Another Shiny Object

It’s a good time to be a nerd, but so help me, if anyone spoils the series finale of Picard for me, there will be heck to pay…

Not understanding why Paramount isn’t doing an IMAX screening in the Detroit area: are they completely unaware of the fact that some of the earliest Trek Cons were held here, and that Detroit was literally one of the first major media market to broadcast Star Trek reruns in the country?

(Frakes and Spiner are going to be at Motor City Comic Con this year; I suppose this will marginally make up for the slight.)

We make a lot of jokes about hobbyists being distracted by shiny objects, but my current distraction is not a horse, but a vintage camper sitting in a neighbor’s driveway with a “For Sale” sign in the window. It’s always been a bit of a dream of mine to restore an old house, but in lieu of that, a vintage camper will also work. It’s a tiny, portable house! 

Alas, this one priced very optimistically, so it really is just a distraction, and not a project in my very near future. That’s something that is both literally and figuratively a bit down the road for me anyway, unless a free or super cheap one ends up on my doorstep somehow.

(This is not an invitation for you to point me in the direction of one. If only because there is no room for one in the garage, which is now full of horses and packaging materials, much to my family’s chagrin.)

I feel that I am obligated to give you a shiny equine object, and I think Poncho Rex, the 1999 West Coast Jamboree Horse will do quite nicely:

In spite of the mold’s popularity and longevity, it didn’t officially appear in a Pinto paint job until 1992’s Limited Edition release Chaparral. Reeves quickly made up for lost time: between 1998 and 2000 there were five production run Pintos, with Poncho Rex here being my favorite of that group. 

Not coincidentally, two of those pintos, including the 1998 BreyerFest Volunteer one, also happened to use the same painting mask of Chaparral. This was back when paint masks were still made by hand, which often limited Breyer’s ability to offer non-solid paint jobs: they were expensive and time consuming to make! After all that time and effort, they were not going to let it just sit there and collect dust...

The Volunteer Model also happened to represent the Fighting Stallion’s first appearance (not including Test Colors) in a factory Gloss finish since the Palomino and Charcoal were discontinued in the early 1970s. 

There have been a considerable number of spotted, dotted and freckled Fighters since then, with the most recent being the 70th Anniversary Assortment in Chestnut Sabino, in both Matte and Gloss. 

The Sorrel Family

Here’s the evidence that I am not totally crazy:

Behold! An entire family of Dark Sorrel Family Arabians!

And here’s the Five-Gaiter that came with the Foal, many moons ago. That was such a deal!

The Western Prancing Horse and Fighting Stallion that I have in this variation are on the lighter side, incidentally. 

The fact that there’s a lot of variation in all of these variations is an excellent argument for the idea that these were not a one-off Special Run items, but things with extended production runs. 

That’s obviously the case with the #114 Bay Western Prancer, who appears to have been made in this variation for most of his production run. 

It’s a little less clear with the Fighting Stallion. Based on the fact that early ephemera pictures depict the Sorrel variation, I think he was made in that variation at the beginning of his production run, but switched over to Breyer’s early version of “Bay” (reddish-brown body with black mane and tail and black hooves) pretty quickly. 

This obviously throws the chronology for Gloss Bay Fighters into question, but I do not want to get into that contentious issue today.

So where does that leave the Family Arabians? Good question! I tend to fall into the “it’s a production variation” camp, rather than “previously unknown/undocumented Special Run”, because two of the other Sorrel variations turned out to be just that: variations, not independent Special Runs. 

The questions then become: when, and for how long? Those, I am not so sure about.

Back to the paperwork!

The Other Guy

I didn’t get pulled from the waitlist for Robin and Nestling either, which at this point is like saying “water is wet”. So, moving on…

In more cheerful news, the wild strawberry seeds I purchased germinated! I’m not a huge fan of strawberries in general, but since I’ve been told that growing any other types of berries is off limits, strawberries it is. 

I also have at least four Berkheya “Zulu Warriors” and one Heliotrope. Technically we’re in between a Zone 5 and 6 here, so I’m probably taking a chance with the Berkheyas. But we do appear to live in a weird little microclimate – the Ageratum I started years ago perennialized! – and the plants are so neat looking that I figured I might as well give it a chance. 

Okay, back to horse stuff. 

I found out about the BreyerFest Workshops before most of the popular ones sold out, but I decided to heed my own advice and not overschedule myself. I’ll wait until after my first live show this year – and the Volunteer selection process – before I decide what else I want to do during the weekend, beside socializing and shopping. 

I was tempted by the Carousel workshops, because once I get caught up on my sewing projects I want to jump into the Little Bits/Paddock Pal scale carousel I’ve been slowly accumulating supplies for. 

Some of the webinar and pre-recorded workshops are also tempting, but as I mentioned before, I’m hesitant to spend much time online at an in-person event. 

Actually, I’m kind of hoping that they include some in-person only competitions, like they did at BreyerWest with the Stablemate Painting. Though I wouldn’t necessarily compete in that one personally because painting is my least favorite part of the customizing process! 

I think that’s one thing that BreyerFest is missing: the spirit of spontaneous competition. Most of the competitions we have at BreyerFest now hinge on a great deal of advance preparation. Things like the Costume Contest, the Live Show, and the Customs Contest all take weeks or months of work. The 5K doesn’t necessarily, but it’s also more of a physical than a creative exercise. I don’t know about you, but by Sunday morning I’m exhausted!   

As a reward for slogging through all this, here’s the other half of the Fighting Stallion lot that included the Gloss from the post previous:

I already had a pretty nice #30 Alabaster, but the deal was too good to pass up, and this example is a little bit different from that one: he doesn’t have the USA mold mark. I’m still uncertain that I am going to keep him, which is why he’s gotten the privilege of window time: keepers can wait, potential sales items cannot.

