A Different Kind of Cat

The Store Special of Diablo DC, a Matte Light Dapple Gray on the Desatado mold isn’t all that surprising – I think most of us were expecting a Desatado release in the mix somewhere. Reeves refers to the Desatado mold as the “Criollo Horse”, and this year’s event is South American-themed.

I’ve passed on or passed along every Desatado that’s come across my path so far, so I’ll have to wait and see on this one before I make a decision. The Matte Alabaster finish is definitely a plus!

(Scroll down to January 22nd. Discussion of beautiful Raffle Model Cinza will be for another day.)

I was just thinking about what this year’s Nonhorse Special Run could be. While it’s likely to be – yet again – another Bull mold of some sort, I continue to hold out hope that Reeves is thinking outside of the box. Yes, I’m hoping for a different “Big Cat” Special Run for Fest this year: perhaps a Jaguar on the Cougar mold?

The Cougar mold has already been released as a BreyerFest Special Run once before, as part of the 750-piece 2002 Set “Bandit and Kohana”, with the now very, very popular Wolf mold. The Cougar mold has been out of production since 2007, and it’s high time for another release, I say.

The Cougar mold was introduced as part of a couple different Walmart Mesteno-Mustang sets in 2001 – Rufo and Diablo, and Azul and Fausto. It was then released in various shades of tan in subsequent sets, eventually getting its own stand-alone Regular Run in 2005-2006, as #3813.

I’ve had a few Cougars over the years – mostly body quality pieces via box lots and flea markets. I’ve since sold all of them too, partly because they were useless for research purposes: they had no context. I had no idea if I was in the possession of a standard issue Cougar from Set A, B or C, or a variation or oddity.

It exposed a hole in my knowledge and I wasn’t comfortable with that.

It’s something I’d like to rectify eventually, but my budget and timing have been conspiring against me on that. (I heard rumor that a few leftovers of the Bandit and Kohana set were in the Ninja Pit last year. Sigh.)

If Reeves thinks a spotted pattern a little too challenging to execute competently – and with the mold’s small size and textured coat, it may well be – I think many of us would be happy with a basic Black Panther. Pair it up with a Classic Horse and Rider and there you go – a Pantanal Play Set!

Probably won’t happen; a Brahma Bull modified into an Indo-Brazilian Bull, with short horns and droopy ears seems more likely:

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/indobrazilian

The Brahma Bull hasn’t been in production since 2004, when the #385 Red Brahma was discontinued. If they can make the necessary horn and ear adjustments to the mold, and since the ears and horns of the Brahma are separately molded parts, I don’t see that being a big technical or financial hurdle.