Monday, September 10, 2012

Newest Member of the Body Box Gang

The two clues for the next Vintage Club release are "Family matters" and "Showcased".  Neither one seems very helpful.

"Showcased" may be referring to the Showcase Collection from the early 1970s, a packaging scheme that included pretty much every equine Breyer being manufactured at the time. And while the first thing that comes to mind with the word "family" is "Family Arabians", it could also refer to the Clydesdale Family (for Dandy?) or the Running Family (for Salt and Pepper?)

See. Unhelpful. Since the Running Stallion was one of the voting choices for next year, and the last release was a two-piece,  I’m leaning towards the Family Arabians, possibly in a straight up Decorator color like Copenhagen or Wedgewood Blue.

The Family Arabians also happened to come in their own unique packaging in the late 1960s. Collectors call it the touchability box, but I wouldn’t put it past Reeves to conflate it with the clear plastic Showcase boxes.


I almost completely missed the mark last time, so make of my guess what you will.

Not much at the flea market again this weekend, but I did rescue this poor old guy, who cost me little more than some couch cushion money:


Chipped ears, nail polished hooves, and lots of rubs in the gray. (But oddly, still snowy white!) He had also apparently been around more than a few flea markets before he hit mine, since the sticker had been on him so long it had left a stain.

Roughed up, used up and left behind? I know the feeling, buddy.

I was going to toss him on my saleslist, but then I decided he’s seen enough of the road. I don’t already have a Gloss Alabaster Fighter, either. I did, once, but stupid me sold it for some reason I can’t remember.

Hobbyists get all bent out of shape hunting down the Sorrels and the Glossy Bays, but forget that the #31 Gloss Alabaster Fighting Stallion is almost as rare: it was only in production (roughly) from 1960/61 through 1962, and replaced in 1963 with the #30 Matte White. For years it was assumed that the Gloss Alabaster was just the early variation of the Matte White, until enough early ephemera (including the 1961 Catalog Insert pages) surfaced to establish that they were, in fact, two separate releases.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I had a streak of good luck last month. I had a non model horse friend text me a picture of some Breyers at a flea market. I looked at the pic and nearly fell out of my chair. There was a glossy alabaster Mustang in the lot. And with I price of 10$ I quickly told her to snag him. Once he got to me I realized he had red eyes and was in PERFECT condition. Very rarely am I lucky at the flea markets. Although I did luck out getting about 20 SMs that were Sear's SRs from the early to mid nineties for 15$ last fall :)