Unlike the Gloss, the limited amount of gray paint on the Matte version of the White/Alabaster Fighter was painted first and then sealed with a Matte topcoat. (White plastic is not necessarily unpainted or bare plastic, she says for the millionth time…) 

The Matte topcoat wasn’t a cure-all, however: Matte models tend to yellow more quickly and profoundly than the Glosses do, but they also un-yellow pretty quickly too, as long as the weather cooperates. 

Big and Little

While I was prepared for the inevitable disappointment regarding Robin and Nestling, I found myself more bummed than I wanted to be when I logged into my account and saw the photo list of the year’s previous “Special Run Lottery” models. I noticed I had only been picked for one of the past ten (Zugspitze).

And I know my luck has been better than many, even getting that one. But seeing the visual tally like that definitely makes you think about collecting something more attainable, like Van Goghs or Fabergé Eggs. 

But let’s focus on what we can have, rather than what we can’t. Here’s another not-so-recent acquisition I’ve been hesitant to put on display because he’s still almost as yellow as the day I got him, because both sunlight and window space have been a premium since the day he’s arrived:

Because they usually painted the mane and tail and hooves after they applied the Gloss, finding Vintage Alabasters in good or better condition can be difficult, and matching the gray paint is almost equally difficult.  

Being yellow, fortunately, is the only thing really wrong with this guy, which is why I bought him in the first place. (He is a lot yellower in person than the camera shows. Darn you, camera!) He came pretty cheap, too – less than a modern Traditional at retail. Part of the reason for the cheapness was because the photographs accompanying the auction were not good.

But I noticed his mane, tail and hooves were in excellent condition, and all of the other marks appeared to be mostly surface issues, so it felt like a pretty safe bet. And even if he wasn’t all that, all I had to do was clean him up, de-yellow him, and I’d be able to at least get my money back and maybe a small bit extra to cover my time and efforts.

Like my Semi-Gloss Bay Running Mare with eyewhites, there is also a chance that making the plunge with this purchase will improve the odds of me making a significant upgrade in the near future. I mean, he is pretty sweet, but is not minty-mint, after all...

(The story, if you did not hear it before: after finally spending a nice chunk on what I thought was a pretty good Bay Running Mare, I ended up upgrading her twice within the space of a year, ending with a darn-near-perfect example for eight bucks at the local flea market.)

The only regrettable thing about his purchase is that this Winter has been pretty dark even by Michigan standards, and all the plants and other even-more-yellowed models residing in the window haven’t been doing that well. The seedlings have been moved to grow lights and are doing much better, but the Fighter will have to wait until the weather is warm enough to move the bigger plants outside.

While I’m at it, here’s a picture of the Stablemates Club Dax, as well. You know I was initially a little underwhelmed by him (I am all about the Gambler’s Choice Fjord and Tiny Fireheart!) but he’s much nicer in person than I thought he’d be, and that’s a happy surprise. The new box design is pretty keen, too.

The Little Things

It went perfectly smooth and hasn’t sold out yet, so ordering my BreyerFest VIP ticket felt a little anticlimactic? I mean, I’m glad it’s over and done with and I reserved everything I was hoping for, but apparently there was no rush to beat? Ah, well….

I also feel like the only person who didn’t go for a Stein and a Surprise: I went with Franz and the Gummi Bears instead, of course. I doubt either one would have sold out regardless, but they were the ones I wanted most, and I’d rather spend my money on things I want, rather than things I think I can sell for a profit. 

The only time I worry about getting my money back is when I’m buying box lots, or I find it second hand and I have to make a decision on buying it right then and there. It blows my mind that so many hobbyists think they’re entitled to a financial return on their hobby investments. 

(At best, I’m thinking I’ll break about even in the end.) 

For my Limited Editions I reserved the Stablemates: both the Wittelsbach and the Best of BreyerFest Set. It had been my plan to focus on Stablemates this year anyway – a plan that was thwarted by the fact that the Christmas Stablemates Sets I missed out on in the 1990s are all kinds of expensive. That’s why I’ve been buying Vintage Traditionals instead, like my recently arrived Gray Appaloosa Fighting Stallion, here posing with his slightly yellowed brother. (He was a lot yellower when I got him, trust me!)

The new guy has a couple of weird factory paint bloopers that probably rule him out as a live show prospect. I suppose I could get them repaired, but I’m kind of a minimalist when it comes to that sort of thing, and I’m not exactly in mint condition myself, so I can relate.

(Though my health screening this week came back pretty decent. Other than needing to lose about 25 pounds, which I already knew.)

If I get another ticket, I’m not too particular about who I get selected for; the only one that doesn’t do anything for me is Marzipan. I’ve even changed my mind about Landler: I’ve seen some of the photos of him coming out of BreyerWest, and gosh he looks way better than I imagined he would! 

As far as purchasing other Limited Editions, I might still try to get the Black Forest Classic Draft, and in spite of my apprehension about spending any significant time online during the event, I’ll probably have to at least get that Soccer Ball Stablemate Drafter. 

I am a little concerned about the location of the “Model Handout Tent” where the Special Runs are being distributed: according to the map in the blog post, it’s the same general area of the parking lot I’ve sometimes used whenever I had Volunteer business to attend to. (Because lugging totes around in the 90 degree heat is never as much fun as you think it might be.)

I suspected a lot of other things are getting moved around and reconfigured this year and I was ready to deal with that, but for some reason the elimination of my favorite parking lot is throwing me for a loop. It’s always the little things, you know? 

