When Worlds Collide

I was definitely in the mood to forget my troubles and watch a giant gorilla and a giant lizard duke it out on the big screen TV over the weekend, but right in the middle of Svengoolie’s presentation of the 1962 Toho production of King Kong vs. Godzilla – during the “viewer mail” section of the show – up pops a MIB Breyer Apparition.

While this didn’t completely surprise me, because I’ve long believed that the model horse hobby is just another subset of the SF/Fantasy fandom anyway, there’s nothing quite like suddenly being confronted by a three-foot-tall Breyer horse in the middle of a Godzilla movie. 

(The segment was then followed by a Covenant House commercial, which also made me go hmm…)

Incidentally, my Brunhilde is here, and good golly, she’s a beauty:

Other than a little sloppy paint on her orange(!) tail ribbon – a super-easy fix – I have no complaints, at all. She almost makes up for not getting a Midas. 

Okay, not really, but she’s still a very pretty distraction. I’ll just have to rearrange a few models here so I can enjoy her on a daily basis.

What continues to be remarkable to me is the fact that there will still be several hobbyists who will still insist that there’s somehow been a decline in Breyer’s production quality since the 1970s. 

As someone who bought her first models in the 1970s, an era riddled with foggy gray stockings, heavy overspray and seams so rough that the flashing could actually cut your hand, I can only roll my eyes and wonder what they see that I did not.

As much as I love my #124 Bay Running Mare – my near-perfect semi-gloss one with the eyewhites – Brunhilde’s prep and paint work are still technically superior, and no amount of nostalgia can change that.  

My box of Vintage Club goodies has also arrived, but I’ll save opening that for Black Friday, because I think I may need it by then. I have no preferences regarding Nugget: whatever color I get, I get. Though it’s been a while since I’ve gotten a Copenhagen in the Decorator Gambler’s Choices, I guess?

Information about the 2022 BreyerWest just popped up on the Breyer web site, and I’m in a good enough spot in my life to do a little research about possibly attending. I doubt it’ll happen because that’s just an incredibly awkward time of the year for me to get away (who would take care of my seedlings?) but it’s nice that the possibility exists.

Immutable Laws of Model Horsery

An acceptable Tractor Supply Eclipse and Classic Drafter have been acquired; I even found a couple of good things at the Salvation Army next door, including a Will James hardcover with most of its original dustjacket. 

But I am most excited about the Bay Running Foal that arrived a couple of days ago in a box lot I assumed was going to be mostly bodies:

It’s like an immutable law of model-horsery that any box lot over a certain quantity must contain either a Misty, a Bay Running Foal, or both. (FYI: there’s a Misty in another large box lot I am saving for the weekend.) 

I knew he was in there – I saw him in the photographs, obviously – but what surprised me is that he’s a near mint* pre-1970 variation that almost perfectly matches my near-perfect pre-1970 Bay Running Mare.

With the exception of the eyewhites, which were very, very rarely a thing for Breyer Foals in the 1960s. I am not sure why, it just was. 

I could have sworn that I saw a Bay Running Foal with eyewhites in a body box at an early 1990s BreyerFest, but not having seen any since then, now I’m not so sure. It may well have been either a figment of my imagination, or a little aftermarket customization.

One other interesting thing worth noting about this model is the fact that its frontmost hoof was rather aggressively trimmed or “nubbed” at the factory. 

This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, especially in the 1960s and early 1970s. Even though the mold halves were fixtured after molding to prevent that sort of thing, there were enough variables in the manufacturing process that some models still wouldn’t stand properly after assembly anyway, and thus require adjustments after the fact. 

What cracks me up about these “nubbed” models is that, for the most part, they still don’t stand up very well, or often at all. It makes me wonder if the surface they were using at the factory wasn’t level to begin with, resulting in models perfectly designed for an imperfect surface?

I still love him anyway, and until I find an un-nubbed one just like it (or better!) he’s staying. 

