The Classic American Pharoah

Feeling a little down today; I won’t go into the details, but basically I am broke until Tuesday or possibly Wednesday next week because of something someone else failed to do.

So much for picking up those odds and ends I planned on buying to get started on my BreyerFest prep. (One of the New Year’s Resolutions: get all my prep done early. Preferably before I leave for Kentucky.)

One good thing that will come out of this aggravation is that it’s giving me plenty of motivation to start selling online again. The only thing that’s kept me from being even angrier over this entire affair is that I still had a bit of financial wiggle room provided to me by my year-end sales. Might as well build that war chest up again.

Whew. Got that out of my system. Back to discussing some of the new releases.

Although I’m not a part of the American Pharoah bandwagon, I did buy a couple of Stablemate versions of him during the last website promotion, because I love Stablemates. Once I have access to money again, I might buy the Classic Pharoah, too:

http://www.breyerhorses.com/american-pharoah-classics

While I’m not a huge fan of the Best in Show Thoroughbred mold – he strikes me as a little plain and generic-looking – I actually really like him in this release. It reminds me a lot of another plain, generic-looking Breyer release that was also a “portrait” of a Triple Crown Winner:

The #36 Racehorse, which was based on the Grand Wood Carving sculpture of Whirlaway.

The Race Horse was never officially advertised or identified as Whirlaway in any Breyer promotional materials; in early (pre-1960) Dealer Catalogs he was called “Derby Winner” (and described as “One of the winningest horses of all time” per his ca. 1953/4 Dealer Catalog page/sheet) and also on the rarely-found hangtag.

The Traditional Man o’ War, who replaced the #36 Racehorse in the Breyer line in 1967, was initially sold/advertised as the Race Horse, with the name “Man o’ War” in italics or parentheses. Shortly afterwards he became “Famous Thoroughbred Man o’ War” and eventually just Man o’ War.

But never as “Derby Winner”, of course, because that was one race Man o’ War never ran.

You know, now that they’re releasing a Traditional Man o’ War in the Vintage Club line this year, Reeves might want to consider doing a small, similar release on his predecessor.

Preferably with that little saddle blanket like the Classic American Pharoah. Because seriously, how cute is that thing?

Grand Wood Carving Man o' War

I’m feeling much better, and Vita - sensing the opportunity - reverted back to her old, bad ways. So far this week she’s eaten my toothbrush, stole my cough drops, knocked over the kitchen trash can (multiple times) and pooped in the house.

Some of it may have been a response to getting a haircut on Monday; everyone tells her how pretty she is, and it goes straight to her head. (Seriously, she knows. Her groomer used to show Wire Fox Terriers, and is always cooing to her what beautiful little dog she is.) You know how some pretty girls are, think they can get away with anything.

The schedule for the rest of the week got weird, so I can’t do anything much longer than post a picture today. It’s an interesting one, though:

While it’s fairly well-known that the #36 Racehorse is based on the Grand Wood Carving sculpture of Whirlaway, it’s less known that the #47 Man o’ War is also based on a Grand Wood Carving sculpture.

I haven’t been fortunate enough to locate myself a Whirlaway, but this Man o’ War turned up on eBay a few years back, and I was delighted to be the winning bidder at a not-unreasonable price. Although mass-produced, technically, they were expensive new and are not easy to come by now.

The only other horse I’ve seen for sale, in person, was in an antique shop in Lexington. (It was an Alsab!) I’ve seen several more on the Internet, but not at prices I feel comfortable paying. If I do locate another, it’s going to be a happy accident and not a planned one. 

Some other time - when I have more time - I’ll talk about the relationship between Grand Wood Carving sculptures, Breyer Woodgrains, and Chris Hess. I want to do a little more research on the subject, too.

Molded On Tack

I never did get around to talking about the Quarter Horse Gelding, did I?

I was never much of a Bonanza fan - I have nothing anything Westerns per se, it just never clicked with me - so I have no idea how appropriate a mold the Quarter Horse Gelding is for Chub. I certainly don’t object to the selection: the more Quarter Horse Geldings, the better, as far as I’m concerned.

It does seem a little odd to me that we’re seeing him in Bay, again: he's now up to four Bay production runs:

• 99 Gloss Bay (ca. 1960-1966)
• SR Matte Bay (ca. mid-1980s)
• 410401 Riding Academy Set (2001 J.C. Penney’s XMAS SR)
• 1453 Chub

Dude's getting almost as bad as the Hanoverian or the Trakehner! To make matters worse, he’s even been used to test other shades of bay, including this one for the Dan Patch release of the Pacer:


(He doesn't seem like an obvious choice to test a Pacer's paint job, does he? It took me a couple of months to realize duh, it was the halter.)