He’s So Fine

He’s not in my hot hands just yet, but he’s been paid for and shipped, so I think it’s safe to share my latest acquisition:

Isn’t he beautiful? I mean, I love my original #32 Gray Appaloosa with the superfine speckling, and I had vowed to avoid the sinking deathtrap of variations this vintage release has to offer, because I don’t have room enough or money enough to deal with it. 

So while I would often take a look at them for research purposes, or just admire them for aesthetic reasons, I never had the desire to purchase any of them.  

But when I saw him on eBay early Wednesday morning, I just had to have him. For Heaven’s sake, he’s so fine he even has eyepinking, something you only occasionally see on early examples of this mold!

(The last time I found a Fighter with eyepinking I was pretty much obligated to sell him to someone at cost, but that’s a story I’d rather not revisit.)

I am also pleased with his similarity to early promotional photographs of the Appaloosa Fighter, like this one from a ca. 1961 Red Bird Sales flier:

He doesn’t have the black mane and tail that’s even harder to find than the eyepinking, but that’s a very minor complaint. To be honest, I haven’t even seen an Appaloosa Fighter with a genuinely black mane and tail in person. I’m not sure they were ever a legitimate production variation to begin with, and I’m willing to chalk the few that do show up as just random Oddities, Tests, Samples, or examples with darker-than-average gray manes and tails. 

I paid more than I normally would for this guy, which did stress me out a little bit because you know I’m all about getting the deals. But for the moment, I have more money than time to devote to hobby pursuits, so I’ve been trying to persuade myself that I shouldn’t feel guilty for spending what’s really just a little bit extra. 

He is Vintage, awesome, and almost completely different from my existing Appaloosa Fighter. A little bit of guilt is better than the regret of not getting him at all, right? 

Unless I happen to find another distinctive and/or attractive variation in immaculate condition for cheap, I don’t foresee my #32 Appaloosa Fighting Stallion collection getting any bigger, though.  

(Yes, I am aware of the changes announced for this year’s Special Run lines, and I have opinions I will express next time. The complicating factor here is that a lot of you are probably not going to like what I have to say.)

More Silly Sales Season Stuff

More Tractor Supply Exclusives are showing up, including the Appaloosa Ethereal Wilder and the Gray Bobby Jo Cirrus. Both are… different than I expected, but not enough to go out of my way to get them. 

The Stablemates Unicorn Foal Surprises are another matter. They might not even be actual Special Runs, but early releases of 2022 product, like the carded Stablemates Unicorn Paint Kits from a few years back. But with the Stablemates market being as crazy as it is, I’m not going to sweat over them, whatever they are.  

Second, the first offering in the 2022 Stablemates Club is an Appaloosa Fighting Stallion named Dax:

Maybe it’s just my Seasonal Affective Disorder kicking it into high gear this year (so much so that I broke down and finally bought a light therapy box this week) but I don’t find him all that exciting either. I mean, he’s nicely done and I love the name and all that, but maybe I’m just a bit tapped out on the Stablemates Fighting Stallion already. 

It also leaves me a little concerned: I’d rather not have the Stablemates line turn into a series of “miniaturized Traditionals”. With the release of the Mini Me of the Premier Club Fireheart, I worry that hobbyists are going to not just expect, but demand that every new Traditional mold release come with a miniature counterpart. I’d prefer entirely new molds, or releases adapted from other sources, like the upcoming Stablemates adaptation of Eberl’s Sharif, Twist. 

The latest Pony for Christmas is also out: a Bouncer named Gingerbread, in a blanket that looks like a Christmas Sweater!

https://www.breyerhorses.com/collections/website-exclusives/products/pony-for-christmas-gingerbread

It’s similar to the Bouncer release Apple Jack, but with two stockings and without the flaxen mane and tail. I am going to presume that, like last year’s Christmas Pony release Honeybunch, that there aren’t any additional markings hidden under the blanket. 

I would not be disappointed if there was, though. I am always up for a new Bouncer, regardless of the color or pattern. (Thought I did originally skip out on the Apple Jack because he looked a little too much like the original Kennebec Count for comfort.)

A bunch of other new, mostly non-horse merchandise has also been added to the web site, including a couple pairs of socks. The purple ones are 100 percent my style:

https://www.breyerhorses.com/collections/new/products/breyer-socks-purple-pinto

If last couple of years have been any indication, the addition of new merchandise to the web site usually precedes the Customer Appreciation Sale. I don’t know if I’m going to participate this year, especially since I just found out I have to work this weekend (and possibly others), and thus kicking my inventory plans down the road yet another week. I don’t need even more horses to account for. 

But if I can stick to mostly apparel and accessories (I do need more socks!) I just might. 

Art Movements

All my entries are in for the VIP ticket thing. Since I’ll be out for most of the evening Wednesday, I won’t even bother checking my e-mail until Thursday and just assume that I lost anyway, unless evidence proves elsewise. 

BTW, I am totally here for these beautiful babies: Dada, Nouveau, Rococo, and Avant Garde. 

I was kind of hoping that the One-Day Stablemates would be all Decorators, and beyond my hopes and dreams, they’re even named after art movements! (Technically “Avant Garde” is more of a generic descriptor/qualifier than a specific historic movement, but it’s a Purple Wedgewood Fjord, so I will give it a pass.)

The only one that seems to be a bit of a stretch is the Fighting Stallion: aside from the fact that we already had an Art Nouveau-themed BreyerFest Decorator back in 2014, nothing about it screams “Art Nouveau” or “Alphonse Mucha” to me. He’s still pretty, but in more of a generic “Tri-Color Decorator Pinto” way. 

Or maybe Memphis? That I liked back when it was originally a thing in the 1980s, but it’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea.

The Eberl Andalusian (aka Chrome) would have been a better fit for an Art Nouveau theme, too, but I think they just wanted to shoehorn in the Stablemates Fighting Stallion somehow.