*(He may appear to have some marks in the photo, but these are all removable. Cleaning the sales items takes priority!)

Bay, Bay and Bay

If Monday was any indication of what’s to come, it looks like this week is shaping up to be a sequel to last week.

However, I decided to take some of that this-only-seems-to-happen-to-me stress out on one of my hapless customizing projects (that Mesteno’s Mother mold I blathered about a while back) so it’s nothing but pretty ponies for the rest of the post, yay!

Specifically, three Bay Western Prancing Horses:

The older “Sorrel” variation of the #114 Bay Western Prancer, the later “Bay” variation of the same release, and the Tractor Supply release of Annie Oakley’s Prince.

The Sorrel was one of my very first in-hobby purchases, and I was positively giddy when I got him: he was my first model with eyewhites, and one of the first models I purchased that was older than me!

The Bay Bay was a CHIN purchase. I was looking around the hotel hoping to upgrade my Buckskin WPH; I thought I had a potential candidate, but didn’t pass closer inspection. Then I found the Bay Bay variation, so I bought him and called it a day.

The Prince was an NPOD find. He’s not a true Sample or anything interesting like that, just a bubble-wrapped warehouse leftover I found when I was wandering about the NPOD sometime over the weekend. I had been half-heartedly looking for on eBay, but the prices were scaring me off.

Unlike other Sorrel variations of the 1960s Bays (like the Fighting Stallion, and the Family Arabians) it appears that the Sorrel Western Prancing Horse is actually rather plentiful and common.

The Bay Bay – distinguished from the Sorrel by the reddish cast to his body, and a Black mane and tail – was made for at least a year or two before he was discontinued at the end of 1971, as my example doesn’t have the USA mold mark.

As far as I know, the #114 Bay release – either the Sorrel Bay or the Bay Bay – never had any kind of black paint on the hooves or legs. Saddles for the Bay, unlike some of the other vintage Western Prancer releases, could be either Tan or Gray.

I think I’m all Bayed out now. Unless something shows up with a sticker or box. Not likely, but you never know with me.

Another Oddity: Bay Grazing Foal

Here’s another fun one I shouldn’t have bought, but did anyway:

A Bay Grazing Foal with no front black points. You might recall that I found a similar Mare back in November:

So now I have a matching set of variations! Anyone who has tried to complete families – Family Arabians, Proud Arabians, Stock Horses et al – knows how hard it is to find matching or complementary sets. The opportunity to reunite this pair was one I simply couldn’t pass up.

Variations on the Grazing Foal are a little more common than the Mare; Foal molds in general tend to be in production longer than their respective Stallions and Mares, and sell in greater quantities. More models = more potential variations.

That’s the reasoning behind the recent spate of Foal releases – Traditional, Classics, Stablemates, Camilla the Foalzilla – that are otherwise unattached or unaffiliated to a matching Stallion or Mare. People will buy “orphan” foals without any pressing need for a matching parent.

(I’m old-fashioned in that regard. I bothers me a lot when people ask to buy “just the foal”, especially matching sets that have otherwise managed to stay together for decades.)

While it is easy to chalk up both the Mare and the Foal as random production variations, in the mid-1970s there were Regular Run items that were specifically painted without front black points. Most notably, the early version of the Stablemates G1 Bay Arabian Stallion, especially when he was sold as a mislabeled Citation. From the 1975 Dealer Catalog:

(FYI: Most of them did not look this nice.)

Was there some sort of correlation? It is a safe assumption to make, since the timing lines up: my Grazing Mare and Foal have all the mold marks and stylistic cues of mid- to late-1970s releases.

But again, like the Palomino Ruffians of my last blog post, sometimes variations just happen. I am just happy to finally have a matching Bay Grazing Mare and Foal set that I can live with.

That's Going to Hurt...

Well, I made the mistake of clicking on some auctions on eBay. I noticed another Black AQHA horse listed, and I was mildly interested to see where it was found, or at least the location of the seller.

