Valegro vs. Valegro

Here’s a side-by-side comparison you won’t see very often: a production Valegro next to its Central Park prototype variation:

(Yeah, I know. I can’t believe I have one either – and I clung to it a little more tightly after I saw how much Reeves auctioned one off for back in July for BreyerFest. But I digress.)

Aside from the prototype’s transparent base and the lack of the ribbon, there aren’t obvious between the two. (FYI: there’s no significant size difference: the production Valegro is just slightly heat warped, presumably from storage. He was purchased secondhand in a box lot.)

The differences between the two paintjobs are a little too subtle to photograph, but are much more noticeable in person. The prototype version has a more matte, almost textured finish. It’s something I have observed on other samples and prototypes, but I’m not sure if it’s due to differences in the painting technique or in the way the model’s surface was prepped for painting in the first place.

Whenever I see an argument break out on the Model Horse Internet about Alabaster, Aged Gray, and other mostly White-colored models, it’s one of my bugbears when hobbyists assume that the translucent white areas of modern Breyer models are raw, unpainted plastic. 

Anyone who has actually seen a factory unpainted model in person would know this is not the case. In fact, I’d argue that these kinds of models are even more highly prepped and finished that more painted ones, because there are fewer opaque pigments to camouflage any flaws inherent in the plastic itself.

But anyway, off my soapbox and back to the Valegros in hand. 

The markings are more finely rendered, and the hoof color and detailing are a little different. The eyes are more tightly painted also, though the quality of any given model’s eye detail depends more on what kind of day the painter of your model is having than anything else. There’s also a small gold Breyer logo imprinted on the belly of the prototype.

There are some differences in the mold, as well. Details are a little tighter and cleaner in spots, and you can even faintly see the nails in some of the hooves, though I suspect this is something that still there in the mold, and it just gets wiped away during the factory painting prep. 

And finally, the most obvious? No mold mark! I actually squealed a little when I discovered that little detail. You know I’m such a dork for things like that.

Finished Footings

I had a few moments to spare Saturday and stopped by my local hobby shop to nominally* check out the fuss about the new Stablemates stuff, and it was absolutely bonkers in there. The parking lot was full, the phone was ringing off the hook, staff was scurrying everywhere, and there was an actual line at the checkout.  

(*I say nominally, because there was a beautifully shaded Sable Island Horse there, and I couldn’t just leave her behind, you know? Damn you and your beautiful Bay paint jobs, Breyer!) 

I do not know what’s going on with all of the delays at Reeves – especially the Black Friday shipments, and the notifications for the Space Bears – but if the situation in New Jersey is anything like it is in Michigan, it’s probably a combination of being overwhelmed with holiday orders, being short staffed because of the pandemic, and an infrastructure being pushed beyond its current capacity. 

I know I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately and pushed above and beyond my personal capacities. I hope to get caught up a bit this week, but I am trying to not be overly optimistic. Heck, I’ll just be happy getting my office navigable again and all my sales stuff tagged, bagged and put into storage. 

All this mental and physical clutter is making me claustrophobic, and I hate that feeling.

Here’s an example of some of the clutter I have to deal with. It’s another one of those models from that lot I bought a while back that had such an assortment of lovelies:

Now, I have a lot of #87 Buckskin Mustangs, including a magnificently shaded early example with eyewhites who makes me gasp every time I take him off the shelf. I don’t have a Chalky one yet, but that’s because they get snapped up pretty quickly on the hope that it might be not just a Chalky, but a painted over Decorator too.

What’s making me hesitate putting this fellow on the sales list is his footings:

Painted footings are a relatively recent development. Unless a hoof was upraised or otherwise visually exposed, hoof bottoms on models from the 1950s through most of the 1980s were left unfinished. 

First, there were the technical issues: aside from dealing with overspray, where do you put a model with wet feet to dry? It only takes the paint about seven seconds to dry, but that’s several seconds that could be used to paint the next model.

Second, there were practical considerations: as toys and display pieces, hoof bottoms were simply considered the point of contact between the model and the floor or shelf. “Finishing” them in any way would just make the inevitable rubs and scuffs even more visible.

Usually when I see a vintage model with finished footings, it raises a red flag to me: this model might have been repainted or significantly touched up. 

In the case of this Mustang, the paint not only appears to be authentic, but there’s also light factory overspray on his belly where you’d expect it to be. It is actually quite noticeable in person but, you know, my photograph skills could be better.

So here I am, trying to convince myself I don’t need another Buckskin Mustang…

Getting Around

La Molina and Masella are here, but I’ll open them next week; since I’m deep in a multitasking mood, their shipping box is probably the safest place for them to be for now.