If it was me, I would have gone with an Art Deco themed Decorator. Think about it, people: an Art Deco Deco. (Probably a little obviously too on-the-nose, but not my call.)

My favorite of the quartet is Dada, because aside from the fact that the Darley Arabian mold is the perfect mold to embody it, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that there is now going to be a Dada-themed Breyer Special Run. Whoa.

(Or maybe someone in New Jersey is a Grant Morrison fan?)

That’s all for today. Got a lot of stuff to get done this week and I’ve already spent way too much time researching airfares to Wyoming for a trip that probably can’t happen until next year. 

Show Time

I spent most of the day geeking out in the DC Fandome today, which – to me – has been the most successful online replication of a convention experience I’ve had this year so far.

(For the fellow nerds in the audience, I will reveal no spoilers. Except for the fact that one of Jim Lee’s favorite characters is Matter-Eater Lad, which both amuses and delights me. LLL!)

The first part (this weekend) was essentially a live stream with some interactivity, some taped content, and a store; the second part on September 12-13, and will featuring multiple worlds/streams and more interactivity, and sounds like it will be close to the kind of experience we were hoping for at BreyerFest this year.

DC is, of course, part of a huge multimedia conglomerate that has the resources to pull something like this off and Reeves is actually kind of a small company with very few full-time employees at their physical location in New Jersey, many of whom already have to wear multiple hats to begin with.

But it will be interesting to see if this particular event has any influence on anyone planning virtual events going forward.

Since I am spending the rest of the weekend catching up on my quilting projects (the sewing machine is back up and running, huzzah!) I’ll just close with another Virtual Photo Show photograph I was especially proud of:

One of the difficulties in photographing vintage Glosses is in trying to convey that glossiness without it distracting from or altering the color of the finish, and I think I managed to do that here. The color is a touch more yellow than he is in real life because of the light sources I used, but I couldn’t color correct the photo any more than I did without it becoming obvious or distorted.  

This model, incidentally, was not my first Charcoal Fighting Stallion. My first one was an earlier and browner version with more body shading, but who was slightly more yellowed and that I attempted to unyellow in my car one day

… and who I forgot about the next day when I went to work and parked in a freshly blacktopped lot. On a hot summer day. 

Don’t do that, kids.

Fortunately for me, my “new guy” showed up at one of my local flea markets a couple weeks later, and I ended up selling my original at BreyerFest to someone very happy to add a Bloated Charcoal Fighter to their collection.

Holiday Things

Apparently there was some sort of mix up in Reeves’s database, so now everyone (well, almost everyone) who receives one of Breyer’s Holiday 2019 catalogs is getting the gift of … a new name!

This is hilarious and awesome, and I am totally wearing a “My Name Is” nametag at BreyerFest with my new Breyer Given Name “Dona” written on it.

(I was kind of surprised that it wasn’t Audrey, but that is a story best told in person....)

The only other thing worth noting about the catalog is that it includes all the Web Exclusive Holiday merchandise – the Unicorn Mare and Foal set Mira & Antares, the “Pony for Christmas” gift set featuring a Haflinger similar to Donner, his royal purpleness Zenith, and a lot of the new 70th Anniversary merchandise and other swag.

As someone who has made several t-shirts featuring old Breyer graphics and ephemera, I am definitely buying this at my earliest convenience (CC Appreciation Sale, cough cough…)

I wasn’t anywhere near my computer when Early Access to Breyer’s Black Friday sale dropped, so no Darwin for me. The only other items of mild to moderate interest were the Gettysburg (also sold out) and Celeste, a mold that I try to love and I am still not feeling it.

I seem to be in the minority of this opinion, but I like the PC Lipizzaner Mare and Foal a heck of a lot more than the PC Andalusian Mare and Foal. So it’s no surprise that I am also taking a pass on the Mira and Antares (in Chestnut and… purple?) and hitting the Enter Now button as much as legally possible for the Winter Web Special Avoriaz – the Lipizzaner Mare in a Gambler’s Choice of Rose Gold Florentine or Rose Gold Charm:

This is an entirely new Decorator color and it gets a big thumbs up from me. While I am not a fan of Rose Gold when it is used in jewelry, I love the color when it’s applied to other things – it’s even one of the few pastels I’ll actually wear!

I am a little hesitant about them applying the Gambler’s Choice option to a relatively limited (350 piece) Special Run, though: these Winter Web Decos are hard enough to win as it is. After what happened with Benasque last year, we really don’t need to encourage more people to enter the drawing with dreams of dropshipping them for some extra holiday cash.

Shrink Ray, Activated!

Alas (and as I feared), it appears I will not be able to make it to the local Fun Day next weekend.

Darn it! The past week has been kinda stressful and I really could have used a “Horse Girl’s Day Out” kind of thing. I guess I’ll just have to content myself with pizza and the Friday night TCM Godzilla movie marathons for the next few weekends instead. (Original Japanese cuts with subtitles, because that is how I roll!)

Anyway, I noticed last night that Reeves was starting to put up all of next year’s club and event stuff on the web site, and some of the pages went live today, including the 2020 Collector Club memberships.

With the “Deluxe” level of membership, you’ll get a Stablemates-scale Fighting Stallion in Gloss Palomino:

Reeves turning its “shrink ray” on some of its Vintage molds is something many of us had hoped and/or expected, and it makes perfect sense that the first of these is being released in conjunction with next year’s 70th anniversary celebration.

It’ll be fun to see who – or what – else gets shrinky-dinked. I’m assuming that the rest of the original “Decorator Five” – the Mustang, Five-Gaiter, and Running Mare and Foal – will be up next. But then who? The Family Arabians? The Clydesdales? Man o’ War (please?)

