Lucky Dog

Of all the Micro Run Drawings I haven’t been pulled for (essentially, all of them) the two that hurt the most were the Polled Hereford Bull Marshall (of course) and the Basset Hound Dugan.

With all of the others – like the Collie Maurice, the Ram Rodney, and the Brighty Cornelius – it would have been lovely to have been drawn for them, but they were not quite the heartbreakers Dugan and Marshall were.

The Polled Hereford Bull has been a favorite mold of mine for years, and I have way more variations and oddballs of the Hound Dog mold – both its original #325 Brown Bloodhound release, and the very popular and long-running tri-color #326 Basset Hound that followed – than I care to count.

When it comes to Bull molds in general, hobbyists are not entirely rational when it comes to Special Runs. (Have you seen the prices the BreyerFest Hamish lately?) Things got real ugly real quick with Marshall, so unless I come into substantial bit of money or more luck than I usually am accustomed to, he’ll probably never end up here.

Dugan I was more optimistic about; while the initial prices were also way out of my league, I also knew that the market for Breyer Dog molds is smaller and less… crazy? While some releases are perennially popular and/or pricey (the White Boxer, the Woodgrain Poodle, the Blue Bucky) the rest of the Breyer Dog market is more modest in both price and demand. I figured that after the initial rush, the prices for Dugan would eventually drift back closer to my comfort zone.

I did find one “in the zone” at BreyerFest a couple years ago. Even though I take some starter money with me, one of my personal rules for BreyerFest shopping is that I try to avoid spending what I haven’t yet made in room sales. Alas, I hadn’t made quite enough money at that point to buy him. 

When I finally did, some other lucky dog had already snapped him up.

Since this seems to be my Year of Grails, it should come as no surprise that another one turned up last week. This time, I did not hesitate:

I cannot even imagine what is going to turn up next. In fact, I am almost afraid to.

To The Dogs

I am about 98 percent unpacked (just a bit of unboxing and unwrapping, really) and I can confirm that my Kaalee is definitely AWOL.

Sigh. Every year there’s some sort of BreyerFest-associated loss, and I suppose $65 worth is getting off cheap, but still not any fun, no way…

I’ll call Breyer on Monday to see if there was a Kaalee that ended up in the Lost & Found – maybe she fell out of the bag before I even left the Horse Park? – but I’m not holding out much hope.

Anyway, as promised, here’s the two interesting doggies I found, one of them a grail. First up, a Basset Hound in that early 1970s “weird white” plastic. It’s a little hard to see in photo, but he’s definitely different in person:

I’ve struggled with what to call this particular class of models – Semi-Chalky? Off Whites? Weird Whites? I like the term “Milky White”, but Milky is sometimes used to refer to Woodgrains and other early Matte-finished models where the clear topcoat has started to turn opaque.

I was rage-shopping at the CHIN on Saturday when I found him, so anything that was that odd and that cheap was coming home with me, regardless.

It’s generally accepted wisdom among the hobby pros that one does not find worthy things to buy at the Horse Park, outside of the NPOD and the Pop-Up Store. For the second time in three years, though, I have managed to find a treasure. This year, it was a hand-airbrushed Saint Bernard:

(Standing next to his more conservatively painted cousin, of course. Who is also an earlier piece, just not as early…)

I found out about the hand-airbrushed Saint Bernards a couple of years ago, while doing a completed auction search on eBay. I suspect that these dogs are a lot like the early Jasper the Market Hogs, which were also hand-airbrushed until the painting masks were complete.

The airbrushed Jaspers are more common because he was just more popular mold in general: the original Jasper ran from 1974 through 2000, with multiple small Special Runs in the 1980s sold directly to breeders (more or less).

The Saint Bernard had a more modest but still respectable ten-year run, from 1972 through 1981. But in spite of a couple newer releases – Brandy in 1995-1996, and the BreyerFest Special Run Beethoven – the mold still isn’t setting collector hearts aflutter. So while I wasn’t too worried that I’d have to pay through the nose when I found this obscurity, I’m glad I found one this year, when everything else didn’t quite go my way.

And he wasn’t the only grail I achieved, but we’ll get to that one next time.

Another Swing ... and a Miss

While the rational argument would be to wait until they get to the wait list, I also know I’m not the kind of person who gets picked from wait lists, so I’m just going to get on with my life and declare myself Dugan-less.

It hurts a little more than I thought it would, but some of that may also be work-related.