You guessed it: the next town over.

Argh! I sure hope it wasn’t the same store I bought my Roan. Oh well, it’s not like I had a ton of time or money to spend on that search anyway. Let it go Andi, let it go…

I am heartened by the outpouring of affection here for the Thoroughbred Mare and Foal set. I was starting to feel a bit lonely, since most of the comments I’ve been seeing online about it had been to express a preference for Grazing set or a Sucesion and Le Fire one instead.

I am also delighted – though a bit annoyed – that their blankets feature another horsey-themed fabric that I wish I had access to for, you know, quilting purposes.

I told myself I couldn’t start any new quilt projects until I finished a few of the several dozen already in progress here. But I would make an exception if I had some of those Breyer-themed fabrics. Heck, I’d make a Breyer-themed quilt for the BreyerFest silent auction in exchange for a few bolts of these fabrics. (Hint, hint.)

But back to the Thoroughbred Mare and Foal. The original #3155 ran for over a decade, and variations are plentiful. It’s one of the slightly commoner items to find in Chalky, which makes sense, since it was introduced right at the beginning of the Chalky Era in 1973.

Most of these Chalkies are basecoated white, but some were painted directly on the gray plastic, giving their coats darker and richer undertones than average. A number of models – most notably the Elephant, the Donkey, the Black Stretched Morgan and El Pastor – also came in this unusual “Semi-Chalky” variation.

While the Mare is usually found in what I like to call “Breyer Bay” – with a black mane and tail, but no black shading on the legs – it does very rarely come in a more standard Bay, similar to the contemporaneous Justin Morgan.

I saw one earlier this year on eBay, in fact, but it was while I was searching completed auctions. If I remember correctly, she went cheap, too. (Another ouch!)

I don’t know if it was an early or late variation, a painting batch error like the 4-stocking Stud Spiders, or something utterly random. I haven’t had any in my hands or in my possession to inspect for clues.

I haven’t been actively looking for one, like I do some other variations, but she’s definitely on my radar. On the same level, I guess, as the No-Star Halla or the Appaloosa Performance Horse without his dorsal spots.

Now to go look at pictures of kittens on the Internet, because it’s that kind of day.

Bay + Pinto

The latest Vintage Club pictures are out, of the Gloss Bay Pinto Misty and Stormy, Coral and Reef:

Here’s an interesting little fact: prior to the early 1980s, all Breyer pintos were either Black, or some form of Chestnut ("Brown", Sorrel, Red Dun, Palomino, or actual Chestnut).

The company that brought us Decorators, Smoke, Charcoal, freckly Red Roans and multitudes of odd Appaloosas didn’t get around to producing a Bay Pinto production model until 1982, with the introduction of the Regular Run #230 Overo Pinto Stock Horse Mare.

Later in that same year we received a few more in the form of Christmas/Holiday Special Runs - the Thoroughbred Mare and Suckling Foal, and the "True Bay" Clydesdale Family (who were technically cropouts).

An argument could be made that the #88 Overo Pinto release of the Stud Spider mold, in 1979, could be considered earlier; in the 1960s, Breyer used the same "Five-Gaiter Sorrel" color interchangeably on some of its nominally "Bay" releases.

Even if we accept that line of reasoning - which I don’t, on the premise that Breyer seemed to have finally figured out what "Bay" was by then - that still only gets us to 1979. The only Bay Pintos that existed prior were the famous Gloss Bay Pinto Western Prancing Horses, made for a small group of hobbyists in the early 1960s, and some Test Colors.

Strange, isn’t it? Especially since it is not an uncommon color scheme in the real-horse world, unlike some of the more obscure or trendy that we get so worked up about today. It’s Bay plus Pinto: Breyer had the know-how and the technology to pull that off by the late 1950s.

I wonder what the thinking behind it was that led to this absence? Pintos were not all that common back then, since it necessitated creating elaborate, expensive and delicate metal masks specific to the mold. But did it really never occur to them to airbrush points and maybe a little black to the mane and tail?