It should be pointed out that the item in the promotion pictures probably isn’t the Stablemate Fighting Stallion itself, but – more than likely – a Test Color on the Traditional mold. (I’m not 100 percent certain of the Test Color part, because the images a just a tad bit too low-resolution for me to determine.)

(And if so, can I call “dibs”?)

More on the Vintage Club stuff another time, because obviously.

Leopold

The name of second release in this year’s Vintage Club is an obvious play on its similarity to the word “leopard”, but what first sprung to my mind was this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt1V61SPI_w

The Leopold Bugs Bunny satirizes in Long-Haired Hare (1949) is Leopold Stokowski, a conductor best known today for his work on Disney’s Fantasia. And, as Bugs amply demonstrates, his flair for theatricality.

In light of all that, the name certainly suits him!

He was another one that was a tough secret to keep: pretty much a perfectly engineered Vintage Club offering, following in the footsteps of the first Vintage Club Stablemate Eagle, the Second Vintage Club release, the Buckskin Fighting Stallion King, and 2013 Vintage Club release Halo, on the Stretched Morgan…

…with the added difference/bonus being that Leopold is Chalky, as the first releases of the #99 Appaloosa Performance Horses were back in 1974.

As I have noted before, the Appaloosa Performance Horse color was groundbreaking by 1974 standards: prior to it, all Breyer Appaloosas were of the randomly splash-spotted variety. Splash-spotted Appaloosas continued to be made after his arrival – including several APH releases that followed – but so, too, did carefully designed masked patterns, too, like the original Leopard release of the Pony of the Americas and Stud Spider.

What’s interesting to me about the original Appaloosa Performance Horse is that the majority of that mold’s production run releases since his debut have been in some variety of Appaloosa – with the exception of three of the four Special Run releases made for Horses International back in 1989.

His body type is distinctively old-school Appaloosa, so that’s not a big surprise. What is a surprise is the lack of variety in the patterns they have chosen for him over the years: aside from two Semi-Leopards (the original #99 and Exclusive Event Ferris) and the Splash Spot Leopard 1989 Horses International release, it’s been one Spotted Blanket Appaloosa after another.

While I wait for Reeves to come to its senses and finally give us a slightly different look for the APH, maybe I’ll finally dig out the body I have buried in my body box and give it a whirl.

(Probably a Few Spot: you know how much I liked That Guy from last year’s auction.)

Animal Print Decorators

I love Okapis, so I kind of dig the premiere model in the Wild Animal Series, Kehinde:

The Wildlife Animal Series is an obvious replacement to the annually-released Big Cat Series, which had run its course – and out of “Big Cats” to depict (even though it’s technically not a “Big Cat”, I was kind of hoping they’d manage to work a Caracal into the mix.)

Like the Big Cats Series, which was inspired by the 2012 Passage to the Pacific Stablemate Hear Me Roar, the kernel of the idea for the Wild Animal Series was undoubtedly another Exclusive Event model, the 2011 Sunshine Celebration Everglades on the Nokota Horse mold.

I thought he was kind of neat, but he was definitely a polarizing release: either you loved him, or you hated him. Another animal-themed Traditional release a year later, the Passage to the Pacific’s Fighting Stallion Star of India, left me cold. I liked the general concept, and wanted to love the model, but the execution just didn’t work for me at all.

I am assuming that, like the Big Cat Series, this new series will be an annual one, with releases timed for early Fall. The theme is sufficiently vague enough to allow for a wide range of releases: pretty much any animal print you can think of, from birds to snakes to fish…

… though it seems pretty obvious (or should be) that the next release should/will be a Giraffe on the Forever Saige mold. Technically her neck isn’t as long or out of proportion as a lot of people say it is, but the pose itself is very giraffe-like, so I wouldn’t necessarily object.

Though I’d love to see a Blue Jay-themed Silver/Pegasus, an Oryx on the Unicorn version of Yasmin (obviously!) or a Koi Fish anything.

Kehinde is a really unusual concept, well-executed, and I certainly wouldn’t mind adding one to my herd. Props to the designer Karen Williams for making me seriously want a release on a mold (the Clock Saddlebred) that I am not predisposed to liking in the first place!

But my office is still a mess and I still haven’t gotten around to finishing up my BreyerFest paperwork, so I am okay with not getting one: I am all about minimizing my workload this Fall. I will probably just put in my obligatory single entry and see what happens.

A Short History of Alabaster: Part I

Since I am going to either be away, or occupied with other things through the weekend, I will be queuing up the article I wrote about the history of Alabaster for this year’s Sampler.

Even though Breyer’s history began with a white Western Horse, the term “Alabaster” – the word hobbyists most commonly use to describe white-colored Breyer horses – did not appear in any official Breyer ephemera until ca. 1962.

My recent research has determined the reason why: “Alabaster” was created as a descriptor not just of a color, but a finish. In short, Matte White = Alabaster.

The history of Breyer’s plainest and most basic color, however, is far more complicated than that.

The earliest white-colored Breyer horses of the 1950s were literally White, in both form and name. Models like the Western Horse, Western Pony and Fury Prancer were uniformly described in the ephemera of the time as White: and they were, save for a few touches of gray shading on the hooves and head.

It wasn’t until 1958 that models with more extensive gray shading arrived, in the form of the Old Mold Mare and Foal (and a year later, on the Stallion). While the paint job on the Old Mold Family was very similar to the color we think of as Alabaster (gray manes, tails and body shading) they still weren’t labeled that way. The early ephemera still referred to them as White.

Other white-colored models began to show up shortly after but they were not labeled Alabaster, either. The Shetland Pony, with her gray mane and tail and pink hooves and muzzle, was still White. The Mustang and Five-Gaiter were described as Albino, presumably because the earliest pieces were issued with dark pink eyes, not black ones.

