In addition to all the other things I have going on right now, I was also “gently” reminded that I needed to finish dusting, so I had to spent a good portion of my weekend doing just that. That set my self-imposed deadline for the latest writing project back a day, but at least I won’t have to hear complaints about the dust for another six months or so…
I’d also like to know how I ended up with three Test Color Shetland Ponies. I don’t dislike her, but she’s also not someone anywhere near my “Top Ten”, so me ending up with that many Tests on her is kinda weird.
In my defense, I didn’t spend all that much on all three of them combined, and I do not pass by cheap Test Colors, no matter the mold or color. (Dear Universe: A Test Color Trakehner would be a very nice change of pace. I will also accept a Morganglanz.)
It occurred to me that while you know may quite a bit about the fact that a Chalky Man o’ War was my first Breyer model, you don’t know much about the second and third models.
I didn’t get them until the Christmas of that same year: they were a #46 Pacer and a #110 Smoke Western Prancing Horse. The Pacer himself is unremarkable: he’s just the standard release in Liver Chestnut, with a few minor marks because Pacers are notoriously tipsy.
The Smoke Western Prancing Horse, on the other hand, is also a Chalky:
Since I never had to search for another, it took me a while to realize just how scarce Chalky Smoke Western Prancers were. I’ve tried getting the Palomino, and even scored a few, but the ones I found were not in the best condition, even for Chalkies, and then the market went boom and I’ve pretty much had to give up finding inexpensive, misidentified Chalkies since then.
The scarcity of the Smoke is probably related to the fact that the Western Prancer was not a high-volume seller at the time, generally. While the Palomino did remain in production through 1985, the Smoke was gone by the end of 1976.
This also explains why some Chalkies are easier to find than others. Newer molds and colors introduced during the Chalky Era (1973-1975) – like Brighty, El Pastor, and the Appaloosa Performance Horse – were better sellers than models like the Smoke Western Prancing Horse, something that had been around for over a decade and was near the end of its production run.
3 comments:
Cool post! Love that color way.
Fun fact, the Western Prancing horse is a favorite mold of Cheryl Miller-Yurcak, the CEO of the International Colored Appaloosa Association (ICAA). Her favorite model horse in her (dormant) collection is the black leopard appaloosa release.
I'd love to see those Shetland Ponies!
Is the Western Prancer's mane & tail painted on, rather than masked?
It's almost embarrassing to see a second/third model in such excellent shape. I still have my first & second horses, but they went through a lot. Stupidly, I only "ruined" my second model recently. It's an Appaloosa Running Stallion, and I was trying to remove some clumsy touch-ups from many years ago. Unfortunately the chemical took off the OF as well. Brush-cleaner is a no-no.
Love the chalkies! I got the dapple PAS and sorrel Belgian as a kid. Even at 11 years old, I *knew* they were something special and didn't mess them up. Friend down the street also had a chalky dapple PAS and Rearing Stallion in alabaster. I still have my guys, always wonder what happened to hers.
When I saw my first non-chalky PAS, I wondered what was "wrong" with him... :D
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