Decision Time

Feeling a little distracted the past few days; I just began planning the OTHER vacation this week in earnest, and the choices are a little overwhelming.

(Anyone know the best way to contact the Pryor Mountain Mustang Center? The tour is a definite “bucket list” to-do!)

And if anyone might be interested in tagging along, now’s definitely the time to speak up. Otherwise, I’ll be hoofing it alone, like I usually do. (Things to consider, if you’re considering: I’m a nonsmoker, a sound sleeper, and I’ll eat almost anything. The only nonnegotiable: I get to choose the music!)

That box of bodies arrived in… a jumble. They were bodies, and I was expecting nothing less, but the one I was going to keep for my personal customizing stash is the only one that’s broken. Only slightly, but enough.

This happens so often to me that I think it must be an immutable law of physics. I’ll still keep it, just because I’m an adventurous and experimental sort and the idea seems worth pursuing. After I finish a few dozen more old projects.

Which is not looking so great, with the current work situation and all. Last weekend’s quilt project is still not done! I have to work today, so this weekend is also not promising...

This year’s Best of BreyerFest Stablemate Set is awesome and the tiny glossy palomino Georg is my favorite, because the only model in that set that I have in its original size is the Opry: 

She is/was one of the best Volunteer Models ever, and there will be no discussion on this matter. I remember so many people being initially disappointed by her – a Vintage mold, in a Vintage color? – but once more people got to see her in person, they fell in love.

In my personal opinion, I think everything should (eventually) come in Gloss Honey Palomino. The matching Clydesdale Stallion and Foal would be a good beginning! (I suppose the original Vintage Club Dandy might do, but I also want something solid. With blue and yellow bobs and ribbons, naturally.)

I am also glad they managed to incorporate the Stablemate Driving Horse into the lineup here, because hello obvious! I love that chunky little mold for some reason; the 2018 One-Day Silver Charm release is probably one of my favorite BreyerFest Stablemates. 

Although I do have a small and cherished collection of Plushies of various sorts and manufactures, I don’t specifically collect BreyerFest Plushies. But with my love of harness racing and Standardbreds, this year’s version Sulky might be something I need:

I have a few days to decide before tickets go on sale. At this point I’m just going to get the one VIP ticket, because that’s all I really need; I’ll worry about what to do with other possible tickets only if/when they happen.  

Capes

Yes, it’s a Clydesdale Mare, who bears a remarkable similarity to the Passage to the Pacific Exclusive Event Palisades:

Pepper is beautiful and I love her and I’ll probably get her, but Reeves, we need to talk about your Disney problem.

This is the second Special Run reveal after the Celebration Horse, and the second named after/inspired by a Marvel Universe character.

As someone who was collecting comic books before I was even aware of the existence of Breyer Horses, who has been to almost as many comics conventions as BreyerFest, who has worn a cape in public, and has even been a member of comic book APA (the legendary Interlac), nobody’s more excited about a potential exploration of super-heroic themes at BreyerFest.

This is my wheelhouse, people. You think I get obscure talking about mold stamp variations on the Family Arabian Foal? You haven’t seen me talk about the historical significance of Justice League: Detroit, or why I consider Billy Batson the Captain Marvel.

But I have been a DC girl since… well, forever. The last Marvel product I bought was their Miracleman/Marvelman collections, and they were Marvel products in a legal sense and not much else.

And I rarely watch any of the Disney-Marvel movies because while they are technically competent, I find them safe, boring and unchallenging – and in fact the very antithesis of what made many flock to Marvel in the 1960s.

So I am now a little apprehensive that this BreyerFest – like some others before it – will be both literally and metaphorically Disneyfied. While there is a sizable contingent of people who go out of their way to insist that “not all heroes wear capes”, I for one would like to point out that not every hero who wears a cape is owned by Disney.

It’s probably moot at this point – all that’s really left now of the Special Run design process now is the tweaking. (Allegedly they’re even going to reveal the Volunteer Special soon? Which doesn't strike me as the best idea, for so many reasons...)