Did they not think that consumers would be interested? Was it related to the fact that they had had such a hard time distinguishing between Chestnut and Bay, initially? Or was it as simply them being clueless, and not realizing they hadn’t done it before?

I don't know. I tend to fall into the "they were clueless" camp. It’s as good an explanation as any for many of the brand’s "Huh?" moments, then and now. And the correct one, more often than not.

Honey vs. Chocolate

I was hoping that they’d bring back that wonderful dark Glossy Bay they put on some of last year’s "Pop the Cork" Surprise Model Nokotas; judging from the prices they were (and are, still) commanding, he was the clear favorite of many. And guess what shows up on the Breyer Blog last week?

A Glossy Bay Ashquar, named Ganache. It’s still too early for me to decide if he’s going to be on my want list, but I’m going to hazard a guess that he’s going to be on the list of many others. 

The popularity of this new "Chocolate" Gloss Bay is somewhat reminiscent of the popularity of the vintage "Honey" Gloss Bays, best typified by the Old Mold and Family Arabians, such as this set I sold recently:

(Yeah, I know, the eyewhites on that FAM were scary! And 100 percent real, from what I could tell; they too, were a part of that ca. 1959-62 collection.)

Contrary to what many hobbyists assume, Gloss "Honey" Bays were not that common a color in the Vintage Glossy Era (pre-1967). Aside from the Old Mold/Family Arabians, the only other Regular Run release that came in that color was the Clydesdale Stallion.

And only for a short time: he was one of the first models to switch over to a Matte Finish from the Gloss, by 1963.

The #36 Racehorse was nominally "Bay", but was in reality Chestnut, and the Western Prancing Horse debuted in a "Bay" ca. 1962 that was identical to the Five-Gaiter’s Matte Sorrel. The Glossy Bay Quarter Horse Geldings tended to be more reddish-brown than true Honey. The Running Mares and Foals were the same color as the Gelding, except Matte, though some veer into Semi-Gloss/High Satin territory. (Inexplicably, they called those two "Chestnut" in the catalogs and pricelists!)

There are so few genuine Gloss Bay Fighting Stallions floating around that I cannot honestly make a judgement call on what their "standard" color is supposed to be. They switched him over to a Matte Finish around the same time as the Clydesdale, leaving that color to the Family Arabians alone through the middle of the 1960s. All the Bays that debuted after 1963 were Matte.

There are a few Test Color/Oddball Glossy Honey Bays roaming the hobby landscape, too, including the famous Gloss Bay Pinto Western Prancing Horses. (Wanna talk about grails? Sigh…) I’ve always suspected that the Shetland Pony was supposed to have come in a Gloss Bay, originally, but so far I’ve seen no physical evidence.

So, just like almost all the old Vintage colors, it’s far more commonly seen in more modern releases. (Woodgrain would be one of those exceptions, though I’m thinking for not much longer.)

When the Weather Girl mold finally makes her comeback, I am so hoping that they release her in all of the original Old Mold colors: Gloss Shaded Alabaster, Gloss Appaloosa, Woodgrain, and especially the Gloss Honey Bay.

Red Shift

Just to show you that the Five-Gaiter thing wasn’t me being a pill about condition, here’s a box lot baby I do intend to keep:

A poor three-legged Bay Old Mold Foal! Minus the missing leg, he’s in not bad condition - it’s just the typical ear-nose-hoof rubs and stuff. Since I have had a notoriously hard time finding Old Mold Mares and Foals in any other color than Alabaster, a three-legged Bay Foal is a treasure. He can keep my ragged, 50 cent Gloss Alabaster Fighter company!

As mentioned in the comments last post, I am not sure if early Breyer Bays were subject to color shifting like the Palominos. It’s possible, but I haven’t seen enough early New-in-Box Gloss Bays to compare against more "weathered" Bays, nor have I seen any early Bays where the color was noticeably different from one side to the next that could be indicative of prolonged exposure to the sun, heat or other environmental factors.