It wasn’t until ca. 1962 that the term “Alabaster” finally appeared in print, to describe the brand new Running Mare and Foal, and a revamped White Fighting Stallion.

What did these three releases have in common? The Running Mare and Foal and the re-released Fighting Stallion all came in a Matte finish. They were followed shortly afterwards by the Rearing Stallion (1965) and Running Stallion (1968), both Matte, and “Alabaster”.

It wasn’t until 1969 that the Family Arabians and the Shetland Pony – among the last remaining glossy White pieces in the Breyer line – were officially labeled Alabasters in existing ephemera. This is almost exactly the same time that Breyer officially began phasing out gloss.

1968 Pricelist:

1969 Pricelist:

I do not think this was a coincidence. Especially since the third white release in the line at the time – the Western Pony – remained glossy. And was still labeled as White.

There seems to be quite a bit of evidence that Breyer was being careful and nuanced when it came to their color terminology in the late 1960s and early 1970s, especially with their expanding repertoire of gray-based colors. One that expanded further with the release of the matte Dapple Gray paint job on the Proud Arabian Stallion in 1971.

To complicate matters even more, the term White was still being used. In spite of the fact that neither the Old Timer (released in 1966) nor the Indian Pony (released in 1970) ever came in a Gloss Finish, they were both consistently described in catalogs and other price lists as White well into the 1970s.

What I think was going on there was that a decision was made to turn that particular descriptor into a term for a matte white finish with heavy, almost Smoke-like body shading.

This “new” White didn’t last long: all subsequent “white” releases in the 1970s and 1980s were labeled Alabaster, regardless of the amount of gray shading they came with.

Tacked Up

It may have been a holiday weekend, but model horse business kept me occupied for most of it. I purchased items for the costume, tinkered with the diorama, rewrote several articles, reworked the sales list, did a bit of design work on the BreyerFest paperwork, and I just finished archiving about a year’s worth of hobby e-mails, because that’s ephemera, too: it just happens to be of the electronic sort.

FYI: as far as the Midyears go, many online dealers already have them listed on their respective web sites. It’s not my policy to recommend one online dealer over another, because I am fortunate enough to have several local toy stores from which to handpick, and my experiences ordering online (beyond the Breyer web site) have been rather limited.

If you need any other assistance, the Halloween Horse’s name is Ichabod and he’s a Fighting Stallion covered in skulls. And he glows. So awesome.

Some of the other Midyears include the Best of British releases, and a Pacer. Others, too, but I noticed the Pacer because it is a Pacer - with a yellow halter! I love it when they use more unusual or flamboyant colors on halters like that. My favorite, in that regard, would be the beautiful "Payne’s Gray" halter on the Matte Bay Quarter Horse Gelding in the 2001 Riding Academy Gift Set release for JC Penney. The funky colors used on the 2009 Surprise Quarter Horse Geldings are also cool, though maybe a shade less so because of the unattainability of the Silver Filigree, Smoke and Charcoal ones.

Molded-on tack is definitely not a thing with collectors nowadays: they want their horses clean and unadorned. All of my first three horses - the Man o’ War, the Pacer, and the Western Prancing Horse - came with molded-on tack, so I have not had much of an issue with it personally.

It’s been years since any new Breyer injection mold has come with molded-on tack or accessories (excluding ribbons and braids); the Balking Mule was the last "new" mold with any, in 1968. It wasn’t until 1995, with the release of the Fine Porcelain Premier Arabian Mare, that we started seeing new molds with molded-on tack again. Just about all of the newer molds with molded-on tack have been Nonplastic releases designed to appeal more toward the "home decorating" crowd than the collecting-playing-showing ones.

Two factors put an end to mold-on tack on plastics. The first was the moving away from the questionable practice of adapting and appropriating of molds from other companies for their own use; as I explained before, most of those early tacked-up molds were based on preexisting molds from other companies.

The second was hobbyist influence: by the late 1960s, Breyer was taking the hobbyist movement, and the advice of the individual hobbyists, more seriously. We didn’t want molded-on tack interfering with our own tack, for play or for show. 

Secondary Passions

Two things got me through this week: anticipation about the new Mad Max movie (the cathartic beauty of post-apocalyptic car chases!) and a trip to the toy store to ogle some of the latest and greatest.

It wasn’t the horses that got me the most excited - though I found myself unexpectedly tempted by the lacey masking on the Chestnut Pinto Cantering Welsh Pony Smokin Doubledutch - it was this product that almost gave me palpitations:

http://www.breyerhorses.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=6877

Yes, it was the model pony pouches. It wasn't the product itself: I am reasonably proficient with a sewing machine and could whip up a half dozen on own in a lazy afternoon, if I had one. Though I do think it’s great that Reeves is bringing this hobbyist-derived innovation to the general public.

It was the fabric: the Blue ones have Gem Twist silhouettes printed on it, and the pink have Gem Twist, the Show Jumping Warmblood, and Newsworthy (and maybe Cigar? - I’m not, and wasn’t about to be, one of those people who opens up sealed packages at the store).

As someone whose secondary passion is quilting, I am stoked about the existence - as part of an official product - of Breyer-themed fabric. If they were ever to release the fabric as a separate and independent item, I would buy a bolt of each, no question.

I had a notion last year to make a quilt adapted from last year’s 25th Anniversary BreyerFest graphic. It would have been a fairly easy and straightforward applique-style quilt: they were solid silhouettes against solid backgrounds. The enemy of that idea, again, was time; like most of my other horse-themed quilt concepts, it’ll have to simmer in the "future projects" binder for now.