I won’t let a silly thing like a name be a determinant in my purchases, if all other signs point to yes. Since I tend to name my draft horses after various deities old and New, my Pepper may well be renamed Barda, anyway.

Let The Guessing Games Begin!

Current speculation on what the next Special Run reveal for BreyerFest – based on the tiny sneak peek they provided us on the blog yesterday – is running towards either the Adios or the Clydesdale Mare:

Both have similar coat textures, and both debuted in 1969, more or less. Precise release dates for new mold releases from 1968 through 1970 are actually kind of hard to pin down, but that’s another topic entirely and not something I’m up to untangling today.

(I didn’t sleep well last night, so I’ve been fuzzy all day.)

But let’s nip this one particular nugget of misinformation in the discussion in the bud: the #47 Man o’ War was definitely a 1967 release, not a 1969 one. While I think it’d be awesome if they did offer a Traditional Man o’ War as one of the Special Runs this year (because I’m still a bit chafed about last year’s Early Bird Raffle Model Riddle) this particular model can’t be him.

Anyway, if it’s a choice between the two (I haven’t really done a muscle by muscle comparison, yet. Fuzzy: see above) I’m rooting for the Clydesdale Mare. Aside from being a favorite of mine, the mold has had a rather illustrious history of BreyerFest releases, including the coveted 1998 Special Run Shannon, the (much underrated) 2003 Celebration Horse Gladwin Lucky Lady, and the 2013 Volunteer Special Run Gloss Palomino Opry:

There’s also the 2007 Reserve Champ Show Prize Betsy Ross, but they only made nine of her. Unless I am bequeathed one in a will, or one mysteriously appears on my doorstep, that one will never grace my horseshelves.

It also helps that mold has been in production very recently, with the last of the well-received Tractor Supply Special Run release Alba still lingering in some remoter stores. (I am still trying my best to resist!)

We’ll all know by Friday, regardless.

Alba

A few weeks ago when I was looking at the last of the Christmas Breyer leftovers at the local Tractor Supply, one of the employees made a comment in passing about how they “needed” to sell them soon.

I didn’t think much of the comment at first – I just assumed it was about needing to make room for the Seasonal Spring merchandise – but it did nag at me a little bit. Did that mean they’d be getting more Breyers sooner, rather than later?

Apparently, yep. One of them, in fact, is very similar Clydesdale Mare similar to the #856 Shire who – oddly enough – was something I was looking at on eBay over the weekend.

(I had one once, and sold it a while ago. I can’t remember why.)

This new piece – named Alba – commemorates Tractor Supply’s 80th anniversary. The name “Alba” is Latin for White, an odd choice for a dark bay-black horse. Maybe it’s because she has a lot of white on her?

The Clydesdale Mare has had so many genuinely pretty releases – Opry, Del Mar, Lanark’s Rosebud, Palisades, the Picture Perfect Pinto, Shannon, the Vintage Club Blossom, that Glossy Appaloosa Test Piece I’m still kinda-sorta mad about not winning – that I’ve been wondering if I should go ahead and make the commitment to actively collect that mold.

Except for Palisades and Betsy Ross, I already have most of the harder ones to get. If I ever decide to go on that quest it’ll be a achievable, lower-stress one.

To make a long story short, though, I won’t be getting Alba any time soon. The primary reason is space: since I just finished an extensive collection cleanout, I am a bit reluctant to make any impulse purchases beyond the box lots I’ve been buying for resale. (Kaibab was a happy exception.)

I do not want to deal with the drama right now, either. Like the regular Holiday TSC specials, I have a feeling that hobbyists are going to lose their minds, buy out store stocks, then the stores will restock, the prices will start fluctuating wildly….

No thank you. If I need to, I can wait until either the market levels off, or until the next “gotta have it” Special Run drops somewhere. Though at the rate they’ve been going with releases this year (another release in the America the Beautiful Series, already?) that probably won’t be too long.

