The Birthday Horse

Had a quiet, boring birthday: homemade birthday cake and steak. Steak was a little overdone, but hey, steak is steak.

I briefly considered buying a horse or two, but the closest I got to that was a copy of Duel for the Crown: Affirmed, Alydar and Racing’s Greatest Rivalry, in a brief shopping spree at the Barnes and Noble. I also picked up a couple of quilting magazines and a copy of Christopher Moore’s latest (because it’s Christopher Moore).

It has occurred to me that I haven’t introduced you all yet to the horse that started it all - on my birthday, way too long ago for me to admit. My Chalky Traditional Man o’ War:

He’s the only model I ever had Peter Stone sign for me, personally. All my other signed horses I have either came that way, or were made specifically for Signing Party Events.

My Man o’ War was the only model I had that I felt merited the honor of his signature. By the time Peter had started doing Signing Parties, I already had his signature on the multiple letters that he had sent in reply to my (all too numerous) annoying letters to Breyer.

And besides, I had seen - and heard of - other hobbyists bringing multiple models to these events, and that made me a bit uncomfortable. I didn’t want to be one of those people, you know? I didn’t need someone’s signature on something to make it more valuable.

So I had signed the only model that I owned that truly had no price.

He’s still in relatively good shape, except for the blaze on his face. A seam split was forming there, and back before I knew better, I tried fixing it with nail polish remover. So now he has …a much bigger blaze.

I didn’t exactly get him for my birthday; the story is a little more complicated than that. Several months prior to that birthday I had been hospitalized with appendicitis, which in turn had enough complications that I ended up with a footlong scar and two weeks vacation from school.

The only other awesome thing about the ordeal - besides the vacation - was that everyone not only remembered my birthday, but sent money, too! I can’t remember the exact amount I received, but it seemed like a fortune to a nine year old.

So I went to Circus World - a local toy store chain - on my special day, and bought a pair of roller skates and the Man o’ War. Because I loved horse racing! And I thought he was pretty.

Dad approved of my choice. He loved horse racing as a kid, too.

I finally decided to take the plunge and join the model horse world right around the time of the Affirmed-Alydar Triple Crown duel, a few years later. It wasn’t the primary motivator, but it definitely played a part in getting me here.

The roller skates were eventually cobbled onto a homemade scooter made out of a couple of two-by-fours, painted green, and decorated with leftover stickers my Uncle Fred had given me from his Record-of-the-Month Club subscription.

I could have sworn that I still had those roller skates somewhere, though my brother says we sold the scooter they were attached to ages ago, at a yard sale. Probably to someone who thought they were buying some fabulous piece of American Folk Art.

Which would be ironic, if it were to be so, because Dad was the only member of the family who considered himself utterly uncreative. (Not that it was true, but that was what he believed.)

Old School Tests

Here he is - one of my favorite Test Colors:

He was purchased in a box lot with a No Muscle Woodgrain Clydesdale, and the Suckling Foal from the 1982/3 Sears Wishbook Special Run Bay Pinto Mare and Foal set.

As I mentioned before, the Clydesdale appears to be a standard #980 Clydesdale, but the Foal - also still trapped in storage limbo - has socks on the wrong ("opposite" of the standard) legs. It's an uncommon, but not unknown variation for that release.

The lot was purchased from a lady living in a suburb of Chicago that at one point was also the mailing address for Just About Horses, so I am assuming that this model - and possibly the group - may have come directly from the factory, and not purchased elsewhere.

This Classic Andalusian Stallion is not in the best shape (though better than the condition I received him in) and that also argues in favor of a gift/compensation/employee theory. Stuff you get for free from work is going to be treated a little less gently than something you had to pay cash money for.

He’s fairly typical of the kind and quality of Test Colors I have in my collection, which are mostly odd bits of flotsam and jetsam I’ve accumulated over the years. Some from eBay, some from friends, some from the body boxes at BreyerFest…

(Yes, really. Take a closer look inside those boxes next time, ladies and gents.)

Most of these things would get laughed out of the showring today. Too many hobbyists, I think, now associate Test Colors almost exclusively with items in the BreyerFest Benefit Auction. In reality, most Tests were/are more like the odd cast of characters I’ve assembled. They are not always pretty, or show quality, or even of significant financial value.