It’s definitely an issue with Hartland Bays - like many Hartland Palominos, the red base in the paint fades, leaving the models a distinct shade of green (Olive for the Bay; Chartreuse for the Palominos).

The red shift/red fade does happen with some early Breyers, but tends to be limited to those models that came with pinking of the eyes, ears, muzzle and hooves. Since it is limited to accent areas - and the absence of the pinking tends to be so complete - the lack of pinking is sometimes labeled as a variation or production error.

It’s also not that much of a dealbreaker; while we’d prefer the pinking to remain intact, most hobbyists are not going to turn noses up on an otherwise flawless model without it.

There is some color-shifting going on with Shrinkies, to be sure. Chestnuts turn peachy-pink, and Bays turn to Buckskin. But that’s a slightly different process there - a chemical reaction that is primarily a result of a breakdown of the plastic itself, and not a consequence of environmental issues. (Though excessive sunlight, heat and humidity certainly don’t help!)

Whatever other color shifting may be occurring with some Breyer paint jobs, nevertheless I haven’t seen anything green that didn’t start out green in the first place, either by design (Little Bits Unicorns, some of the Classics Blossoms) or by default (Dappled Green Bay Sham).

There’s been some recent speculation that the reason why Reeves hasn’t released any new "Christmas" Decorators may be due to the issues with color shifting or fading, especially with the color Red. Indeed, it could be the reason why the mythical Christmas Decorators might not have made it past the testing phase back in the 1960s.

But here we are speaking of a hypothetical of a hypothetical: we don’t have any confirmed examples of Christmas Decorators in the first place.

Oh, and re: other posts on the topic of fugitive paint, the most recent - I think - was the one last year about the 2013 Volunteer Clydesdale Mare. I really need to index these posts better…

Not Making a Fuss

I should be panicking now, but I am simply too tired from work these past two days to work up a fuss. I’m so not working up a fuss that I’m considering whipping out a small quilt project I’ve been messing with on and off for the past couple of months and finishing that in the meantime.

Quilting as my BreyerFest prep burns: how very Nero-like of me. (Yes, I know it’s a myth. Just go with it.)

Anyway, here’s that neat Breyer knockoff I was talking about. I bought it during the town-wide garage sale a few weeks back; he’s been in my car ever because of his annoying habit of blending in with the throw blanket I keep on the back seat of my vehicle:

He appears to be cast aluminum, and not in any way related to the cast iron ASC knockoffs, or (gack!) Hubley, the go-to name that all flea marketeers use whenever they find something made out of cast metal. (You know, just like any injection molded plastic horse = Rare Breyer!)

There were/are a number of companies that have done cast metal Breyer knockoffs over the years, aside from ASC. Like the situation that exists with the numerous Breyer lamp manufacturers, I doubt we’ll ever know much about most of them. And if we do, it’ll only be by accident.

I got so excited when I saw him from my car window that day; I momentarily thought - yes, a Black Family Arabian Stallion! (He is actually FAS-sized, hence my assumption.) I already have one, but I’ve never found one "in the wild". As I think I brought up before, the Black Family Arabians were a nationally distributed Special Run promotion, and produced in sufficient enough quantities that finding one at a yard sale or flea market is not as remote a possibility as it seems.

Wasn’t the case with me, this time. He was still pretty reasonably priced, so I bought him anyway. It’s true that being trapped in my car for the past month is not necessarily a step up from his previous station in life, but I’m working on it. I haven’t decided whether or not he’s coming with me to Fest or not, though.

In other modelly news…

I did well enough on my Hartland sales this week that the cost of my gas - and most of my hotel bill - will be covered. Thank you Armada Flea Market! (No worries, I'll still have a bunch of stuff from that box available in Kentucky, if you thought you saw something worth your while.)

My Denim and Diamonds Vintage Club Shetlands arrived today, but I doubt I’ll be opening the box before the trip. I just don’t have the mental space to deal with them at the moment.