I have made a couple of model horse quilts in the past; one featured Hartland Tinymites that I used to teach myself applique, and another featuring the Rearing Stallion, made for a coworker. That quilt is long gone, but I made a mini quilt out of the test block for it:

I was just thinking about that Rearing Stallion quilt, actually, because I was leafing through my copy of the most current (May/June 2015) issue of Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting, and spotted this intriguing photo:

You might not see it from my quick and dirty scan, but the Gloss Palomino Fighter residing on the shelf is in near-mint condition, with good pinking.

Normally I go through my quilt magazines every few months and tear out the interesting articles and ideas, but this one is going straight into the model horse ephemera stash, intact.

More on the BHR Rehoming Sale

One of the recent Black Horse Ranch eBay auctions looked very familiar, so I took a quick skim of my files, and look who I found in one of Marney’s albums!

This is the same Dapple Gray with white points Proud Arabian Mare that went for an oh-my-goodness amount about a week or so ago.

The photo is unmarked and undated, but presumably before 1992; most of the photos in this particular album are from the mid-1980s, so I’ll hazard a guess that that’s when and where this model came from.

There are a few photos in the album that are specifically attributed to Karen Grimm, including at least two other Test Colors and several Decorators that Marney was obviously using for reference. Including this guy, whose auction ended Friday:

I have no idea if discovering and posting these photos earlier would have had any impact on the prices. Maybe, maybe not. In the PAM’s case, most of the value would be in confirming the fairly safe assumption that it - like most hobbyist-owned Test Colors from the 1970s and 1980s - passed through Marney’s hands at some point.

Not all did, of course: eBay has been littered, over the years, with Tests and Oddities discovered "in the wild". Lots of people had access to the factory, and the goodies sometimes abandoned inside. 

There are several unmarked photos in the album, so it would not surprise me if there are even more of Karen’s models "hidden" within.

In other BHR news, it has been reported that part of Karen’s collection will be sold at BreyerFest at the host hotel (the Clarion) in one of the suites, starting Thursday night. As far as I know (no time to follow up here, again) it’ll be a straight-up sale of Breyers and some of her famous "Faux Finish" Breyers.

Whenever someone asks me about selling off an entire collection - big or small - I always give "take it to BreyerFest" as a viable and expedient option. It’s the best place in the world to get rid of a lot of models quickly: that’s where the money and the desire are.

I’ve gotten some flak for advocating it, because some hobbyists see it as a limiting factor: if they can’t go to Kentucky, they can’t buy. It’s early enough, however, that I hope some enterprising hobbyists will consider offering pick-up and selection services, like they do for Special Run Ticket items and at the Peter Stone Warehouse Sales.

(I can’t do it. Please don’t ask.)

I gather that due to safety and capacity concerns, there will likely be a limit to the number of people in the room at any given time, so there may be a line or numbering system of some sort.

I don’t know what I am going to do about it right now. My Thursday night is already on its way towards being extremely busy, and I doubt I can accommodate an extended amount of time standing in another line. 

I’m more curious to simply see it (and document it!), rather than purchase anything from it. Though I will buy something, undoubtedly, most of the models I would pine for I wouldn’t be able to afford. *Bask+++? Certain Test Colors? Some of the more exotic Fauxs? Not gonna happen.

More is Not Always Better

This model was one of the unexpected delights of a recent box lot:

Easily the prettiest Gloss Palomino Fighting Stallion I’ve ever owned! I knew he was in there when I purchased the lot, but since I haven’t had much luck with Gloss Palomino Fighters, I wasn’t expecting much.

What makes him outstanding isn’t necessarily his condition. He’s not perfect - there’s yellowing, and a few minor rubs - but the amount of money and/or effort I’d need to upgrade him to a "live show quality/live show ready" piece means he’s probably sticking around a while.

His color is really nice - sort of halfway between the Orangey Palomino he was when he was issued, and the Honey most of the early Gloss Palominos turn into. He’s deeply glossed too, typical of earlier pieces, ca. 1961/2. (He was a part of the ca. 1959-1962 box lot, so that makes sense.)

No, what makes him swoon-worthy is his body shading: this model has some of the nicest body shading I’ve seen on any Vintage, Original Finish model. Whoever painted him was either one of the better painters on staff, or was having an exceptional day at work.

"Body Shading" is the term I use to describe monochromatic (single color) paint jobs where shading is achieved by working with the musculature of the model itself, and using the underlying plastic as a secondary color. Lighter areas are lighter because there’s less paint there, and darker areas are darker because there’s more.

All it took for a richly shaded finish back then was a single color, applied with a deft touch. Some practice and talent played a part too, obviously; I’ve had my share of flat-looking Vintage pieces, especially on the Palomino Fighter. That’s why this guy stands out so for me!

The "Body Shading" technique was the primary way of shading models throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, but not the only way. With Alabaster models, for example, they had to take the opposite approach: contrast was achieved by shading the grooves of the musculature directly, usually with a fine gray line.

Executing the "Linear Shading" technique well also took some skills and practice; I’ve seen a few examples that looked like they were tagged by unusually incompetent graffiti artists. 

Both techniques are still used today, but usually in tandem with other techniques, and multiple layers of paint. As this Fighting Stallion shows, more is not always better.

More on Woodgrain Variations

Keeping it light today, as I’ll be on the road for most of it.

Following up on the comments in the previous post, yes, there is a Variation of the Fighting Stallion that comes without markings. I’ve seen enough of them - just missed getting one on eBay, not too long ago - that I think it’s safe enough to call it a legitimate Variation, and not merely a natural (accidental, day-to-day) one.

The Woodgrain Fighting Stallion was in production from ca. 1960/1 through 1973, about twice as long as the Family Arabians. Anything in production that long is going to have some variation in the run, intentional or not.

I have had a lot of Woodgrain Fighting Stallions over the years, but my favorite is Smudgy. Remember Smudgy the Woodgrain?