In other news, the Silver Saddlebred went for what I would consider an irrationally high amount – north of $3000, which is more than what I typically spend on models in the course of a year (or two, sometimes three or four…)

Oddly, I’m more optimistic that I’ll someday find one of those Saddlebreds in the wild, as opposed to a Dugan. The Saddlebreds were distributed in such a way that they may genuinely show up in a garage sale, estate sale, or flea market someday. It may not be in the best condition if and when it gets found, but the possibility is there. And I’m not all that picky about condition.

Items that are distributed internally – within the hobby – tend to stay in the hobby. They may come up for sale more often, and are in better condition, but unless someone is desperate or just wants them gone, NOW, the markup tends to be significant enough to essentially render it unavailable to someone like me.

Sure, weird stuff happens – I certainly wasn’t expecting to find a Shannon and Excalibur at a local sale less than a half hour from my house, for instance – but I think I used up a couple year’s worth of model horse mojo on that find alone.

On an unrelated note, we’ve finally gotten another BreyerFest SR hint, which appears to be a Black or Dark Bay Forever Saige. The Blog blurb makes it obvious that she’s supposed to be a Namib Desert Horse, and not a Vlaamperd:

Our next Special Run pays tribute to Africa where herds of majestic feral horses run free through the desert.

Not what I thought they’d go with – Egypt is in Africa, and therefore (I thought) a fair justification to include a Weather Girl in the lineup – but it’s an interesting and creative choice.

I kinda like the Forever Saige’s slightly bratty attitude anyway, and I don’t share the currently fashionable disdain for black paint jobs, so she might be getting put on my buy list. Especially if her markings/detailing are interesting, and I can’t locate an at- or near-cost Premier Club Forever Saige.

Well, off to do something creative with my frustration for the next couple of days.

Dugan

Why yes, I am super-duper excited about the new Special Run Basset Hound Dugan, thanks for asking!

I have no idea how long this particular item has been in the works, but with all the mumbling I made here about not getting a Basset Hound SR as part of last year’s BreyerFest lineup, I’ve been walking around the house like a proud auntie, anyway.

I am not as excited about it (a) being a 40-piece Micro Run, and (b) being up for purchase-raffle. Items so oddly specific as a Gloss Black and Tan Basset Hound should just be straight-up for sale on a first-come, first-serve basis.

And I say that as someone who had to work late on Thursday, and most likely would have missed out if it had been. I’ve had good luck with Micro Runs in the past, so missing one wouldn’t have killed me (probably.)

But anyway, I’m not thrilled by the method of distribution because purchase-raffles on weird rarities like Dugan tend to encourage our more mercenary tendencies. It’s one thing to purchase and resell items from the open market, but doing so with direct sale items is an ethical gray area for me.

Though I am glad to see some hobbyists are marshaling their goodwill and trying to enter for the benefit of hobbyists other than themselves. I’ll play by the rules of the game and see how it turns out.

Dugan is the first “official” Special Run on the Basset Hound mold, and only the fourth official release of the mold ever, which includes the #325 Bloodhound, the #326 Basset Hound, and the #324 Chaser. There are a few Tests and Culls floating around – in fact, I think I saw a cull on eBay just a few weeks back – but they are not common.

However, those four releases would not constitute a complete collection: by my reckoning, you’d need at least three more dogs to do that.

Who are the other three?

The first is the American Interinsurance Exchange Basset Hound: the one with the little sign hanging around its neck by a chain. Although it was an aftermarket creation, they are common and plentiful enough that most avid Breyer Dog collectors consider it a semi-official SR anyway.

The second is a common but distinctive variation of the #326 Basset I like the call the “Sober” one: those are the standard Bassets that don’t have the droopy red eyeliner. As I am not able to pin it to any particular time or outlet, I consider them an incidental/accidental variation and not an intentional one. But like the Interinsurance Dog, it’s common enough – and distinctive enough – to merit inclusion on a want list.

The third is a little more difficult: it’s the Post-Production Special Run of the Bloodhound, made ca. 1970; I believe I wrote a post about his discovery back in May of 2009. These are basically Bloodhounds that were made, likely as a special order, a couple of years after the original Bloodhound was discontinued. It is primarily distinguished by having a USA mold mark, something the Regular Run Bloodhounds will not have; it wasn’t added to the mold until ca. 1970.

The color on those pieces may also be lighter and more Chestnut than Dark Brown, but I only have the one piece to go by, so it might not be a representative sample.

