It makes perfect sense that now that I have a little money to play with, everything I had hoped on buying when that situation happened is also now unaffordable. Even the weird stuff I didn’t think anyone else particularly cared for/about.
(Even Morganglanzes? Yeesh.)
I can also afford to wait, so I will wait.
Since this is where my head is at, let’s take a look into the box I am currently inventorying. Oh, this one is perfect, an oldie but a goodie:
The Dapple Gray Proud Arabian Stallion was one of the more popular releases of my Breyer childhood in the 1970s – all my friends who had Breyer horses seemed to have one – but it took me a while to find the right one for me.
With the introduction of more refined, but not necessarily more correct, Arabian molds like Sham and Huckleberry Bey, the Proud Arabian Stallion gradually fell out of favor. But the mold has seen a recent revival of popularity, fueled partly by nostalgia, and partly by releases in some pretty spectacular colors, including the 2009 BreyerFest Volunteer Model After Party and the 2014 Exclusive Event Special Run Beignet.
As with most Breyer releases from the 1970s, the Dapple Gray Proud Arabian Stallion came in a multitude of variations. My Dapple Gray example is from early in the releases run, which lasted from 1972 through 1988. Unlike later examples, he features two clearly defined hind socks, evenly distributed dappling, and a plethora of darker gray shading.
He doesn’t have the extravagant pinking of an example that went for an even more extravagant price on eBay recently, but just look at him: I am perfectly okay with that minor omission.
I think the price of that one was fueled more by the possibility that he was also a Chalky, which seemed unlikely to me. Buying Chalkies on the Internet is always a dicey proposition, even at a fraction of the price that example brought. And I’ve never been much of a gambler.
3 comments:
“More refined but not necessarily more correct” is the perfect way to put it. All the newer Arab molds (with the possible exception of the Shagya) are based on today’s halter Arabs who are anything but correct. Their squished faces, that look more like a seahorse than an actual horse & cause horrendous problems with teeth & breathing, their toothpick legs on tiny hooves, their skinny greyhound bodies. Designed to do nothing more than look pretty standing in the show ring. There is no way today’s halter Arabs can perform like the true desert Arabians bred for centuries by the Bedouin & other nomadic tribes. Their horses had speed, endurance & strength. Their horses were the perfect & pure & looked much more like Breyer’s Proud Arabians than the poor, deformed specimens that were the basis for Weathergirl, Asquar & even Huck. I grew up in the 1970’s visiting the farm of my friend’s grandfather & he bred true Arabians who could do anything & everything. They did it willingly, intelligently & all day with no ill effects. His 4 stallions looked almost exactly like the PAS & that’s why it’s my favorite Breyer mold & the only Traditional mold that I conga.
And the new Arab mold next year is no better. Blah. Give me an old school Arab over these new freaks.
Your dapple gray PAS is extremely similar to mine, which I bought around 1974, although he was probably a year or so older than that. He's the same variation with almost black legs, two socks in the back, and a darker mane and tail. Dense dappling on his body and almost none on his neck and head. I lost him for a few years and was so unhappy that I bought two more on eBay, trying to recreate the magic. But neither of them were as dark as their photos appeared, and four white socks just aren't as elegant as those long black front legs somehow. Happily I found my original again this month, and even though he's yellowed, I still love him as much as ever. The search is over. And he's never going in a box again...
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