Another Marney Mystery Model

Here’s another treasure from the same garage sale that produced my "unblue" Buckshot:


Neat, eh? In case you are unversed in early Breyer Action Stock Horse Foals, here’s what a standard, factory run Bay Pinto should look like:


Another example of what just a little black paint can do!

He was in a box with a small cohort of similarly painted ASHFs. I can’t remember the exact number - more than three, definitely less than ten. I rummaged through the box for the nicest example, and put him in my buy pile with the Buckshot.

Like the Buckshot, he’s another one of those unclassifiable creatures who passed through Marney’s hands. Were they culls she happened to rescue and touch up? Test colors? Or a variation that was considered for production?

I admit I rather like the notion that they were a variation considered for production. The timeline makes it a plausible idea: the mold was introduced in 1984, and I found and acquired him in 1985. There were all sorts of crazy things stashed in every nook and cranny of the old Chicago factory - often dating back several years - so it’s conceivable that they could have been tucked away in some forgotten corner for a mere year or so.

As with most Marney models though, I have no idea. They could have been mistakes, pulled from the production line before they were boxed for shipment. Maybe Marney had plans for these little ones that never came to fruition: intended as live show prizes, raffle or auction items, or gifts.

Or she could have had no input on these models at all. The Stock Horse Family may have been her "pet project" at Breyer, and she pretty much had free rein to do whatever she wanted at the factory, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she had any hand in these particular models. It’s just as likely that they were just another part of the debris she found while cleaning out the factory.

That garage sale was an overwhelming event for everyone involved, and I can’t recall if anyone else noticed the specialness of those Foals that day. (At least one other did survive, so I have my suspicions.) However, most of the items within Marney’s garage were considered bodies, so it’s possible that some of them were sacrificed on the altar of creativity.

Only time will tell.