Definitely a small-v variation. I haven’t seen anything else like him, except for some early attempts by faux finishers to replicate Woodgrain. Smudgy’s definitely the real deal - I see no evidence of tampering anywhere on him. His finish is fine, smooth, his markings are perfect, and he still has most of his footpads. But he looks more marbled than woodgrained.

Near as I can guess, either he was a salvage job on an otherwise subpar woodgraining job, or the product of some serious goofing off at the factory. Or maybe they were experimenting with a more "realistic" Woodgrain finish that day. Don’t have a clue, I’m just glad he’s here.

Truth be told, I don’t have a whole lot of Woodgrains here at the Ranch. Other than the Family Arabians, and my assortment of Fighters (light, dark, Ranchcraft Lamp, Smudgy…) all I have I either obtained at the flea market (Shetland Pony, Boxer, Running Mare and Foal Lamp) or in box lots on eBay (Racehorse, No Muscle Clydesdale Stallion).

And a Brahma Bull with a Tenite sticker that I bought in a fit of pique, because I wanted to buy something scarce and pretty and not in need of any significant repairs, for a change.

So nothing exquisitely rare or desirable, as far as Woodgrains go. Unless Smudgy counts.

My Clydesdale might, too.

The Clydesdale was purchased in a lot with a Test Color Classic Andalusian Stallion and a variation of a Christmas Catalog Special Run. As far as I can see physically, there’s nothing to suggest that the Clydesdale is anything other than what he appears to be: a standard, production run #980 Clydesdale.

However, the fact that his box lot buddies were so unusual, and the seller’s address was in suburban Chicago, make me wonder if he’s something more. I didn’t follow up with the seller as I should have, and I haven’t had the chance to pick up a Woodgrain No Muscle Clydesdale with a more conventional pedigree to compare, either. So for the time being he remains an average, run-of-the-factory Woodgrain Clydesdale with an intriguing provenance.

But back to the other suspect Woodgrains in the last post.

I find their lack of markings a little suspicious because Woodgrain Variations, outside of the occasional obvious cull, are rather unusual. The variations that do occur are more a matter of color or quality of woodgraining - like Smudgy. (Also occasionally, as in the case of the Clydesdale, one of mold.) When unusual or distinct Woodgrains do show up, they sell quickly, and for not insubstantial amounts of money.

(Smudgy is not going anywhere. Don’t even think about it.)

As I said before, I haven’t heard of or seen Five-Gaiter or Mustang Woodgrains without markings, which means that they’re rarer than the Fighters, which themselves aren’t easy to find. This suggests to me that if any exist at all, they’re either Tests or genuine Oddballs.

Pictures of the Classic Andalusian Test, next time.

(The Woodgrain Clyde is currently not in the display rotation, and the basement is in the process of being prepped for painting, so storage excavating is not an option right now.)

Delicate Condition

Vita is fine now, BTW. Me, on the other hand …I worked over 17 hours on Thursday. Combined with dealing with the latest big blizzard, and Vita, my still-slightly-fragile health went off the rails again.

It’s nothing serious - it’s more exhaustion than anything else. I’m feeling just a bit more tired, rambly, and a disconnected from reality than I usually am.

I haven’t had a chance to take a personal look-see at the new Flagship horse Aurelius - a Gloss Flaxen Chestnut Desatado - even though I had an opportunity to do so earlier this week. In the pictures I’ve seen so far he looks very pretty and very promising, but I doubt I’ll be getting one.

It’s nothing against the mold or the color, I need to do a little bit of downsizing before I start buying again, outside of the occasional Web Special and Vintage Club stuff. I haven’t had the time to do that because of work getting in the way. (Time will be made, once I get these minor health issues out of the way.)

Pictures of the two BreyerFest Raffle models are now making their way about the Model Horse world, via hobbyists visiting the Breyer booth at the Road to the Horse Expo in Lexington this weekend. It looks like that us old farts will (sort of) be getting our wish after all: one’s a Pinto Clydesdale Stallion named Walk Down Memory Lane, the other is an Appaloosa Fighting Stallion, named Kick Up Your Heels. Both are Glossy. More widely-available releases would be even better, but it’s nice that they’re going with two "Vintage" molds this year.

(But would I turn down the Early Bird Raffle Alborozo? Heck, no!)

Everyone is rightly going ga-ga over the Fighting Stallion (striped hooves!), but I’d be just as content with the Clydesdale; he’d make a fine husband for my Gloss Palomino Clydesdale Mare. (Does he have mapping? Hard to tell in the photos I’ve seen. If so, also awesome.)

Like everyone else, I’m suspecting that the Store Special Champagne Pinto Bluegrass Bandit Champagne Wishes is replacing the Nonplastic Store Specials, which haven’t exactly been setting sales records. On the web site she’s described thusly:

Champagne Wishes is a Connoisseur Level model with delicate mapping, silver horseshoes and beautifully detailed eyes.

Connoisseur Level? Delicate mapping? Silver horseshoes? Sound like something extra limited and extra expensive to me. Since they specifically dropped the Connoisseur word on us in the description, I’m expecting something in the same range as the program of old: about 350 pieces, somewhere around $150-200.

This is entirely speculation. Since this is a new thing, I could be wrong. All I’m hoping for is that there are at least enough of them around that I have a reasonable shot. I’ve been waiting for a realistic (and somewhat affordable!) release on the Bluegrass Bandit mold that I can’t live without, and I think she’s it.

Plus I was addle-pated from a lack of sleep last year when I ventured into the Pit, and never did get around to buying the also very pretty Black Pinto Store Special Lady C. The prices on her aren’t too high either, but like Aurelius, some downsizing will have to happen first.