Little Extra Something

I bought another box lot. I wasn’t planning on it, it just happened to turn up during my five-minute daily shopping scans. And I couldn’t pass it up because it was really cheap – as in, I could sell all of them as body box models and still make a profit kind of cheap – but I think most of them are better than that. (I’m good either way: my body box was absolutely decimated at BreyerFest, and I could use a restock.) 

I’m going to try and behave next year and keep my purchases – Vintage and New – to a minimum, because of the usual lack of both time and space. Other than Stablemates, because there’s always room for Stablemates! 

As a matter of fact, I had to do a bit of holiday shopping yesterday, and during the trip I picked up a slew of blind bags from the local not-a-Tractor-Supply store. They were 40 percent off, and I wanted to give myself something to open up on Christmas Day, besides the Breyer Christmas Day Special Run e-mail. 

That I’ll make an effort to actually be up on time to see it before it sells out. But will I buy it? 

It depends. If it’s something like Emma, of course. But if not, it’ll have to be something really spectacular, but my brain is kind of jelly from the writing project I’ve been focused on all week, so I can’t even think what that could be. Something small and pony-ish, I assume. 

Astrid? Misty? Aristocrat? Seems a little too early for Nikolas. Personally, I’d go totally Retro and pick the Western Pony: the Palomino Groomer was a Christmas Catalog staple for over a decade in the 1950s and 1960s. Put him in an assortment of Deco colors – the original four, Charcoal, Silver or Rose Gold Charm/Filigree, whatever. 

Though I suppose that probably won’t work, since it did come in solid gloss black back in the day, too. Racehorse? Kennebec Count? Khemosabi? Another Christmas Kitten? 

I’m out of ideas, LOL. 

Here’s a few recent arrivals – more Stablemates, of course!

The Mini Fireheart is a Fireheart; while I understand why they decided to go a little outrageous for this release, I’m looking forward to the more realistic colors on the mold that I am sure are already in the pipeline. 

I’m undecided on the new little Haflinger; he’s better (more detailed) in person than his online photos suggest, but he does seem a little generic? He reminds me a lot of a Family Arabian Mare custom I lost the plot on a few years ago. (In a good way: the FAM is way more interesting to customize than hobbyists give her credit for.)

I do like Kit’s fancy clip pattern, though. I generally don’t: while I think they can be awesome when they’re properly executed on a custom, they tend to look goofy on Original Finish pieces. That’s because they’re usually just painted on, with no attempt to render the textural element. It kind of gives them a slightly discordant “My Little Pony” vibe.

It kind of works with Kit, because he definitely needs a little extra something. I can see this mold wearing some wild colors and patterns in its future, and wearing them well. 

And speaking of a little extra something, that would describe the 2023 Stablemate Club bonus model Nero, on the new mini Georg/Giorgio:

That’s a mold that doesn’t need fancy clothes, but I appreciate the effort! His bigger brother, of course, was a big hit at the 2020 BreyerFest as the impressive semi-leopard Noriker Oak.

The Two Dollar Test

I still feel very much like a coagulated puddle of sweat and Gatorade, so you’ll have to forgive me for continuing to be a little antisocial until the end of the week or so. 

It’s nothing personal guys, I just think I underestimated how emotionally overwhelmed I’d be at being at the first in-person BreyerFest in three years. I thought I’d be prepared because I’d been to two live shows and Motor City Comic Con in the months previous, but I guess not!

Everything is out of the car, but I probably won’t be finished unpacking and sorting until the weekend. In the meantime, I also have to deal with some work-related stuff and getting the garden back in shape, too. (Wax beans are imminent!)

I wasn’t able to bring home the Dapple Gray Belgian or any of the Five-Gaiters I was looking for (there was a dearth of vintage stuff at the hotel this year), but I did find a few neat things I’ll be sharing over the next couple of weeks. 

But there is one little thing I do want to share with the group right now. I was actually getting a little obnoxious about it by the end of the weekend, but I think you’ll understand why when you see it.

I didn’t get a chance to go to the NPOD Friday morning, because I had actual stuff to do both at the hotel and at the KHP. I did hear about – and see! – some of the goodies pulled out of the “Body Bins” later in the day, though, including a Matte Dappled Black Five-Gaiter. 

(Yes, I whimpered a bit. But it went to someone who is almost as obsessed with vintage stuff as I am, so I know he will be well-loved.)

Since I didn’t have anything to do first thing Saturday morning, I decided to be brave and go for it.

The only complication I ran into was the fact that Reeves didn’t handle the numbered tickets very well: they had two sets of tickets for the two stores, and instead of handing them out more or less in order, (i.e. either one-one, two-two or in alternating groups of five or ten) they handed out the first 200 sequentially, and then the second set of 200 sequentially. 

That meant that many people would be getting into – and out of! – one of the stores before people who had gotten there several hours earlier. Not cool, guys! They also claimed that both stores had the same merchandise, but I knew that was not the case, which is why I fought to get into the main store in the Covered Arena. 

(This had apparently happened the day before, so that was something I was prepared for. And it was also remedied the next day. And forever, hopefully. This is not rocket science, guys!)

Anyway, after all that nonsense, I found this fabled body bin. It was almost all Classics that day, with some Traditional Foals also in the mix. I’m not as familiar with Classic oddities – in spite of owning an awful lot of them! – but I dug through the bin and pulled a few things out that I thought were worth my time. 

(Technically they were all “worth the time”: everything in the bin was Two Dollars!)