I mean, I could get a fairly decent price for this guy because he’s a bit fancy for an "Old School" Test Color, but it’d be nothing like the prices garnered for many of the de facto Factory Customs they sell at auction nowadays.

It is worth noting that many - if not most - of the models in the auctions are Test Colors. But they are also gussied up and given a higher degree of finishing than an average Test Color from the Days of Yore.

He is, as I just noticed, one of five Test Colors I have in some shade of Chocolate Milk Sorrel. This was not intentional, I assure you. When it comes to Tests, I can't afford to be picky - literally! I buy what I find, and what I can afford.

As for how many Test Colors I have in the collection, I genuinely don’t know. I suppose it depends on how you define the term.

More on Woodgrain Variations

Keeping it light today, as I’ll be on the road for most of it.

Following up on the comments in the previous post, yes, there is a Variation of the Fighting Stallion that comes without markings. I’ve seen enough of them - just missed getting one on eBay, not too long ago - that I think it’s safe enough to call it a legitimate Variation, and not merely a natural (accidental, day-to-day) one.

The Woodgrain Fighting Stallion was in production from ca. 1960/1 through 1973, about twice as long as the Family Arabians. Anything in production that long is going to have some variation in the run, intentional or not.

I have had a lot of Woodgrain Fighting Stallions over the years, but my favorite is Smudgy. Remember Smudgy the Woodgrain?

Definitely a small-v variation. I haven’t seen anything else like him, except for some early attempts by faux finishers to replicate Woodgrain. Smudgy’s definitely the real deal - I see no evidence of tampering anywhere on him. His finish is fine, smooth, his markings are perfect, and he still has most of his footpads. But he looks more marbled than woodgrained.

Near as I can guess, either he was a salvage job on an otherwise subpar woodgraining job, or the product of some serious goofing off at the factory. Or maybe they were experimenting with a more "realistic" Woodgrain finish that day. Don’t have a clue, I’m just glad he’s here.

Truth be told, I don’t have a whole lot of Woodgrains here at the Ranch. Other than the Family Arabians, and my assortment of Fighters (light, dark, Ranchcraft Lamp, Smudgy…) all I have I either obtained at the flea market (Shetland Pony, Boxer, Running Mare and Foal Lamp) or in box lots on eBay (Racehorse, No Muscle Clydesdale Stallion).

And a Brahma Bull with a Tenite sticker that I bought in a fit of pique, because I wanted to buy something scarce and pretty and not in need of any significant repairs, for a change.

So nothing exquisitely rare or desirable, as far as Woodgrains go. Unless Smudgy counts.

My Clydesdale might, too.

The Clydesdale was purchased in a lot with a Test Color Classic Andalusian Stallion and a variation of a Christmas Catalog Special Run. As far as I can see physically, there’s nothing to suggest that the Clydesdale is anything other than what he appears to be: a standard, production run #980 Clydesdale.

However, the fact that his box lot buddies were so unusual, and the seller’s address was in suburban Chicago, make me wonder if he’s something more. I didn’t follow up with the seller as I should have, and I haven’t had the chance to pick up a Woodgrain No Muscle Clydesdale with a more conventional pedigree to compare, either. So for the time being he remains an average, run-of-the-factory Woodgrain Clydesdale with an intriguing provenance.

But back to the other suspect Woodgrains in the last post.

I find their lack of markings a little suspicious because Woodgrain Variations, outside of the occasional obvious cull, are rather unusual. The variations that do occur are more a matter of color or quality of woodgraining - like Smudgy. (Also occasionally, as in the case of the Clydesdale, one of mold.) When unusual or distinct Woodgrains do show up, they sell quickly, and for not insubstantial amounts of money.

(Smudgy is not going anywhere. Don’t even think about it.)

As I said before, I haven’t heard of or seen Five-Gaiter or Mustang Woodgrains without markings, which means that they’re rarer than the Fighters, which themselves aren’t easy to find. This suggests to me that if any exist at all, they’re either Tests or genuine Oddballs.

Pictures of the Classic Andalusian Test, next time.

(The Woodgrain Clyde is currently not in the display rotation, and the basement is in the process of being prepped for painting, so storage excavating is not an option right now.)

