Dugan

Why yes, I am super-duper excited about the new Special Run Basset Hound Dugan, thanks for asking!

I have no idea how long this particular item has been in the works, but with all the mumbling I made here about not getting a Basset Hound SR as part of last year’s BreyerFest lineup, I’ve been walking around the house like a proud auntie, anyway.

I am not as excited about it (a) being a 40-piece Micro Run, and (b) being up for purchase-raffle. Items so oddly specific as a Gloss Black and Tan Basset Hound should just be straight-up for sale on a first-come, first-serve basis.

And I say that as someone who had to work late on Thursday, and most likely would have missed out if it had been. I’ve had good luck with Micro Runs in the past, so missing one wouldn’t have killed me (probably.)

But anyway, I’m not thrilled by the method of distribution because purchase-raffles on weird rarities like Dugan tend to encourage our more mercenary tendencies. It’s one thing to purchase and resell items from the open market, but doing so with direct sale items is an ethical gray area for me.

Though I am glad to see some hobbyists are marshaling their goodwill and trying to enter for the benefit of hobbyists other than themselves. I’ll play by the rules of the game and see how it turns out.

Dugan is the first “official” Special Run on the Basset Hound mold, and only the fourth official release of the mold ever, which includes the #325 Bloodhound, the #326 Basset Hound, and the #324 Chaser. There are a few Tests and Culls floating around – in fact, I think I saw a cull on eBay just a few weeks back – but they are not common.

However, those four releases would not constitute a complete collection: by my reckoning, you’d need at least three more dogs to do that.

Who are the other three?

The first is the American Interinsurance Exchange Basset Hound: the one with the little sign hanging around its neck by a chain. Although it was an aftermarket creation, they are common and plentiful enough that most avid Breyer Dog collectors consider it a semi-official SR anyway.

The second is a common but distinctive variation of the #326 Basset I like the call the “Sober” one: those are the standard Bassets that don’t have the droopy red eyeliner. As I am not able to pin it to any particular time or outlet, I consider them an incidental/accidental variation and not an intentional one. But like the Interinsurance Dog, it’s common enough – and distinctive enough – to merit inclusion on a want list.

The third is a little more difficult: it’s the Post-Production Special Run of the Bloodhound, made ca. 1970; I believe I wrote a post about his discovery back in May of 2009. These are basically Bloodhounds that were made, likely as a special order, a couple of years after the original Bloodhound was discontinued. It is primarily distinguished by having a USA mold mark, something the Regular Run Bloodhounds will not have; it wasn’t added to the mold until ca. 1970.

The color on those pieces may also be lighter and more Chestnut than Dark Brown, but I only have the one piece to go by, so it might not be a representative sample.

If you want to get real crazy, you could start adding even more variations – the #326 Basset ran from ca. 1969 through 1985, and being a largely hand-airbrushed paint job, subtle and not-so-subtle variations are numerous. Both the Bloodhound and the Basset come with Blue Ribbon Stickers, too, if you look hard enough.

I have quite a few – they were sort of a thing with me for a while, and for some strange reason I don’t think I ever got rid of a single one of them – but I hope I can make room for just one more.