For the time being, I’ll just retreat to my office and continue with my Spring Cleaning and paperwork. (It’s been an interesting and productive day: I just found a few “lost” horses in my office supply closet! Nothing rare, but a nice surprise nevertheless.)

October (Model Horse) Surprises

Gah! So many goodies out right now – Gideon, Coeur de Lion, the Premier Club Shagya Arabian (a Shagya at last!) and now this bizarre Test Color Clydesdale Mare THAT I LOVE:

It looks like the kind of Test Color my nine year old self would have designed! If my parents had been rich, and they had had the “Design Your Own Test Color” back then.

Alas, I blew my wad on the trip and I really need new tires, so most of these end-of-year items won’t be coming home with me. The upcoming Silver Filigree will probably be off the table, too, whoever it may be.

I’ll make an exception for the Mare of course, and possibly for the Nonhorse piece, especially if it’s one of the molds I think/hope it will be, like a Zebra, Elk, Deer Family Set or Saint Bernard. Though both the Mare and the Nonhorse are unlikely anyway, since I haven’t been getting drawn for those kinds of things lately.

(I’ll cuss if it’s the Saint Bernard – that’s one collection I had some hopes of keeping complete.)

Most of my purchases for the rest of the year will be of this type, all inexpensive recent Salvation Army finds:

The white kitty with the black tail tip is my favorite. I have no idea who made it – I’m guessing it’s Russian or Eastern European, since it came with the striped Art Deco Cat, made by Hollohaza in Hungary.

And box lots, too. Here’s one of those pieces from that lot I was so excited about last week:

Yes, that’s another “Transitional” saddle, this time a gray to match my tan.

On yet another Western Prancing Horse, that both baffles and amuses me.

It is funny that the two Transitional saddles I now own – and a third that I almost purchased, locally – were all found on the Western Prancing Horse. Funny because this is a saddle that was designed for the Western Horse, and that’s where most of the rest of the hobby finds theirs, when they do.

While it’s possible that some Western Prancers were released with Transitional saddles, because that’s just the weird kind of stuff that happened back in the Chicago days, I’m going to chalk up my personal experience to a sampling error.

In this case, it was in a lot that came with some spare pieces, so I’m going to assume this is a case of parts getting switched around and/or lost.

I can also partly attribute it to the fact that I’m one of those handful of collectors who actively collects Western Prancing Horses. Even though my collection is technically “complete”, I always give them an extra look when I’m cruising the Internet. Sometimes, I am rewarded.

Mostly with oddball Black Leopard Appaloosa variations … and now, apparently, rare saddles.

Odds and Ends

Right now I happen to be working on a vintage quilt block called Odds and Ends. It’s a little known and challenging pattern involving a lot of little curved and pointed pieces. It’s still in the design stage - a little something to preoccupy the back end of my mind while I deal with some bigger issues on the front end.

Seems like a good day to catch up on some odds and ends of the model horse sort, too.

First, here’s a picture of my Reissue Clydesdale Mare:

So pretty! Very metallic, and not a dapple in sight. (Not that I have an issue with the dappling technique - I don’t - just noting it as a point of distinction.) She has a couple of flaws - a tiny box rub, and an eartip that was obviously chipped, but "cleaned up" and painted over. If I didn’t already know that they were flaws, I wouldn’t recognize them as such.

I like to think they give her character.

I’m a little bummed that my Reissue mold predictions didn’t pan out, other than the Family Arabian Stallion. More proof that I shouldn’t be buying lottery tickets.

Like everyone else, I was flabbergasted to the point of speaking in Doge when I saw the "final" (not really) BreyerFest Special Run, Platinum Star - a grulla overo pinto Latigo with a different mane (from the angle of the photos, I’m not so sure if the tail is different). So Wow! Much Beautiful! Such Happy!

Now I’m wondering if I need to buy ANOTHER ticket, or pray that the Surprise model is something I’m not interested in.