Easter Eggs

Spent the Easter weekend cleaning up the yard, and the office. When either endeavor began to frustrate, I had another one of my "Why isn’t this one done yet?" quilt projects to distract me.

Once all three projects are completed, I’ll move on to BreyerFest stuff.

I made good progress on all three because I’ve been trying to limit the computer time. Just too many aggravating hobby personalities and situations I don’t want to deal with, even in the most passive ways.

Except for one. While I don’t have a vested interest in any of the locations for next year’s NAN, as it is unlikely that I’d be able to attend regardless, I am extremely curious to see how the current NAMHSA crisis du jour turns out.

I have had my issues with NAMHSA - I think they spend too much time focusing on an end result (the "Big Show") and not enough time focusing on foundational issues (like the reason and purpose of The Show in the first place). Some of the individuals in charge have occasionally fallen into my personal "don’t want to deal with" group.

Yet curiously, and unlike a lot of hobbyists, I think everything will be fine in the end. The existence of dysfunction is not the problem: stuff happens, no matter how much or how well you plan. How the dysfunction is dealt with is the truer measure of judging an organization's viability.

Maybe I’m a little inured to some of the drama because I’ve been in the hobby long enough to have seen most of it before. I’ve also dealt with similar issues in other interests of mine and know it is not unique to us. (Google "SFWA Controversies" if you want to see some real hair-raising stuff. And today, apparently, the 2014 Hugo nominations. Yikes!)

You made it this far with my pontificating, so here are a couple of pictures from Marney’s Album, as conciliatory Easter Eggs. Notice anything odd about them?

No socks! There are a number of photos of Woodgrains in the album, all taken around the same time frame (1970-1971). While some of the pieces are undoubtedly true Production Runs, these two pictures - and a few others - make me wonder if these were Test Colors, or something, on Marney’s part.

Woodgrains had been largely discontinued at that point - only the Fighter remained in production by 1970 - but we know that Special Run Woodgrains were being made in the late 1960s and into the early 1970s for the Dunning Industries Ranchcraft line.

It’s hard to identify those later Special Run Woodgrains, absent their presence on lamps, because there’s no way of distinguishing them from earlier releases. We only know that Non-Fighting Stallion Woodgrains were manufactured (and not simply pulled from warehouse backstock) after 1966/7 because Running Mare and Foal lamps can be found with USA marks, as well as Woodgrains of molds that simply didn’t exist prior, such as the Polled Hereford Bull.

All of the other Woodgrains in the album are on molds that had been released as Woodgrains before, so they could all be items from her collection that she had picked up elsewhere.

Yet there are other photos in the album of pieces that are clearly attempts at reproducing vintage molds in vintage colors, like the Old Mold Mares I’ve mentioned here before.

There will never be any definitive proof unless one of those album pieces does show up - and only if it has a USA mark. I haven't seen or heard of any so far, but I’ve seen a lot of unlikely things, especially lately.

On Shermans, Past and Present

Felt a bit weepy earlier this week, but in a good way: I got a letter from the organization that I donated Sherman (my late car, the Saturn Station Wagon) to, and they ended up selling him already, and for way more than I expected. Aside from the bigger tax credit, which is nice, it was good to hear that someone saw that much potential in him.

Have a happy second life, Sherman.

Another Sherman entered the scene this week - the Silver Filigree one just announced as part of the SR lineup for BreyerFest. I’m not as into the Sherman Morgan mold as some hobbyists are, but he looks fabulous in that color, and I still don’t have an example of the mold with the newer tail yet.

I did find myself inexplicably drawn to a Rose Gray Baxter I found on eBay last week while shopping for something else. I wouldn’t mind the Gloss Bay QVC release, either, but I’m always either just missing him or getting sniped.

While I’m glad to see their photography skills are improving, is it just me or is that not the worst Photoshop clipping path, ever? I thought the Warehouse Find Chestnut Halla/Bolya picture looked bad: poor Shermie looks like he’s melting.

I can do better in five minutes with a ten-year-old copy of Photoshop and a cludgy mouse (Drawing tablet and stylus? Feh, for amateurs!) As could a substantial portion of the hobby, and possibly Vita. Baby steps, I suppose.