I didn’t get picked for the latest Web Special Dionysus. I actually liked him enough to enter twice, rather than once - I found the Primitive Bay color very appealing, in almost a retro "Breyer Bay" way. But nope, no dice again.

A photo of the latest Premier Club release came out today - a Chestnut Arabian Stallion by Eberl, presumably the "husband" of Weather Girl. I’ve only just skimmed the usual sources and it looks like more stuff I don’t want to deal with, either, some of it residual frustration over Carrick, I assume.

As always, I will reserve judgement on him until I see a better photo, or see him in person, which will most likely be the case for some of us next week.

And yup, did a facepalm when I saw the photo of the Red Roan Pinto Othello Auction piece circulating shortly after my last post. I think he’s really quite pretty, but yeah, I’m so not hoping he’s the volunteer piece this year. (On the other hand: Bay, Black and Chestnut Roan = matched set!)

I happen to think it’s something we haven’t seen yet. (Among those candidates: Rejoice, Adios, Andalusian, Cigar, the Peruvian Paso…)

Sorrel Fighting Stallion, Redux

I spent my Black Friday finishing up my 2008 paperwork (got the new toner cartridge on Wednesday.) Now I remember why I put off printing and sorting it all out – I spent way more than I should have on the“nonessential” things. The paperwork for this year should look a lot better; I've cut out most of my retail horse shopping (except for the Target and TSC specials) and I've studiously avoided the temptations of eBay.

There's no moral or philosophical underpinnings to those shopping decisions, beyond a lack of space and a lack of money. From now until I get the herd under control, the only hobby-oriented things I'll be buying are actual necessities: reference materials and office supplies. (One can never have enough binders or index cards!)

I was doing a little research on a topic I had been planning on writing about today, but I found something else instead: more on the possible origins of the Five-Gaiter Sorrel Fighting Stallion. (This sort of thing happens all the time, which is why my list of future topics never gets any shorter.) I was cross-checking some data in my early Breyer pricelists, and something caught my eye:

Look familiar? It's the same photograph of the “Bay” Fighting Stallion we saw in the 1968 Collector's Manual that I concluded was the Sorrel Fighter:

The “new” data isn't really new: I've had it for several years now. It comes from a copy of the Frederick C. Wolf & Son Inc. pricelist, dated May 7-8, 1963. (One page is dated May 7, the rest are dated May 8.) They were wholesale jobbers and distributors based in Tacoma Washington.

Most of the data duplicates what we already know from the official 1963 price list; the importance of this list was that it was the first documentation that showed that the matte and gloss Alabaster Fighting Stallions really were two distinct, separate releases. The 1962/3 Red Bird Sales Pages documents that fact in better detail, but those were found a few years later.

(We're not sure what to make of the “Dancer” nickname given to the No. 31 Fighting Stallion: we don't have any other reference to this name anywhere else. We don't know if Breyer or the jobber made it up. Separate topic anyway.)

What this “discovery” means is that we can push back the possible manufacture date of the Sorrel Fighting Stallion back to 1963. Since this was the same year that the Bay colorway was formally introduced on the Fighting Stallion, that means that the Sorrels may predate the standard “Breyer Bay” version we all know and love.

The only question then becomes: where do the Gloss Bays fit in the chronology? We don't have any references at all for the Gloss Bay Fighting Stallions: no pictures, and no notations on any pricelists, mail order sheets or catalogs of a finish change.

Then, as now, some of Breyer's upcoming releases may have been made available early for holiday orders. My guess – and it's purely a guess – is that these first batches of Fighting Stallions were produced in Gloss, possibly as a part of the 1962 holiday shipments. Once regular production began, they switched over to the Matte.