If you want to get real crazy, you could start adding even more variations – the #326 Basset ran from ca. 1969 through 1985, and being a largely hand-airbrushed paint job, subtle and not-so-subtle variations are numerous. Both the Bloodhound and the Basset come with Blue Ribbon Stickers, too, if you look hard enough.

I have quite a few – they were sort of a thing with me for a while, and for some strange reason I don’t think I ever got rid of a single one of them – but I hope I can make room for just one more.

Hobby Ambassador

The end of the flea market season went down rather quietly around here; my last “official” find was this rather dilapidated puppy:

Poor thing wears his expression honestly! Even though the Basset Hound is on the short list of molds that nobody customizes, ever, I have a general policy of leaving no cheap bodies behind.

While the Companion Animal canines are frequent visitors to the customizer’s table, most of the Traditional Dog molds are not. Every once in a great while I’ll see someone do something wild and crazy with a Boxer or a Poodle because they are so darn plentiful, but most “conditionally challenged” Dogs usually end up getting passed along to the nearest yard/garage/tag sale, or made into the crafty sort of something that you’d find on Etsy.

This is not a bad thing. Any vector it takes to get more people interested in the models is a good thing.

The Basset Hound mold, actually, is one of those molds that has always served as sort of a hobby ambassador anyway. His likeness to the Hush Puppies mascot – and occasional use as one – has made him a familiar and comforting figurine to many outside of our hobby who would normally not give Breyers or the hobby a second thought.

(“They made that, too?” Oh, the conversations I’ve had…)

Originally I was just going to let my new addition be a part of my “Body Box Gang” – an assortment of sorry-looking creatures I’ve rescued over the years – but in light of the recent events in Paris, I think I might actually move him to my “Peculiar Customs in Progress” table.

The Basset Hound is a French breed, after all; you might remember that I was mildly annoyed earlier this year that he was not included in the BreyerFest Vive Le France Special Run lineup, but that’s another thing I’m trying to let go.

Though with Reeves, one never knows. Nobody in the hobby was expecting a Wedgewood Blue Antelope for Christmas last year, either. (That Boxer was another story. Sort of.)

Regardless: I think Claude would look rather dashing with a saucy little beret, oui? I might have some time off next week, so maybe then...

More Creepy Meows?

While I was brainstorming ideas for BreyerFest the other day, the most delightful and obvious idea drifted into my head: what if, instead of the Poodle, the Nonhorse mold could be a Cat? More specifically, the famous Chartreux cat? The kitty model on top of the CFA’s Chartreux information page bears some striking similarities to our favorite "Creepy Meow":

http://www.cfa.org/Breeds/BreedsCJ/Chartreux.aspx

The last official Special Run of the Kitten mold was the "Angel" (above) from the infamous 2012 Vault Sale. The next previous was the 2003 Christmas release Tom Foolery, featuring a Black and White Tuxedo Kitten tangled in a string of holiday lights. He’s the only Kitten I haven’t gotten around to acquiring yet, more out of laziness and distraction than a lack of availability.

The last time we saw a Kitten Special Run at BreyerFest was 2000, with the Calico Patches. That release helped popularize his nickname of "The Creepy Meow", because his leftovers haunted the NPOD for years, startling newer and/or less savvy hobbyists…

While the original "Big Poodle" mold is the most obvious choice for a French-themed year, that mold hasn’t been in production for over 40 years. In addition to the retooling costs inherent in updating a mold out of production for that long, there may be additional issues. The original Big Poodle mold was prone to molding problems - mold flow cracks, in particular - and requires a lot of raw plastic to manufacture.

(The "Small Poodle" mold is sweet, but it doesn’t have the same presence that the Big Poodle does. The last release of that scarce mold - the 2009 Cotton Candy - also strikes me as a bit too recent for a BreyerFest Nonhorse re-release.)

The Kitten, on the other hand, was more recently manufactured, and as far as I know, doesn’t have any significant molding or cost issues. And we haven’t seen the mold at BreyerFest since Patches.

Another nice feature of a BreyerFest Kitten SR is that it may lead to more Kitten releases in the near future, including a much-hoped-for (in the stranger parts of Breyer fandom) Silver Filigree Kitten.

The decision of what Nonhorse mold to go with was made months ago, and I genuinely have no idea which one they decided to go with. For all I know they could have gone with the Basset Hound, which is also a French breed, and a mold we haven’t seen much lately. Since the #324 Chaser in 1995-1996, to be exact.

I wouldn’t object to him, especially since I’m on a bit of a dog kick right now, but I’d rather have a silvery-blue Kitten first.