So I pulled the trigger and bought the second ticket. My first choices will be Gossamer, Sherman, and at least one Surprise. Second choices will include the Bears and the Appaloosa Carrick. There’s still one more Line Ticket item to be revealed, and the Surprise potentially being something I’d rather not deal with (cough Silver mold cough) so it could change.

(Not the Gossamer though. That one’s non-negotiable.)

Some of the Anniversary store items are starting to be leaked, too - the Plushie, the Crystal Alborozo, a Decoratory "new" Classic that basically a plastic version of the Sir Buckingham mold, and a Pink G3 Highland Pony covered in sprinkles that I Must Have. (A Cupcake, with sprinkles! Gah!)

There’s another obvious thing for you: individual Stablemate Store Specials. They could make at least a thousand of those, and sell ‘em out. I could see it as a good item for tourists passing through the Park on actual vacation who might want to get their kids a little memento of the event, without committing to something bigger or more expensive.

Not realizing, of course, that Stablemates multiply, and grow, and the next thing they know the family’s computer has some strange new bookmarks and there are printouts of the newest Web Specials just sort of sitting casually on the kitchen table in the morning, and….

Stablemates are the hobby's gateway drug. So cute, so little, so seemingly harmless.

Bears, Obviously

The Special Run Bear Family Kodiak and Denali took me by surprise; I was thinking the Deer or maybe the German Shepherd/Rin Tin Tin had a better shot at BreyerFest Special Run-dom.

No complaints, though. They look very nicely done, and there haven’t been any Special Runs on the set ever, though the Cub alone has come in some Wal-mart Mustang sets. They make sense, too, for a Silver Anniversary: they’re Silvertip Grizzly Bears, duh!

Like most of the more recent Nonhorse Specials, they’ll likely be a small quantity release. Around 400-500 sets, if not less. That’s no guarantee of a sell-out, though the initial reaction to them seems very positive.

I have most of the Bears - all but some variations and the most recent releases - so I am definitely considering them. Unlike some of the Nonhorse molds, they’re relatively easy (though occasionally pricey) molds to collect. Though I have had a bit of a time trying to upgrade my 1960’s era Brown Bear. With that textured hairy coat, both molds are prone to rubs, but the Brown Bear Mamas I find around tend to be in much worse shape than all the others.

Don’t know why that is - I just chalk it up as a weird regional thing. I’ll find one eventually, no rush there. The flea market opens this week, so hope springs anew.

I’m still mulling over getting another ticket though. I usually buy two, but so far I’ve only bought one, and no other tickets appear to be forthcoming by other means.

It’s not a lack of enthusiasm that’s staying my hand, it’s that I’ve already bought more than I expected to this year. I told myself at the start of the year that I needed to sell more and buy less, but with my ongoing work-life scheduling issues, I haven’t been able to sell a darn thing since December.

And I had to spend my rare and glorious weekend off dealing with other, almost overdue things. Like finishing my taxes, and finally wrapping up a sewing project I’ve been picking at since October. (That Imperial Fan Quilt I started back in 2012. ‘Nuff said.)

We’ll just have to wait and see what this week holds. 

The Same, But Different

Another day that was longer than necessary. Sigh. But I did find another BreyerFesty thing at the Salvation Army on the way home. And when I did get home, I channeled my remaining frustrations into something also necessary - and overdue: I cleaned off the deck.

I’ll call the day a wash.

I only had a chance to open up one of the Reissues, but it was the one I was most excited about - the Pacer! And he didn’t disappoint:

Dark, more shading, more metallic, a differently colored hoof - and just look at that beautiful face! If you’re a fan of the Pacer mold, I highly recommend going forth and buying one.

I already have a Strike Out - the model that this is a Reissue of - though there’s a slight possibility that I don’t. It was a model I picked up in the sales tent many years ago, before the NPOD became a "thing". Back then they’d occasionally have loose (bagged, not boxed) recent Regular and Special Runs just sitting in unsorted piles on tables.

They didn’t look any different from the models they claimed to be on the bag labels - and back then, we didn’t give too much thought otherwise. There was no way to tell if these were true "Samples" or just loose models that they happened to have lying around the warehouse or offices.

This was pre-VIN numbers, and before anyone put much effort into looking for handwritten notations. I did find a few with notes or initials on them, that most of my hobby compadres found more curious than noteworthy.

