My current favorite thing? Looking for horses on eBay wearing the wrong saddle – not the ubiquitous Western Horse/Western Prancing Horse switch: those, at least, make some kind of sense. It’s the pictures of Family Arabian Foals, Misty, and (my personal favorite) the Bubble-butt Belgian – that get me through my day.
Researching Breyer horses can be hard, so I don’t necessarily fault the sellers, especially if model horses aren’t a regular part of their sales inventory. (Though if I ever see a Poodle with a saddle, I’ll know for sure they’re not even trying…)
But anyway, since I’ve obviously been on a tear with my eBay purchases lately, I was thinking about what other “wish list” items I could possible hope to acquire in the next few months – from eBay or elsewhere. And then I realized it’s probably been staring me in the face the entire time.
The #93 Gloss Dapple Gray Belgian.
Not the Dapple Black variation – that one’s definitely going to take the intervention of a higher power – but the “garden variety” Dapple Gray, made from roughly 1964 through 1966.
There is, naturally, a story to this.
Growing up, the lady that lived on the corner of our street had a Glossy Dapple Gray Belgian in her window, a window I had to walk past literally every day on my way to school.
Back then, any #93 Dapple Gray Belgian – not just the Dapple Black – was the grail of many a model horse collector, with nice examples typically going for $200-250 or more, far more than my model horse budget at the time could spare.
This is partly why a number of the earliest Special Run Belgians from the late 1970s and early 1980s were some form of Dapple Gray. Those of us who could not afford an original settled for a Special Run, instead: so much so that they kept bringing him back in Dapple Gray, again and again!
Eventually our neighbor retired and moved away, and she evidently took the Belgian with her; it definitely wasn’t in the house when we went to her estate sale. (I do not blame her one bit!)
Ever since then, I’ve been hoping that I could find one locally. But alas, it still hasn’t happened yet. And me being me, I’ve been too cheap to buy one retail.
Aside from amusing saddle placements, another thing I have noticed on eBay of late is that there are a ton of Glossy Dapple Gray Belgians for sale right now. Most of them are pretty darn nice too, and almost all of them are under $250. Sometimes significantly so.
That’s less than Appreciation Sale Glossies, and a lot of the more recent Web Specials.
Hmm.
If I hadn’t just dropped a wad of money on the Breyer web site yesterday – for Trailblazer, Jujube and Klaus – I would be much more tempted than I am now. And guys, I am seriously tempted.
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7 comments:
There is hope! I bought mine from Ebay about 5 years ago for $30! He had someone's name painted onto the underside of his barrel in red nail polish. I took a chance on him and, after 1 week of slowly chipping away at the polish with a tiny needle, he is nearly mint! The paint didn't stick to the gloss, nor did it stain. I LOVE him to death and I'm glad I took the chance. But you seem to have extraordinary luck in the model-finding department, so I am sure your dream guy will turn up soon. (And I feel your pain - I just dropped the same amount of money on the same 3 models from Breyer yesterday!)
You got Jujube? Congratulations! I'm not going to say that never happens to me because theoretically it could happen to anyone. I'm just delighted that you were one of the ones since you've always been a big supporter of the mold.
I love it!! I feel bad every time I see that Misty with the Western Prancer’s saddle, maybe because I did that myself as a kid. My eBay hobby is saving screenshots of giant human hands strangling Mustangs- that seems to happen a lot!
Not terribly long ago at a fleamarket I found & brought home a smoke western prancer outfitted in a Marx western saddle, complete with rifle holster. Poor guy looked like he was trying to impersonate a tank. Luckily I have a big ol' Marx horse, much-loved & repainted, to plop it on. Doesn't match the bridle I made for him as a kid, though!
I was lucky enough to get a dapple black belgian in a trade about 30 years ago. I have never seen a dapple grey belgian in the "wild" ever! The dapple black is probably the favorite horse in my collection. He's pretty close to mint, maybe some minor hoof rubs.
Sometimes, you just have to pay up if you want a "grail" model. If you factor in the costs (gas, admission, hotel, food) of trolling antiques markets, yard sales and flea markets in a year, it ends up being cheaper to just pay $300 or whatever for that glossy dapple Belgian. Or, sell stuff that you find out and about and use that money to buy the elusive models that you want and didn't find. If you know your market, find pieces that are underpriced and resell them for a profit. That's how I have build a lot of my collection.
Hi there--my wife just picked up a glossy dapple grey Belgian at a local flea market for $5, and was shocked to see what similar models are going for on eBay. Could you please tell me what's so special about this horse, and how we can find out more about it? It has the Breyer mark but no other markings, and one ear tip was broken off and glued (badly) back on. Otherwise it's in good shape.
Thank you.
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