I also succumbed to Breyer’s Black Friday Sale on Thursday, which means that I was actually logged on when they still had some interesting stuff for sale. So I bought the 2019 Premier Club Bonus Stablemate Charleston, because I really like that mold, and a Spectrum because it was back in stock and Rainbow Decorators have been on my mind a lot this past week. 

Probably because I am hoping or expecting more news about BreyerFest to drop soon, and curious if they’ll take the opportunity that’s sitting right there with the whole “Horses of Another Color” theme with a Rainbow Decorator as a BreyerFest Special Run.

(Any mold, I’m not fussy. A Rainbow Yellow Mount might be neat!)

Speaking of, this video has been circulating around the model horse Internet:

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTerryBradshaw/videos/652770828729569/

The only comment I’ll add to this is utterly unrelated to any controversies – real, imagined or exaggerated – about the horse, is to express my amusement at the Bradshaws pronouncing Breyer as “Breyers”. Here in Michigan, we’re known for adding an “s” to the end of everything: 

https://owlcation.com/humanities/Michigan-Accent

Then there’s the Polygon article Reeves promoted on their Facebook page that gave a summary explanation of the basics of creating a model horse, from start to finish:

https://www.polygon.com/2020/11/24/21591409/breyer-horses-how-they-make-toy-horses

I know some of the nerdier hobbyists among us would have liked to see even finer details of the process, but as someone who spent five years working in an injection molding plant, I’m glad they kept it relatively simple. Because I probably would have started picking out the obscure technical bits that the writer might not have “translated” into English correctly that nobody but me would even care about anyway. 

Incidentally, when I worked at that plant the head of production was mightily impressed that I – just a girl! – knew anything about injection molded plastic in the first place, thanks to my involvement in the hobby. 

I get that a lot, about a lot of things; as I like to say to people, my resume tends to confuse people. (You did what? You worked where? You know how to do that? Yeah folks, I’ve been around.)

Quality Control and Production Thresholds

Here’s my Wailua:

Not quite as dramatic or showy as some I’ve seen, but otherwise I have nothing to complain about here. I especially like the subtle warm hints in his mane and tail, and the slightly different shade of gray on his hooves.

(Those details at the edges get me again!)

As for the conversation going on about the fact that this run appears to have been manufactured in New Jersey and not China, there’s something to be said about that. But as you might suspect, my line of thought runs a little contrary to popular opinion.

I am a little concerned about mold maintenance, especially with older molds (the Hesses) that are basically handcrafted artisan pieces. (Most of the “loss of mold detail” that gets complained about is actually overly-enthusiastic post-molding finish work, though.) And I do wish that they had another layer of Quality Control to catch a higher percentage of the garden variety “oopsies” before they get on the boat.

While I am not happy with the idea that the bulk of production has moved overseas, I haven’t had any significant issues with models made in China either – or at least, not any more problems compared to U.S. production pieces, on average. (I’ve sent a few things back, but it’s not a regular occurrence.)

Some of the issues we do see are a result of higher expectations, and the ever-more-complicated paint jobs that are a consequence of that.

Part of the research that I do on a semi-regular basis (i.e. when I get time to do it) is writing down detailed descriptions of the paint jobs for each release. Early releases can get summed up in a couple of sentences. A typical vintage Charcoal:

Body-shaded Charcoal, brown undertones; masked white mane and tail; four stockings, airbrushed, with pink hooves; extensive bald face, airbrushed, with pinked muzzle and nostrils, with some gray shading in nostrils; gloss black eyes, sometimes with hand-painted eyewhites.

But Darjeeling’s color description? That one’s going to be so long it might have a subplot. The more complicated something is, the easier it is for things to go wrong.

As to why some Web Specials – like Wailua, and previously the Croi Damsha Bramble of Berry Pony fame – are now being made here, I think it’s simply a matter of math.

It’s not cost-effective to do paint jobs at that level and (relatively) error-free on higher production Regular Run models that are supposed to retail in the 40-50 dollar range.

For a low production Special Run that retails for 160-180 dollars, however? Then it would be, especially since the purchasers of those particular pieces are expecting something close to perfect. Producing those items in the U.S. will cost more, but the extra costs will be offset by the reduced number of returns and customer service calls.

So no, I don’t see this as a harbinger of large-scale production returning the U.S. any time soon. All I am seeing is that the maximum quantity threshold for U.S. production has increased from around 200 to around 350. Maybe even a little higher than that (up to Club-level quantities?) but not much.