That wouldn't explain why the photograph shows the Five-Gaiter Sorrel version of the Fighting Stallion, though. If the glosses came first, and they intended the Sorrel color all along, then there shouldn't be any Gloss Bays at all: just Gloss Sorrels. But that's not the case at all. (I also happen to think that more than a few of the “Gloss Bay” Fighters out there aren't 100% authentic, but again, that's a separate topic.)

There was a lot of color confusion in Breyer's early days: the same colors on different models had the same name. The “Bay” Western Prancing Horse was actually the same color as the “Sorrel” Five-Gaiter, and the “Chestnut” Running Mare and Foal were the same color as the “Bay” Quarter Horse Gelding (except for the finish.) And the #36 Racehorse was called “Bay,” but was actually Chestnut.

Maybe somebody – or a lot of somebodies – just got their shades of Bay mixed up. “We didn't mean the Prancing Horse Bay, we meant the Running Mare and Foal Bay!”

Speaking of the Running Mare and Foal, there's another theory about the color switch that I've been entertaining: Breyer may have been engaging in a little “matchmaking.” Customers liked buying matching family sets: since the Matte Bay Running Mare and Foal also came out around that time, maybe Breyer thought that by making the Fighter in the same color and finish, customers would assume that they were all members of the same family, and buy accordingly.

The Mysteries of Breyer Bay

I picked up a really nice Bay Missouri Fox Trotter yesterday - the No. 768 with green and gold ribbons. Nothing rare or fancy, but I’m a softie for both Missouri Fox Trotters and for a well-shaded Bay paint job, and the price was right. I haven’t bought many models strictly for me this year, and I really needed one right now.

Breyer has an … interesting history when it comes to the color Bay. They really didn’t start rendering the color "correctly" until the mid-1960s. What came before then - and for a long time afterwards - was a color I’ve come to call, for lack of a better term, "Breyer Bay."

Breyer Bay describes a red-brown base coat with a black mane, tail and hooves, four white stockings, and usually some manner of facial markings. What it lacks is the black legs or points that would make it a true "Bay." Some real-life horses do exist in this color as Breyer painted it, sorta, but I’m getting ahead of the discussion here.

Even Breyer couldn’t keep this version of the color straight in their minds: early catalogs refer to the Running Mare and Foal in this color as "Chestnut" while at the same time calling the Family Arabians and QH Gelding in this very same color "Bay." (All the while calling the distinctly chestnutty #36 Racehorse "Bay.")


And adding to the confusion, Running Mare and Foal were labeled as Chestnut through 1970 in the Dealer Price Lists, but they continued to be called Chestnut in the Collector’s Manuals through 1975! (Yes, this pretty girl is a semi-gloss with eyewhites. NFS!)

Whatever!

The existence of Breyer Bay has been an ongoing problem in my research. You wouldn’t think it the case, but one of the hardest parts of my research is writing correct and accurate color descriptions of all known Breyer releases. Some colors aren’t difficult to describe - like Black, or even many of the Decorator colors.

Sometimes it gets a little dicey when you’re trying to explain a color on a model that shouldn’t legally exist in the breed it’s meant to represent - the whole Palomino Arabian conundrum comes immediately to mind. But that’s more of a showing or breeding issue than a descriptive one. You can explain away your Palomino Arabian as a crossbred or an extremely pale chestnut to not get it disqualified from the ring, but visually, it looks like Palomino, and that’s how I describe it.

Now, in the showring, a model with a "Breyer Bay" paint job can be explained away as Chestnut, or Primitive Bay, Baby Bay, or some sort of roany or sabino type thing. But it’s still the same color, regardless of the way you explain it. When I began writing my descriptions, I realized that what I needed was a simple, concise way to describe it on paper with a minimum of confusion.

Because the last thing the world the model horse hobby needs is more color confusion. (Quite a few nonexistent SRs and variations can be chalked up to a seller’s - or potential buyer’s - poor choice of words. But that’s another discussion.)

So I took the lazy route, and just decided to go with the term "Breyer Bay" to cover it. Maybe it’ll catch on, and maybe it won’t. It does make my job a little bit easier, though.