I’m in a weird place right now: everything I want to talk about is in transit, unopened, unfinished or unordered. (But the Mystery Five-Gaiter is currently “out for delivery”!)
So let’s talk about something that everybody – or almost everybody – has, or has had in their collection at some point: the #84 Chestnut Clydesdale Foal! As you may remember, this particularly fine filly came out of that “Dirty Pony” lot I bought last Winter, and other than a bit of yellowing is in beautiful condition otherwise. The yellowing has not improved much since then, but that’s because some of the sales ponies took precedence:
(My apologies for the quality of the photograph: my “studio” is currently dismantled.)
The #84 Clydesdale Foal was in production for over twenty years – from 1969-ish through 1989. As for the “-ish” part, as I’ve mentioned before, Breyer has never strictly adhered to January as the official release dates for new molds or new colors, and that was especially the case in the late 1960s, when Breyer first began to directly court the hobbyist market.
(I remember how happy I was to get the Classic Andalusian Family for Christmas in 1978, a whole month before they hit the stores! I was quite chuffed at my already-budding hobby acumen.)
As with any model released for any length of time, the Chestnut Clydesdale Foal has come in its share of variations, veering from the Very Chestnut to Almost Bay. It also comes in a Chalky variation (one of the easier Chalkies to find, in fact) and early examples can also come with the large Blue Ribbon Sticker. For completists, there’s the #8384 Clydesdale Mare and Foal Set, too, with not one but two different versions (with metal clasps, or Velcro fasteners) of those Kelly Green Felt Blankets we all know and love.
The Clydesdale Foal has come in a number of uncommon or flat-out rare releases – like the Silver Filigree BreyerFest Diorama Prize Quicksilver, the 1998 Tour Raffle Model Captain in Gloss Charcoal, the 2009 BreyerWest Delano, the 2009 Fun Foals in Bay and Chestnut Roan, and the surprisingly difficult to find 1980 release of the Dapple Gray – but alas, I own none of these, nor am I likely to.
I do have most of the variations of the Chestnut, so I have that going for me, at least. And whatever this girl turns out to be.
Incidentally, I would like to inform you that the Five-Gaiter just arrived and all I can say for now is that he’s definitely Original Finish. And I have so many questions.
But more on him next time, after a good afternoon’s sleep.
2 comments:
The Clyde foal is so under appreciated. She is one of the major congas I have, I think I have five or six chestnuts alone.
My partner and I picked up a really outstandingly shaded Clyde Foal at an antique mall in Texas last year. Since we recently moved, there's no telling which of the seemingly zillions of cardboard boxes holding our worldly possessions she's in, but she's really something!
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