Being a fan of the Pacer mold, and in need of that particular release, I bought the Strike Out. I picked up a few others, too; Pretty Buck, and the Bay Quarter Horse from the 2001 JC Penney’s Riding Academy Set both come to mind, both purchased mostly because I liked the coloring on them. The prices were good - comparable to Traditional Regular Runs, perhaps a tad cheaper - so whether they were something special or not wasn’t that much of a consideration. I bought them because I liked them, plain and simple.

So I may, or may not have a Sample Strike Out. One of these days I’ll have to pick up another and see if there’s anything significantly different from mine. I doubt it, but you never know, with these things. (Yes, I kept the labels they came with. Because ephemera.)

Vanilla is Good, Too

That’s all I’m saying about today: that box of Reissues can’t arrive soon enough. I’m so opening all the boxes and going full carpet herd with them.

Anyway, happier thoughts. Like the latest in what appears to be an unending stream of Store Specials - Novelisto D!

It’s yet another variation of the Brishen Multi-Mold, with the original Brishen mane and tail, but the Laredo legs.

And I like him. The front legs still give off that "Barbie Horse" vibe, but the combination of the various parts, with the plain - yet elegant - glossy White/Alabaster paint job is wonderful. It appears that I’m not the only one who thinks so. He seems to have jumped (or flown?) onto a lot of hobbyists’ To-Buy lists, too.

We haven’t seen many plain, unfancified White or Alabaster paint jobs in recent years; most Aged Gray or White models nowadays have some embellishment to them. They’re Chalkied, Pearled, Dappled, Shaded, or some combination thereof.

Some of them have been quite beautiful; the BreyerFest Pecos and the Gladwin Lucky Lady are both big favorites in my barn.

But sometimes, plain old vanilla is good too. The first "Vintage" model I ever saw - one that I hadn’t seen in a store or in a catalog - was a Matte Alabaster Family Arabian Stallion. A classmate on the bus took one to school one day, and I was entranced. Shortly afterwards we struck up a conversation, and many entertaining lunch room conferences were had, often spend ogling over the latest Breyer Collector’s Manual.

She and her friend even showed their models, which blew my mind and led me to finally subscribe to Just About Horses, which led me … here. So I guess it shouldn’t shock that I have about a half dozen variations of that model now: Gloss, to Matte, to Special Run. It wasn’t intentional, not at first.

Novelisto D is the horse that played the part of Athansor, a mystical, time-traveling flying horse in the recent film adaptation of Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale.

I read the novel not long after it came out - because it was a fantasy novel with a horse in it, duh! While I was impressed with the beauty of the language and the scope of the story, the novel I read shortly after - John Crowley’s Little, Big - had a much bigger impact on me, emotionally and artistically. Even if it did have fewer flying horses in it.

The Winter’s Tale film came and went, which is what I expected to happen; it’s not the kind of book that’s easily adaptable to a compact two-hour theatrical release. Genre fantasy is a tough sell cinematically, but literary fantasy even moreso. Because of my schedule, I didn’t get a chance to see the film in its brief theatrical run, but I’ll be more than happy to add the horse to my herd in the meantime.

Oh No, Not Again - Again!

I had heard rumors about as-yet-unreleased Reissues being spotted at the Factory Tours during the latest Exclusive Event, but I hadn’t given them much thought. I assumed that they’d spring them on us the way they did last year. You know, just setting them out in the Sales Tent, no announcements or nothing.

Nope. Say hello to the latest Warehouse Finds.

I swear I did not know they were being released on the web site this week, just a few days after I mentioned my hunch. I had a hunch something was coming because we had the White Moose Ghost in March of last year, and the Buried Treasure Lusitano in April the year before.

Logic and recent history.

Sometimes, though, I feel like Reeves is punking me. (Decorator Khemos? Let’s do it! Another web site surprise? Let's move it up to this week!)

So anyway, I bought a Pacer and an Old Timer. because those are molds on my "Approved to Buy" List. I picked up a Sucesion and LeFire too because I’ve been wanting to upgrade my set for a long time, and the prices for them on eBay have been out of my league.

