Pinto Decorators

Looks like they’re going to go ahead and do the full reveal on the Vintage Club after all. Say hello to ol’ Bubble Butt Belgian himself, Josiah, in Wedgewood Blue Pinto:

(I see that some clever hobbyists have figured out the origins of his name.)

Pinto and Appaloosa Decorators are not an unusual sight nowadays as Regular Runs, Special Runs and Test Colors. But prior to the Reeves Era (1985-present) the four “classic” Decorator colors – Golden Charm, Gold Florentine, Wedgewood Blue and Copenhagen Blue – were strictly solids.

Although there have been rumors of Chicago Era (pre-1985) Pinto Decorators for years, I have not seen one personally.

That doesn’t mean they don’t exist – as always, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence – but guys, you know I’ve seen things. If I haven’t seen it – or heard from credible and unrelated sources – by now, it makes me skeptical.

Especially since most of the Chicago Era Test Colors I’ve seen tended towards the more realistic, rather than the less so.

And rightly so: hobbyists have no idea just how much of a “flop” the original Decorators were, and how risk-averse Breyer management was to experiment with unrealistic colors in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Even Smokes, Charcoals and Woodgrains were pretty much persona non grata for years, though with the Woodgrains, it was also a matter of the painters not wanting to go back there, thank you very much…

Things are different now: in fact, I sometimes think the pendulum has swung completely in the opposite direction. Especially when it comes to Glossy finishes: it doesn’t take more than five minutes after a new release is posted that someone somewhere online has to make the comment “Oh, but I would look so much better in Gloss!” 

Not always, guys, not always.

(FYI: in case you (understandably) missed it, the toys that got into the Toy Hall of Fame this year were Coloring Books, Matchbox Cars, and Magic: The Gathering.

The first two I am okay with, the third I am a little meh about, and that’s all I am going to say on the matter until comes up again next year…)