Then I grabbed this Ginger and said to myself: well, she’s peculiar:

She’s Chalky, with natural-colored hooves, tons of pinking, and handpainted eyes. Yes, dear readers, I found myself a two-dollar Test Color! 

A friend of mine pointed out that she might be a Test for the First Christmas Horse Snowball, on the Haflinger mold, and I think she might be right, or at least in the neighborhood.

She’s not in the best condition, and I doubt she’d show well anywhere, but I love her all the same. Especially since I found her at a BreyerFest with a $65,000 Auction Test Color in it! 

I know that the prices at the Auction this year discouraged a lot of people from imagining that they could ever afford a Test Color, but as my little “Snow Baby” shows, it’s not always about the money. Do your research, do the legwork, and treasures will eventually find you.

(I’ll take her out of her bag, eventually.)

Cavalcade of Trivia

The Diorama Prize model is a Haflinger named Cavalcade:

Should have guessed when I saw it was Chestnut. The majority of the Traditional Haflinger’s releases have been some shade of Chestnut or Palomino! Some of them quite lovely, but still… some form of Chestnut.

Though this one does appear to be the same shade we saw on the generally well-received Clock Saddlebred Muir Woods last month.

It’s hard to believe, but Cavalcade marks the fourth production BreyerFest Special Run Traditional Haflinger. It’s had more BreyerFest releases than legit pony fan favorites like the Cantering Welsh Pony, the Pony of the Americas, and even Misty.

In fact, this marks the second time the Haflinger has been used as a BreyerFest contest prize, the first being the Gloss Red Dun awarded to the winners of a “Design a Breyer Sceptre” Contest in 2005, one of the early precursors to the Diorama Contest.

Back then they didn’t have age categories, they didn’t require a Breyer item incorporated in the final product, and they had only had a handful of rules that were mostly ignored anyway.

I also remember that one being judged in the dark. (Sometimes I still think they do…)

The Haflinger has also been a Live Show Prize (2012 Youth Show), and a very pretty Flaxen Chestnut Pinto Ticket Special named Buckaroo in 2013.

What the model is, of course, has no bearing on whether or not I enter the contest, though I am happy it’s not something that would make me really wince and try too hard, like a Fell Pony, or the short-tailed version of the Pony of the Americas.

As the BreyerFest blog post notes, the name Cavalcade is in reference to the “parade” aspect of this year’s contest theme. In fact, per the online Merriam-Webster:

When cavalcade was first used in English, it meant "a horseback ride" or "a march or raid made on horseback."

But wait, there’s more. Horse-wise, Cavalcade was the name of the 1934 Kentucky Derby winner and the name of a vintage horse-racing-themed board game (the latter is a steeplechase game, and doesn’t seem directly related to the former, but I am not a board game expert here).

Comic book-wise, there were two well-known comic book titles that used the name Cavalcade, both published by DC Comics. The first was Comic Cavalcade, which was a Golden Age anthology series that began as a mostly-Superhero book and ended in the 1950s as a Funny Animals title.

The second was the legendary/notorious Cancelled Comics Cavalcade, a two-issue “series” that was published in 1978 to maintain/secure the copyrights to a bunch of titles that were abruptly canceled (it’s a long story). Only 40 copies were published – a Micro Run! – and aside from its rarity, it’s best known for the first appearance of the superhero Vixen, a member of the Justice League who can conjure the powers of any animal past or present.

And here y’all thought the name didn’t fit the theme. With a little research, you can make anything fit!

Highlander Haflinger

I’m feeling so sorry for the Highland Pony release on the old Haflinger mold:

She really does have a lovely paintjob, but as I feared, it wasn’t enough to rescue her from being discontinued for next year – along with fellow “Best of British” series alums the Welsh Cob (on the Llanarth True Briton), the Shetland Pony and the Connemara Pony Newsworthy.

It wasn’t a surprise, though; in spite of the fact that there have been quite a few “collectible” Haflingers issued over the years, it has generated very little love for the mold among hobbyists in general.

The original 156 Haflinger comes in multiple – though minor – variations, mostly involving the shade of Chestnut it comes in, and markings. (This release can, on very rare occasions, be found with airbrushed stockings.)

Of the rarities, there’s the Gloss variation of the #1483 Highland Pony, made for the 2012 BreyerFest Youth/Child Shows, the Gloss Apricot Dun prize model for the 2005 BreyerFest Sceptre Contest, and the slightly modified reissue of the RDA Strikey (sans “brand”) made for the 2010 WEG in Kentucky.

Even though all of those releases were under 50 pieces – and there were only 18 made of the WEG Haflinger! – the most desirable Haflinger of them all is still the 1997 Christmas release of Snowball:

http://www.identifyyourbreyer.com/images/702197box.jpg

Snowball is popular because outside of being the first in the ongoing series of Holiday Horses, the release was cut short due to production issues with the tack. They disappeared rather quickly in stores, which cause a bit of a run on them right from the get-go; judging from the recent sales on eBay, demand still seems pretty solid nearly 20 years on.

Like the Highland Pony, Snowball came a Chalky finish, albeit without the extensive shading or dappling. Snowball wasn’t unique: many Alabasters from that time period came in a Chalky or semi-Chalky finish, like the Black Stallion release Equus.

In Snowball’s case, that bright white finish wasn’t merely an aesthetic choice, but a practical one. The matte and opaque Chalky finish would help keep them from turning into… yellow(ed) Snowballs.

I haven’t made a decision yet on keeping this pony; I’m already keeping several pieces from that Grab Bag, and I don’t really want to add more. Even if I did decide to let it go now, busy season is coming up at work, and I won’t have much time to do much selling.