Fortunately, each of these Bays is different enough in markings, shading or finish for misidentification to be fairly minimal. The only issue some collectors might have is with the Matte Bay SR, who is so rare that many are either completely unaware of his existence, or mistake him for something else entirely. (Something I discussed in greater detail back in May 2009.)

It’s funny that until recently, I never gave much thought to the Gelding’s molded-on halter, until the whining from hobby’s peanut gallery made it an issue again.

A not-insignificant number of the earlier Breyer molds came with molded-on tack and accessories: the Western Horse and Pony, the Fury/Prancer, the Racehorse, the Walking Angus Bull, both versions of the Poodle, and the Western Prancing Horse. What’s interesting is that most of these molded-on tack molds were derived from - or at the very least, were inspired by - molds from other manufacturers.

(FYI: The "most" part of the previous sentence will be addressed in my next post.)

It makes me wonder if the Quarter Horse Gelding was derived from a still-unidentified secondary source. It wouldn’t surprise me at all, if it did. Grand Wood Carving - the Chicago-based company that inspired Breyer’s Woodgrain finish, and at least three other Breyer molds - is the most likely suspect. My reference materials are a little thin in that department, though, so it’s going to have to remain a hunch for now.

My Midnight Sun Mystery

You’d think that a day that featured ducks with hats, boat anchors and a trip to the bead store would have been more entertaining than it actually was. It wasn’t bad, mind you, but it definitely had the potential to be epic.

It did leave me a little bit exhausted, so today’s another light research day. Let’s talk about another picture another horse that became a Breyer model. Here’s Midnight Sun:


What’s different here is that the picture has just as interesting a story behind it as the model itself. I found it at the local flea market - a market so awesome it’s where other antiquers do their shopping, and where I make most of my fabulous finds.

There used to be quite a few horse farms in the area, and running across framed horse prints or photographs isn’t that unusual. What made this particular print stand out was the size - 24 by 28 inches, framed and matted! And beautifully hand-tinted, an obvious labor of love. It was cheap - I think the vendor was only asking five bucks for it. How could I possibly pass it by?

My first reaction when I saw it was "Ooh, that has to be Midnight Sun!" Or at least someone with a strong family resemblance; the photograph didn’t show up in my initial research, so I just assumed it might have been one of his foals. Eventually, someone either on Blab or Haynet did track the photograph down in an early 1950s encyclopedia and it was, indeed, Midnight Sun himself. (Whoever you were, thank you!)

It made me wonder how this picture ended up in Michigan, of all places. Most of the non-model horse materials I find around here relate to horse racing, of both the Thoroughbred and Standardbred variety. (I find a little bit of Polo-related stuff, too. Apparently a big thing in Detroit in the 1920s!) A huge portrait of a Tennessee Walking Horse Stallion stands out.

I didn’t get many clues from the vendor. I had engaged in the usual flea market banter with him, and the only information he could offer was that the picture, and his other horsey items (books and tack, mostly) came from an estate sale in Tennessee. The picture still had its paper label on the back, indicating that it had been framed in Nashville, so that part rang true.

It was the faint inscription in pencil that’s bothered me, though. I won’t try to give you a close up of the section in question; it’s more impression than pigment, and impossible to photograph. It took me a while to translate it, but it reads:

"To Mrs. Eddie Eggert, Harlinsdale Farm"

Oh dear. It’s not just a nice picture of Midnight Sun - it seems that this might be an honest-to-goodness Midnight Sun artifact. Do I possibly own something I’m not supposed to own?

I haven’t really followed up on the possibility, yet. If someone wants it back, I have no problem in returning it. It’s just sorta been a low priority, and I rather like having this mystery hanging in my office.

Anyway, back to the model itself. The Midnight Sun model isn’t based on Midnight Sun, it’s probably based - at least partly - on a sculpture of his infamous son, The Talk of the Town. Infamous in that his weird, exaggerated gait was responsible for setting in motion the "Big Lick" notion that’s been the bane of the breed ever since.

The sculpture in question is by Grand Wood Carving, a Chicago-based manufacturer of fine art quality wood carvings, whose sculpture of Whirlaway was copied by Breyer as the #36 Racehorse, and whose entire line may have been the inspiration for the Woodgrain Finish. Here’s a scan of a lousy multi-generational copy that I have in my archives:


The story of Grand Wood Carving’s Breyer connections and coincidences is enough to fill at least a week’s worth of posts, and I don’t have the time or energy to go into it today. (I'll get to eventually, no worries.)

Anyway, the original mold was created as a generic Tennessee Walking Horse, not a portrait model. Peter Stone asked for suggestions of famous TWHs from the association down in Tennessee, and they offered up Midnight Sun. Unfortunately, Peter didn’t do any follow up research, or provide samples of the future model to the right persons who would have set him straight. Midnight Sun was flat shod, and came from the pre-Big Lick era!