There’s currently a rumor floating around that the model will be similar to the Roxy - performance-friendly, with multiple mane/tail options. This suggests Strapless to me, though we already had her this year as a Web Special with Aphrodite.

I still don’t think they’ll pull a Silver on us. I could see a Silver being tied to whatever surprise raffle-type-thing they apparently have planned to coincide with Saturday’s evening festivities. Not a Silver Filigree, naturally, but a Silver Charm or Solid Silver are viable possibilities. Or something with glitter, like the Ethereal Times Square Special from a few years ago, or the Horse Crazy Stablemates.

All of which I love, and any combination of which I would accept wholeheartedly into my herd.

I’m not going to bet on it, though: the Silver, the possible color combos, or winning one.

BTW, I had another great day at the flea market today! I haven’t had time to unpack the car yet (long story) so it’ll all have to wait until next time.  

Scaling the Mountain

We’re getting to that point in the flea market season where I’m now beginning to regard the models I’ve left behind as my touring collection; I've even named a few. All I bought this past weekend was some produce, a few china miniatures, and a clutch of empty and unused Testor’s 1/2 ounce paint bottles. Because they cost almost nothing, and reminded of the artist Joseph Cornell.

(In case you were wondering, they are just a tad too small to squeeze most MiniWhinnies in.)

I swung over to the nearest Tractor Supply on the way home, but it didn’t look like they had fully set up their Holiday Stuff yet. Even though some people are apparently already listing them at - and getting! - some crazy prices on eBay, I have no worries. I somehow managed, in the chaos of last week, to secure a Grail of mine so scarce that I had some years ago deemed it nonexistent.

To dampen that joy, I also discovered the whereabouts of a more recent Grail. That one will most definitely not be coming to live with me, now or probably ever.

The former item you’ll hear about in due time; the latter you will not. Not here. (All I will say? It’s not about the money involved.)

Now, onto the matter at hand - the Secret of the Reissues. It turns out that the bodies involved in creating them weren’t just leftovers from recent Regular Runs and Special Runs: based on their mold marks, they’re older than that. The Clydesdale Mare still has her original mold mark, for instance, and the Shires still have the U.S.A. imprint. So it’s possible that these bodies may be pre-China leftovers.

The problem is that Reeves hasn’t been real consistent with altering these mold marks, and with multi-year production gaps, it’s almost impossible to pinpoint the exact year when each mold was altered. The portion of the discussion on Blab where people were trying to determine the Clydesdale Mare’s mold mark change has since been deleted, due to the hacking incident; I think it was narrowed down to somewhere between 2003 (Lanark’s Rosebud) and 2007 (the Picture Perfect Black Pinto Spotted Draft).

(Don’t quote me on that, though. My memory of large portions of last week is extremely hazy.)

It’s been one of those topics that I’ve had on the back burner just a little too long; since late 2003, when I first noticed the alterations on some of the Early Releases for 2004. And some did not: I swear I saw examples of the Cantering Welsh Pony release Party Shoes - the one in Palomino with high whites - with the old mold mark as well as the new, sitting on the shelf together at a local toy store.

(Some of Reeves’ PR photos of Party Shoes show a model with a U.S.A. mark, for what that’s worth.)

The relatively low number of Clydesdale Mare Reissues compared to the others was also thus made explainable: it wasn’t just that they shipped/sold more at BreyerFest, they also used bodies from that same stash to make this year’s Volunteer Clydesdale SR. Same old mold mark!

I can’t recall if it was determined that the Betsy Ross (2007 BF Prize model) or Palisades (2012 Passage to the Pacific SR) were also pulled from the stash, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were.

The Del Mar - a 2009 SR release - definitely was not. It amuses me to think that while Reeves may have had a small mountain of Clydesdale Mare sitting in a warehouse in New Jersey, they were molding and manufacturing entirely new ones half a whole away.

What this all means is that I’m now seriously considering ordering the Reissue Clyde Mare. Dang it! Someone really needs to invent a 27 hour day.