Oh no, not again!

My favorite Douglas Adams quote, ever.

That was one of the nicer things I yelled at my computer the other day when Reeves posted more bad data on Facebook - this time about the Gray Bucking Bronco. This time there just is no excuse or rationalization for this: it was plain old lazy research. He was introduced in 1966, NOT 1961.


I’m not sure when this particular nugget of information got started, since the 1966 date is pretty well documented. We have official pricelists from 1963 onward: the Bronco doesn’t appear on them until 1966, in both black and gray. End of story.

At least with the PAM, they could make an argument based on a lack of data: that is, an absence of information means a 1956 cannot be disproved. It’s a technical and weak kind of argument, but not an invalid one. But in this case, I know Reeves does have the data - and they didn’t bother to double-check it.

As with the PAM, this misrepresentation of the data may be having a profound effect on the way the model is perceived in the model horse community. If it was introduced in 1961, that would mean that the Gray Bucking Bronco would be a relatively common mold for that time period - 6 years of production is a pretty substantial run, even back then.

But it’s not: he was made for only one year. Although we can’t make very good estimates of production quantities for any regular run Breyer models before the mid-1980s, I think a one year production run should qualify him for at least the status of "scarce." Especially since a portion of them were probably painted over and became Black Bucking Broncos. (I hate being a tease, but there’s really no room to explain that little nugget today, gals! Maybe on Wednesday.)

This is why researchers need to rely on primary sources, not secondary ones. And do their own research, rather than automatically rely on the assumptions and conclusions of others. Because these assumptions very often turn out to be wrong, or at the very least misinterpreted. What we think we "know" is often very different from what is actually known. And that can create all sorts of problems.

I’ll give them credit for getting most of the data on the Basset Hound correct (interesting that they chose to make a post about him the same week I do! Hmm?) I could quibble about the Chris Hess attribution, but that’s a matter of ongoing research and a long way from being settled. I’ll give ‘em a pass - this time!

Am I making hash out of could just be a typo? Yep. That’s what I’m here for. Heck, that’s what makes me tick. Just because something’s a typo doesn’t mean it won’t have fewer consequences than something that was deliberately typed.

Lowdown on the Basset Hound

As promised, here’s another mystery that needs extra sets of eyes…

As time goes on, it has become increasingly apparent that most early Breyer were not original creations, but adaptations of pre-existing designs. The Old Mold Arabians are a notoriously well-known example, as are the Large Poodle, Boxer, and the Horned Hereford Bull. Could the Basset Hound "Jolly Cholly" be one, too?

The initial evidence for this hypothesis comes from an examination of the model itself. Like the Poodle and the Boxer, the Basset Hound is out of scale with both the horses and each other. Another troubling feature is the mold’s exaggerated and comical nature: whatever the anatomic merits or demerits of the early Breyer molds, they are at least nominally "realistic" in style. Both of these features suggest that the inspiration for this model was … another model.

Where the trouble comes in searching for this original inspiration is that there’s a lot of inspiration to choose from. There’s a surprisingly large number of comically styled bloodhound/basset hound figurines from the period immediately preceding the mold’s introduction in 1966 (in brown, as the Bloodhound. Who IS NOT woodgrain!) The adoption of the Basset Hound as the mascot/spokesdog of the Hush Puppies brand shoes in the late 1950s probably had a little to do with that.

While all of these models share similar exaggerations - oversized domed head, severely foreshortened body, and deep symmetrical facial wrinkles - they are not identical. What this suggests to me is an even earlier model on which all of these other pieces took their design cues from.

I might have found him - on a hobbyist web site, of all places: the Animal Figurines Gallery web site. On the page dedicated to Robert Simmons figurines, there’s a piece that’s startlingly similar to the Basset Hound. Here’s the link. Scroll down to Hounds and see for yourself. He’s hard to miss!

Robert Simmons was a California Pottery company based in Los Angeles. They made relatively inexpensive copies of figurines from other contemporary companies, like Royal Doulton. Allegedly the company went out of business by the early 1960s, which means if this guy is for real, he would predate the Breyer mold. And if that’s the case, the question then becomes - what mold, and what company did Simmons appropriate him from?

My china documentation is pretty weak, though, so I may literally be barking up the wrong tree here - heck, maybe it’s even a case of Simmons copying Breyer, for all I know! It’s another one of those Breyer mysteries that sits patiently in my archives, waiting for the right lead or the right moment. If anyone else can provide better or more specific data on this it would be much appreciated.