Another Old Favorite, Reconsidered

After a week of hard travelling for work, it’s nice to have a weekend off. Except for my usual trip to the flea market, I don’t plan on leaving the “pajama perimeter” until Monday.

Yes, I am actually looking forward to a weekend filled with paperwork and BreyerFest prep!

(“Pajama Perimeter” is a term we use in this house to describe all the places we consider acceptable to wear pajamas outdoors. Basically: the yard, up to the mailbox, and up and down the road to walk the dog.)

Speaking of the flea market, the pickings continue to be slim, though I think I’ve figured out why. If the weather cooperates, I’ll be taking some measures to correct the problem. Not that I need to plump up the sales list any further; I’ve been getting my fix from other sources, so I’m doing all right. But more is always better.

Since I am not particularly talkative today, and preoccupied with other horsey business, here’s a picture of an old favorite of mine who has been on my mind a lot lately:

He’s the Dark Palomino Special run from the 1980s, with a white mane and tail. There were a lot of Special Run Belgians at that time, and the Dark Palomino – along with the “Yellow” Palomino – was among the harder ones to acquire.

Nevertheless, he’s rarely that expensive when he shows up for sale now. Some of that is due to the fact that there are a lot of SR Belgians to choose from of the same time period, and visually he’s close enough to other Regular Runs and Special Runs that he doesn’t stand out.

The rest of it is that he’s a Vintage mold, with a relatively small fan base, who takes up a large amount of shelf space. In spite of his sheer rarity (a mere 200-piece run) he’s just not cool or fashionable as a Strapless or an S Justadream.

The Belgian mold, lately and in general, has been a bit of a bargain on the secondary market. (The Five-Gaiter, too, oddly enough.) I don’t know how many times I’ve been tempted in recent months by the rather cheap Dapple Grays that have been all over eBay.

(Except for the Black Dapple variations. Those are considered so distinctive – if not iconic – that I doubt they’ll ever be cheap.)

If I had a bit more money to spend, I would have given in and bought one, or two. The original Gloss Dapple Gray Belgian is one of those pieces that always seems to hover just a little bit out of my reach.

I guess I’m still holding out hope that a pretty and even cheaper one turns up locally, someday.