430006 Quarter Horse - Blue Roan (AQHA Horse)
430007 Standardbred - Chestnut (Pacer)
430010 Thoroughbred - Chestnut (Halla/Bolya)
430011 Arabian Mare and Foal (Sucesion and LeFire)
430012 Redmond - Bay (Midnight Sun)
430019 Paint Horse - Bay (Cody/Ranch Horse)
430020 Old Timer - Appaloosa

The Old Timer is sans blinkers and hat, like the Palomino, but it’s too soon to tell just how much the other Reissues vary from the originals, outside of the VIN numbers and better executed paint jobs.

I have a feeling that the Midnight Sun will be the Huck Bey of this group - different enough from the original it was inspired from to qualify as a distinct release on its own. It even has a "real" name as opposed to a generic descriptive one, which I find interesting.

Plus, it’s been 25 years since the original #704 was discontinued, back when Reeves was still having some significant quality control issues. He’ll be different just by virtue of that. (I remember liking the release back then, and having a very hard time finding one that did not have major issues.)

It might be worth noting that this may represent the last official production release of the Midnight Sun mold. Due to the ongoing issues within the real world of Tennessee Walking Horses, there hasn’t been an official production release of the Midnight Sun mold since the last Special Run was made for WCHE in 2002.

The only other Midnight Suns we’ve seen in the meantime have been either auction pieces, or the Unpainted ones Reeves has periodically tried to sell us at BreyerFest.

Those "Whiteware" collections might be the key to figuring out what Reissues may be coming down the pipeline in the future. (There are gaps in the Reissue numbering system that still haven’t been accounted for yet. Seems inevitable to me.) The last boxed Whiteware sets included the following molds:

• Sucesion and LeFire
• Gem Twist
• Belgian
• Cody/Ranch Horse
• Midnight Sun
• Clock Saddlebred
• Clydesdale Mare
• Family Arabian Stallion
• Stock Horse Stallion (original tail)
• Shetland Pony
• Western Prancing Horse

Six of the twelve have turned up as Reissues! So I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of the other six show up soon. Gem Twist seems the most likely choice, but I would be most excited about the Western Prancing Horse. (Another one on my Buy List!)

Reeves has disabled the parts of the inventory system that allowed us to figure out the rough counts, but (no surprise) the Sucesion and LeFire sets are already gone. Everything else still seems to be available, though.

In On The Joke

Tuesday was not shaping up to be the best day of my week; alarm clocks should not be allowed to be set to go off at 2:30 a.m.

And it just about lived up to my expectations. I’ll spare you the particulars; it felt like the kind of day that was constantly running up to me, poking me in the eye, and running off.

The day was almost salvaged with a couple of side trips to stores with excellent Breyer selections; I didn’t buy anything, but just looking at pretty horses did wonders for my mood.

On the way home, I stopped at a couple of thrift stores too, and found one wonderful not-a-horse thing that gave me crazy ideas about a certain contest entry - putting me in an almost giddy mood, I daresay. Take that, Tuesday!

When I arrived home, however, I made the mistake of reading the online comments to Breyer’s April Fool’s Day joke about Khemosabi.

Whatever holidays you want to celebrate I am completely fine with - especially if chocolate cake is involved. I’m rather fond of Towel Day, myself.

But I have always - and continue to be - apprehensive about April Fool’s Day. It’s not just that it hurts people who either cognitively or philosophically obligated to accept everything they see, hear and read at face value, but that some people will continue to believe the joke or prank was real - no matter what the evidence (or the perpetrator!) says.

The hobby seems especially prone to this (certain Yahoo Groups spring to mind). Not only is it painful to witness, it leads to lots and lots of posts refuting bad data

Look, Reeves is VERY aware of Khemosabi’s awfulness, and they've known about it for a very long time. I know for a fact that they considered retooling the mold as early as 1992. I was a party to a conversation back then with the Powers That Be.

Really, no fooling.

Think about it: he’s only been used twice since his original release - once as a Christmas Horse, and second in that crazy Dappled Rose Gray that I mentioned before. Neither one I’d consider a "realistic" release.

There is a tiny bit of truth to the prank: this single set of models will be made available at BreyerFest - via the Silent Auction. Judging from the reaction I’ve been seeing on Blab, the set will be fetching a healthy price, too. I might put in a bid, just for the heck of it.

And who knows? If the interest keeps up, we just might end up with a Silver Filigree Khemo for Christmas.