As you know, I rarely pay “market price” for vintage models: it’s just not in me to do it, even when I have the funds available. I also have the advantage of living in an area where I can find stuff real cheap; I’ve found that if I wait long enough, I’ll find almost anything, eventually.
(Except Decorators, Presentation Series models, and Liver Chestnut Quarter Horse Yearlings. The last one baffles me.)
Anyway, a “perfect” Yellow Mount’s been on my grail list for a while, and in the run-up to Mr. Perfect here I’ve acquired a couple of pretty decent fellows, including one that’s possibly a painting sample of some sort. But other models (and other things) took priority – and whenever a beautiful Yellow Mount did show up on my radar, I’d put in a token effort and let it go whenever my bid or offer was inevitably superseded.
I figured one would show up locally, eventually. It would probably take a while, since Yellow Mounts aren’t nearly as common around here as Adioses are.
In short: while I wanted it, it never felt like the time to fight for it, until this one came up. Since I had the funds, and a serious need to buy something special (I’ve been so good!) I bid my max… and got him.
Yellow Mount debuted in 1970, the last year that the Blue Ribbon Sticker was in use, making Yellow Mounts like this one among the earliest examples made in a pretty lengthy run (from 1970-1987).
He does have the USA mark; the USA mark started showing up on Breyer models at some point in 1970, since many new models and releases that debuted that year came without it – like my Liver Chestnut Quarter Horse Yearling, who I had to buy at BreyerFest one year because I could never find one in these parts, either…
(… though she didn’t cost me nearly as much as the Yellow Mount!)
I’m not sure if I’ve ever actually seen a Yellow Mount without the USA mark, but I wouldn’t rule out the possibility. If I did find one, it’d just be another addition to my Yellow Mount collection, and most definitely not a replacement for this guy.
7 comments:
Wow, congrats on the gorgeous Yellow Mount! He was one of my very first models (I think my very first were the Classic Mustang Family) and Yellow Mount (I named mine Misty!) was the favorite horse in my collection throughout my childhood. He was played with hard and eventually broke a leg but I still have him. Mine was closer to the end of the run, early to mid-80's, and doesn't have the forearm spot. Anyway, he's one of my favorite Breyers ever!
I rarely ever find any good deals on Breyers, I mean maybe once every 10-20 years. But I HAVE found two decorators "in the wild." Weird how things work. I would love to live in an abundant Breyer area but they are pretty scarce in my area of the Southwest. Still, I've found a few good things.
I have a Yellow Mount without the USA mark. Can send pictures if you want. I got it new back in 1970. It is the forearm spot version.
I too have a really nice Yellow Mount with mint sticker who has no USA so they do exist!
the white looks very, very white. Is he a chalky to boot?
Congrats on the grail -- he's lovely.
Thanks for the confirmation on the no USA ones - I was pretty sure they existed, but I didn't want to give a thumbs up to something I haven't seen in person, yet.
And he's not chalky, he's just snowy white. Such a handsome man!
I also have one with no USA, and a dorsal stripe to boot! But no sticker. Yours is lovely, congrats!
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