the slightly greenish Umber that had been making me go “Eh, maybe not?”

The Native Sun is still sitting in the car, though, since I’ve got quite a bit of spring cleaning to do before I bring anything else into the house. I really have junk just everywhere at this point! (Among the weekend projects: recompiling the sales list. Horses, horses everywhere...)

At least the plants are outside. In the ground, that’s another project…

Chestnut Clydesdale Foals

I’m in a weird place right now: everything I want to talk about is in transit, unopened, unfinished or unordered. (But the Mystery Five-Gaiter is currently “out for delivery”!)

So let’s talk about something that everybody – or almost everybody – has, or has had in their collection at some point: the #84 Chestnut Clydesdale Foal! As you may remember, this particularly fine filly came out of that “Dirty Pony” lot I bought last Winter, and other than a bit of yellowing is in beautiful condition otherwise. The yellowing has not improved much since then, but that’s because some of the sales ponies took precedence: 

(My apologies for the quality of the photograph: my “studio” is currently dismantled.)

The #84 Clydesdale Foal was in production for over twenty years – from 1969-ish through 1989. As for the “-ish” part, as I’ve mentioned before, Breyer has never strictly adhered to January as the official release dates for new molds or new colors, and that was especially the case in the late 1960s, when Breyer first began to directly court the hobbyist market. 

(I remember how happy I was to get the Classic Andalusian Family for Christmas in 1978, a whole month before they hit the stores! I was quite chuffed at my already-budding hobby acumen.)

As with any model released for any length of time, the Chestnut Clydesdale Foal has come in its share of variations, veering from the Very Chestnut to Almost Bay. It also comes in a Chalky variation (one of the easier Chalkies to find, in fact) and early examples can also come with the large Blue Ribbon Sticker. For completists, there’s the #8384 Clydesdale Mare and Foal Set, too, with not one but two different versions (with metal clasps, or Velcro fasteners) of those Kelly Green Felt Blankets we all know and love.

The Clydesdale Foal has come in a number of uncommon or flat-out rare releases – like the Silver Filigree BreyerFest Diorama Prize Quicksilver, the 1998 Tour Raffle Model Captain in Gloss Charcoal, the 2009 BreyerWest Delano, the 2009 Fun Foals in Bay and Chestnut Roan, and the surprisingly difficult to find 1980 release of the Dapple Gray – but alas, I own none of these, nor am I likely to. 

I do have most of the variations of the Chestnut, so I have that going for me, at least. And whatever this girl turns out to be.

Incidentally, I would like to inform you that the Five-Gaiter just arrived and all I can say for now is that he’s definitely Original Finish. And I have so many questions. 

But more on him next time, after a good afternoon’s sleep.

Almost Pearly Clydesdale Foal

Speaking of yelling at inanimate objects...

Today was one of those days I had to walk away from the computer and let it deal with its own issues. All you will be getting out of me today is this picture of the Slightly Pearly Clydesdale Foal from the infamous Dirty Pony Lot:

She’s not obnoxiously pearly like the Classic Quarter Horse or Arabian Foals can be, but there’s definitely a sheen to the plastic that goes beyond the translucency inherent in her unpainted portions (the bald face and stockings). 

And while it is true that whoever painted her was crushing it with the airbrush that day, you can also (hopefully) see that there is a definite glow to the plastic that only enhances her excellent paint job. 

I already have two other pretty fabulous #84 Clydesdale Foals – a Chalky, and one with a Blue Ribbon Sticker – but this girl is my new favorite. She’s so pretty in person!

What I suspect is going on with her – and the Black Bucking Bronco in the same lot – is that there was some Pearly regrind mixed in with the standard Translucent White Cellulose Acetate, just enough to give her that hint of pearliness. 

But it also yellowed her a little bit: that’s the problem, alas, when you use regrind. It was an unavoidable problem in the early 1970s since Breyer was having such a hard time getting their usual stuff. They could not afford to let any good plastic go to waste, even if it was just a wee bit off-color.

While I’d love to get her showring ready as soon as possible, the windows are already full of potential sales list items that take priority. 

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. 

My Dirty Ponies

While everyone else was plotzing about the Space Bears or Star Wars spin-offs yesterday I was having a grand old time with a big box lot of dirty ponies:

Here’s a close up to give you an idea of what I’m dealing with:

I know I am not alone here, but cleaning dirty plastic ponies is my happy place. Buying a lot like this is not about adding to or upgrading in the collection, or even about making any money off the deal, though when all is said and done I will probably make a small profit. 

I just really enjoy taking something dirty and unattractive and making it presentable and/or pretty again. In some ways it’s much like a customizer’s impulse to make something beautiful out of what they presume is less so. 

The only difference here is that instead of rejecting the original color, shape or design, I’m restoring it.

Some are already done, some are still in process, and some (like the deeply yellowed Shire, and the Proud Arabian Stallion who I’ve nicknamed “The Trainwreck”) are definitely long-term projects. 

The only one I think I might be keeping (so far) is the Clydesdale Foal, who turned out to be a Pearly underneath all that muck. The Clydesdale Foal is one of the less common vintage Pearlies, and she has rather pretty shading too, so that’s cool.

The Shire might also stay, depending on how well the de-yellowing goes. While she has some condition issues above and beyond the yellowing, her shading and dappling are so superior to my already existing Dapple Shire that it’s definitely giving me something think about.

The Old Timer has “cornflake” dappling (sparse, giant dapples), which is also a thing. On the other hand, I definitely don’t need another Dapple Gray Old Timer variation. 

The Diamond P Knockoffs are fun, but I have enough already and they will all be moving on eventually. The big standing one that seems to be an original design might stick around a little longer than the rest since I find him intriguing overall, even if his face is disturbingly serpentine. 

Ooh, Sparkly!

Surprise – two of the models in the bag of bodies weren’t bodies after all:

The little one is a Fontanini Nativity Horse (Schleich-like), and the other is the Majestad release of the Legionario. I hadn’t seen a Majestad out of the box and without the goofy wired garland before, so who he was threw me for a bit. Then I recognized the oddly linear shading on his face, the slight pearliness to his finish, and the lack of a brand.

In fact, for being another Aged Gray Legionario, he’s a lot more “different” than I initially thought. Props to Reeves for that! Tempted as I am, I am not keeping him, especially since I didn’t get the chance to do as thorough a herd culling as I wished this year.

(Though my body box will be almost as epic as it was last year. I am totally rocking the cheap box lots this year...)

Fiona and Rory came today, too (not the best pictures, I know):

Totally digging those little holographic blankets! I’m such a sucker for fancy, sparkly fabrics.

While on one hand I can see the Fiona and Rory merely as a part of a “series” of Classic Mare and Foal sets designed for the online market – like the Unicorns, and the Pinto Arabians – I also have to wonder if part of the reason for the existence of this series is as a way to experiment with the viability of newer paint colors and finishes.

Fiona and Rory are very subtly iridescent – not something I can capture with my weak photographic skills, but they’re definitely there, especially on the Foal.

I can’t recall seeing this bit of shimmer on any of the other, newer Black releases, but if this is something they’re thinking of implementing on other releases, I’m all for it.

(Momentarily fantasizes a “Midnight Blue-Black” Valegro. Mmm.)

Incidentally, iridescent paints are not something new, or newer, in the world of Breyer: the first time they were officially used – however briefly – was on the original Kitten releases back in 1966! Most, but not all, have iridescent eyes.

But more on that next time.