Not What She Seems

One of the advantages of switching to overnights at work for the time being is that I’ve managed to miss most of the drama involving Copperfox. It’s kind of hard getting angry or righteous at 7 a.m. in the morning, after working the previous 12 hours.

As for my opinions of the matter itself, I’ll have to decline on commenting, as I was once in a very similar position myself many years ago. Nothing that progressed to the point of incurring any legal or financial burdens, fortunately, but it did provide me some insight and and a certain degree of circumspection.

Here’s another little nugget I unearthed recently:

At first glance, she looks like a Buckskin Touch of Class. Since the Touch of Class mold was never released in Buckskin, either as a Regular or Special Run, the first assumption would be that she’s either a Test Color or a variation, right?

Well, that’s what I thought when I bought her, too. You don't see many Tests, Variations or Oddities of the Touch of Class; she's not the most popular of molds, so she doesn't get around much. As you likely know by now, I sort of have a thing for Tests and Oddities on unpopular things, so I was somewhat excited when I came across her on the Internet some time ago.

However, when I received her it was very obvious that she was a Shrinky who had color shifted in a particularly appealing way: to a Golden Buckskin, instead of the more typical Greenish or Grayish variety.

Funny how slight changes in the paint formulas can lead to such different chemical reactions!

It's probably a moot point with this Touch of Class, since she's not the kind of thing most hobbyists would take to a show anyway, but I've often wondered how we'd classify something like her.

While it has some similarities to the situation we have with older Breyer Palominos, in this case the color has changed not from one shade to another, but from one thing (Bay) to another thing (Buckskin).

Yes, I am aware that Buckskin is a dilution of Bay, genetically, but we're talking paint and intent here. She wasn't meant to be Buckskin: when she came out of the factory, she was a run-of-the-mill Bay. It was a fortunate combination of chemistry and environment made her the way she is today.

Perhaps we can create a "fun" class for Bloaties, Shrinkies, and other ne'er-do-wells who would otherwise be collectible? We all have a few environmentally-challenged beloveds in the herd just itching to get in the ring, even if only in jest...

I wouldn’t mind seeing a Touch of Class in this color for reals, but considering the lack of popularity of this mold, it seems to be a ways off. Especially since she was just released this year in flaxen chestnut in the new #1727 "Let’s Go Racing" set.